bridge & bow - cello · organizations to our bridge & bow mailing list and ask them to...
TRANSCRIPT
Wha
t’s I
nsid
e Events Calendar…………………….………………………..... 2 Remembering Althea Keyes………………………………… .. 3 A Weekend with Daniel Müller-Schott ………………………. 4 A Teacher’s Response to the Müller-Schott Master Class… 6 Ask Dr. Cello……………………………...……………………... 7 What Every Cellist Should Know About the Body …………… 10 OCS Board Members Solo with Community Orchestras…..…11 Adult Amateur Recital ……………….. ……...………………. 12 Teacher Listing………………….………………………………...13 An Interview with Steven Pologe ……………..………...…. 14 American String Quartet Plays in Portland………….……… 17 Student Scholarship Auditions & Essays…………………..… 18 News & Notices ……………………………………………….. 20 OCS January 2005 Board Meeting Minutes………………. 21
Oregon Cello Society http://www.oregoncello.org
PRESIDENT
Bud Armstrong 360.673.3566
VICE PRESIDENT Katherine Schultz
503.312.4444 [email protected]
SECRETARY
Barbara Smoody 503.249.8300
TREASURER/ WEBMASTER Wayne Nutsch 503.371.3002
ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER David Keyes
503.997.8179 [email protected]
NEWSLETTER EDITOR
Laura Saddler 503.771.9347
Board Members
Naomi Blumberg (honorary) 503.252.7543
Jess Dishman 503.226.4551
Nancy Ives 360.590.1872
India Jobelmann (honorary) 503.524.0789
Bruce McIntosh 503.585.4298
Una O’Riordan 503.287.0669
Kathie Reed 503.639.3795
Sherill Roberts 503.472.7286
Joan Sargent 503.223.5687
Charlene Wilson 503.691.1196
President’s Message We have had a great season for cellists and I would like to thank all of the people who have worked to make it happen. The society has pro-vided opportunities for over 50 students to play be-fore audiences, judges and professional touring cel-lists. The real benefit to these young people is im-
proved performance and confidence. In my younger days, opportunities like this were just not available. Another way for students to improve their play is to listen live and watch good cellists play. With this thought in mind, I will be writing to various musical organizations and colleges (with music departments) to encourage them to keep our society tuned in to their cello events. I have come across several situations where professional cellists have visited our campuses and orchestras with no real advance notice. We will add these organizations to our Bridge & Bow mailing list and ask them to provide us with notices of future events for us to print in our event calendar and post on our web site, www.oregoncello.org. I am hoping that over time, with improved communication, we can provide you with more cello events happening around the state and SW Washington. I would encourage all of you who are active in these organizations to email me ([email protected]) and our editor Laura Saddler
(Continued on page 11)
Bridge & BowBridge & Bow Oregon Cello Society — Spring 2005
Bridge & Bow — Spring 2005
Events Calendar April 22: Recital with cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han, Hudson Concert Hall, Willamette University in Salem. 8:00 PM (listing not finalized as of this printing — con-firm time at www.willamette.edu/cla/music/events.htm). April 23-24: The Harmonious Craft — 2005 Handmade Musical Instrument Exhibit, Maryl-hurst University. 12:00 to 5:00 PM both days. Admission $3, children under 12, free. www.nwmusicalinstrumentshow.org April 24: Cellist David Finckel, pianist Wu Han and violinist Jorge Ávila perform the Beethoven Triple Concerto with the Salem Chamber Orchestra. Hudson Concert Hall, Willamette University, Salem. 7:00 PM. May 7: Alex Chung, principal cellist with the Portland Youth Symphony, plays the Elgar Cello Concerto with the Portland Youth Phil-harmonic. 7:30 PM at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland. Call (503) 223-5939 for tickets. May 8: Principal strings of Oregon Symphony perform string quintets, Fireside Concert se-ries of Sunriver Music Festival. 7:30 PM, 541-593-1084, www.sunrivermusic.org May 8: Bryan Johansson, guitar, and Hamil-ton Cheifetz, cello in a concert of new duos. 3:00 PM, Loucks Concert Hall, Salem Public Library. Free. The pieces on the program are being recorded in early April for a new CD en-titled “Lizard Music.” May 13, 8:00 PM and May 15, 2:00 PM. Pre-mier of "Lux Aeterna," a new work for cello and choir by Bryan Johanson. Hamilton Cheifetz with the Portland Symphonic Choir. St. Mary's, 1719 NW Davis, Portland. May 14: Dance When You Are Broken Open:
A Poetry Concert with Jami Sieber (electric
cellist/vocalist) and Kim Rosen (poet). Tama-rack Wellness Center, 3575 Donald St. Eugene, 8 PM. For info contact [email protected]. May 15: Poetry and music “Dive” with cellist Jami Sieber and poet Kim Rosen. Tamarack Wellness Center, Eugene. 1 -5 PM. For more information about the artists, visit www.jamisieber.com or www.kimrosen.net. Chamber Music NW Cello Highlights Free open rehearsals 11 AM at Reed College Kaul Auditorium on June 29, July 6, 13, 20, 27. Musical conversations before all evening con-certs, 7 PM. Details at www.cmnw.com. June 27-28: Rossini Duo in D Major for Cello and Bass, Bartók String Quartet No. 5, Schu-bert “Trout” Quintet. June 30-July 1: Complete Bach Brandenburg Concerti July 4-5: Mozart Quintet for Horn & Strings, Dohnányi Serenade for String Trio, Tchaikovsky Souvenir de Florence for String Sextet July 7-8: Mozart Piano Trio in E Major, Shostakovich Quintet in G Minor for Piano & Strings July 14-15: Bloch Quintet No. 1 for Piano and Strings; Ravel, Introduction and Allegro for Harp, Clarinet, Flute and Strings July 17, 2 PM: Family Concert of Bruce Adol-phe's Oceanophony July 18-19: Emerson String Quartet plays Mo-zart and Beethoven July 21-22: Chausson Concert for Piano, Vio-lin, and String Quartet July 25-26: Schubert Piano Trio No. 1 July 28-29: Schubert String Quintet in C Ma-jor, Schönberg Verklärte Nacht for String Sex-tet Second Tuesdays: The Music Workshop — Adults perform classical chamber music with and for each other. Free and open to the pub-lic. Community Music Center, 3350 SE Francis Street, Portland, 10:00 AM.
2
Oregon Cello Society
Remembering Remembering Althea KeyesAlthea Keyes
When I was informed of Althea Keyes’ death, I felt a sharp sense of loss. And when asked to write a few words about her, I realized that my contact with her was because of the Oregon Cello Society, and because I was a cellist in the Oregon Symphony. Many years ago, when I was wearing a number of OCS hats, I realized that I could not do so much all by myself. It was during this period that I met Dave Keyes. After meeting him a few times, I was so impressed by his cheerful demeanor that I decided to ask if he would become program coordinator. Of course, you know he did. When I thought back, I realized that Althea was always at Dave's side. I don't ever remember her not being at a OCS event with Dave. We would chat a little each time, but I was always running around getting ready for whatever the event was, so our chats were brief. When Dave and I went to Tempe for one of the nationwide cello conventions, Al-thea was there, too. After symphony concerts, I would occasionally run into Dave and Al-thea and we would discuss the concert together. So, when I felt so saddened by the news of Althea, I was surprised at the depth of my feelings. In reality, she was always a warm, calm presence at our OCS events. And even though I didn't spend long social times with her, she made a large impact on me. She and Dave have long been on my list of favorite people. I shall miss her, for what was to me, was that warm, wonderful presence. — Naomi Blumberg
Althea Keyes
3
Bridge & Bow — Spring 2005
A Weekend With Daniel Müller-Schott Reflections on the Master Class and Open Rehearsal
On February 4, 2005, the Oregon Cello Society hosted a master class with Daniel Müller-Schott at the Community Music Center in Portland. The following reflections are from the performers.
Eric Allen “In his master class Daniel Müller-Schott seemed to focus mainly on different ways to approach a piece of music. His approach to the Boccherini piece that I played differed greatly from mine. When play-ing a long note instead of just using his right hand to develop the note he would also use his left hand. He
would start with no vibrato, add vibrato in the middle of the note, and then speed up his vibrato at the very end while crescendoing. Instead of playing the whole first movement legato he added some short articulations. He also placed grace notes and trills in different places than I had. There were often times in the class where Müller-Schott would try and teach a different phrasing or encourage more excitement in the student's playing. He would play a passage himself and basically say, ‘play it like that.’ He would of-ten play the same passage with the student. This was a little confusing for me be-cause I wasn't sure exactly what he wanted me to do when I was performing. When listening to the other students I was in the back of the room so I couldn't hear clearly what he was saying. I could only guess what he wanted from the way he played the passage. I enjoyed his different approach to the same piece and I will consider different ways to approach Boccherini next time I perform it.” — Eric Allen, age 19, studies with Hamilton Cheifetz. He performed the Adagio and Allegro from Boccherini’s Sonata #6 in A Major.
Alex Chung
“Daniel Müller-Schott is indubitably one of the most captivating virtuo-sos in the world. It was an honor to have had the opportunity to play for him in the master class and receive some positive and constructive feedbacks. He dem-onstrated how the position of bow on the string and the speed of the bow create different mood in the playing. Also, his calmness and intenseness amazed me, and his musical interpretations were very insightful, with details to different tech-niques and feelings that should be put into different sections of the piece. Most importantly, one of the things I really appreciated was his easy and respecting manner toward me, which allowed me to be more at ease and just enjoy the mas-ter class. I am very happy I was able to take part in such a rare opportunity, and I would like to thank Oregon Cello Society for this inspiring experience.” — Alex Chung studies with India Jobelmann. He performed the first move-
ment of the Elgar Cello Concerto.
4
Eric Allen and Daniel Müller-Schott
Alex Chung and Daniel Müller-Schott
Oregon Cello Society
Jamie Conzatti “This was the best master class I have ever participated in. Not only was it enjoyable to play for and with a very talented cellist, but watching him at the rehearsal and performance was an experience I won't soon forget. My sister told me before I went on that I should relax and face Daniel dur-ing the "working" part of the class. The Brahms Cello Sonata in E Minor has been a tough piece to tackle. I played it a year ago at the end-of-the-year stu-dent recital but didn't feel like I had really finished working on it, there is so much in that piece! Pulling it “out of the closet” for the master class I fell in love with it again. Daniel had inspirational ideas on how to make it sound even better. For example, he said my vibrato was too slow. I hadn’t ever thought about the speed/sound of my vibrato before. It was fun to watch him play and then try to imitate him. The way he played and felt the music inspired me to try to feel it, too. One improvement would be where Daniel was sitting. It felt
like I was playing to the aud ience and he was watching, instead of me playing for him and the audience was watching.
I was kind of hesitant to go the rehearsal the next morning. It was early and we live in Washington so it was about a 1/2 hour drive for us. But, I ended up going and was so glad that I did! His interpretation of the Dvorak was phenomenal. He moved with the music and nothing he did distracted you from it. The focus was there the entire time and he didn't let up for a second, something I have been working on. It left me wanting more, which was good because my string quartet played in the lobby for the performance that night and I got to hear it one more time. Daniel Müller-Schott is one of my favorite cellists now and I am very grateful to him and the Oregon Cello Society for the opportunity to play for him and learn more about do-ing what I love.” — Jamie Conzatti is 17 years old and studies with Naomi Blumberg. She is principal cello with the Oregon Pro Arte Youth Chamber Or-chestra and plays in the Veritas String Quartet. She performed the first move-ment of Brahms’ Cello Sonata No. 1. Allegra Archer “I found the master class to be full of useful lessons, not only on technique but also cello playing in general. I enjoyed Daniel Müller-Schott a great deal. Though quite soft spoken, I thought that he had many valuable things to say (sometimes just through playing a passage on his cello) to all of the students. I appreciated his kind manner and patience. His level of accomplishment seemed beyond his years and it was quickly evident that he was very well acquainted with the cello repertoire. It was amazing for me just to be playing next to a cel-list with such phenomenal tone and musical understanding. It was truly an in-spiring experience. I am so grateful to the Oregon Cello Society for giving me this wonderful opportunity.” — Allegra Archer, age 17, studies with Beth Goldstein-McKee in Ashland. She performed the first movement of the Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto.
5
Jamie Conzatti and Daniel Müller-Schott
Allegra Archer and Daniel Müller-Schott
From an email to Bud Armstrong: It was a great joy coming to play and teach in Portland...I was most happy to feel such an enthusiasm for the cello and music like in the Oregon Cello Society. That's really wonderful. All best wishes, Daniel
Bridge & Bow — Spring 2005
An Open Letter in Response to the Master Class
To the Students of Portland Celli: I so much enjoyed the Daniel Müller-Schott master class at the Community Music Center on February 4th. What a fine representation of some of Portland’s students, and even Oregon in general. The main reason I’m writing this is a re-minder how important it is for the student to make the adventure to find their own sound rather than a copy of someone else’s endeavors, a pathway which will al-ways miss. Daniel Müller-Schott does indeed have his own sound and when lis-tening closely, he tells you how to find “your” own. I was giving a lesson in Astoria a few days later exclaiming to my first stu-dent what an exemplary experience it had been, when she looked at me and point-edly asked what were the three highlights I had got out of it. I thought for about five seconds and easily came up with these: 1. Left hand dynamics. Müller-Schott exemplified the upper end of this in a way I have not experi-enced for a long time. For me it was a reminder of Rostropovich’s great fortissimo incorporating the wid-est and fastest left hand vibrato for the loudest peaks. Superb left hand control. Muller-Schott reminds us intently how important it is to include the left hand within our dynamic technique, one chapter of violon-cello music making often neglected for the student. The calculation of how much vibrato one is to use needs “some” pre-meditation. This reaffirmation by Müller-Schott through his master class was refreshing and when brought to the foreground of his loudest peaks, enlightening. And, not to exclude the opposite ex-treme, no vibrato; and when to take on this can be as equally effective. Ask your teachers about this. They’ll help explain when these left hand embellishments in vibrato can add to the mystery of great per-formances and interpretations. A long note beginning with absolutely no vibrato can be extremely effective, as is the reverse as well. How we shape our notes with our left hand has much to do with the shape of our piece and our own development to create “our” own sound. 2. Telling the story of the piece. Daniel asked all the students what certain sections of the music were trying to portray, and when these moods changed. When my daughter was in pre-school, I remember her joining other kids for story time readings at the main library downtown. The best story tellers were the ones who went overboard in conveying certain aspects of the story. These were the most exciting readers for everyone, and raised the imagination level of the kids listening experience. “We” are the story tellers. “We” have to go overboard in conveying these moods or else the listener just won’t get it. We already know what “they” are because we know the piece so well, and some of that tends to settle. But the listener only gets to hear it once. Make sure they know for certain what you’re conveying. Go overboard. 3. Simply: more bow; less pressure for piano parts. Breathe with your bow the phrasing. Make melodic parts free and singing. Pump air and life into them. Do not be compelled to get small with your bow for all quieter settings. You can diminish the vitality of the line. When I was going to PSU gaining my BA in per-formance I had the neat experience of singing in the choir behind the Oregon Symphony performing Bee-thoven’s Ninth Symphony. Lawrence Smith was the conductor, and he said something to the symphony I have never forgotten. “Playing piano is like playing forte but with less volume. Don’t play with less en-ergy.” All my cello students know this quote and it stirs in my memory today as if it was yesterday. Smith exclaimed this with such passion and articulation it would be hard to forget. Leonard Rose played before intermission. What a concert! And so to our extraordinary Oregon students, I’m saying keep your ears and minds open. Keep listen-ing and add to your knowledge of what can be done on “your” instrument. Sincerely,
Collin Heade
6
Collin Heade
Ask Dr. Cello Ask Dr. Cello practical advice for cellists
Welcome to our new cello advice column! In each issue, a knowledgeable guest columnist
will tackle an issue of common concern for cellists. Dear Dr. Cello, My vibrato is too fast, and sometimes gets jerky. What can I do to improve my sound? — Nanny Goat Dear Nanny, In order to serve our musical needs, vibrato must have a variety of speeds and widths and be done effi-ciently enough to continue during hours of playing without exhausting the player. If you don’t feel that you have the ability to control the speed and width of your vibrato to suit your musical purposes and create the sounds you seek, you may need to fundamentally change how you do your vibrato. That’s the bad news. The good news is that it can be done in a manner of weeks or a few months. When someone is vibrating too fast, it is almost always also too narrow as well. If you are doing a very fast vibrato that is quite wide, congratulations! Musical taste will require it to be slower on many occasions, but the technique you are employing will almost certainly allow you to do so. Whether slow or fast, a very wide and fluid vibrato (even and not jerky) can be varied in speed and width, but the physical approach that creates a too fast, narrow one offers no options. This is pretty common problem, and many players who suf-fer from it often think they are just not trying hard enough to control it, but in reality, they have gone down a dead end street and need to learn a new approach. First, let’s consider what we are doing when we vibrate on a string instrument. We are changing the length of the string in very small increments (smaller than we use to change to a new pitch,) in rapid oscil-lations. It is important to be clear about that because some of the most destructive approaches to vibrato — destructive in terms of not sounding good, and even in the potential for injury to the player — are rooted in a misunderstanding of this fact. I’ve seen people attempting to push their fingers, in a sort of pulsation, into the fingerboard. Think about it: that ebony is hard, and even if the player could push the string deeper into the wood, what would that do for the sound? Another source of “too narrow, too fast” is movement that comes from the wrong part of the arm. I think many cellists are subconsciously influenced by violin vibrato; after all, we’ve watched many violin-ists play, and many student musicians play in groups led by violinists, especially in schools. Compared to violins, our strings are longer, so the change of string length must be proportionately larger to create a com-parable effect on the sound. Wiggling from the wrist just won’t be big enough for any but the most narrow
(Continued on page 8)
Bridge & Bow — Spring 2005
Ask Dr. Cello Ask Dr. Cello (Continued from page 7)
of effects on the cello. In addition to the amplitude issue, the technique for producing vibrato on the cello is fundamentally different than violin and viola vibrato. Their forearms are rotated
to bring their left fingers onto the fingerboard; ours are not. Let me explain how hugely important that is, because the way we can achieve an efficient, comfortable, large-enough change in string length is primarily through rotation. First, an anatomy lesson. Humans make two movements at the elbow: bending and unbending, and ro-tating. Notice that they are separate motions — you can bend at the elbow with your palm facing up or down, and you can rotate without bending. There are two bones in the forearm: the radius and the ulna. It can be difficult to see this, because of all the muscle, connective tissue and skin wrapped around the two bones. I found a nice illustration of this at a medical website: http://www.zimmer.com/ctl?op=global&action=1&id=1990&template=PC, or you can try searching “ulna and radius.” Even better is to be able to consult a copy of Barbara Conable's book, What Every Musician Needs to Know About the Body. The famous “pageant wave” is done via rotation. A biceps curl is done by bending at the elbow. Cast-ing a fly, as in fishing, is done with a flick of the wrist. There may be elbow movements involved as well, but the characteristic movement is done at the wrist. Be clear on which joint does what! If you lay your arm on a table, palm up, the two bones are parallel to each other. The ulna is the one on the pinky side, and the radius is on the thumb side. Visualize the two bones, as if you had x-ray vision. Now, keeping your elbow stationary and without lifting your hand off the table, bring your thumb up and over so that your palm is down. You just crossed the bones, but more specifically, you rotated the radius around the ulna. The ulna is the axis of rotation. This is hugely important to understand. In addition to al-lowing healthy, beautiful vibrato, a clear understanding of the role of the ulna and a correct use of forearm rotation improves pitch accuracy and strengthens the pinky! Vibrato can't be purely done through rotation — that would only be possible on the four th finger, since it is in line with the axis of rotation — but it is the primary component of cello vibrato. There is some de-gree of opening and closing the bend of the elbow included in the movement that creates a beautiful vi-brato, to compensate for the various angles required, and there is usually some subtle flexing of the finger joints involved in a rich, free vibrato. What there is generally not, is wrist movement. No flexing, flapping, twisting or gyrating. For the purposes of vibrato, you don't even need a wrist. Keep it still! The arm should be one unit from fingertip to elbow. An exercise for stilling the wrist and isolating rotation is this: without bowing, place a finger on or be-tween the strings, preferably around about third position; bend your wrist so it is sticking up — your thumb will come around the neck almost to the fingerboard; keeping your upper arm in place, rock your hand up and down, rolling onto the index finger and over onto the pinky, keeping your wrist at its same bent angle. Notice how you are both rotating and bending at the elbow. For some reason, it's easy to keep the wrist from getting involved when it's bent like this. Feel how the arm is one unit from fingertip to elbow, albeit a strangely shaped unit. If rotation is new to you in this context, you need to stay in the exercise phase for a while. It takes 21
days for the brain to assimilate new motor skills, so do the following for at least three weeks: without using the bow, do a slow, wide, steady, floppy-feeling rotation vibrato on each finger of the left hand.
8
Ask Dr. Cello Ask Dr. Cello (Continued from page 8)
“Slow” means about two or three pulses per second. 20 or 30 seconds is plenty for each finger, and it's easiest to do this on the D or G string, in about third position. Give yourself permission
to be very loose — you do not have to hear how it sounds, so the finger can even wiggle off the spot a bit. (In fact, rapidly sliding up and down the fingerboard is another useful exercise, isolating the bending action of the elbow.) Envision the ulna and how the radius rotates around it; feel the forearm as a unit, without wrist movement. Each finger becomes the center of gravity of the movement, similar to the way you shift your weight to stand on a different foot, and the other fingers should be loose and allowed to be out of the way, but the forearm is still organized around the ulna. The thumb will be lightly touching the neck under the finger in use. If the wrist tries to flap or create a spiral, review the exercise in the last paragraph. The next phase is to play with the bow, but you should give yourself permission to sound bad. Wa-wa-wa, big drunken pulsations. If it's jerky or uneven, that means there’s tension. Vibrate without the bow again, and then add the bow without allowing any change in the left hand. Getting the finger to stay on pitch is a matter of precision, not brute force. Imagine you have an octopus-like suction cup on the tip of your finger; there's no need to grip or press. Speeding up is a matter of increasing the energy. Keep it wide and loose! Old habits may try to creep back in at this point. Remain vigilant, and backtrack as needed. When you try to do a wide and fast vibrato, be sure you are on a soft enough part of the fingertip. You may have to slightly flatten the “C” shape your thumb and fingers are making to have a cushier pad on the string. Don't worry, you can return to a nicely rounded finger on its tip for faster passages. At this stage, keeping the developing vibrato wide is key; you'll know you've got the technique if it can be wildly fast and wide! For more troubleshooting, observe yourself in a mirror. I’ve observed that when the other segments of the arm are extremely still, the vibrato is not functioning well. What I mean by “other segments” is the up-per arm and the collar bone/shoulder blade unit, the latter of which you might not include in the arm, al-though you should. I don’t mean to say that those parts of the arm have a role in producing the vibrato, but when the mechanism is operating freely, they seem to move a little in sympathy. It looks like a subtle shak-ing or wiggling. Don’t try to freeze them still. Above all, be patient with yourself. It can take months to transform your vibrato, but it’s worth it, to create the lush, warm sounds the cello is famous for. — Nancy Ives, DMA Principal Cello, Oregon Symphony [email protected] Need some cello-related guidance? Send an email to the newsletter editor ([email protected]) with “Ask Dr. Cello” in the subject heading, or drop a line to Ask Dr. Cello, c/o Laura Saddler, PO Box 86507, Portland OR 97286. We’ll mobilize our resources to find you a constructive answer.
Bridge & Bow — Spring 2005
What Every Cellist Needs to Know About the Body Have you ever hurt while playing your cello? Have you had back pain? Neck pain? Tendonitis? Carpal Tunnel Syn-drome? If so, you are not alone. Did you know that 40% of pro-fessional musicians in the US play in pain, with some kind of injury resulting from the repetitive motions they make playing their instruments? Do you wish you could play better? Have your perform-ances suffered from tension and nervousness? Have you wished you had a more beautiful tone? Played faster notes? Expressed the emotions of the music more fully? Playing the cello means moving. The quality of our playing is directly related to the quality of our movements. The quality of our movements depends on understanding how we are built and how we move. If you are a person who naturally moves beautifully, plays wonderfully and never has pain, AND you are not trying to teach anyone else how to play the cello, you can stop here. Everyone else should keep reading. “What Every Musician Needs to Know About the Body” is the name of a course developed by Barbara Conable. Barbara is an Alexander Technique teacher who is world-famous as a fixer of broken musicians. Over the years I have studied the Alexander Technique with her at workshops in Virginia, Ohio, Oregon and Switzerland. I suffered from severe back and neck pain and bow arm tendonitis. My playing was re-stricted by nervousness. I seldom felt that I was expressing the fullness of the music. Barbara showed me how to sit with better balance and more ease. I learned how the movements of my arms were restricting my bowing and my shifting, affecting facility, tone quality and intonation. I also learned that an all- inclusive awareness, rather than a single focus, would conquer nervousness and let the music flow through me. With this new knowledge my pain disappeared and my playing improved dramatically. Without her help I would not still be playing the cello today. I would also not know how to help my students as much. Besides presenting the course around the world, Barbara is currently training many musicians to teach either the full course, or the version applicable to their own instrument. She is training me to teach “What Every CELLIST Needs to Know About the Body.” Fortunately for us Oregonians, Barbara moved to Port-land several years ago and now offers the course in Portland. It takes a weekend and consists of six hours of information alternating with sessions where you learn to apply the information to your own instrument. You can access information about the course by logging on to www.bodymap.org. The next time Barbara is giv-ing the course in Portland is May 21-22. After that you will have to wait until September 3-4 or October 8-9. I have taken the course several times. Each time I have learned new and valuable information about play-ing the cello. In future columns I plan to share specific information about body use that has been helpful to me and my cello students. If you have a question you would like addressed, please contact me at [email protected]. — Sherill Roberts is principal cellist of the Portland Opera Orchestra. She teaches cello at Linfield College
in McMinnville, and has a private cello studio. She runs a monthly support group for her adult begin-ners (mostly women) called the YoYo MaMas.
Sherill Roberts
10
President’s Message (Continued from page 1)
([email protected]) news of any cello events you become aware of. We can then spread the word through our web site, emails, and newsletters. Looking ahead to next season, we are planning a student cello orchestra to be held on the afternoon of November 20, 2005. We are in the organizing phase now. This will be another great opportunity for young cellists to perform with others and before an audience. I hope you all will have a great summer and will keep your cello “out of the case.” — Bud Armstrong
Two Professional OCS Board Members Solo
with Local Community Orchestras
Bruce McIntosh was the featured cello soloist with the Willamette Falls Symphony on March 6, 2005. With Mark Perlman conducting, Bruce per-formed Ernest Bloch's Schelomo-A Hebrew Rhapsody. Bruce was a co-founder of the Oregon Cello society and is currently on the Cello Society Board and has been a past president of the board. He is a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the University of Texas, where he earned a Master of Music. He founded and is the music director and conductor of the Willamette Community Orchestra. This spring, after 36 years, he retires from Willamette University, where he is professor of cello and music theory. Una O'Riordan was soloist Febru-ary 20th with the Marylhurst Sym-phony in the Allegro movement of Dvorák's Cello Concerto in E minor, with Lajos Balogh conducting. Una joined the Oregon Cello Society board this year and is in her second season with the Oregon Symphony. She is a graduate of the Eastman School of Mu-sic and has her graduate degree from the Northwestern University School of Music.
— Bud Armstrong Bruce McIntosh
Una O’Riordan
11
Bridge & Bow — Spring 2005
Who Am I?
I was born in Prague in 1843, and my father was Cantor in the Prague Syna-gogue. I studied the cello there under Julius Golter-mann. My 1867 début in Vi-enna must have made a splash, because the next year
I was appointed principal cellist at the Court Op-era. In 1872 I married Liszt’s pupil Sophie Menter, described by her teacher as his “only le-gitimate daughter and the greatest woman pianist [!?] of the age.” Together, we undertook a series of concert tours throughout Europe, and in 1882 I toured Spain and Portugal with the French violin-ist Emil Sauret. Sophie and I split in 1886, and ten years later I settled in Budapest to teach at the Conservatory that Liszt had established there. I served for a time as cellist in the quartet led by Jenö Hubay, the son of the first head of the Conservatory string department. In the same year I joined Hu-bay and Brahms in a performance in Budapest of Brahms’s Piano Trio in C minor. I am remem-bered for my cello compositions, which include four concertos and a number of salon pieces that are enjoyed by students of many levels. Although my studies are familiar to many as-piring cellists, “High School” [hint!] students may remember me with mixed feelings. I died at Baden, near Vienna, in 1913. Answer will appear in the next issue. Answer to winter ’05 quiz: Boccherini.
Adult Amateur Recital March 19, 2005
Before an enthusiastic audience, the Adult Amateur Cello Recital was held March 19th at the Community Music Center in Portland. John Green and Joan Shiolas performed Jo-seph Haydn's Cello Duet in G. Jennifer Porter, accompanied by Bethany Tip-pin, played Gabriel Fauré’s Elegie, Op. 24. Jules Elias, Bud Armstrong and Marlise stroebe presented Trio for B-flat Clarinet, Cello and Piano, by Rick Sowash. Some of you might remember that Rick composed some music for our Cello Orchestra that we presented some 10 years ago. Bud Armstrong and Marlise Stroebe on piano performed Johannes Brahms’ Sonata #1 in E Mi-nor. Jim Strassmaier, with Scott Teitsworth at the piano, presented Twelve Variations on a Theme from Judas Maccabaeus by G. F. Händel. This yearly event gives amateur cellists the chance to play before a forgiving audience and at the conclusion, refreshments were served by Joan Sargent and Jesse Dishman. Many thanks to them for their help with this. — Bud Armstrong
www.artmusicbywhimsy.com Karen Bates-Smith,
Composer TEL 503-347-0692
Music for Violin/Cello duets & String Trios
12
SW Portland Hamilton Cheifetz — 503.725.3185 [email protected] Dorien de León — 503.246.0093 [email protected] Salem Grace Burnham (SE) — 503.364.4910 [email protected] Bruce McIntosh — 503.585.4298 [email protected] Cathy Schnelker (SE) — 503.364.4133 [email protected] Georgienne Young (SE) [email protected] Tigard Hermann Jobelmann — 503.524.0789 [email protected] India Jobelmann — 503.524.0789 [email protected] Tualatin/Lake Oswego/West Linn Renee Dolphin — 503.957.1156 [email protected] Dorothy Lewis — 503.699.1337 [email protected] Katherine Schultz — 503.312.4444 [email protected] Charlene Wilson — 503.691.1196 [email protected] Seattle, WA David T. Stone — 206.586.5524 [email protected]
Ashland Beth Goldstein — 541.482.7709 [email protected] Beaverton Corey Averill — 503.526.3908 Hyun-jin Kim — 503.591.7542 [email protected] Corvallis Ann Grabe — 541.758.0638 Nancy Sowdon — 541.451.3348 [email protected] (also in Scio) Eugene Dale Bradley — 541.607.0246 [email protected] Fanny Carroll — 541.344.6803 Eric Eklund — 541.513.7375 [email protected] Steven Pologe — 541.346.3785 [email protected] McMinville Sherill Roberts — 503.472.7286 [email protected] Milwaukie Margaret Dickerson — 503.653.9905 NE Portland Dieter Ratzlaf — 503.288.6577 [email protected] SE Portland Collin Heade — 503.775.2892 [email protected] Walter Hogsett — 503.774.1722 Tim Scott — 503.774.4231 [email protected]
OCS Cello Teachers
Teachers: what a deal! Your name, telephone number and e-mail address can appear here for regular member dues plus an additional $5.00 per year.
13
Bridge & Bow — Spring 2005
An Interview with Steven Pologe
Steven Pologe is an Associate Professor of Cello at the University of Oregon School of Music and cellist with the Oregon String Quartet and Trio Pacifica. He has performed throughout the United States and in Italy, Sweden, New Zealand, Ta iwan, Thailand, South Korea and Can-ada. His recent CDs include works by Jon Deak, William Grant Still, and Lev Abeliovich. Mr. Pologe took time out of his busy schedule to give us the following insight into his life and career. B&B: Where did you grow up? Steven Pologe: I grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey, a few miles (jogging distance) from New York City. I attended New York Philharmonic con-certs, studied with the Principal cellist of the NY Phil. My dad practiced certified public accounting in midtown Manhattan and I had grandpar-ents and other relatives in town. B&B: How did you get started in music? SP: My parents weren’t musicians — my mother was an artist and my father is still a practicing CPA. I started playing the cello at about age
14. I also had two years of piano lessons which intersected with my early cello studies. My mother sug-gested the cello. I thought it was a big brass instrument and was surprised when a stringed instrument showed up instead. Regarding my inspiration, I believe it was the fact that my parents, who were not mus i-cally inclined themselves, conveyed lots of positive reinforcement on me about what a talented and capable musician I was. B&B: How did you decide to go to Eastman, then Juilliard? SP: My decision to attend Eastman was the result of careful research and planning. I applied to a number of schools, met the cello teachers at each, mostly during the auditions themselves, and then spoke at length with students of those teachers. The students sounded exceptional at Eastman and their respect for Mr. [Ronald] Leonard was evident. Leonard himself was the least complimentary of any of the teachers I met. Instead he was full of observations and suggestions about what I needed to be addressing as a cello student. This appealed to me. He wasn't selling Eastman or himself, just focusing on my development on the cello. After playing in the Rochester and Buffalo Philharmonics for three years, I decided I needed more time to study the cello. My closest cellist friend was enrolled at Juilliard and through him, I met and began lessons with Channing Robbins, who was Leonard Rose's teaching associate at Juilliard. After a few lessons, Chan-ning set up a meeting in which I was to play for Mr. Rose. The following September I entered Juilliard and began three years of graduate studies there. B&B: Your music has taken you many places in the world; what brought you to Oregon? SP: A combination of things: After about 16 years of playing in orchestras, 13 as a principal cellist, I felt that if I was going to try another aspect of the music business, this was probably a logical time to do so. Concurrently, the Honolulu Symphony was about to undergo some extreme economic challenges and my wife, Kathy, and I were concerned about remaining with a symphony that might be in for some major set-backs. We had considered offers from other places but found it difficult to contemplate leaving Hawaii. We found Oregon beautiful enough that we were willing to leave Hawaii. When the University of Oregon of-fered both my wife and I positions, we checked out the schools for our young son, and decided to take the
plunge.
Steven Pologe
14
An Interview with Steven Pologe (Continued from page 14)
B&B: What other cellists do you admire the most? SP: My primary teacher, Ronald Leonard continues to be a source of inspiration and education. Thirty-five years after I began my studies with him, he still plays beautifully and teaches with all the integrity he has displayed throughout his entire career. Yo-Yo Ma is an old friend and someone I admire tremendously. He is one of those rare individuals who deserve every bit of good fortune he has had. He generously and genu-inely gives back as much as he humanly can. Other cellists I admire include Steven Isserlis, Pieter Wispel-wey, Carter Brey, and many others from our current generation. Of course there are also many legendary cellists whom most of us in this profession admire, Fournier, Gendron, Casals, Feuermann and Cassado. I would also include Rostropovich and Starker on this list except that they are still active performers today. B&B: What are your favorite compositions on the cello? SP: Whatever I am working on at the time. That's really true. I would be hard pressed to cite a favorite be-cause that relegates hundreds of other great compositions to a lesser place in my heart, and that simply is not the case. B&B: In the All-State Orchestra five out of the top six cellists were your students. Can you tell us something about your teaching method to explain why you are so successful? SP: It is nearly impossible for anyone to tell you comprehensively how they teach in just a few minutes (or paragraphs) but I will give it a try. First of all, I enjoy teaching, much more than I anticipated when I first moved to Oregon. I allow my students to take advantage of me by giving them much more of my time than agreed to or that I actually can afford. With regard to developing a secure instrumental foundation, I try to keep the elements of good technique well organized in my mind. There is our form at the cello, the left and right sides, and how we sit and place the cello in front of us. There is how we move at the instrument. This includes the bow arm, which is very complicated. We need to master a number of specific bow strokes, long legato strokes, detaché, martelé sautille, spiccato, up and down bow staccato, etc. On the left side there is how we raise and drop our fingers, intonation and consistency in performance, how we shift and how we vibrate. Each element needs attention in lessons (and the practice room.) I believe that one of the most important ways to address many of these issues is through scales. I try to be diligent in specifying how a student should practice their scales and what their goals and objectives should be. I also make a point of listening to scales every week for the first few months (with a new student) and then every third week or so after that. With my cello classes at the University of Oregon and Green Mountain Music Festival in Vermont, we meet periodically as a group to work on scales together, usually focusing on one or two specific aspects of the cello technique at each session. I also like to have my students include a speed training component in each day of practice. Speed work is similar to what a runner does each day on the track. We pick exercises which we select for the purpose of developing speed and measure our speed each week in order to chart our progress. With regard to repertoire, like most teachers, I try to select repertoire that is varied, that will ad-dress different technical skills, and that provide a variety of musical challenges. One last but essential area is developing of a student’s creativity and his or her ability to play dramatically. Both in general terms and specifically with the repertoire we study, I try to define the fullest possible range of creative possibilities. I constantly revisit the question, “What more can we bring to this particular work to make it more effective and dramatic?” so that our audience fully experiences what we are trying to express. I periodically videotape my students in performances or at lessons so that we can further ex-
15
Bridge & Bow — Spring 2005
Backward Bowing Mystery Solved Congratulations to Lynne Roe, the eagle-eyed OCS member who took note of the left-handed bowing technique highlighted in the last Bridge & Bow and promptly reported it to the authori-ties. After a lengthy inquiry, all parties (including the chagrined editor) have agreed that the folks who create Microsoft clip art don’t play the cello. Or is that a bass? A warning to members: don’t try this technique at home without adequate professional supervision!
An Interview with Steven Pologe (Continued from page 15)
plore this as we evaluate their recordings. B&B: Your son played principal flute at All-State. What a talented musician he is! As the son of violinist Kathryn Lucktenberg and cellist Steven Pologe, he was certainly exposed to music. How did he start play-ing an instrument? SP: Jonas began studying piano at about 4 or 5 years of age (when we lived in Hawaii.) After moving to Eugene he began asking for flute lessons but we didn't take him seriously as we expected to raise either a pianist or string player. However, he persevered in his desire to play flute and piccolo and so we rented a flute and started him with lessons. He really connected with his first flute teacher, Alice Burke, and pro-gressed rapidly. Now he is studying with our distinguished professor of flute at the University of Oregon, Nancy Andrew, who is doing wonderful work with him. B&B: What upcoming performances are on your calendar? • April 8: Oregon Festival of American Music at The Shedd in Eugene, Benjamin Britten's Fantasy for
Oboe and Violin, Viola and Cello • April 10: Beall Concert Hall in Eugene, Victor Steinhardt's Piano Quartet • April 14: Benefit concert at the home of University of Oregon President David Frohnmayer • April 28: Oregon String Quartet performing music by William Grant Still and Claude Debussy After that I have a rare seven weeks, which I have protected so that I can have some time for my own prac-ticing. Within my first two weeks in Vermont (late June) I will be performing the Schubert C Major Cello Quintet, Brahms’ C Minor Piano Quartet and a cello sonata by Samuel Zyman. B&B: What are you planning to do this summer? SP: June 26 through July 24 I will be teaching and performing at the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival, which is held on the beautiful campus of the University of Vermont in Burlington. It is a practic-ing and chamber music camp for serious young string players ages 15 through 25. After that, I will be tak-ing a sabbatical from the Grand Teton Music Festival, where I have performed for over 20 years, so that I can travel with my family. We will be visiting some college campuses where my son may choose to apply and a number of national parks, Bryce, Zion and Grand Canyons. — Wayne Nutsch
16
The American String Quartet
Performs in Portland I already knew what a fine quartet the American String Quartet was after hearing them perform at Lewis and Clark College a few years ago. They performed for the students, and then heard a student string quartet. I was impressed with their friendly attitude and excel-lent remarks to the students. I felt it was one of the most interesting master classes I have at-tended in the last two years. A personal note: all of the American String Quartet members were in the room except for the cellist. Very close to the beginning of the session, the cellist walked in; I watched in surprise as she walked by, saying to myself, “Is that Margo [Tatgenhorst Drakos] ?” I went up to Daniel Avshalomov and asked him is that was Margo? Indeed, it was! I went up to say hello. Margo spent a one year stint as principal cellist of the Oregon Symphony, and we sat together a number of times. So, I got to know her. She is really a lovely young lady. I did not realize that she had become the quartet's cellist. But I did tell her there was never any doubt in my mind that she would become a professional chamber musician. — Naomi Blumberg
The American String Quartet is Peter Winograd, violin; Margo Tatgenhorst Drakos, cello; Laurie Carney, violin; and Daniel Avshalamov, viola. They performed in Port-land with pianist Menahem Pressler on March 14 and 15. On the program were works by Mozart, Debussy, Haydn, Dvorák and Danielpour.
In Their Own Words: Essay Excerpts from 2005 OCS Student Scholarship Audition Participants
When I play the cello, it feels like I am more alive than usual. I am aware of every note and every sound (for good or bad). Fears and trouble float away and yet I am not empty. I feel saddened by a slow ballad and excited by a lively dance. — Eli Bixby, 13 years, 8 months I like music and I like to play cello. I can imagine a lot of fun stories when I play the cello. The daily practice also teaches me to be a person with discipline. I learned how to work with others when playing the cello in the orchestra. Now I know that the whole orchestra is a team and we need teamwork. I will keep studying cello all my life. Playing cello is fun! — Angie Zhang, 9 years, 1 month
Bridge & Bow — Spring 2005
18
2005 OCS Student Scholarship Auditions On Sunday April 10, 2005, the 10th Annual Scholarship Audition sponsored by the Oregon Cello Soci-ety took place at the Community Music Center. Twenty-three cellists between the ages of 8 and 15 partic i-pated in the audition. They each played solos before a distinguished panel of judges made up of Corey Averill, Una O'Riordan, and Dieter Ratzlaff. This unique audition is designed to identify students who show outstanding talent but are not necessarily the most advanced players in their age group. Its purpose is to help those students who demonstrate exceptional promise at varying levels of proficiency fulfill their po-tential. Six $200 scholarships were awarded to the following students: Eli Bixby, 13, student of Kathie Reed (Vivaldi Sonata No. 5, movements 3 and 4); Michelle Leipzig, 14, student of India Jobelmann (Lalo Con-certo in d minor, movement 1); Andrew Ponec, 11, student of Charlene Wilson (Tchaikovsky's Chanson Triste, Vivaldi Sonata No. 5, second movement); Boris Popadiuk, 12, student of John Hubbard (Elgar Con-certo in e minor, first movement); Lauren Shin, 13, student of Hyun-jin Kim (Elgar Concerto in e minor, first movement); and Angie Zhang, 9, student of India Jobelmann (Klengel Concertino in C, first move-ment). Also awarded were gift certificates donated by local music stores. Winners of bow rehairs from Ed Geesman and David Kerr were Kaleb Apland, 15 (Jane Day); Candace Chin, 13 (Dorien de Leon); and Keahi Horowitz, 13 (Kathie Reed). A bridge and soundpost adjustment by Paul Schuback was awarded to Megan Yip, 8 (India Jobelmann). $25 gift certificates to Day Music Company and Sheet Music Service went to Luke Copko, 14 (Jane Day); Jason Evans, 12 (Kathie Reed); Alan Hermanns, 9 (Jane Day); and Sarah Kang, 14 (John Hubbard). $10 gift certificates to Manselle's Music were won by Marissa Deitz, 14 (John Hubbard); Martin Kelly, 14 (Dale Bradley); Daniel Moon, 12 (Dorien de Leon); and Galen Nahas, 11 (John Hubbard). Cakes of rosin donated by Paul Schuback were given to the runners-up. The winners of the scholarship awards will perform at the annual meeting of OCS in the fall of 2005. The Oregon Cello Society would like to graciously thank the following for their generous gift certificate donations: Geesman Fine Violins, Paul Schuback in the Pearl, Day Music Company, Manselle’s Music Sheet Music Service, and David Kerr Violin Shop. — Katherine Schultz
In Their Own Words (Continued from page 18)
My mom and I went to see Alban Gerhardt play the Elgar Cello Concerto with the Oregon Symphony. Although I had no previous ex-posure to his playing, I knew that I was in for a treat, and as the end of the first piece approached, I began to wonder about the concerto. Was it sad or happy? Was it fast or slow? How difficult was it? All my questions were answered as Mr. Gerhardt took his seat at the front of the stage and forcefully played the first five noble and con-trolled measures. This passage had such a profound effect on me that the tune stayed glued in my head until I purchased a recording of it two months later. After listening to the piece over and over, I de-cided to take it to my private teacher. He agreed to help me play it. — Boris Popadiuk, 12 years, 11 months Music has been part of my life ever since I was a baby. I learned how to sing when I was two and started to play piano when I was four. When I turned eight, I played a note on the cello and knew it was the perfect instrument for me. I love music because it gives me the chance to express how I feel. I especially like the cello because of the low, rich, deep sound it has. — Lauren Shin, 13 years, 8 months [Talking about an inspiring cello moment]… It happened after my third lesson with [teacher] Charlene [Wilson]. The student after me was named Joel. Charlene had encour-aged me to listen to the lesson before or after mine, so my mom and I stayed to listen to the first part of his lesson. Joel, at the time, was playing one of the movements of a Bach Suite. I thought it was the most beautiful thing in the world. I remember it was a really hot day, and everything outside was quiet. It almost seemed like the whole world was standing still. I re-member that right then I decided I wanted to play like that some day. —Andrew Ponec, 11 years, 11 months There could be nothing more satisfactory, rewarding, and fulfilling than finishing the last chord of a piece with a final whip of your bow across the strings. I love making that huge, rich, warm sound, seeing the awed expressions on faces as I finish a particularly complex pas-sage, hearing enthusiastic responses from the audience after a performance…Learning the language of music is best when you have people by your side. Playing the cello has led me to countless friendships, helped me meet so many great people. I've gotten to accompany and be accompanied, perform and watch performances, and interact with tons of people that share a common love: making beautiful music. —Michelle Leipzig, 14 years, 11 months
Bridge & Bow — Spring 2005
"Inside Chamber Music" Class
The classes will cover musical structure, stylistic differences, approaches to interpre-tation and lots of stories from performers. Classes will feature live performances by Hamilton Cheifetz, the Florestan Trio, pian-ist Susan Chan, and guitarist Bryan Johan-son, as well as guest speakers including Robert MacBride and Michael Parsons. Repertoire to be performed will include Mendelssohn's D Major Cello Sonata, Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata, and pieces for 4 celli by Goltermann and Popper. There will be an opportunity to attend an open re-hearsal of the Kronos Quartet. The classes are on 10 Monday evenings beginning March 28, and those who wish to join late can pay a reduced fee. Call 503-725-5400 for info. Cost is $100; guest speakers and discounted/free tickets to chamber music concerts included. Sponsored by Friends of Chamber Music and PSU's Department of Music.
Professional Pianist Available for Chamber Music
I am a professional pianist and have performed in the Northwest for over 30 years. I have a degree in piano performance. I am interested in performing chamber music with cello, violin, viola and/or wind instruments. I love the traditional music of Bach, Mozart, Schubert, Brahms (to name a few) but I would also like to explore contemporary chamber music written by women com-posers. I have a wonderful practice studio adjacent to my home, north of Portland. I am interested in playing 2-4 cham-ber music performances each year. My goal is to per-form with high quality rather than great quantity. I have performed solo piano recitals, accompanied for many choir concerts and currently perform with the St Mary's academy choir in downtown Portland. I have played solo concerts for many holiday events at Salishan Lodge, The Heathman Hotel, and many various private clubs and special events. My contact information is as follows: phone 800 842 0814 or 360 686 3342, [email protected] or [email protected]. I look forward to hearing from interested musicians. Sincerely, Marlise Stroebe
Chung to Solo with PYP Alex Chung, principal cellist with the Portland Youth Symphony and student of India Jobelmann, will be the featured soloist with the Portland Youth Philharmonic concert on May 7, 2005. He will play Elgar's Cello Con-certo. The concert will take place at 7:30 pm at the Ar-lene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland. Call (503) 223-
5939 for tickets.
MYS Seeks Student Cellists Metropolitan Youth Symphony, under the direction of Lajos Balogh, founder, music director and conductor has been in exis-tence for over 30 years. Close to 600 mus i-cians meet at Beaumont Middle School every Saturday during the school year to play music. There are twelve different per-forming groups altogether. they perform overseas every three years. Currently, MYS has three string ensembles and three full size orchestras, each with over 100 musi-cians. CELLOS, JOIN THE FUN! Auditions for new students will take place in June. Call 503 239 4566. also see website www.playmys.org. If you're interested in pre-viewing an upcoming concert or rehearsal, please call the MYS office.
News & Notices
For Sale : Rudoulf Doetsch Cello 7/8, with Alfred Knoll Pernambuco bow, and padded case. 5 years old, excel-lent condition. $2000.00 Contact Ann Ross, [email protected] 503.221.3348 or 503.235.0971
20
Oregon Cello Society Winter ‘05 Board Meeting Minutes
The Oregon Cello Society board meeting on January 9, 2005 was called to order at 3:15 p.m. at the home of Charlene Wilson. Attending: Bud Arm-strong, David Keyes, India Jobelmann, Katherine Schultz, Charlene Wilson, Joan Sargent, Jess Dishman, Wayne Nutsch, Bruce McIntosh, Sherill Rob-erts, Kathie Reed, Laura Saddler and Barbara Smoody. Officers elected for 2005 m/s/c: President Bud, Vice-president Katherine, Treasurer Wayne and Secretary Barbara. Minutes of last two meetings were accepted as submitted in previous newsle t-ters, m/s/c. Treasurer's report: balance $8395.65. (Editor’s note: this figure was updated to $8234.90 on February 23) Cello Day 2004 was not a moneymaker but a good event nonetheless (it lost $319.30). Student cello orchestra event: the most recent concert given by students in the Portland area was in fall of 2000. Bud is anxious to get momentum back into this event, so students will have a chance during their school years to play in at least one of these. He offered to chair the event if he can get help from other members in selecting music, arranging seating, conductor and venue. Considering how busy spring is, we decided to look at November 2005 for our goal of putting to-gether this concert. Kathie Reed will look at possible conflicts with other Oregon youth organiza-tions. Sherill was asked to conduct but declined for this year. At a previous contact, John Hub-bard would consider a shared conductor position. Likely schedule for preparations are a dress re-hearsal the day of the concert and two others (ideally 3 and 1 week before). The program will probably be full orchestra pieces at start and end, bracketing small ensembles. Two hundred seat venue is a likely useful size. Participants will be expected to join the OCS as part of their registra-tion for playing in the orchestra. So, the event needs a date, another conductor and a hall; other than that, it is a sure thing! Student memberships in OCS: David Keyes has a listing of student members of the OCS. He will soon add the 40+ who participated in Spring 2004 auditions. Students must be a member of OCS to participate in any events the organization sponsors. About ten years ago, an OCS mem-ber who was also an attorney advised the board that requiring a membership in an organization in the presence of a monetary prize could be an IRS concern. The student audition event can't re-quire someone to join the OCS in order to compete for the prize, but by paying the $15 applica-tion fee, the student automatically becomes a member of the OCS (with newsletters and notifica-tion of related events for at least one year or longer, as there are still students on the mailing list who have moved out of the area). Bruce McIntosh told us that he includes a student membership in the semester fee structure of his private students, so they are set for any OCS events already. He suggests this would be a good way for other teachers to establish membership for their stu-dents. Accompanist fees: The board decided that our policy (m/s/c) is to charge a fee of $15/student using the accompanist supplied by the OCS for student auditions. The fee entitles each student to one run-through to be arranged between the student and accompanist. Secretary’s note: I be-lieve that previous discussions strongly suggested that out-of-town students meeting accompa-nist on day of audition be given preference for same-day run-throughs. Portlanders using a Port-land-based accompanist should arrange a run-through on a day before the performance. In
21
Bridge & Bow — Spring 2005
OCS Winter ‘05 Board Meeting Minutes (Continued from page 21) the case of a student supplying their own accompanist, this fee, of course, does not apply. February 4 master class with Daniel Muller-Schott: The possibility of OCS members attending the Saturday 5 February rehearsal of the Oregon Symphony with Daniel is not definite. OCS may be required to pay a portion of the labor costs of the musicians. The November rehearsal hap-pened to be piggy-backed onto another OSO sponsor function and that was lucky for us! Spring Student Auditions: Katherine will chair this event again, thank you! It will be at the Community Music Center on Sunday 10 April from noon to 6 pm. The board agreed to pay up to $200 for facility rental. We did discuss possible use of Newberg High School, which would be free, but the location was problematic for the majority of students who are closer to Portland. Secretary’s note: after the fact, we did NOT discuss judges fees or prize amounts, which can probably be modeled closely on the 2004 event. The fall recital will be arranged by Charlene. Date and place to be decided. Use of the OCS member mailing list: Bud recently had a phone conversation with an OCS member who did not want their name included in the membership roster published in the Bridge & Bow (fall 2004). We discussed the possibility of putting a box on the application form (included in every newsletter issue) and the annual dues notice which members could check to be ex-cluded from such printings, or loan to other organizations (such as Music Millennium and the Co-lumbia Symphony). We voted to do both (m/s/c). Joan pointed out the concerns of printing con-tact information for minors / students if membership lists are distributed to wider circles. Newsletter: Our new newsletter editor, Laura Saddler, arrived at the meeting at about 4:30 pm. She took over from Wayne for the Winter 2005 B & B. Thanks for her willingness to reenter all ba-sic format of the letter as her and Wayne's publishing software programs were not compatible (the treasury thanks her, too!), so check for typos in the newsletter. She hopes to get the B&B on a quarterly schedule, so look for the next one in May 2005. Several people had great ideas for ongoing columns, features for upcoming B&B; such as "Ask Dr. Cello" or music finds. Sherill has offered to include a page in upcoming B&B addressing the issue "What every cellist needs to know about the body.” Expanded use of the website oregoncello.org: Since its inception three to four years ago (thank you Wayne, webmaster!), there have been 966 hits (Charlene checked this in real time). We all agree that the site should be promoted as a quick way to get information out to the cello community. How to do that? I guess, use it! New business: Charlene asked for acknowledgment of Bud's dynamic presidency this past year (a round of applause was offered) and his willingness to continue for another year (Hip-hip-hooray!). Wayne asked for as much lead-time as possible in projected costs of upcoming events, which would allow him to plan a budget for the next year or two. Interviews planned for upcoming B&Bs include Timothy Scott (interviewer: Nancy Ives) and Steve Pologe (interviewer: Nutsches). Laura requested photographs from upcoming events to enhance newsletter content (a shot of Al-ban clutching a student's cello to his chest and playing while standing would have been great!).
22
OCS Winter ‘05 Board Meeting Minutes (Continued from page 22)
OCS board membership: Bruce McIntosh, thanks for specifically asking for clarification of the people and their "class" (start and end of term) now serving on the board. Barbara and Bud re-viewed their notes at the end of the board meeting and sent a nearly correct roster in mid-January. Taking into account subsequent emails and arrival of a new board member, here is what I believe to be the correct information about terms on the current OCS board: *I bet her acceptance of Bud's request to join serves as adequate approval... Bruce closed the meeting with a critique of the art adorning the walls of Charlene's "powder room,” which includes a cellist (was that the frog?) playing on boggy ground as his endpin sank as far as the body, and some critical bow arm and fingering hand positions which we agreed were anatomically impossible. The meeting adjourned with hilarious laughter (at 4:45 pm) and retired to the comfort of a lovely potluck and further cellistic conversation! The next OCS board meeting is May 1, 2005 (probably at 3 pm?) at Charlene’s house.
2003 - 2005 Barbara Smoody Bud Armstrong
Kathie Reed Nancy Ives
2004 - 2006 Jess Dishman
Katherine Schultz Wayne Nutsch
2005 - 2007 Bruce McIntosh Joan Sargent
Sherill Roberts Charlene Wilson Una O'Riordan*
National Cello Institute http://www.creativeharmony.com/members/nci Cello Festivals: http://www.cello.org Chamber Music Northwest: www.cmnw.org Friends of Chamber Music: http://focm.org Camerata Musica http://www.open.org/~camerata Chamber Music Northwest: http://www.cmnw.org Internet Cello Society: http://www.cello.org Salem Youth Symphony Association http://www.youth-symphony.org fEAR nO MUSIC: http://www.fearnomusic.org Four Daring Celli: http://www.apocalyptica.com New Directions Cello Association http://www.newdirectionscello.com Los Angeles Violoncello Society http://www.lacello.org
Web Cello Resources
PPUBLICATION UBLICATION INFORMATIONINFORMATION
Bridge and Bow is published three times a year by the Oregon Cello Society. To be added to the cello teacher listing or to purchase advertising space, please contact OCS treasurer Wayne Nutsch at 503.371.3002 or [email protected]. To submit articles for publication, add concert or event information to the calendar or make listings correc-tions, please contact B&B editor Laura Saddler at 503.771.9347 or [email protected].
23
The Bridge & Bow Oregon Cello Society P.O. Box 4035 Portland, Oregon 97208
NONPROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE
PAID PORTLAND, OR PERMIT No. 6003
Return Service Requested
OCS Membership Form Please send to: Oregon Cello Society attn: Treasurer PO Box 4035 Portland, OR 97208 I wish to: ____ become a new member ($25.00) ____ renew my membership ($25.00) ____ become a student member — I’m a full-time student ($15.00) ____ renew my student membership ($15.00) ____ begin or renew my membership with OCS published teacher status ($30.00) Signed _____________________________________________________ Date ____________
Name ___________________________________________ Phone _____________________
Address __________________________________________ City ___________ State _____
Zip Code ________________ E-mail: ___________________________________________
Student members please provide parent’s name_____________________________________
Note: The short code above your name shows the status of your membership. If your code is not PD05, ST05 or TC05, please take a moment to return this form with a check for your 2005 dues. This will guarantee that you receive your newsletter regularly.
OCS prints an annual membership list in the fall newsletter, and occasionally shares our mailing list with other organizations. Check the box above if you prefer to have your contact information omitted from these lists.
� Membership list opt-out