I am intrigued by the thinking around the use of technology to create stories and, underlying this question, I ask myself why we have the deep historical need, as a species, to tell stories in the first place. The second curiosity I have is around story-telling and its relation to the work I do at the Victoria Conservatory of Music. Essentially, we train our young artist-musician students to tell both their and the composer’s ‘stories’ through music, and through this story-telling, bringing an audience into the intimacy of exchange. Vocalists, of course, have a somewhat easier time of it than, say, violinists, clarinetists, and pianists. They have words expressed in wondrous languages. Singers’ stories come with script. But stories connect us. And I believe the only way to connect with an audience is to tell a story.

At the moment, our faculty use very little if any digital story-telling in the classroom. Much of our craft is still delivered in time-tested traditional fashion … one-on-one and group instruction.  At the same time, there is comprehensive training around performing and expression and this inevitably leads to the consideration of stories, both concrete and abstract. Much of what we do looks and sounds very musically technical in nature –  legato, up bow, support, phrasing, harmonic structure, etc, etc. And not all music is necessarily about roiling seas; women in breast-plates and horned helmets, lovers coming together, parting or killing each other. That’s just opera!

But connection with an audience is personal and the truth is that we best connect through the stories we tell. They convey on many levels and they tie us together around common ideas and themes.

Here are a couple links to the root of why we tell stories. A good reminder before we become seduced by the bells and whistles of digital media production. You can still tell a great story singing around a camp-fire.

Wired– Why do we tell stories: https://www.wired.com/2011/03/why-do-we-tell-stories/

Mother Nature Network – Why do we tell stories: http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/stories/why-do-we-tell-stories

The story continues on this one…