The vision music of Casanova, the personal transformation of a music educator

Abstract

This narrative inquiry responds to the research question, 'How does an education in holistic and transformative learning positively influence the personal/professional transformation and the personal mythology of a composer-educator as he struggles to create a meaningful operatic musical?' As a response to the question, I offer this qualitative study of my own experience as a student of transformative learning and as a composer engaged in the writing of a 'transformative' operatic musical, 'Casanova.' By 'Vision Music,' I mean that the resulting work, influenced by principles learned through various forms of values education, offers far-reaching educational lessons about 'the meaning of life' that attempt to go beyond the mere entertainment-centered values of mainstream musical theatre. In this values education context, the term 'vision' is derived from its progressive usage by ecological philosophers Thomas Berry and Edmund O'Sullivan, who use 'vision' to describe proactive educational future visualization and action dedicated to global changes in values and behaviours, and a shift towards cooperative 'communion' with fellow human beings. 'Casanova' endeavours to be an operatic musical that offers gentle yet powerful metaphorical models in values education, gender equity education, holistic learning, and communitarianism. 'The Vision Music of Casanova' is the story of how one composer-educator internalized these values, transformed himself, and along with a thorough musical education, went on to write (with the lyrical collaboration of his partner) a meaningful and important, educationally transformative contribution to the field of musical theatre.