Ovation Press: Classical music (or music in general) is one of mankind’s most amazing and enduring accomplishments. But there is no question that we are in a transformative period in which people, art, and life are evolving and changing faster than ever before. In this cultural environment, what future do you envision for classical music? More specifically, what future do you envision for the symphony orchestras of the world?

Jorja Fleezanis: I agree that the consequences of the world order, technology and the speeding up of the pace of life have made an impact on everything and how we spend our time. Like many others, I also believe that without a clear understanding of what place and what value the lively arts should have in our world order we are doomed to letting this technological freight train that moves us along to determine what we know and what we should listen to. There are two dichotomies in my last statement. One is that, more than ever, if you need a piece of information or need to hear a video/audio performance by a whole slew of fabulous artists, it is at your fingertips. The opposing side is, that if you don’t know what to look up to be stimulated and properly informed AND have no standards to help you determine what in the great YouTube warehouse truly represents artistic excellence, you will wander around aimlessly, unaware of what is what. How do we learn what to learn and what artistic excellence sounds like or looks like?  Well, it has to come through education, and education that starts at the bottom level of introducing the arts to children at the beginning of their journey through life. We need vigorous and enlightened teachers to take on this charge and schools to readmit art and music programs into their curriculums.

Symphony orchestras need to take the charge of being more proactive in music education for the young, the medium and the old in their communities, and not just by presenting a few token children’s concerts. Grass roots movements need to be identified to work together with the arts organizations in their community to ensure that the reason why human nature has struggled for centuries to seek self-expression through the arts and humanities is to make us realize what we are capable of when creative juices flow and what of that creative output is our salvation from turning into zombies who only eat fast food and watch the thinnest of broth as our entertainment.

Ovation Press: Having been with the Minnesota Orchestra as long as you were, it must be especially upsetting to you to see what is going on there, with the labor disputes and the season cancellation. Can you give us your thoughts on the situation?

The one unexpected silver lining in the terrible lockout of the Minnesota Orchestra’s struggle is the ground swell of people in that community voicing their love of music and why living without it is completely unacceptable. In some editorials, there have even been suggested ways for the community to rally their means to help make up the gap between the musicians’ idea of their worth and the wealthiest in the community not believing this possible. Right now I wonder if this impasse is simply a matter of not putting the question directly to the community so that both musicians and board/management can hear the answer simultaneously and work collectively to be sure such cultural hostage taking never occurs in a first world country such as ours.

Ovation Press: As one of the first female concertmasters of a major North American orchestra, you were truly a trail-blazer for women aspiring to pursue leadership roles in music. Did you see this as a major obstacle to overcome as you pursued the concertmaster position? 

Jorja Fleezanis: I was never invested in the idea of gender as a disqualifier. Through history there are legions of women who have established themselves as role models in literature, medicine, heads of state, visual artists and certainly musical artists. Growing up in the spirit of the 60’s and woman’s liberation, I was swept into this wave of empowerment that greased the wheel for my generation of women to get on with our dreams and not feel deterred. As a result as I grew up there were as many girls as boys in the summer camps I attended and the conservatories I went to.  By the age of 18 my aspirations to become a professional musician were driven entirely by my fascination with and dedication to music. The depth of human expression that music opened up in me inspired the charge to defend music at the highest possible level and made me the kind of musical citizen I am.  I have never looked back.

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Being the theatrical genius of such gritty operas like Elektra and Salome, it is no surprise that Strauss would create  ‘Don Juan’ into one of the most unrelenting and driving orchestral works in the literature. It is as virtuosic as its hero. For me, playing a note perfect version of any work without the blood and guts of the subtext, especially when it so vividly outlined by a source, is to miss the whole point. The opening gesture of seven fast notes, lunging upward after a gulp of quick silence on the downbeat, immediately sets us on course with flare and an unmistakable sense of this unstoppable, dominant character. Conductors such as Wolfgang Sawallisch and Edo de Waart, who had one foot in opera and the other in symphonic repertoire, brought visceral electricity to performances I played because they understood the larger than life subject matter and had the theater experience behind the language of Strauss in the opera house. Constant physical energy inside those many upward seven note figures throughout the work, the long melodic lines that are Straussian trademarks begging extreme fervor this unquenchable hunter of females, must motivate the performer very specifically. If you can make the connection of the point of this work to the ubiquitous first page excerpt many of you will play for auditions, you will never tire of working on the technical challenge as a means to a dramatic end.

Ovation Press: Starting Don Juan when playing it for an audition is incredibly difficult.  What specific tips do you have for violinists to help them tackle the opening run?

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Ovation Press: When interviewing musicians, I always love to ask this question: What is the funniest story you have from your years of performing or rehearsing? (And what’s the worst story from your years of performing?)

Jorja Fleezanis: I will stick to telling the funniest event I experienced in a performance, and it was in fact caused by a mechanical item, namely a piano bench. This was an indoor summer concert with the Minnesota Orchestra, David Zinman was conducting and Garrick Ohlsson was the pianist. A newly designed piano bench that was regulated by some sort of hydraulic system was presented to Garrick to use for this concert. He accepted the invitation in the spirit of hoping there might finally be a bench one did not have to screw up and down by turning the knobs on each side of the bench. This model did away with this ritual, somehow. Here we are at the concert, the rehearsal had gone smoothly with the bench, and somewhere into the big romantic theme of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No.2 I notice a strange liquid moving on the floor near my feet (as concertmaster you sit fairly close to the piano bench). Any deviation from the norm on stage is disturbing, especially when it involves liquid. Even though Garrick and I have been close friends and colleagues for years, my first thought was not a pleasant one and I leave that one to your imaginations. It was only when I started to see Garrick slowly start to sink lower and lower, in slow motion, that I was able to dispel with my first assessment and target the bench as the culprit. Amazingly, he was able to finish the first movement, ending up looking as though he were a small boy whose torso could not lift him high enough above of the keys. What a master of concentration and resilience of mind and body to adjust to this ridiculous situation! The audience and the orchestra were stunned at the sight of Garrick’s descent, since only a few people knew this bench was a new prototype, whose main component turned out to be a hydraulic fluid that had somehow malfunctioned! After the last not of the first movement Garrick turned to the audience, who were perplexed by the events of the last 15 minutes, and said, “ for those of you who may have thought that I was incapable of controlling my nerves, I can assure you that my first piano teacher made it clear to always go to the bathroom before you go on stage!”

Ovation Press: That is truly a funny incident. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us, This interview is indeed inspiring.

We hope you have enjoyed this two part interview with Jorja Fleezanis. To see a complete listing of her editions published by Ovation Press visit Jorja Fleezanis’ editor profile

The post Interview with Jorja Fleezanis, Part 2 appeared first on String Visions | from Ovation Press.

Ovation Press: We are delighted to have your expertise and knowledge as an editor at Ovation Press. You have such a top-notch, professional resume–it covers all aspects of orchestral playing: from section player in Chicago, to associate concertmaster in the San Francisco Symphony for 8 years, to your great 20-year stay as concertmaster of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra. Your teaching credentials are also very impressive. The Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University is lucky to have you on their faculty! I have so many questions that I am eager to ask you.

You started your full-time teaching job at the Jacobs School four years ago. Do you miss playing in orchestras in general?

Jorja Fleezanis: As I was planning this next chapter of my professional career I spent many an hour in rehearsals and concerts with the Minnesota Orchestra imagining myself not doing that anymore. This exercise first and foremost allowed me to take stock and appreciate the results of my twenty years of musical life on that stage and with that orchestra. It also allowed me to begin privately saying my goodbyes while installing a visualization of the work I knew I would be doing at the Jacobs School in starting an orchestral training program, a dream that was long in the making to happen someday, somewhere. One of the most important parts of my orchestral training mission is to sit in the orchestra rehearsals: rotating between the five orchestras; trouble shooting from the inside; assisting conductors in matters of getting a better bowing to solve a phrasing or articulation issue; suggesting fingerings, bow color, rhythmic control! Because of this activity I still keep my contact with the orchestra and the repertoire I still adore. When I have been asked to sit in as a guest concertmaster for professional orchestras I have jumped to say yes simply because I have the skill set in place, often know the conductors and am happy to be of help when the reason for being there is due to a search for a new concertmaster.

Ovation Press: Your teaching career has been long and wide-ranging–are there any issues with students or teaching today that surprise you? Are there aspects of violin-playing or music in general that you find yourself needing to spend more time on than you would expect?

Jorja Fleezanis: There are two areas that are high on my radar and that are essential core items: strong, vibrant rhythmic skills, and knowledge of the score and what it contains that inform us of the composers intentions. I am not surprised that these two areas are weak in students, but without these in place I feel that their musical boat is quite lost, and they play in a self-indulgent manner. The one other gap that is both a technical and musical one is an appreciation for the interval, any interval, and how it holds so much expressivity in the way melodic lines are made. A minor sixth going upwards can be yearning or urgently reaching for the climactic moment, or possibly it is there to relax the end of a phrase, all depending on the context of the text. If you don’t see the intervals as holding these possibilities you are more likely to be a mono toned player. I would add that intervals are the basis for the geography of any phrase.

Ovation Press: As string teachers we spend a lot of time teaching fundamentals to our students to equip them with the necessary tools needed for their profession. What are some specific skills sets that you want your students to have, and how do you go about teaching them?

Jorja Fleezanis: Scales, arpeggios, thirds, fourths, fifths, sixths, octaves, tenths – all are extremely important to learning the fingerboard, building finger strength and training the ear. I was trained to hold the fourth finger down during string crossings in scales, specifically to develop a smooth legato. Legato playing has many enemies, string crossings is one of them. I will also assign etudes to reinforce problem areas as needed and to build bowing skills and left hand facility. Any repertoire I assign has the makings for many minutes and hours of building technique that draw on specific technical nuts and bolts. My preference is to mold the technical work between the rudiments of scale work and digging deeper into the soil of the repertoire to create exercises using the music as the raw material. I recently heard that Martha Argerich, the eccentric and ferociously compelling pianist, loathed doing scales etc, and instead used the raw material of the music she was learning to perfect her command of the instrument. I like that approach and have peppered my personal work with a balance of pure technical work and the using the raw musical material I am preparing to keep me in shape.

Ovation Press: Do your teaching responsibilities at IU include teaching an orchestral repertoire class?

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I also discuss etiquette in orchestra, how to sit, how to write in the parts, defining the many foreign words used to describe character that are essential to being a competent musician, to listening to recordings and discussing issues of style and tempi and how they relate. I love these classes because they allow this part of the school community to bond right off the bat. Once they are in the orchestra with lots of advanced peers all around them they feel that much more ahead of the game. I also teach an advanced rep class as does my colleague Ales Kerr.

Ovation Press: When you are teaching orchestral repertoire, how do you plan it out? What is your plan for covering all the major excerpts or works needed to be ready for orchestral auditions? Do you have a one-year, two-year, or longer plan for covering all those works?

Jorja Fleezanis: My advanced rep class is offered each semester and students who are serious about preparing for auditions understand the advantage of having two veteran concertmasters, Alex Kerr and myself, available to learn the ins and outs of orchestral audition material.  Many will alternate in taking both of our classes and or each one multiple times. With possible repeaters I will select different repertoire for each semester, and build a new menu that incorporates the main stylistic excerpt groups: classical, romantic and the rest that follow.

Ovation Press: Your experience of having played these works with so many different conductors must give you such a vast amount of knowledge that you can share with students.

Jorja Fleezanis: The wisdoms acquired from various conductors along the way have certainly shaped what I know about orchestral music in the thirty years I was a professional orchestral player. There is too much material really, but I will address the conductors that illuminated my understanding of the classical style.  Some of them are performance practice conscious – like Roger Norrington, John Nelson, Ton Koppman – and others, such as James Levine and Osmo Vanska, are interested in text and character as the jump off points.  From the first group I learned the element of dance, movement and the elegance this reveals inside the musical lines of Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven. From the other two I mentioned I learned how tempo affects character and how character lights up the theater or dramatic content of the classical language. Learning several Mozart operas and Fidelio with Mr. Levine, while still in school, my eyes were opened to what singers teach us about breath and line in classical style. In other words, what does it mean when we see ‘cantabile’, how do singers use text to articulate short notes and how do they bring pathos or innocence to a slow melodic line, such as Pamina’s aria in the Magic Flute, Ach, ich fuhl. If I look at the vocal line of this aria, how Mozart shapes the words to music, you can draw many conclusions on how to carry this expressive ‘vocal execution’ into an abstract, non text driven musical line in any slow movement of a symphony, concerto or sonata by Mozart. Mr. Vanska, on the other hand, used the text in Beethoven’s scores to consider tempo and character by both weighing the metronome marks and not following customary tempi and traditional interpretations. The debate on the verity of these metronome marks to the aside, I too believe that they help give us a mile marker in an otherwise endless range of choices. Our recordings of the ten Beethoven Symphonies exhibit a level of ensemble that is disciplined in part by sticking religiously to a character led by tempo and strict adherence to articulation and shaping of the lines that is not sentimental.

Ovation Press: Can you share with us some helpful concepts or tips for people taking orchestra auditions? What is really important to do? What are the most common “don’ts” you see at auditions (and how can an auditioning player avoid them)?

Jorja Fleezanis: Get scores to all the excerpts, listen to a number of recordings with the score in hand to see how your line sits inside the context of the whole. Hear the entire passage as you learn excerpts that are new to you and that you have never performed. Work with a metronome to teach you where your weak rhythmic spots are. Dotted rhythms are famously weak in many players, like the ones in the opening theme of the Mozart Symphony 39 second movement Andante. The skill of subdivision cannot be underscored enough in my book. In the early stages of learning this excerpt you should be able to feel every 16^th note in the opening theme so it is clearly present in your awareness for the passage that begins after the first double bar and the violas are playing a whole series of them while you enter every other bar. Nothing gives away a player’s lack of pulse than this simple matter of feeling the subdivision that rules such a movement. Take dynamics seriously. Do not just turn the decibel dial up and down, void of energy in softer dynamics, like the pianissimos in Mendelssohn’s Scherzo to the Midsummer Night’s Dream, or disregarding what Brahms means in the Second Symphony, first movement excerpt after letter E when he writes in bar 137 poco forte, and don’t play on in the same fortissimo you ended with in bar 134. Do not think that playing mechanistically exact is enough. You are a musician making music happen, not only auditioning for a car assembly job. Play the excerpts for people often to feel the adrenaline that will be present when you play for a committee. Ask for comments, if only to confirm what you already heard, or be told something you possibly did not hear. Toughen your grip on maintaining a consistent tempo through any given passage of music. Have a clear idea of what the tempo and dramatic language of the passage is WAY before you put the bow to the string. Lastly, love the work.

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For instance, specifics on how to articulate a passage that from experience I know is ambiguous, either because there is nothing in the part to suggest spiccato or on the string, or when moments when it is necessary to retake the bow to get the right character or weight on a pulse because of how the bow distribution works out. In some cases a word like sostenuto over a long melodic line is meant to underscore the strength of support I believe the passage warrants, as it all to easy to drop the line at the bow changes. For younger inexperienced professional players I prefer to put in such indications in hopes that they pick up on my cue of what will help to make the musical moment clearer and expressively unified. I am a fan of commas to indicate specifically how to release the end of note or to get off a suspension in time to grab the next note with clarity as a whole section. Most of what I write is based on my values in bringing about a high level of ensemble execution. The operative word here is clarity.

In the upcoming second part of our interview, Ms. Fleezanis will discuss her thoughts on the changing landscape of classical music and symphony orchestras. In addition, we will take a close look at her recently published edition of Richard Strauss’ Don Juan.

The post Interview with Jorja Fleezanis, Part 1 appeared first on String Visions | from Ovation Press.

Gastoldi A lieta vita for Cello Quintet

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As the words clearly indicate, this madrigal is a happy and dancing movement in which the cello quintet assumes the role of the a cappella choir. The arrangement is quite simple and particularly suitable for children.

Schumann Romanze for 12 Celli

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Chopin Etude in E-flat Minor for Cello Quartet

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Four Chorales from the Renaissance and early-Baroque

Continuing the theme from the first work above, Hans Erik Deckert also released four chorale arrangements from the Renaissance & Baroque periods. For the source material, Deckert has drawn upon some of the most prolific chorale composers of the age: Palestrina, Ockeghem, Praetorius, and Purcell.

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The post Score Spotlight: March & April 2013 appeared first on String Visions | from Ovation Press.

The music world saw the passing of a giant this past weekend as legendary Hungarian cellist Janos Starker died on Sunday at the age of 88. Starker’s presence in the music community was so great and so extraordinary that to try to remember him in writing is almost an impossible task. The course of his life leaps off the page as if written into a movie: child prodigy survives Nazi concentration camp to find world renown as a cellist through hard work, talent, and extraordinary resilience. Despite the dramatic events of his life and the exceptional nature of his success, Starker’s legacy is one that truly is and always has been about the music.

Starker was born to Jewish parents in Hungary in 1924 and was given a cello before his sixth birthday. He made quick work of learning the cello, giving his first public performance at the age of six and entering the Franz Liszt Academy of Budapest the next year. He debuted in performance at the Academy at age 11 and made his professional debut at the age of 14. Coming of age as he did in troubled political times, Starker’s early career encountered the most harrowing of setbacks: he and his family were sent to a Nazi concentration camp for three months during World War II. He and his parents survived, but his two violinist elder brothers did not. After being released from the camp, Starker worked his way to Paris as an electrician and a sulfur miner–but he released his first recording in that same year. That disc, the 1946 recording of Kodaly’s Solo Sonata, met with great success, winning a Grand Prix du Disque and putting Starker into the international eye. Of his brush with death in the concentration camps, he said, “I had very little chance of surviving WWII. And when I survived it, I said I should make it justifiable why I stayed alive.”

He did so with unbelievable vigor, arriving in the United States in 1948 and quickly rising through the ranks of American orchestras, including the Dallas Symphony, the Metropolitan Opera, and the Chicago Symphony. He felt that his calling, though, was as a teacher, and he left his orchestral life to pursue a career as an international soloist and teacher. “I’ve been caught confessing that basically I was born to be a teacher,” he said. “People question the validity of it, because I played all those 3, 4, 5,000 concerts in my life. But the fact is, I think I was put on earth to be a teacher.”

To that end, Starker joined the faculty of the Indiana University School of Music in 1958–where he remained until his death. To enumerate his playing and teaching achievements is an almost insurmountable task: Starker played all of the greatest repertoire with all of the great orchestras, recording much of it, and shaping the face of modern cello-playing with his technique books and his teaching. To all living cellists, Starker was a universal presence in our lives, and that in itself speaks to an extraordinary generosity of character. Not content to preach his musical gospel from a stationary pulpit in Indiana, Starker traveled the world to teach students everywhere.

Nor was he a man of frothy, intangible musical ideas that do little to help the players on the ground: he was a musician of exacting standards with a strong sense of pragmatism that pervaded his approach to teaching and to playing–his was a masterclass that left every participant and audience member alike humming with ideas that they would take home and try immediately, and they would work. His colleague and friend Menachem Pressler said of him, “His standard was very, very high. But he was a perfectionist, so during performance he was very concerned with perfection — and he was perfect.”

Starker’s dedication to excellence–to perfection–rendered him both a beautiful player and a demanding and effective teacher. No metaphorical nonsense, no frills, no hysterical showmanship: Starker’s teaching was lean and focused, practical but utterly musical, just like his playing and just like man himself. That quest for perfection was no empty technical ambition: it was rooted completely in the service of the music, and it is this service to music that has inspired generations of modern cellists–and will continue to inspire future generations for years to come.  It is simply impossible to imagine a world without Janos Starker. Thanks to his unflagging, tireless work as a teacher and his vast catalog of brilliant recorded performances, there will never really be a world without his indispensable presence.

To share your remembrances of Professor Starker, please visit the following memorial site at the Jacobs School of Music.

The post Honoring the Life of Janos Starker, Master Cellist appeared first on String Visions | from Ovation Press.

At times during hectic and freezing Chicago winters, I often find myself threatening to turn off my electronic devices, pack my bags, and take myself and my cello to the south of France (sometimes I say Provence, but sometimes I also say Tuscany, to be fair), where my secret wish is to play and practice, unknown and unbothered, in perfect peace and quiet far away from my usual life. Interestingly, this fantasy of musical cloistering in the south of France is hardly unique to me. And now, for talented music students the world over, it is about to become much more accessible, thanks to the newborn Zodiac Music Academy and Festival.

The Zodiac Music Academy and Festival will be kicking off its inaugural season this summer from July 2-15 in Valdebore, France. Located near Nice and drawing upon resources throughout the French Riviera, the festival will invite students and young professionals to take part in a two-week session that will include private lessons, chamber music coachings, masterclasses, and performance opportunities.

The festival was founded by the eponymous Zodiac Trio, comprised of the Festival’s Artistic Director clarinetist Krilment Krylovskiy, violinist Vanessa Mollard, and pianist Riko Higuma. The ensemble was founded at the Manhattan School of Music in 2006 and has gained considerable praise and attention throughout the international community. The trio’s study in Paris at the Paris Conservatory laid the foundation for what has become the Zodiac Music Academy and Festival. Says Krylovskiy, “We had the opportunity to perform in the south of France, and I found the setting so perfectly fitting to artistic growth and creativity.”

While the Zodiac Trio found their French environment to be creatively rewarding, Krylovskiy found that in France, in general, “not many options were available to American students.” When he found himself in a position to broker a solution to this scarcity, he created the festival: “It was this combination of my love for this legendary region and the desire to offer the opportunity for students to explore it in a setting of an intense musical academy that sparked the launching of the Zodiac Music Academy & Festival.”

The festival features an international faculty that includes not only members of the trio but members of the Pittsburgh and Detroit Symphony Orchestras, among others. The festival is aimed largely at pre-professional musicians, and it combines a focus on chamber music with attention to relevant professional and developmental staples; private lessons and chamber music coachings are accompanied by collaborative performances with faculty and seminars on topics ranging from practice technique to musical entrepreneurship to orchestral auditions–a practical and well-considered nod to the reality of life outside the idyllic summer retreat of the festival. Of the coming summer, Krylovskiy says, “We are absolutely thrilled about our inaugural season. The season will feature at least six performances, five invited guest masterclass artists, and nightly chamber music sight reading soirees joining both faculty and students.”

The festival is still accepting applications through May 1, and Krylovskiy is already looking toward the festival’s future. The festival has hopes of operating soon as a tuition-free summer academy, offering its unique blend of musical training, fellowship, and artistic inspiration to students at the highest level.

http://www.zodiacfestival.com/

The post A Musicians’ Retreat… appeared first on String Visions | from Ovation Press.

A native of Germany, Gerhard Roither was born in his homeland’s capital of Berlin in 1932. He studied violin with M. L. König von Kleist and theory and composition with Gotthold Frotscher. Mr. Roither has been a member of the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin (formerly the RIAS- and later Radio-Symphony Orchestra Berlin) for over 40 years, as well as having been a member of the Fournes String Quartet from 1959 until 1970.

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Ovation Press: Ovation Press is very excited that we had the opportunity to publish your wonderful arrangement of Seven Spirituals. Having been written for the 12 cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic, your arrangement shows an incredible knowledge and sensitivity to all the possibilities of tone, range, and color that a cello ensemble presents. Can you give us some insight into what inspired you to make this arrangement?

Gerhard Roither: While in Salzburg on a tour with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1972, some of the cellists in the orchestra told me that their very successful and recently founded “12 Cellists Cello Ensemble” needed some short pieces for encores. I remembered a record that my mother-in-law had often played for me with four wonderful African American vocalists on it singing spirituals. That was the idea and inspiration for the Seven Spirituals that I then wrote for the Berlin Philharmonic cellists.

Ovation Press: We’ve been looking for recordings of the full piece, but so far we haven’t been able to find them all in one place. “Deep River” is on the Berlin Philharmonic cellists’ album Round Midnight. Have the 12 cellists recorded all seven of the spirituals? If they have, where could one find that recording? If they haven’t, have you had the opportunity to hear them perform all seven?

Gerhard Roither: Yes, I have. All seven were recorded at once by RIAS-Berlin (now Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin).

Ovation Press: You are of course a violinist in addition to being a composer of string quartets and other varied ensembles. As a violinist, how did you approach this cello-only project? Were there any special considerations that you had when writing for a cello ensemble?

Gerhard Roither: My relationship to the cello is rooted in two sons of mine who have become good cellists. Also, in the past I have had to write some cadences for cello concertos – such as Haydn D [Major], which was played very often; Haydn C [Major]; Volkmann; C.P.E. Bach. And, whenever I wrote cadences, I made it a point to always be in contact with the soloists.

Ovation Press: Since this arrangement was specifically for the Berlin Philharmonic cellists, did you write the parts to match the personalities or playing of the individual players in the section, or was your focus on the overall effect of the combined parts?

Gerhard Roither: I thought to myself: there are twelve exceptional musicians, each one capable of masterful artistic playing; and in addition there is a group, belonging to a first-rate orchestra. There was a great amount of familiarity among the musicians. They knew each other very well, they were all chamber musicians, and they all had a high level of musical intelligence. In making the arrangement I tried as much as possible to write 12 distinct parts in which it was necessary for them to play together, in sync, to truly bring the sound out.

Ovation Press: What were some of the specific challenges you encountered when you started to translate the spiritual form to a cello ensemble?

Gerhard Roither: The religious feeling and intensity of the spirituals in the singing of a human voice… that was a challenge to recreate in the cello. I took the melodies from some old songbooks and a handwritten transcription of Songs from Alabama. (I like to set the words to the notes.) Having and understanding the meaning of the words can impact the meaning of the music.

Ovation Press: We string players like to think that we all have a natural affinity for one another, and in doing so, feel a certain understanding of the other instruments in the string-playing family. That being said, there’s a big difference between, say, a violin ensemble and a cello ensemble. What qualities does a cello ensemble have that makes it different from another all-instrument ensemble?

Gerhard Roither: The cello is the “all-around” instrument of the string family. It’s able to be soprano (marvelous – not too much vibrato), alto (yes – also with the vibrato), tenor (extremely delightful), and last but not least bass (perhaps the “Heel of Achilles”). Sometimes we can even use it as a double bass. (Please, always know if you are the lowest one!) In other words, the cello can take on the entire scale of the human being… of human singing. And with that pizzicato, you essentially have a great harp!

Ovation Press: With a 12-voice ensemble, the term “arrangement” seems like too small a term for what you actually needed to do–it’s really more like orchestration! Are there any specific composers that have inspired you with their work in orchestration?

Gerhard Roither: Orchestration means that melodies bring in many colors, shades, dynamics and kinds of sound. It can be in groups, small or big. It can be tutti or solo. Also the same sound can always be changing, especially when you consider where you hear it from: if it comes from left, right, behind, or in front. As far as influences by other composers… it’s safe to say that I was influenced by many composers, but it would be difficult for me to pick which ones had the greatest influence.

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Ovation Press: We at Ovation Press are delighted to be able to offer these beautiful, masterfully arranged pieces to cellists all over the world–we hope that many cellists will find their way to these gems on the Ovation Press site. Thank you so much for your great contribution!

In addition to these scores, Mr. Roither has also released a copy of Schumann’s Romanze for 12 celli. To learn more about him and see his complete list of scores published with Ovation Press, visit Gerhard Roither’s editor profile.

The post Interview with Gerhard Roither appeared first on String Visions | from Ovation Press.

Last week, New York Philharmonic Principal Cellist Carter Brey gave the first of his two planned recitals of the complete Bach cello suites. The recitals are part of the New York Philharmonic’s month-long “Bach Variations” festival, which has largely focused on Bach’s orchestral works, showcasing the varied results that can be achieved on modern instruments in a modern orchestra by four conductors who have a varying approach to the incorporation of Baroque performance practice. Mr. Brey’s recitals form a welcome change of pace in the festival, showcasing his own personal investigation of his relationship with Baroque playing. Mr. Brey performed on Wednesday for a sold-out audience to laudatory reviews that recognized his personal relationship to the massive undertaking: the New York Times called his performance a “labor of love,” noting that Mr. Brey delivered “thoughtful, beautifully shaped, alert to contrapuntal lines and overall structure.” Above all, Mr. Brey has been very clear from the outset of this project that he has a close personal relationship with the music he will perform again tonight.

Bach is, for many performers, the most personal of all music in the repertoire. For solo string players especially, unaccompanied literature is sparse and rarely affords the artist an opportunity to immerse himself in a complete universe in the way that Bach does. String players so often work in collaboration with others, and the work of learning Bach’s music alone invites–and often demands–the development of a personal and unique relationship with not only the notes and the structure of the music, but the aesthetic and the flow. The genius of Bach’s music has inspired centuries of study, and scholars have been able to reconstruct the Baroque performance practice with astonishing detail–so much detail, in fact, that a student of Bach’s music can often feel that he or she is duty-bound to present the music as more of a living artifact than an organically performed piece of music. This depth of study is somewhat at odds with the sheer musical impulse that Bach arouses in the performer: the urge to bring forth the music in the most natural way possible, since it often seems that Bach’s incredible suites are in and of themselves a force of nature.

The tension between these two forces–the Baroque performance practice and the modern musical instinct–creates a musical approach that is completely different for every performer. Each player presents a different proportion of Baroque to modern in his concept, and Mr. Brey’s own performance has showcased his exploration of the Baroque beautifully. For those who could not attend the recitals, some understanding of Mr. Brey’s blend of modern and Baroque elements can be seen in the very approach to building the cellos that he performs his Bach cycle on.

As we reported last week, Mr. Brey chose to perform his Bach cycle on two cellos made by luthier Jim McKean. As McKean writes on his website, “Carter’s concept of the music had evolved considerably over the years, and he wanted to ground his interpretation in Baroque performance practice,” and it was only fitting that he turn to his old friend to help him find the right instrument. Rather than seeking out a Baroque cello to perform on, Mr. Brey instead asked that his contemporary cello be adapted into a Baroque-style instrument. Having made the first step into Baroque territory by practicing with a Baroque bow, Mr. Brey wanted to see if it was possible to modify the set-up on his McKean cello to create the Baroque sound and response that he was looking for. Brey and McKean consulted with William Monical, the “dean of Baroque instruments,” to determine what needed to be done. It could easily be done, they determined, with a different bridge, tailpiece, and an endbutton instead of a pin, and maybe a different sound post.

Less straightforward was Mr. Brey’s next idea: he wanted to play the Sixth Suite on a five-string cello, the instrument that it was written for. Five-string cellos are hardly commonplace today, despite the popularity of performing the Sixth Suite. The last of the cycle, it is the longest, most ornate, and is in many ways the most demanding, in large part because it calls for the cellist to play in much higher positions than the other suites do. The five-string cello eliminates this technical difficulty, allowing passages that would be performed in modern practice on a modern cello in thumb positions to be executed in neck positions. McKean had never even seen a five-string cello in a museum collection, much less in real life, and Brey would need time to get his fingers on a five-string to learn the appropriate fingerings. Says McKean, “Adding a new string disrupts a lifetime of ingrained shifts and bow crossings. It would be like relearning to ride a bicycle, but with your hands crossed.”

The project was no less daunting for the luthier. McKean adds, “In some ways it was an odd project; the literature for the 5-string cello begins and ends with one single piece of music: the Sixth Suite. I had just agreed to spend a month making a cello for thirty-two minutes of music. But so what? It was thirty-two minutes of the most glorious music ever composed – and this was a chance to hear it as Bach wrote it.” The process of making the 5-string was an arduous one, and one that presented a host of challenges. As McKean tells it,

It was well after Labor Day before I could begin work on the 5-string. As I was making it, Carter was refining his approach and style, and working with Bill on different strings and adjustments. But I was growing increasingly skeptical that the cello was going to work – the response was too slow, the sound lacking that focus and resonance when it’s properly centered. It confirmed my initial reservations about the cello: that the gut strings were just too short to maintain proper tension….The turning point was when Carter decided to drop the pitch to 415; this reduced the tension even further. The strings were perilously close to the point where even the pitch itself becomes uncertain – it will waver as the bow hits and then pulls the string. As much as he would never say it, it was clear to me that the cello was just not working the way he wanted it to. It was built for a soloist playing the modern literature: sostenuto, with full pressure for the full length of the bow. The Baroque style of bowing is completely different. Carter calls it gestural. It’s almost like plucking, in a way; a firm attack, but then the bow pulls away, letting the string ring (he demonstrates this in an interview on the Strings website). A cello designed for that can be adapted for a more contemporary style, but there’s a limit to how far a cello designed for the Romantic literature can be retrofitted. You can kind of get there, but it will never be exactly right.

The solution turned out to be a fitting metaphor for the entire process of learning Bach as a modern player, a serendipitous solution brokered by blending the most compatible attributes from both eras. McKean ended up using his son’s cello–an instrument he had made with a different sound and playing aesthetic in mind. Whereas Mr. Brey plays the instrument of a principal cellist and modern soloist–made for big playing and huge sound–McKean made his son’s cello as a vehicle for chamber music, not playing to the back of big halls: while he enjoyed playing, his son was not on a conservatory track. The model he used was rounder, with a fuller arch and a deeper channel: “the f-holes cut to make the top more flexible, the ribs shallower for an easy and quick response – it would work perfectly with a Baroque setup.”

And it did. The hybrid cello met with Brey’s approval, and when he played it for McKean to display the fruits of their collaboration, the reason for the five-string labor of love became apparent:

When he reached the part that gives cellists nightmares – the endless shift up the fingerboard – he instead just used the new top string. It was completely different from anything I had heard before. It sounded so natural; it danced. It was as though the missing channel on a stereo had finally been hooked up and I could finally hear the music in its entirety….Making the cello had turned out to be as much fun as I had ever had – designing it, making the composite fingerboard, shaping the wider neck; most especially, cutting the rosette. But hearing the Sixth Suite as it was meant to be – that was a gift. Making instruments in some ways is just a matter of making things right; and this was the way it was supposed to be.

To see more on the collaboration of Carter Brey and Jim McKean, visit McKean’s website. Also check out the two videos below of Brey in which he discusses the history of the score of the Suites, as well as the evolution of his concept from the traditional Romantic performance to one that incorporates historically informed performance practices.

The post Bach to the Future: Bringing Baroque Music to Life appeared first on String Visions | from Ovation Press.

My apologies for taking longer than I expected with the last part of this article series. I originally wrote the first installment of this series as a two-part article on the challenges facing students as they entered the professional field of music. After writing the second part I realized that this had obviously extended to a three-part series.

But, after seeing the discussion that emerged from these two articles, and reflecting on the topic myself, I began having some difficulty with how to end it. I wanted to take time in this last part to look at some less-discussed issues, but the feedback from the first two parts caused me to rethink what, and how, I wanted to present it.

As such, the below represents what I still believe to be issues facing those who embark on a career in music but which seem to have less awareness raised around them than the previous topics we discussed in parts one and two.

Access to “Knowledge”

This is ironic, considering our world is now more connected than ever before. With the Internet, information of the ages is at our fingertips. We can watch videos of more performances, listen to more recordings, and read more about music than any generation before us.

But one thing we must remember is that information is not the same as knowledge. Although information is powerful, it doesn’t always benefit us as we expect. In no age before ours could someone on their own take so much information about so many different topics such as: “how to play Bach,” “how to start a business,” “how to market yourself,” etc. and yet still do all the wrong things with them. Knowledge and wisdom still come from guidance and experience. That is where the influence of teachers, counselors, colleagues, and coworkers come in.

This is not to slam those who experiment and try new things during the course of their professional lives. Risk is inherent in any venture – musical or otherwise. But the emphasis on independence and self-reliance, along with the tools afforded to people by modern technology, can go too far to the extreme in making people overlook the knowledge of those who have come before us.

In the confusion of information overload, we are in need of mentorship now more than ever before.

Building a “Standard Model” of Music Education

In the original LinkedIn thread, one of the participants stressed the importance of building a “working model of business education for music (and other arts) students” that would train these people to be prepared for a professional life in music.

This platform would:

…incorporate the use of the Internet as the medium for the dispensing of information and as the collection point for statistics and “homework” assignments for participants… making use of as many free Internet resources (YouTube, e-mail, a custom website, etc.) as possible to convey information… Another dimension of the project is to create a residential option for students who want a more intensive experience and a greater opportunity to gain access to mentoring assistance.

The necessity of learning about and being trained for entrepreneurship in practical ways dominates the discussion. In previous articles I have gotten responses of how I perhaps ignored the saliency of entrepreneur-oriented programs in conservatories in music schools. Obviously I am not the only one who has held the opinion that there are opportunities for other organizations to step up. The participant who cited this “platform” has founded an organization that is actively develop such a system, the goal of which would be to establish a standard by which we could prepare our aspiring professional musicians.

While I pointed out that much improvement had been made but that more was needed, I want to take this opportunity to take the other side. There are indeed many great examples of “centers of entrepreneurship” for music students.

But, is it possible to create some sort of “ideal standard”? When it comes to entrepreneurship, many things are based on context. Universal “rules” and “theories” often break down in the face of real-world and changing circumstances. If there is anything “standard” that our music students need to be learning outside of their artistic craft, it is cultivating the ability to be adaptable, resourceful, and versatile to deal with ever-changing circumstances. Some traditional schools are doing a great a job of instilling these qualities in their students.

Rather than constantly seeking alternatives to traditional schooling, it might be better for us to focus on giving students the right balance of such “abstract” qualities along with the practical skills they need.

My hope is that the process can be reduced to paper in such a way that it can be handed to schools and conservatories in the form of a roadmap that produces predictable results if all the steps are followed.

I don’t believe that this can be simplified to a degree of a single document that purports to be a panacea for all cases. I also don’t believe it needs to come from outside of schools and conservatories and “handed” to them… as such a statement seems to me to be somewhat of an insult. Schools and conservatories are absolutely capable of producing something of this necessity.

However, I like the idea of the term roadmap here. As musicians, we are used to scanning a piece of music ahead of time and building a “roadmap” in our heads of how we will go through the piece. We will still encounter unexpected challenges on the way to the end, but we nonetheless have a framework through which we can handle these challenges.

It is the same with navigating the professional challenges of a career in music. It’s not a one-size-fits-all model but rather promoting the development of a framework that people can adapt to fit their own unique situations and goals. Here the LinkedIn participant hits the nail on the head:

…(The results is) the creation of a playbook that would be similar to a franchisee’s handbook for a business like a McDonald’s restaurant or a SubWay sandwich shop. It would contain all the steps to be taken, the order in which to take them, the estimated budget, the number of persons to be involved, their minimum requirements as defined by experience, the time commitment required, the space requirements, the project descriptions for students, the subject matter, a complete instruction outline, a list of references, suggested tuition costs, links to a central website, and the complete source code for the website itself and its related data model…

Not every single one of these things may be present in all cases, but the comprehensiveness of its outlook gives us all a general idea of what we need to be aware of in starting any sort of musical venture.

Equalizing Supply and Demand

Here is the last aspect of this discussion… something that I’ve heard little discussion of, and what I’d like to close this series with. No matter what we do to prepare and equip musicians, there is a fundamental problem which unfortunately will likely scuttle most of our efforts. Supply and demand for music positions are often unequal.

Point-in-case: for a long time (some might argue always) there have been fewer available positions than there have been players looking to fill them, as produced by the various music programs.

Why should we expect that graduates of music programs should find pertinent employment in any greater proportion than do, say, philosophy or history majors?

If there are more people looking to fill jobs than there are jobs, what can be done? Job creation is the answer most come up with to this… and yet there is only so much we can control here. But there is one aspect of this spectrum which we do have control over… and it is not the demand side but the supply side.

For some time, schools in the medical field have seen the need to implement enrollment limits to at least try and equalize the number of graduates with the number of available jobs. The question is whether or not conservatories, music schools, and music departments should do the same on a wide scale. Some argue that this could lead to a near-elimination of music education… as there are correspondingly few jobs available. Others argue that a phased implementation of this is necessary to help gradually balance out graduates with opportunities beyond school.

Regardless of your opinion, I would argue that this is a discussion we are not having which is worth having. I’ve seen very few people raise the issue of the ethics in knowingly admitting students into educational programs that – under current circumstances – offer slim chances of a career actually happening. In a way, it seems almost deceptively callous.

Your thoughts?

It’s been a pleasure to be a part of this discussion with everyone who has participated over the last month. I am interested in hearing your ideas and responses on these topics and on the series subject matter overall.

The post What Classical Musicians’ Lack, Part 3 appeared first on String Visions | from Ovation Press.

This week one of Ovation Press’ own editors will mark a significant item off of his list of professional “to-do” list as a cellist by performing the entirety of the Bach Cello Suites as a complete set. Carter Brey, Principal Cellist of the New York Philharmonic is scheduled to give two concerts: Wednesday March 27 and next week on the 1st of April.

Both of these concerts have been sold out all month, with a constantly growing waiting list of names. This is not surprising at all considering Mr. Brey’s highly-acclaimed status. He has held the post of NY Phil’s Principal Cellist since his appointment in 1996. He made his debut as a soloist with the orchestra in May of 1997 with Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations under Music Director Kurt Masur.

Since then he has cemented an awe-aspiring performance record that includes the Elgar Cello Concerto (with André Previn conducting), William Schuman’s A Song of Orpheus (with Christian Thielemann conducting), Richard Strauss’ Don Quixote (with former Music Director Zubin Mehta conducting), and the Brahms Double Concerto (with Christoph Eschenbach conducting and Glenn Dicterow as Concertmaster).

With all of this repertoire under his belt, this will be the first time that Carter Brey performs the complete set of Bach Cello Suites. Ticket sales don’t lie: it’s obvious that audiences are very interested to see him perform these staples of the cello literature.

However, just as exciting as the way in which Mr. Brey will grace the ears of listeners on Wednesday is the instrumental setup he will have with him. He will be performing the cycle using two cellos outfitted in the style of Baroque instruments. Mr. Brey has also been performing on a cello with a Baroque setup during NY Phil’s orchestral program “The Bach Variations: A Philharmonic Festival,” which started at the beginning of March and runs through April 6. The premier of Brey with the complete Cello Suites is part of this series.

The two Baroque-style cellos that Carter Brey is using were made by luthier James McKean, who has been a major force in the legendary craft for over three decades. McKean learned from some of the greatest sources of education in the world of violinmaking, including Vahakn Nigogosian whose shop was a destination for some of the world’s finest musicians.

The Nigogosian shop afforded him (McKean) the opportunity to study and work on some of the rarest and most celebrated antique instruments. Equally important, though, was being able to learn the fine points of sound and set up from Nigo, one of the world’s acknowledged experts in realizing the full potential of instruments, antique or contemporary.

James McKean wrote to us earlier in the month about Carter Brey and the cellos that he would be performing the Bach solo Cello Suites with:

He (Carter Brey) will be playing on two of my cellos — for the first five, a classical four-string, set up in Baroque disposition. For the 6th, though, he’ll be playing on a five-string cello that I made for him so that he could perform it as originally written. For me, as a maker, in order to get a clear mental image of the cellos before beginning construction, I asked him to talk about the suites and his interpretation.

In the two videos below Mr. Brey reviews the history of the score of the Suites, as well as the evolution of his concept from the traditional Romantic performance to one that incorporates historically informed performance practices. The videos include demonstrations of specific passages that employ the cello in a “Baroque disposition,” with a matching bow.

Also, check out this video below which shows a live performance of Bach Cello Suite No. 5: Prelude by Carter Brey.

We’ve been extremely fortunate to have Mr. Brey as a contributor to our scores at Ovation Press. Stay tuned for another follow-up piece next week when one of our contributors will go into more detail about the McKean-Brey story, the instruments that Mr. Brey is performing on, and the topic of period performance.

In the meantime, you can learn more about Carter Brey and his scores at Ovation Press by visiting his editor profile.

The post Brey and McKean Bring Baroque Bach to Audiences appeared first on String Visions | from Ovation Press.

Ovation Press: How important are excellent bowings in orchestral parts?

Stephen Geber: Extremely. This is a concern that a lot of orchestral musicians have. So much time is taken up with corrections or erasing or marking bowings in rehearsal. We usually only have four or five rehearsals a week, sometimes only three to prepare two or three concerts, and if you spend a lot of time having to make bowing corrections, it can be difficult and takes up a lot of needless time.

Ovation Press: How do you avoid spending time at rehearsals on bowings?

Stephen Geber: Well, I think it’s a two step process. Number one, you must have five principal string players who are willing to sit down and collaborate with the bowings in advance. Secondly, you need a good librarian who makes the part legible and clean and transfers the bowing decisions made by the principal string players.

Ovation Press: How greatly have conductors affected the orchestras in which you have played?

Stephen Geber: I’ve been fortunate to be a member of the Cleveland Orchestra and the Boston Symphony and in both cases these orchestras were always brought to the highest level by certain musicians and personalities, but they both consistently played on the highest level in part due to their extreme pride with each other. In Cleveland the orchestra played in spite of the conductor who was in front of us sometimes. Naturally, you’re occasionally going to have a guest conductor that is just not a good fit, but that pride is still there. Fortunately, during the period that I was a member of the Cleveland Orchestra, I had the privilege of working with not only some really outstanding guest conductors, but most importantly music directors. They brought the very best out of the orchestra and the orchestra played for these people. That pride, caring, and musical integrity seemed to move on into the concerts with guest conductors regardless of who they were.

Ovation Press: Do conductors ever ask for ideas from the orchestra members?

Stephen Geber: It works both ways. A really attuned and sensitive music director will turn to a particular section that he might admire and say, “now, how did you do this” or “this seems to be difficult maybe in another orchestra. How did you do it here so well?” Also, I think conductors who are able to sing a phrase and express it in vocal terms rather than speaking terms communicates their intention in a more meaningful way.

Ovation Press: What do you think have been the biggest changes in orchestras over the years?

Stephen Geber: Well, I think there are a lot of changes. The seasons have become more demanding because of the financial and economic situation. More concerts are scheduled with more diversified programming and more touring has been expected of the orchestra members. I think that’s good. Orchestral players in most cases now are able to have very good livable income and also enough time to further their musical interests with chamber appearances.

Ovation Press: What kind of interactions and coordination occur with the other principals in the orchestra and the concertmaster?

Stephen Geber: It’s like a string quartet, and I was very fortunate to come into an orchestra where the principal players of the orchestra had a string quartet. I’m sorry to say that two of those players are deceased now but we had a very viable and active string quartet for 22 years of my career with the Cleveland Orchestra.

Ovation Press: How important is chamber music experience for orchestral musicians?

Stephen Geber: It’s important for all musicians. Chamber music embodies all the qualities that we hope to attain in our orchestral performance: sensitivity, rhythmical and technical issues such as intonation, good ensemble playing, poise in performance and team collaboration. If you can do this with three, four or more players successfully, it only enhances your playing as an orchestral player.

Ovation Press: Were you able to maintain an active chamber music ensemble during your orchestral tenures?

Stephen Geber: I had the quartet in the Boston Symphony for 8 years and then 22 years in the Cleveland Orchestra, and the experience of working with these people has stayed with me for years and years. Although two of the players in the Cleveland Orchestra quartet are deceased now, their qualities and integrity have stayed with me as an inspiration to me and something I try to pass along to my students. I hope I’m doing that successfully.

Ovation Press: Would you share a couple of the most memorable or funny moments in your orchestral career?

Stephen Geber: Oh, my goodness! I think one of the greatest times I’ve ever had is when we had Danny Kaye the famous comedian come and do some acts in concerts with the Cleveland Orchestra. He was just so funny that I lost it. I just absolutely had to stop playing and I almost dropped my cello…it was so funny. Of course, he made a parody of it as well. He picked up on that right away and had me in front of the audience and all I was doing was laughing. I won’t go into graphic details but it was a very memorable evening working with really the best of the best. He was like a Jack Benny–the same generation. And as far as memorable, the beautiful music making, the incredible concerts over a career that has spanned 42 years…I don’t know where to begin.

Ovation Press: Do you have any final comments for aspiring musicians?

Stephen Geber: Keep the faith. If you really wish to succeed in music you have to first believe in yourself and also be honest with yourself. I think that would be the only thing I try to embed with my students now. To make sure they understand that they have to be totally honest with themselves.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this interview with Stephen Geber. To see a complete listing of his music with Ovation Press visit his editor profile.

The post Interview with Stephen Geber, Part 2 appeared first on String Visions | from Ovation Press.