Since 1995, through its Summer Music Institute in Paris and Music Academy throughout the year, EAMA has inspired musicians through intensive training of the musical crafts. Inspired by the teaching philosophy of Nadia Boulanger, EAMA has challenged generations of musicians to seek their unique musical voice. Our intensive musical training offers a method to guide musicians throughout their musical life.

(https://europeanamericanmusicalalliance.org/)

July 2023 was the back-to-study month, and after this very intense and busy month, I am sure that the only place that can combine Nadia Boulanger’s teaching philosophy with a modern perspective of musical analysis focusing on counterpoint as the absolute art of music making will be EAMA Paris Academy! with a world top faculty including Philip Lasser (Director EAMA Summer Music Institute, co-Founder EAMA Academy), Benjamin C.S. Boyle (Associate Director EAMA Summer Music Institute, co-Founder EAMA Academy), Emile Naoumoff (Director of Chamber Music), Mark Shapiro (Director of Conducting Studies), Kyle Blaha, and Lane Harder.

The academy courses were designed not only to teach musicianship, analysis, counterpoint, and keyboard harmony (and in the old tradition where the student is expected to be a super musician and practice for 25 hours a day, but it is ok if you don’t, the professors are always nice) but to teach the art of listening and music appreciation also. The professors are just putting all their effort to teach the student how to develop his skills more than the skills themselves, how to understand any music, not the music of a particular style, which for me, is just the right way to teach music: musicians don’t need to read the book, they need to know how to understand it to write their own!

Each professor has his own character and method of teaching, but they all share the same concept of teaching philosophy and understanding music, which I found rare in any other institution to have the full staff guiding the student in the same direction through different methods and perspectives.

The courses were taken place for the first two weeks in the Conservatoire du 6e Jean-Philippe Rameau, then in the Conservatoire du 5e Gabriel Faure for the rest of the academy.

The most enjoyable courses for me were the analysis lectures presented by different professors, particularly the lectures of composer Philipp Laser, and his “obsession” with the hanging notes theory, fixed contrapuntal motive, and the contrapuntal structure.
Analysis lectures covered many standard pieces in the classical repertoire as Chopin’s Preludes 17 & 20, Mozart’s Symphony 35, Fauré Rencontre, Schumann Op. 26 No. 4, Brahms’ Symphony 4, Brahms’ Piano Quintet, Debussy Prélude d’après midi d’un faune and Dr. Gradus, in addition to selection of Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier 1 and 2, inventions, Partitas, and other works.

As Nadia Boulanger’s teaching philosophy dictates, the choir is an essential part of any music learning, and this is what we did! All the students of the academy were having weekly choir rehearsal under the baton of Maestro Mark Shapiro, reading through a huge number of choral pieces from the medieval Era till the music of the living composers, and this was the result of two choral concerts by the “EAMA CHOIR” at L’Institut de France and the Faure conservatory, both in Paris.

Another part of the program was dedicated to composition students, in which we discuss our pieces with the professors and college and we get into many compositional topics such as styles, concepts, structures, instrumentation, and many others.
and the composition department will never be the same without the amazing Quartet in residence, the Soprano Rebecca Myers, and the other colleague from the chamber music departments, which offered their service to practice our pieces and have multiple reading sessions followed by a critique and discussion by the faculty.

The same artist, in addition to the faculty and guest artist, offered several concerts during the program, and here is a list of what they presented:

Verità Ensemble, Rebecca Myers (Soprano), Nicolo Balducci (alto), and EAMA Choir at L’Institut de France

Emile Naoumoff, piano at Cite des Arts

Makoto Nakura, marimba at Gabriel Fauré Conservatory

Matthew Odell, piano at Gabriel Fauré Conservatory

Rebecca Myers, soprano; Benjamin C.S. Boyle, piano  at Gabriel Fauré Conservatory

EAMA Chamber Musicians at Gabriel Fauré Conservatory

July was an unforgettable month, and it will be remembered always as EAMA month, a place where you can find music, art, and knowledge, and creates a lot of friends and memories. It is the best place for musicians to get inspiration and dive into the absolute beauty of music.