Music Education

​“It is beneficial for the artist if his human dimension is grounded in educational work that connects the artist to his audience in an organic manner” (Tsippi Fleischer)

In addition to composition, Tsippi Fleischer is one of the most active contributors to musical education in Israel. She was one of the founders of the Pedagogical Council of the Faculty of Music Education at Levinsky College, taught and supervised generations of music students at the Institute, and lectured for enrichment courses and teacher’s continuing education in music courses on behalf of the Ministry of Education’s supervision on music education.

Her educational work during over 40 years of teaching at the Levinsky College of Education became a trademark among her colleagues and students. Fleischer published many studies in which she described her educational approach, characterized by intensifying musical experience through depth and precision in theoretical-musical analysis, affording complementary knowledge from extra-musical disciplines (history, society, literature, philosophy) and cultivating personal and professional dedication of teachers to their students, children and adults alike. “As an abstract art, it [music] requires both precision and depth . . . The progression from sensory impression to an inspection of the elements of the work is especially important, and back – to enjoyment already nourished by the accumulated layers of knowledge . . . In order to complete the musical picture, effort must be devoted even towards the extra-musical picture [of] spiritual content that joins the sounds themselves in a constant flow . . . This pedantic approach to the countless musical aspects draws the student nearer to expert knowledge. . . [together with] a belief in the strongest personal connection between teacher and student.”

“East and West in Music”

An additional key educational initiative of Tsippi Fleischer was “East and West in Music,” which operated during the years 1987-1989, for pupils and students, and dealt with Israel’s cultural pluralism. In this context, Fleischer conducted guided musical tours around the country.

“The goal of the new series of lessons,” she wrote in her article, Opening a Wide Window onto Creativity in the Learner’s Heart – Reflections on the Tour of Jerusalem Sounds, is: "to ground the unique reflection made possible by the encounter of musical cultures of West and East at the Middle-Eastern seam line in our country... In the guided tours, I set a goal of mainly leading the students through an experience of unmediated acquaintance with the musical heritage of the Jewish ethnicities – in the context of the sacred (liturgy) and the profane... the Arabic influence on the amazing richly ornamented improvisations of the paytanim in the synagogue of the Aleppo community is prominent... in contrast with the adorned cantorial style of the Reform synagogue, adorned with characteristics of Western Classical music... and there is no avoiding enwrapping all of these with the chimes of the church bells and the calls of the muezzin... And anyone who has experienced the sounds of an ancient Eastern [Armenian] church permeate his ears understands exactly what combination of elements we are talking about... The mixing of the origins of East and West is piercing, and your breath is taken away by the abundance of musical traditions heard from every direction".

Tsippi Fleischer’s activity in the initiative was documented by art researcher Gideon Ofrat: “Western and Arab intonations and meter, Western and Oriental music scales, Jewish, Western and Eastern liturgical heritages – the uniting all of these and more in a single cultural-musical mélange became a first-rate educational challenge.”

Additional educational initiatives

Additional educational initiatives by Tsippi Fleischer tied together broad contexts of the Hebrew folksong: its inter-disciplinary potential (her article Hebrew Song as a Tool for Multidisciplinary Education); the Hebrew folksong as an essential building-block in preschool education (her article “Children’s Songs: Old and New”); the repertoire of old holiday songs in Hebrew together with those composed by contemporary rock and pop artists; the context of music and the Bible as a fused entity (her article “Music as a Bridge between Judaism and Art”) and developing an interdisciplinary kit for teachers of Bible, art and music based on her operatic scene The Judgment of Solomon, and more.