When she was little, Klára Boudalová used to help her grandfather tune organs in the local church- she was small enough to crawl inside among the pipes and make adjustments.
So perhaps it shouldn’t surprise us that when she grew up, Klára was attracted to unconventional methods of learning music. A trained flautist, she also loves playing on other things that you can blow into – straws, pipes, bathroom fixtures, “and garden hoses- those are my favorites,” she admits. “I want to redefine the strict approach to classical music.”
Boudalová is teaching a new class for our music program called the Foundations of Music Education. “I want to help the students find their own style of teaching and find what they are passionate about. And then they can help their future students to find their own passions.”
Boudalová’s career took off when she and Petr Kadlec created a highly successful series of educational CDs for teachers about Czech composers. She was then asked to help start an educational program at the Czech Philharmonic, where she oversees dozens of events (concerts, workshops, master classes, teacher training workshops). Her favorite part of the job is writing original fairy tales for the orchestra in which she combines theatre, music, and “something insane.” Her latest script is about outer space; the conductor and orchestra can only get their rocket launched when they find the operation manual- which is the musical score. Her NYU students are observing the Czech Philharmonic programs and will get a chance to talk to the producers, learning what goes into creating the projects.
Boudalová is also a professional singer, specializing in early music, which helps her when working with the orchestra. Part of the job is convincing the musicians to go along with her ideas. “I need to know what I’m doing, to show them that I understand music and appreciate their expertise.”
She just returned from trip to Mexico where she learned about indigenous instruments in Yucatan made from local materials. “Next year I want to run a project where families come together and make instruments, compose music, and ultimately perform a piece with the orchestra.”