The Art of Narrative Music

Join Arashk Azizi for an immersive 3-day music workshop that dives into the drama of music and the art of translating stories into musical notes. Born in Iran and currently residing in Tallinn, Estonia, Azizi is a renowned composer, pianist, and author whose works are deeply inspired by stories from the ancient to modern times. Arashk has an academic background in cinema and composed several soundtracks.

Throughout this workshop, participants will explore how to listen to dramatic music, understand the history of program music and opera, and recreate characters and scenes through music. Each day focuses on a different aspect of narrative music:

Day 1:

• Madrigals, Opera, Singspiel, Musicals: We’ll examine some of the greatest operatic pieces in history and learn how composers emphasized the story and lyrics through harmonies, melodies, and orchestrations.

Day 2:

• Program Music, Symphonic Poems, Concert Overture, Ballet: We’ll listen to some of the greatest symphonies, concertos, and other instrumental narrative pieces, and discover how composers use notes instead of words to paint a story.

Day 3:

• Film Music: We’ll learn how modern composers use traditional techniques and new technology to control sound in order to narrate scenes and support storylines in films.

This workshop is perfect for all musicians, composers, and music enthusiasts who wish to deepen their understanding of musical storytelling and enhance their ability to convey drama and emotion through music. We will start from scratch and make our way up, so anyone with any level of understanding music can enjoy this course and learn something new from it.