di Sophia Magallanes, 3H - gennaio 2024

Sophia: Welcome Charles Darwin! 

Darwin: Thank you for inviting me, I'm very happy to be here to tell my story.
Sophia: Well, let's start then. Where were you born? How did you spend your childhood? 

Darwin: I was born in Shrewsbury in 1809, my father was Robert Darwin and my mother was Susannah Wedgwoods. As a child I read the “Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne”. I was fascinated by it and started collecting insects, rocks and minerals. 

Sophia: Interesting, and what school did you attend? 

Darwin: After primary school, I attended Shrewsbury School. 

Sophia: And what were your favourite subjects? 

Darwin: My favourite subjects were maths and geometry. 

Sophia: What did you do in your free time? 

Darwin: I collected bird eggs and insects. I also did chemical experiments with my brother Erasmus. 

Sophia: What university did you attend? 

Darwin: My father sent me to Christ's college at Cambridge University. I felt like I was wasting my time, but I kept collecting insects. Once, while trying to catch a rare beetle, I put an insect in my mouth, then it sprayed an irritating liquid. That was terrible! 

Sophia: I See. What was your most important expedition? 

Darwin: The most important for My career was the expedition with Commander Fitzroi aboard the Beagle. 

Sophia: Which places did you visit? 

Darwin: I visited the Islands of Capo Verde, Maldives, South America coast, Australia and also the Galapagos Islands. 

Sophia: Great! What did you do? 

Darwin: I collected numerous samples of unknown species and gave them to the British Museum. 

Sophia: Wonderful! We all know about your extraordinary book On the Origin of Species; was it difficult to write? 

Darwin: It was difficult: I knew that my theories were very new for that time, I knew they were going to change the way biology was understood. I had to do many experiments! 

Sophia: Can you explain what the Origin of Species talks about? 

Darwin: Sure, in the book I talked about my theories: natural selection, evolution and the origin of species. Two concepts are important for understanding the origin of species: natural selection and evolution. Natural selection is the theory that explains the evolution of species: living animals which are better adapted to their environment are more likely to survive. Evolution is the continuous process of transformation of species. 

Sophia: I see. Thank you very much for telling us your story…

Darwin: It was a pleasure!

di Aurora Macelletti, 3E - Aprile 2024

The Italian school system and the American school system are two very different educational systems. For example, our school is structured in a rigid and hierarchical manner, with a greater focus on theoretical learning and memorization and the students are usually divided into classes based on age and follow a predetermined curriculum that includes subjects such as mathematics, science, history, and foreign languages. 

On the other hand, the American school system is more flexible and oriented towards practical learning. American students have the opportunity to choose the subjects they want to study and customize their educational path. Additionally, the American school system places greater emphasis on experiential learning and social interaction, encouraging students to work in groups and actively participate in lessons. 

Another significant difference between the two schools is the evaluation system. In Italy, students are primarily assessed through written and oral exams, while in the United States, a variety of assessment methods are used, such as group projects, presentations, and multiple-choice tests. This more varied approach allows American students to demonstrate their abilities in different ways and develop skills such as creativity and problem solving. 

Finally, another important difference concerns the organiation of school time. In Italy, students spend many hours in class each day and have few breaks during the day. In the United States, however, students often have more free time during the school day and can participate in extracurricular activities such as sports, music, or theater.

In conclusion, the Italian school system and the American school system have very different educational approaches, with the former being more structured and traditional and the latter being more flexible and oriented towards practical learning. Both systems have their strengths and weaknesses, and offer students unique educational experiences that prepare them for the future. 

di Claudia Tazza e Caterina Menichelli, 2H

Greg Koch is one of the greatest living guitarists in the world. Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1966, he has released more than 15 albums with various bands, as well as various guitar books and methods.

We met him in Terni, where he was with his band "Koch-Marshall Trio" to perform in the music festival "VISIONINMUSICA". The Koch Marshall Trio is an instrumental group consisting of three elements: guitar (Greg Koch), drums (Dylan Koch, Greg's son), and organ (Toby Lee Marshall, who plays a Hammond B3). Their latest studio album, "From the Up'Nuh", was released in 2021. Here's what he told us.

Claudia/Caterina: “ We are Claudia and Caterina thank you for your time”

Greg: “Thank you!”

C: “ We work for the school magazine of the Middle School De Filis Terni and we want to ask you some questions about your music”

G: “ok!”

C: “So the first question: how was your passion for music born?”

G: “I had older brothers and sisters, I was the youngest of seven kids, my brother was the oldest and  I was the youngest, so there were five girls in between (chuckles) and so my brother and I had a room together. My brother went to high school in the late 60s. He didn’t play music but he loved to, he listened to a lot of music so I was exposed very early too, you know, Jimi Hendrix and Cream and The Beatles and The Stones, all that stuff, and there was such a reverence for musicians of that era, with really all my family members and the music just spoke to me, I just felt like, especially Jimi Hendrix, I had this weird thing where I was like: “That just spoke to me”and I always wanted to do it. My mum was a very good piano player. She would teach me little things, she would just sit down and play, and I didn’t really realize until I was older that she… (chuckles)… I came home from college and I thought: “I bet when I hear my mum playing now is gonna sound, like you know, childish, you know” and she was cooking a holiday meal, she went to the other room and she started playing piano and I was like: “It sounds pretty good!” but I didn’t recognize any of the songs and so I said “Mum, what are those songs that you’re playing?” and she said “Oh I just make it up as I go along” So that’s where it came from, it came from my mum.”

C: “How long have you been playing the guitar?”

G: “ It’s been forty-some years… forty-four years, I started when I was twelve”

C: “Can you tell us something about the different music styles that you play?”

G: “Sure! Well As I said I was really into two/three main guys: Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jeff Buckley and Jimmy Paige were my four guys. So that’s how it started, but I would read who they were influenced by ‘cause I wanted to figure out who they listened to, so I would always see the names, you know, Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Albert King, Freddy King, T-bone Walker, Otis Rush, all these people. So I started researching them and I started to listen to a bunch of old Blues stuff. Right about at the same time I heard some country guitar players that I really liked, so I started listening to all the Western Swing stuff, Jimmy Bryant, Jerry Reed and Chet Atkins, things of this nature.  And I was into some Jazz stuff as well. So I started to get into some very different Jazz people, you know, Wes Montgomery, Grant Green, all these kinds of folks. But in my mind I always wanted to put it in kind of a rock band with all these different influences because all my favourite bands from back in the day, whether they’d be Led Zeppelin or whoever, seemed to do that, they would play. I was like, hey, that kind of sounds like an R&B tune. But it always had this hard edge to it. That's kind of what I try to do. I have all these different influences, but I try to do it in a band format.

C: “Why do you always use the Fender guitar?”

G: “Well,  I play my Reverend Guitars now, which are modified versions of what the Fender guitar is. Initially I wanted the Les Paul because I wanted to play like Hendrix but to me Hendrix was like a magicians, you just couldn’t do it. But Jimmy Page, is like, “that, I think it could be done”, for some reason, but I remember wanting a Les Paul early on, I got a Les Paul copy, but it didn’t stay in tuned and just really didn’t do what I wanted it to do, so my first main electric guitar was a Fender. And I kind of bounced between playing Fenders and Gibsons for years, but mostly Fenders. Then I got affiliated with Fenders, so then I really played them. But it's always been that kind of world for me. I love the simplicity of a Fender Telecaster, but that was the first Fender guitar that was available to me. So as a result, I just developed on that. It's not that I wanted that particular guitar. It's the one that was available to me, and I just learned how to play it, and that really kind of became my thing. So that's kind of what happened.

C.: “What is the importance of a good music teacher to become a professional musician?”

G: “ Well, you got to be crazy (laughs out loud) You want to be a musician, you got to be a little cuckoo. It's very difficult. Everyone has to choose their own path. My dad tried to talk me out of being a musician. He talked to every one of my teachers, saying, will you talk some sense into this kid? There's no way. Because my dad was a lawyer, all my siblings went to college for the most part. I think maybe one of them didn't. But they were all professionals. They all had good jobs and degrees. And so the idea of me being a musician was just something that was unthinkable. It was just uncharted territory for my parents. They put the fear of God in me. So that's one of the reasons why I think I practiced so much because I thought, well, if I don't really practice to be the best I possibly can be, I'm going to starve to death. But why I talk about the crazy thing, is that you have to be confident almost to the point of being a little crazy. Everyone tells you, oh, there's no way you're going to do it. And the whole time you look at it going, you don't seem to get it. I've got this thing and it's going to carry me through. So there has to be a little bit of a belief in yourself and a love of what you do that is so strong that whenever adversity comes, as it will almost on a daily basis, the love of what you do has to be stronger than the obstacles that will come in your way. So you just gotta keep on going. Frank Zappa said it best: He goes, “you want to be a musician? Remember two things: don't stop and never give up. Those are the two things.

C: “How important is the family during the process to become an artist?”

G: “Well, I think it's very important. As much as my dad didn't want me to be a musician for a profession, he certainly made sure I got all the lessons I needed and supported me going to college and all that other kind of stuff. But I think it was kind of one of those things where even though he gave the support because I was his kid and he wanted to make sure I was interested in stuff and followed whatever dream I had, he was also very skeptical. But that kind of played into me. I was like, I'm going to show you. And then I did. But it took a while because he would occasionally have friends over and they were,  like, “What is he doing?” “He's going to be a musician…You know what I mean??” Thanks, dad!! And then years later, I'd be in a restaurant and he'd be like, do you know who my son is? (chuckles) So it changed around, but for me with my kids, well, my oldest, obviously, is playing drums in the band. I tried to make sure he had the opportunities to do stuff, but I never tried to push him in any particular direction. You got to let people do their own thing. My oldest daughter went to school. She was a theater major, and then she graduated from that and then she went to this other theater school. So she's pursuing acting and she's actually a physical theater person. She does clowning, she does all kinds of crazy, she devises shows, all this kind of stuff. So it's been an interesting ride with her as well because I want to be supportive. And my thought is, life is short, do what you really want to do. So for me in our family unit, I try to be as supportive as possible for the artistic stuff, but also with the realization that life isn't all about the money, but it is a little bit. So you got to figure out a way to be able to support yourself with your art because mom and dad aren't going to do it forever (laughs out loud).

C.: “Have you ever encountered any big obstacles during your career?”

G.: “Well, when I first started out, I always wanted to have my own band and write my own music, record my own music, all that kind of stuff. And I did that at a pretty early age, in my early twenties, I had my own band under my name. I booked the band, recorded all that other kind of stuff. And I tried everything that I thought you were supposed to do, try to get a record deal, try to get this and that, try to meet important musicians and hopefully they'll help you and all these different things and just realized it was very difficult. And also I think there was also the thought, and I think a lot of people have this thought too, is that they think someone's going to hear them playing and go, oh, pick you out of obscurity and bring you over here to the promised land. And that almost never happens unless, I mean it does happen every now and again, but also people win the lottery every now and again too. So I had to at one point just think, okay, well, am I going to do this professionally? I got married, started having kids, and what's okay money when you're single versus what's okay money when you have a family, are two different things entirely. So I realized that I had to open myself up to some possibilities that maybe I'd never thought of before in terms of how to make money playing. And it all kind of worked out and there's always been disappointments. But I find that one of the biggest things I did years ago, well, it was kind of a life choice and a career choice is I stopped partying. I mean, to me, when I was in my late twenties, twenty-eight, I think I just decided no more drinking, no more partying, all that kind of stuff, because it was taking a turn to the point of no return. So that was a huge decision and lifestyle change that I think ultimately added to my success, as opposed to a lot of times you'd be playing in places and you'd be like, well, I don't really care where I'm playing, as long as I get to drink and hang out with my friends and raise cane and all that kind of stuff. And then when you stop drinking, and you show up at a venue, you're like: “What am I doing here?” So once that happened, it really changed the way I looked at things in general. And ultimately, it was better for my health and mental health and so on and so forth. So that was a huge thing.

C: “Thank you so much. Thank you for your time. It's been a great pleasure.”