SPECIAL FOCUS ON WIN A KUN SHOULDER REST STEALING TIME WITH

MUSICAL ADVENTURE AND MAGIC ROSIN PACK! SKILLFUL RUBATO

Fiddler
LOUIS
MICHOT
KEEPS CAJUN MUSIC
ON THE CUTTING EDGE

IS THERE SUCH A THING AS TOO MUCH BEETHOVEN?

VIOLINIST AUGUSTIN HADELICH INTONES ‘BOHEMIAN TALES’
DEALING WITH THE DREADED SOUNDPOST CRACK
V I O L I N M A K E R S · R E S T O R AT I O N S · A P P R A I S A L S · B O W S
6420 fAIRMOUNT · EL CERRITO · ca 94530 · 510-843-5466
W W W. I F S H I N V I O L I N S . C O M
 Photo Credit © Rosalie O'Connor
Strings Handmade in Germany
www.pirastro.com

Augustin Hadelich
 FEATURES
16
Bohemian Rhapsodies
Augustin Hadelich on the pleasures
of collaborating with ideal partners
on a still-undervalued concerto
By Thomas May

22
Beethoven and Classical Music’s
Anniversary Obsession
Can Beethoven250, and all such
celebrations, be too much of a good thing?
By Brian Wise

28
Something Old, Something New
Cajun fiddler Louis Michot
bonds traditional music with
40 contemporary culture
By David Templeton

32
SPECIAL FOCUS Estate Planning
A primer on the process of preparing
Musical Adventure an estate appraisal
By Philip J. Kass
38
Tour de Force
A musical adventure in Ireland marries
sights, sounds, and late-night sessions
By Bill Kronenberg

40
A Place in the Sun
The role of the summer classical-
music intensive in the overall
education of its students
By Emily Wright

46 38
East-African Adventure
My violin has taught me how music
builds trust, friendship, and love
By Kaethe Hostetter
MARCH/
TOP: ELLE LOGAN, BOTTOM: KEVIN OWENS

50
Summer Study Guide
Directory APRIL
2020
VOLUME XXXIV, NUMBER 2, ISSUE 293
COVER: LOUIS MICHOT
PHOTO: ZACK SMITH

StringsMagazine.com 5
 DEPARTMENTS

10
Editor’s Note

12
News & Notes
Upcoming events; recent releases;
and 5 Minutes with . . . violinist
Laura van der Heijden

82
Shop Talk
Luthier Anthony Lane on the joy
of arching plates

WORK BENCH 12
52
What’s in the Case?
Seattle Symphony concertmaster
Noah Geller’s Postacchini
PLAY
60
54 On My Music Stand
Tales of the Trade
Violinist Rebecca Fischer approaches
Bow maker Gilles Nehr blends traditional
the operatic, unpredictable voice
making with contemporary innovation
of Missy Mazzoli

56 62
Your Instrument
Rep Prep
The dreaded soundpost crack—
Tackling Popper’s Gavotte in D,
what you need to know
one measure at a time

58 66
New Products
Tech Support
Kun adds a dash of color to its
Mastering the subtle art of rubato
shoulder rests

68
Stage & Studio
What it takes to make it in the
gig economy

REVIEWS
74
TOP: CHRIS GLOAG, BOTTOM: COURTESY OF KUN

For the Record

The Tesla Quartet explores joy
and desolation on new CD

76
On Record
Two recent recordings of Bach’s Sonatas
58 and Partitas reveal striking interpretive
differences, and more

6 March-April 2020  / Strings

DON’T IMITATE. INNOVATE. THE NEW YVN.
When it comes to violin making, it was pencils down for centuries. Until Yamaha started
asking big questions. Like, “how can we build a more high-quality student violin, with
better sound and greater durability, in a more eco-friendly, sustainable way?” Discover
how the new Yamaha YVN Model 3 nails all the right notes at www.yamaha.com/us/yvn/.
 ONLINE

Connect with Strings Magazine

TEEN WINS ‘PLAY WITH
RAY’ COMPETITION
SPECIAL FOCUS ON VINTAGE
INSTRUMENTS & BOWS
WIN A SPECIAL PRIZE
FROM THOMASTIK-INFELD! ADJUSTING TO THE 1689 'BAUMGARTNER' STRAD TAKE IT UP TO TEMPO WHAT IT TAKES TO MAKE IT IN VEGAS on all the social networks you’re already using!

TIP SHEET № 18
Black IDEAS, NEWS & FUN FOR STUDENTS OF VIOLIN, VIOLA, CELLO, BASS & FIDDLE
Connect with Strings Magazine
Violin on all the social networks you’re already using!

Is All
FINDMake
YOUR
TIPS FOR
AWESOME
About
friends
COMPOSER
CAROLINE YOUTUBE says. “Phones generally have

Hope SHAW VIDEOS a good mic because they’re

used for speech.” But audio

VOICE
with your
KEEPS FINDING HER WAY HOME
TO THE STRING QUARTET equipment—like cheap lava-
lier mics—can be worth the
The Miró Quartet
investment, especially if

metronome
Celebrates in a Big Way you’re using a digital camera.
Trio Oreade Jasminfire’s Contemporary
Ensemble Players Who Go Solo Seizes the Moment— Spiritual Journey Makers Talk Historical
Amplify Your Acoustic May/June 2019 No. 288
Strads in Hand to Jazz Influences Forde notes that people are
much less likely to watch a
November/December 2019 No. 291 StringsMagazine.com

FOCUS ON COLLEGE WIN A CASE DARE TO TACKLE

1. CREATIVITY WINS video that sounds bad than
& CONSERVATORY FROM MUSAFIA! THOSE DOUBLE-STOPS WIN AN NS DESIGN RAY CHEN PUTS

O
F
VIOLIN OR CELLO! YSAŸE ON THE MENU

ur approach is, ‘Look The first rule of YouTube: one that looks bad. “They’re
rom the earliest days, every string player
what we did with this Don’t be boring. “Create con- just more forgiving of bad
has felt it, that the metronome is a tor-
violin that people just didn’t tent that you find fun, that visuals,” says the violist, who
ture device, an instrument of drudgery
believe could be done. What activates you,” advises violist makes his entire list of video
that makes practicing a slog. But if you rewire
can you do, with the thing Drew Alexander Forde, known equipment available online at
your approach to working with this uncompro-
that you love, that nomising
one device, you just might come to realize that online as ThatViolaKid. “Look kit.com/thatviolakid. 
else has ever seen before?’
the important process of improving your rhythm can actu- at what other people are
WWI
Hilary Hahn
(Finally)
Completes Her To us, it’s about blending
ally be fun. In the subjective world of music, the unwaver- doing,” says Forde, whose vid-
& the
Solo Bach Set

‘One Long Song’:

the thing you love withing
yourjudgement of the metronome provides a great way of eos consistently rack up tens of

Violin
Bassist Barre
Phillips Sums Up
a Stellar Career
commitment to becoming revealing your improvement in a measurable way. Improv- thousands or even hundreds
Rachel Barton STRING PLAYERS awesome at that thing.”ing rhythm and pulse in your playing is a lifelong process of thousands
If you’re still not feeling confident of views.
about your“Use
Pine on Her AND MAKERS
‘Music by Black
Composers’ ON THE FRONT of growth; the secret is to proceed in small steps. rhythm at this point, putthat research
down to set yourself
that instrument!
Project OF CHANGE
—Violinist Kev Marcus of Sometimes it can getapart.in theNobody
way ofwants to watch
your rela-
hip-hop duo Black Violin on 3. WATCH THE CLOCK
OBSERVATION, AWARENESS, ASSESSMENT tionship with a steady apulse.
carbonClap
copy.”
it, sing it, or
being confident in In your Short is the YouTube norm:
any given passage, first observe your level of attention: play the passage on piano until you have
unique talents 2. DON’T SPEND BIG The average video is a little
How long can you maintain focus while playing with a metro- improved your consistency, then work on repli-
over four minutes, and exces-
cating that steadiness ON EQUIPMENT
The many moods
of Hille Perl’s violas da gamba nome? If it’s only for a few minutes, that’s OK! Start from on your instrument.
sive length can turn people
there and increase your period of focus over time. It is far Good rhythm is a lifelong
“Anyonejourney,
can makebutadon’t
YouTube
Violinist Israel Baker’s Behind-the-Scenes Career off. But YouTube’s algorithm
San Francisco Symphony & Metallica Plan a 20-Year Reunion better to be intensely focused for a short period of time than let that discourage you; rather,
video with set
theirsmall goals
phone,” Forde
5 Top Performers Offer Perspective from the Spotlight gives improved visibility to lon-
unfocused for longer. Be aware of your attention span: As for yourself, perhaps practicing just one
ger videos that keep people on
soon as it fades, stop. Without full awareness of your playing, phrase, or concentrating on one kind of
SPECIAL FOCUS ON ADULT
AMATEUR PLAYERS
PRACTICE MORE
EFFICIENTLY
ART (AND) HISTORY
WITH GESINA LIEDMEIER
WHY YOU SHOULD NEVER
PUT YOUR FAITH IN A LABEL
MASTER THE
MASTER CLASS
SPECIAL FOCUS:
LORENZO STORIONI the platform longer (and
metronome work can be useless, or even counterproductive. rhythm. For example, working on triplets can
watching more ads). “I would
As you work with the metronome, assess your tendencies: improve rhythmic skill. The act of starting one

T
suggest making videos around
PLUG IN WITH EASTMAN Are you really with the metronome? Is your tendency to be beat down bow and the next up bow really
ten minutes long—as long as
The ‘Ames, late, or to rush? Do particular rhythms cause you difficulty? helps build greater rhythmic control into the
Totenberg’ they don’t meander and they
he ElectroIfAcoustic
you’re not sure,available
subdivide— breaking
viola,down
and the rhythms bow arm. By working on specific issues for a
Sudan Strad Starts a
Archives
Fuses African
New Chapter Series, in violin, keep the viewer entertained
Fiddling with
Stravinsky
Celebrating to the
cello, is your smallestEastman,
traditional commonamplified.
denominator will really
Whether it’s help moni- short time each practice session, you will
Soul
the Future with
the L.A. Phil throughout,” Forde says.
Embark on turning yourtorpractice
control of rhythm.
session intoToa play totally synchronized
new experience with with the begin to notice greater control and awareness
A Haydn
a ‘Year of
Wonder’
Album 9 Years
click takes tremendous focus, and while
looping, playing in an orchestra or rock band, or recording this may be men- in your rhythmic approach.
in the Making
4. EDIT, THEN EDIT
A Moment of
into an app,tally
allexhausting,
can be donedon’t
withallow yourself to tense
the familiar sound andup. You should
Improvisation
in Violin SOME MORE
Making
always
style of your strive Plug
Eastman. for physical ease in your metronome work.
in. Naturally. — Scott Flavin
Thoughtful editing is crucial.
SPONSORED BY EASTMAN The good news is that editing
7 GREAT METRONOME HACKS
Vijay
programs are easier to use
than ever, and you might

Gupta
1. Mix It Up! make sure that you work up to solo violin sonata is written in nome; work on playing with
Play with the metronome clicks practicing with 2 per bar, fol- six 16ths per bar. First set the fre e dom and shap e while already have one on your
on the weak beats (for example, lowing the pulse in the music. m e t r o n o m e in thr e e 8 th - m ain t ainin g a c o n s i s te n t phone or iPad. Windows
beats 2 and 4 in 4/4; beat 2 in StringsMagazine.com beats, then in two dotted-8th- pulse. This may involve the art
TAKING MUSICAL
ENGAGEMENT 3/4). Leaving the “strong” 3. Use Those Features! beats. of rubato, of stealing time Movie Maker and iMovie are
TO THE NEXT LEVEL
beats empty increases the chal- If your metronome has subdivi- from one beat and making it serviceable free programs.
NEYLA lenge and encourages you to
feel the rhythm more solidly.
sions (pretty much all smart-
phone metronome apps do),
5. Cyborgs Not Allowed
When working with metronome,
up in another.
“They’re a great way to get
PEKAREK 2. Get in the Groove
use them. strive at all times for expres-
sion, musicality, and beauty in
7. Hit the Web
There are many rhythm exer-
started,” says Forde, who
Goes Solo, Turns Songwriter,
and Celebrates a Western Muse What is the feel of the music? If 4. Cross-Over! your playing. cises on YouTube; whether made most of his first 40 or
the passage you are working on Lo ok fo r o r cre ate cro s s - they’re clapping or singing exer- 50 videos using iMovie.
is in cut time, it’s fine to start rhythms. For example, the last 6. The Oxymoron cises, even a little bit of this
‘STRINGS’ ANNUAL FREE POSTER OF BLACK LEARN TO LOVE
BUYER’S GUIDE VIOLIN’S KEV MARCUS! YOUR METRONOME out with 4 clicks per bar; just movement of Bach’s G minor Play flexibly with the metro- work can help you build skills.
—Patrick Sullivan

StringsMagazine.com

TEEN STRINGS TIP SHEET

VÄSEN News and fun for students of violin, viola, cello, bass, and fiddle; sponsored by Eastman
CELEBRATES Available at store.stringsmagazine.com/collections/teen-strings-tip-sheets
30 YEARS
DISPLAY UNTIL SEPTEMBER 2, 2019
July/August 2019 No. 289

NICOLA BENEDETTI & WYNTON MARSALIS EXPLORE COMMON GROUND

VIVALDI: A COMPOSER FOR ALL SEASONS | THE COMPETITION QUANDARY

REMEMBERING HOW WOOD GRAIN ANNE AKIKO MEYERS’ GET YOUR PLAYING WIN A TEACH THE PROCESS,
SIR NEVILLE MARRINER AFFECTS TONE NEW ‘FANTASIA’ UP TO SPEED MÜSING BOW! NOT THE RESULT

CHARGAUX
FINDS SUCCESS
IN SOUND
AND STYLE
MELIA WATRAS

YEVGENY
THROWS A
VIOLA PARTY

KUTIK
DETECTIVE STORY:
WHO MADE THIS
MYSTERY VIOLIN?

TAKES
A TRIP
DOWN
MEMORY
THE LANE
ENDURING
Latching on
to Beethoven’s
Late Quartet,

GLORY
Op. 131

6 String Stars
on Instrument
Setup

GUADAGNINI
Start Imagining

OF G.B. Your Summer

Adventure

SUBSCRIBE
OR RENEW DOWNLOAD THIS MAGAZINE, FOR FREE
TODAY Visit store.StringsMagazine.com/digital-edition
and enter code MA293FR at checkout
to get a free PDF version of this issue!
store.stringsmagazine.com @StringsMagazine @stringsmagazine @stringsmagazine

8 March-April 2020  / Strings

THE DIFFERENCE IS IN THE DESIGN
Intentional Craftsmanship tied to Timeless Pedagogy

Players have been able to feel bow

performance for years.  Now, through research,
we can quantify it and build bows for the
specific playing level and needs of the player.

~ Scott Laird
ASTA Board Member, Educational Clinician, Musician

Find Your Next Musical Companion

W W W. C O D A B O W. C O M
#CODABOW
EDITOR’S NOTE

A
StringsMagazine.com
lot is made of anniversaries
in the classical-music world, CONTENT DEVELOPMENT
Editor Megan Westberg
this is true. And why not? So Contributing Editors Cristina Schreil, James N. McKean,
many other passions draw their Darol Anger, Sarah Freiberg, Inge Kjemtrup,
Louise Lee, Laurence Vittes, Brian Wise,
communities together with mas- Thomas May, Patrick Sullivan, Emily Wright
sive, big-budget, annual e vents—
perhaps these anniversaries serve CREATIVE SERVICES
Creative Director Joey Lusterman
as the same kind of cultural signi- Art Director Bill Evans
fier: Beethoven250 just might be
the World Series of classical music. SALES & MARKETING
Chief Revenue Officer Lyzy Lusterman
Audience devotion isn’t really all Group Sales Manager Amy-lynn Fischer
that different. Baseball fans could Sales Manager Ref Sanchez
easily tell you that Babe Ruth hit Marketing Services Manager Tanya Gonzalez
Marketing Coordinator Geneva Thompson
714 home runs and that Ty Cobb
Customer Service Representative Gaby Garcia
still has the highest career batting Single Copy Sales Consultant Tom Ferruggia
average of all time. Ask who won the
1974 World Series, and they’ ll
answer it was the Oakland Athlet-
ics, just as you could tell them who
Ludwig van Beethoven
led the New York Phil between 1949
and 1958 (Dmitri Mitropoulos), the
key of Bach’s Sonata No. 1 (G minor), and Some say yes, indeed, there can be, as Stringletter.com
the opus number of Beethoven’s Symphony you’ll read in a feature by Brian Wise. It Publisher and Editorial Director David A. Lusterman
No. 9 (125). And to each group of devotees, would seem that not everyone is so keen to
FINANCE & OPERATIONS
the source of passion is bound up in far celebrate 250 with Beethoven. Ah well, Chief Operations Officer Anita Evans
more than the thing itself. It is not just there’s always next season . . . General Inquiries AdminDept@stringletter.com
about baseball and it is not just about music; But 2020 isn’t all Beethoven, all the time, as Customer Service StringsService@Stringletter.com
each is a deep wellspring of shared culture, violinist Augustin Hadelich could tell you. Advertising Inquiries Sales@Stringletter.com

connection, memory, and identity. He’s about to release Bohemian Tales, a record- Send e-mail to individuals in this format:
FirstName.LastName@Stringletter.com
During every World Series, the history ing that includes Dvořák’s Violin Concerto
Front Desk (510) 215-0010
of each franchise is trotted out and ago- and works by Janáček and Suk. I hope you Customer Service (800) 827-6837 or 714-226-9782
nizingly detailed. Think you’re an expert enjoy Thomas May’s feature about Hadelich’s Fax (510) 217-3522
on Beethoven? You’re bound to lear n affection for the concerto, as well as all the MAIL & SHIPPING
something new this year as programmers, other exciting stories you’ll find in this issue, 941 Marina Way South, Suite E, Richmond, CA 94804
performers, and media outlets rush to find including our cover feature about fiddler Printed in USA

fresh information, or at least a fresh angle. Louis Michot and his mission to keep tradi-
And while the World Series itself is packed tional Cajun music vibrant and alive, tales of SUSTAINING SUBSCRIBERS
into about a week, each team’s World musical adventure in our special section, a bit David Alpers Annabel Moynihan
Ken Altman Michael Palumbo
Series story is almost a year in the making of information on what to do about a dreaded Nina Ashur Patricia Price
Stephen Canner Christine Reins
(if you include pre- and post-season, with soundpost crack, and so much more. Simon Cook Marisa Rosenblum
Kathryn Coyne Runa Schlaffer
162 games in between). As always, I’d love to know what you Allan Curlee Heidemarie Schroter
There are those who feel a bit fatigued at think. And extra points to anyone who Gail Hajjar Waler Schwede
Skip Hansen Charlie Shafer
the end of baseball’s World Series. There knew Ty Cobb’s career batting average (and Dennis Helppie Alfonso Shelton
Bonnie Jacobowitz Ivan Sinkler
are a lot of games, after all. And this year, that there’s controversy over whether it’s Les Jacobson Jeffrey Solow
Edward A. Klein John Stanley
t here w i l l be a lot of concer ts w it h .336 or .337) without looking it up. Mario Lamarre Ramon Torres
Beethoven on the program. But can there Sara Langbert
Robert Mauer
Kristen Treger
Paul Yarbrough
actually be too much Beethoven?  —Megan Westberg Miguel Mercado Y&D Meyers
Anne A Meyers

TO SUBSCRIBE to Strings magazine, call (800) 827-6837 or visit us online at StringsMagazine.com.
As a subscriber, you enjoy the convenience of home delivery and you never miss an issue. You can
take care of all your subscription needs at our online Subscriber Services page (StringsMagazine.com/
subscriber-services): pay your bill, renew, give a gift, change your address, and get answers to any
questions you may have about your subscription. A single issue costs $8.99; an individual subscription
is $30.00 per year; institutional subscriptions are also available. International subscribers must order
airmail delivery. Add $7.50 per year for Canada, $15 elsewhere, payable in US funds on a US bank, or
by Visa, MasterCard, or American Express.
TO ADVERTISE in Strings, Strings Notes, and on StringsMagazine.com and connect with more than
200,000 string players, teachers, and members of the trade, please contact Group Sales Manager
Amy-Lynn Fischer at (510) 215-0016 or amy-lynn@stringletter.com.
DISTRIBUTION Music retailers please go to Stringletter.com/Retailers.
Strings articles are indexed in The Music Index and The Music Article Guide. Except as noted, all con-
tents © 2020 String Letter Publishing, Inc., David A. Lusterman, Publisher. No part of the contents may
be reproduced, in print or electronically, without prior written permission.

10 March-April 2020  / Strings

“My Luis and Clark
has a marvelous
sound and
plays easily.”
Philip Heyman,
Principal violist
of the Welsh
National
Opera

ph 617-698-3034
luisandclark.com
NEWS & NOTES
The Avett Brothers
RECENT BOOKS
& MUSIC
For teachers on the lookout for interesting
ensemble repertoire appropriate for begin-
ners, Bärenreiter has released Fiddle
Tunes: Irish Music for Strings. Arranged and
edited by George A. Speckert, the tunes
are billed as “ideal for the first concert per-
formances.” The pieces, including “A Lovely
Lass” and “The Foggy Dew,” are all arranged
for two violins, viola, and cello, though the
viola can be replaced by a third violin. This
edition is a part of Bärenreiter’s Easy String
Ensemble series. (Bärenreiter)
How much do you know about Mahler’s
Symphony No. 7? For those looking for a
deeper dive into this oft-overlooked piece,
Anna Stoll Knecht has written a book ana-
lyzing the symphony by studying Mahler’s
compositional materials, including “dis-
carded” sketches and the finished work. In
Mahler’s Seventh Symphony, Stoll Knecht
hopes to reveal new interpretive insight and
the importance of the work within Mahler’s
oeuvre. (Oxford University Press)
12 March-April 2020  / Strings
EXPLORE
March 6 & 7, 8 pm: The Seattle Symphony
continues its Baroque and Wine concert series
with a performance of Bach and Telemann.
The program includes selections by several
members of the Bach family (J.S., C.P.E., and
Johann Christian), performed by violinist
Dmitry Sinkovsky, along with Telemann’s
Viola Concerto, performed by Seattle Sym-
phony principal violist Susan Gulkis Assadi.
Wine tasting begins in the lobby at 6:30, with
four pours for $15.
Benaroya Hall, 200 University St.,
Seattle, Washington
March 28, 8 pm: St. Louis, with a vibrant
music scene of its own, is also the happy
beneficiary of a performing-arts series
hosted by the University of Missouri–
St. Louis. The Martin Hayes Quartet will
be making a visit this March to share the
ensemble’s unique musical vision, taking
the traditional Irish music of Hayes’ home
and filtering it through a contemporary lens
with uncommon instrumentation—Hayes
on fiddle, Dennis Cahill on guitar, Doug
Wieselman on bass clarinet, and Liz
Knowles on viola d’amore, viola, and violin.
Touhill Performing Arts Center,
1 University Blvd., St. Louis, Missouri
April 1, 2 & 4, 7:30 & 8 pm: Violin virtu-
oso Joshua Bell w il l be per for ming
Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with the
New York Philharmonic. Music director
Jaap van Zweden will be on the podium
for this program, which finishes with
Shostakovich’s epic Symphony No. 5.
David Geffen Hall, 10 Lincoln Center Plaza,
New York, New York
April 30, 8 pm: Looking for a string-related
concert on a massive scale? Try Austin,
where the Avett Brothers, featuring the
cello stylings of Joe Kwon, will be perform-
ing in the open-air Germania Insurance
Amphitheater, which accommodates up to
14,000 people, with both reserved and lawn
seating available.
9201 Circuit of the Americas Blvd.,
Austin, Texas
RECENT RECORDINGS
Though his name is often mentioned in the
same breath as his association with a cer-
tain iconic nuptial event, cellist Sheku
Kanneh-Mason was well on his way to a
solo career before he made a splash at
Windsor Castle. He was winner of the 2016
BBC Young Musician competition, and his
debut recording, released in January 2018,
hit number 1 in the official UK classical
charts. On January 10, Decca released his
second recording, on which Kanneh-Mason
performs the Elgar Cello Concerto with
Simon Rattle and the London Symphony
Orchestra. Also included are pieces by
Frank Bridge, Ernest Bloch, Gabriel Fauré,
Julius Klengel, and others. (Decca)

Montana-based bluegrass band the Lil

Smokies released their third studio album,
Tornillo, on January 24. Citing Laurel Canyon
songwriters from the ’70s as a major influ-
ence, the band blends
The Brodsky Quartet—in its current con-
traditional bluegrass ele-
figuration with Gina McCormack and Ian
ments with a modern
Belton, violins; Paul Cassidy, viola; and
musical sensibility. Lis-
Jacqueline Thomas, cello—formed in
ten for Jake Simpson’s
1972, and serves as Artists in Residence at
strong, energetic voice on
Kings Place and the Royal Conservatoire of
fiddle (and vocals).
Scotland. Over the course of a stellar career,
the ensemble has performed the quartet
cycles of Schubert, Shostakovich, and, of
course, Beethoven, among many others. In
celebration of this anniversary year, in Janu-
ary the group released Beethoven: Late String
Quartets, including quartets nos. 11, 13, 12,
14, 15, 16, and the Grosse Fuge. (Chandos)

StringsMagazine.com 13
NEWS & NOTES
5 MINUTES WITH . . .
LAURA van
der HEIJDEN
By Laurence Vittes
W
hen Laura van der Heijden plays
Haydn’s C major Concerto at Disney
Hall on March 20, 2020, she will be
making her US debut as the first of three cel-
lists playing concertos with the Los Angeles
Philharmonic during the Third International
Piatigorsky Cello Festival. She will precede
Kian Soltani playing Schumann’s Cello Con-
certo in A minor, Op. 129, and artistic director
Ralph Kirshbaum playing the world premiere
of Julia Adolphe’s new concerto.
Born in the UK to Dutch-Swiss parents,
van der Heijden at the age of 15 won the
14 March-April 2020  / Strings
2012 BBC Young Musician of the Year Com-
petition. In 2018, her debut CD of Russian
music won the Edison Klassiek Award. At
the end of June 2020, Heijden will make her
first orchestral recording for Chandos: the
concertos by Walton and Frank Bridge, and
the orchestral version of Thomas Adès’
Lieux Retrouvés.
Van der Heijden plays a late 17th-century
cello by Francesco Rugeri of Cremona, main-
tains a busy concert schedule, and serves as an
ambassador for both the Prince’s Foundation
for Children and the Arts and the Brighton
Youth Orchestra.
I caught up with van der Heijden while she
was on holiday break from her final year
studying for her bachelor’s degree in music at
St. John’s College, Cambridge.
How are you preparing for the Haydn?
Much like I prepare for anything else. I start
with slow practice to make sure everything
flows comfortably and to sort out intona-
tion. This process also gives me time and
space to try out different tone qualities and
develop an auditory goal in my head. Once
the piece is in my fingers I think about ele-
ments of the Classical style (like phrase
lengths, rhythmic pulse, articulation, and
sound quality), and how I should or would
like to apply them to the concerto.
Which are its trickiest technical moments?
Nowadays, our cultural norm errs more
toward the sweeping passions and impulsiv-
ity of the Romantic era, so the more mea-
sured, elegant, and refined nature of
Classical works comes with some technical
and interpretational challenges. The Classi-
cal style was exemplified by the desire for
clarity of affect and simplicity, which
requires extreme technical control, aware-
ness, and flexibility of sound.
How did the Piatigorsky International Cello
Festival and you come together?
I was very fortunate to get to know and learn
from Ralph Kirshbaum during an Interna-
tional Musicians Seminar at Prussia Cove in
Cornwall many years ago, and have done sev-
SAM TRENCH
eral master classes with him since then. I
have him to thank for my invitation to the
Piatigorsky Festival!
What have you heard about the festival and
what are you looking forward to?
I’ve heard that it’s a huge celebration of
music—and the cello in particular—which
I’m very excited to be a part of. I’m really
looking forward to many things, like hear-
ing lots of fantastic playing, and to getting
to know L.A. Additionally, it will be my US
concert debut!
Who chose the Haydn?
I was asked to play the Haydn, and I’m not
sure why exactly to be honest—probably just
because it’s a fantastic piece of music!
Where along the interpretive spectrum do
you see this work?
I do find it useful to consider historical per-
formance practices and cultural norms dur-
ing that period, but ultimately my instinct
is probably still the strongest determining
factor in forming my interpretation. One of
my convictions with Classical works like
the Haydn concerto is that a strong sense
of pulse is an important factor, which then
consequently informs all my other interpre-
tational decisions.

Which edition do you use?

I actually use a copy that I downloaded from
IMSLP, which is as blank as possible, so that
I don’t get too bound to a particular edition
and the editor’s bowings and fingerings.

Which cadenzas will you play?

OUR DNA.
I will be playing my own cadenzas, which I
really enjoy doing; with most other pieces
I don’t get the opportunity to compose and
use creativity in that particular way.
SINCE 1919

Ultimately my
instinct is probably
still the strongest
determining factor
in forming my
interpretation.
—Laura van der Heijden

This season you’ll be playing the Haydn with

the LPO, Farnham Sinfonia, Surrey Mozart
Players, and Academy of St. Martin in the
Fields. How different do you expect each
ensemble’s approach to be?
Playing the Haydn or any concerto with differ-
ent orchestras is always fascinating, as no per-
formance or approach is ever the same. When
I turn up to the first rehearsal, there is no way
of knowing exactly what their approach will
be like, which is definitely part of the excite-
ment of collaboration. I love that every perfor-
mance is different—sometimes drastically
so—and that the orchestra’s style of playing US Distributor
gives me new ideas and inspires me to try out www.thomastik-infeld.com
different things. n

StringsMagazine.com 15
 Hadelich with Jakub Hrůša and the
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
16 March-April 2020  / Strings
 BOHEMIAN
RHAPSODIES
Augustin Hadelich on the pleasures of collaborating with ideal partners
on a still-undervalued concerto
By Thomas May

O
ne attraction of being an internationally idiosyncrasies and challenges,” Hadelich says. “Many other
acclaimed virtuoso is that you get to thrill conductors tend to shy away from Dvořák’s concerto.”
audiences with your favorite masterpieces According to the violinist, their affection for the work
over and over, storing up eureka moments aligned with an inspired contribution from the orchestra.
with each new encounter. But with the con- This in turn prompted the idea of building an album of
certo repertoire, all that accumulated wisdom and experi- music for the violin by Czech composers. Along with
ence can never be more than a part of the complete Dvořák’s concerto, which was initially written in 1879 but
picture—even if it’s the pivotal part. not premiered until 1883, Bohemian Tales includes a selec-
This is why Augustin Hadelich rhapsodizes about the tion of works for violin and piano: a violin arrangement of
artistic partnership with Jakub Hrůša and the Bavarian one of Dvořák’s Humoresques, “Songs My Mother Taught
Radio Symphony Orchestra (BRSO) that led to his latest Me,” Leoš Janáček’s Violin Sonata, and Josef Suk’s 4 Pieces.
release, Bohemian Tales, set for release by
Warner Classics on April 24. Its centerpiece Outside the Orbit of Brahms
is the violinist’s first recorded account of On his previous release—a pairing
Antonín Dvořák ’s Violin Concerto in of the Brahms and Ligeti concertos
A minor, Op. 53. “Something about the It’s such a ballsy with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra
Dvořák in particular makes it very tricky to and Miguel Harth-Bedoya—Hadelich
put together with an orchestra—hard for way to start— made his imprint on the staple that
the musicians to play and also hard to con-
duct. But I found an amazing chemistry
and one of looms most prominently in the litera-
ture from the late 19th century. So
working with these players and conductor,” the greatest prominently, in fact, that Dvořák’s
Hadelich recalls from his home during a
rare break from touring. Born to German
beginnings of contribution to the genre is fre-
quently treated as a kind of “satellite”
parents in Cecina, Italy, the violinist is now a concerto.” work—as if its qualities were depen-
based in New York City. dent on the example of Brahms. That
The encounter with the BRSO took —Augustin Hadelich assumption results from the larger,
place in October 2018 and was a double on the Dvořák Concerto ongoing issue of the inf luence of
debut: for the violinist and for the Czech Brahms being exaggerated, particu-
conductor Jakub Hrůša, who has shot to larly vis-à-vis his younger Czech
inter nationa l prominence in recent colleague. Dvořák’s position was mar-
years. (He currently helms the Bamberg ginal to the European mainstream
Symphony.) Strangely enough, Hadelich, 36 in April, during his own lifetime, and that bias continues to dis-
had never appeared with the Bavarians before, though tort contemporary reception of his legacy.
the Grammy Award–winning violinist regularly con- To be sure, Dvořák admired Brahms’ compositional
certizes across Europe and North America. style, as Hadelich points out. And he owed his interna-
Hadelich and Hrůša are nearly the same age—the con- tional breakthrough in the 1870s in part to the interven-
ductor is just three years older—and share a deep love for tion of Brahms. Moreover, the Czech composer’s meeting
this concerto. They had already collaborated before the of Brahms’ friend Joseph Joachim gave him the impetus
Munich engagement, performing the Dvořák together to write his violin concerto. He embarked on writing it
PETER MEISEL

with several other orchestras. “Jakub knows the piece shortly after the violinist had premiered the new Brahms
inside out and has a wonderful sense of all its Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77.

StringsMagazine.com 17

Yet even though he had Brahms’ violinist
in mind at first, Dvořák produced a con-
certo that reflects a much greater influence
from another direction, explains Hadelich.
“This particular concerto probably has the
most in common with Bruch’s G minor Vio-
lin Concerto [also premiered by Joachim,
in 1868]. It shares a similar form in the way
the first two movements flow together, but
they have a very different character. I see
more of other concertos in the Dvořák than
of Brahms’ concerto.”
Dvořák opens the piece, for example, in the
vein of Mendelssohn’s concerto (a ploy also
followed by Bruch): That is, he omits a pre-
ludial orchestral exposition and brings the
solo violin front and center almost at once.
“The violin just enters and asserts itself with
these two improvisatory passages. It’s such a
ballsy way to start—and one of the greatest
beginnings of a concerto.” Hadelich also
admires how Dvořák integrates elements of
“wild, untamed energy from folk-music
impulses—which also makes it quite differ-
ent from the Brahms.”
18 March-April 2020  / Strings
Joachim disapproved of Dvořák’s decision
to go against the grain of conventional con-
certo form in the first movement by foreshort-
ening the reprise and leading directly into the
slow movement. The composer accepted some
of Joachim’s suggestions for revision but
objected to changing his design. In the end,
Joachim declined to premiere the piece.
Says Hadelich: “I can imagine how Dvořák
felt he had to put his foot down on that point.
He didn’t want to sacrifice the transition to the
second movement, which is one of the most
beautiful moments of the piece. Composers
need to be able to accommodate some requests,
but I think it is important for them to know
when to be stubborn and stick to their vision.”
A Uniquely Challenging Concerto
Dvořák ’s concerto contains some other
unique features that make it especially diffi-
cult to bring off. “There are many other con-
certos in which the violin part is intertwined
with the orchestra throughout much of the
piece, but Dvořák does this in a way that is
often like being the middle voice in a chorale,
Hadelich (right) and Hrůša
PETER MEISEL
with lines going on at the same time above
and below what you’re playing.”
Hadelich refers to the composer’s back-
ground as an orchestral violist as an influence
on the writing here. “I think that’s why in
many sections of the violin concerto the violin
is not soaring high above the orchestral tex-
ture, but is right in the middle of the middle
voice of a chorale, surrounded by the sounds
of horns and wind instruments. This means
that soloist, conductor, and wind players must
breathe and phrase together, and listen and
react to each other constantly. So much
depends on the other players.”
Another challenge is that “often the
structure of the phrasings is very unusual
and not the length you would expect. There
are moments that feel free and rhapsodic,
almost like improvisations. But that can
come across as feeling awkward when it
doesn’t quite work.”
Hadelich credits Hrůša with giving him
insights into how to negotiate such potential
traps in the piece. “There’s one place in the
first movement with an incredibly long
 The Kun Collapsible has been a favourite of violin
teachers for decades. Now available in four electric
colours, it’s sure to capture students’ imaginations.
Exclusively for 1/2 & 3/4 violin.

kunrest.com

Blue Moon

Papaya

Atomic Green

Visit us at ASTA
Razzle Dazzle
Booth 510
 Hadelich during a practice session
transition that keeps winding down before a
new theme starts. But it’s not completely clear
where this theme starts. If you take too long
to make the transition, you can lose the plot.”
Hrůša convinced him that this long transi-
tion should not have a clearly defined point
where the theme starts, but should gradually
shift “into an upbeat feeling, and then a
rhythm starts up and becomes a dance.”

The Right Chemistry

What else made this collaboration with Hrůša
and the BRSO so exceptionally gratifying?
Hadelich is full of praise for the BRSO’s ability
to listen to each other when they play. “They
never play a phrase as just the notes written
on the page. Everyone who plays a phrase does
it with initiative and tries to make it come to
life. It feels very chamber-music-like in how
they respond to each other.”
He mentions the many beautiful passages
for woodwinds in the Dvořák: “It’s not just
that they produce a beautiful sound. The way
they play, it communicates a lot of expression
with the sound. This is something that for me
is very inspiring.”

The violinist also likens working with
Hrůša to playing chamber music: “It’s basi-
cally about having a similar instinct about the
direction the music should go in—about tim-
ing and breathing, about where you feel like
the next note should fall when there’s a pas-
sage with many notes.”
Hadelich’s description of collaborating with
Hrůša recalls something of the experience he
detailed in a blog post for Strings about work-
ing with Andris Nelsons last fall. Overall, he
remarks: “You can have differences of opinion
about tempo or character. But what makes
playing together feel natural is having a simi-
lar musical intuition, so that you don’t have to
talk too much about the music but can just feel
it. That’s what people mean when they talk
about chemistry: both how easy it is and how
exciting it is to play together with somebody.”
The Czech Connection
Hadelich says he enjoys a similar level of
chemistry with Charles Owen, his collabora-
tor on the album’s other selections for violin
and piano. What ties them all together? “The
general connection for these composers
involves more than geography. These three
composers shared a strong interest in the folk
music of their country.”
But that hardly means the music necessar-
ily sounds of the same vintage. He explains
that Janáček was both Moravian (“Moravian
folk music is slightly different”) and “in a way
an outsider. His writing is so different and so
unconventional—almost provocative—that
Janáček can seem 100 years ahead of his
time. But in other ways, he was very tradi-
tionalist because of this strong connection to
the folk music of his country.”
Both aspects are synthesized in Janáček’s
1914 Violin Sonata. “He rejected the schools of
Modernism that were getting rid of tonality.
Yet at the same time, his music is shockingly
intense and raw. His music is full of contradic-
tions and sometimes he uses the violin percus-
sively and the piano for the most lyrical
passages—the opposite of what would be nor-
mal writing for these instruments. Everything
about Janáček is a little crazy. He was an
incredibly emotional and volatile person. And
that is what the music often feels like.”
Along with the Humoresque in G-flat major
(No. 7) from Dvořák’s Op. 101 cycle (in the
transcription by Fritz Kreisler), and “Songs
PETER MEISEL
My Mother Taught Me”—though not in
Kreisler’s transcription, which he finds “too
sentimental”—Hadelich and Owen play
4 Pieces from 1900 by Josef Suk, Dvořák’s
son-in-law (and grandfather of the violinist
with the same name who died in 2011). “This
selection is from a period of transition in his
music,” explains Hadelich. The first piece
already anticipates Janáček, while the other
three are closer in spirit to Dvořák. “I don’t
understand why these pieces are not played
all the time at recitals, because they are so
effective in performance.”
How has this close engagement with Czech
music affected Hadelich’s overall artistry?
“None of these pieces are completely part of
the mainstream repertoire, yet they all deserve
to be. They are examples of incredibly expres-
sive, emotional music that wears its heart on
its sleeve. By nature I am a very analytical per-
son, so it has been interesting playing and
thinking about all these composers at the same
time—and exploring this more impulsive side
of me. I find myself getting carried away by the
spirit of this folk music.” n

20 March-April 2020  / Strings

All Strings–All The Time
Enriching lives through universal access to
fine string playing and teaching.

Participate in the Join a community as

only national strings
competition
Middle school and high school categories.
Esteemed clinicians.
Ratings from expert adjudicators.
National recognition.
2021 ASTA National Orchestra Festival
March 3 - 6, 2021 | Louisville, Kentucky
www.astastrings.org/nationalorchestrafestival
unique as you are!
Education. Connections. Performance.
2020 ASTA National Conference
March 4 - 7, 2020 | Orlando, Florida
Register today!
www.astastrings.org/nationalconference

4155 Chain Bridge Road

Fairfax, VA 22030
703.279.2113
asta@astastrings.org • www.astastrings.org
 BEETHOVEN
AND
CLASSICAL
MUSIC’S
ANNIVERSARY
OBSESSION
Can Beethoven250, and all such celebrations,
be too much of a good thing?

By Brian Wise

A
s the new decade began and classical-music organizations
ramped up their celebrations of the 250th anniversary of
Beethoven’s birth, a simmering backlash rose to a boil. It
started among musicologists, arguably the very professionals
tasked with tending to the classical canon. Using the hashtag
#Beethoven250, several took to Twitter to call for a moratorium (or at least
restraint) on a composer whose music already dominates concert agendas.
William Gibbons, a musicologist and associate dean at Texas Christian Uni-
versity, declared that one of his resolutions for 2020 would be “spending a
full year avoiding Beethoven.”
In an eight-part Twitter thread, Gibbons wrote that “the idea that we
need to celebrate this anniversary by performing and hearing his works
*even more than we already do* strikes me as grotesque.” He continued, “So
in 2020, instead of choosing Beethoven yet again, I’m going to devote
myself to listening to other things. New things. Old, forgotten things.
Music by women, people of color, and other underrepresented groups.
Music that broadens my horizons.”
Others agreed, including Douglas Shadle, the chair of musicology at
Vanderbilt University, who tweeted, “How uncreative must a classical-
music organization be to think that it needs not just the canon, but
Beethoven specifically, to survive for a year?”
And Smith College music professor Andrea Moore took the argument
beyond the social-media echo chamber, writing in a Chicago Tribune
JOSEPH KARL STIELER

22 March-April 2020  / Strings

23

Calidore String Quartet
editorial that “doing more Beethoven is just
more of the same.” She questioned “how much
compelling new music is going unheard”
because of Beethoven and she called for “a
cooperative, worldwide, yearlong morato-
rium” on his music.
Still others pushed back on the anti-anniver-
sary sentiment, arguing that such milestones
are a chance to revel in the glories of the art
form while reaching out to newcomers.
“The most annoying aspect of musical life
in 2020 is shaping up to be music academics
bashing Beethoven and/or bragging about
avoiding his music,” wrote the American con-
ductor Kenneth Woods. “I pity their students!
In what other field of study besides musicol-
ogy is this kind of anti-art, anti-knowledge
stance accepted.”
Avoiding Composer Fatigue
Few art forms embrace anniversaries quite
like classical music. To some music profes-
sionals, milestones of 100, 200, or 250 years
are mega-events for the field, not unlike the
Olympics, World Cup, or World Series. They
can still generate media coverage in an era of
few classical stars, and inspire CD box sets in
24 March-April 2020  / Strings
an age of streaming (complete Beethoven sets
have been issued by Warner Classics, Naxos,
and Deutsche Grammophon).
But in the wake of some anniversary
blowouts that perhaps overstayed their wel-
come (the 2018 Leonard Bernstein centen-
nial drew a particularly strong backlash
among some commentators), larger ques-
tions emerge: What is the larger purpose of
these events? Can anniversaries spark an
interest in the rare gems of composers’ cata-
logs? Is a completist approach necessarily
the best one?
“Obviously, in all cases, the goal is to
increase performances and therefore reve-
nue,” says Steven Lankenau, vice president
of Boosey & Hawkes, who has previously
managed anniversary promotions for Bern-
stein, Britten, Ginastera, and Steve Reich.
“But one of the other goals is to help get
what you view to be major pieces in the cata-
log that are under-performed or under-
appreciated more exposure, and to use the
anniversary as an opportunity.”
Lankenau describes how the Bernstein cen-
tennial served as a catalyst to raise the profile
of the composer’s Mass and Serenade for solo
MARCO BORGGREVE
violin, strings, and percussion. “The Serenade
was hardly a known work,” Lankenau says.
“However, through the promotion efforts of
talking to agents and managers, we were able
to get a lot of additional violinists to learn it.”
He estimates that a hundred different violin-
ists performed it during the centennial and
now it remains in their repertoire.
Still, Lankenau sees less interest in the
obscure corners of Beethoven’s catalog this
year. “You’re not finding conductors excited
to go into Wellington’s Victory or The Ruins of
Athens,” he says. “I don’t know if that’s
because his work is public domain, and there
isn’t an estate or publisher who is out there
trying to encourage conductors to go for dif-
ferent programming, or if these symphonies
are just so great that conductors say, ‘How
can you not play them?’”
Lankenau refers to Carnegie Hall’s comple-
mentary Beethoven symphony cycles by the
Philadelphia Orchestra and the period-
instrument Orchestre Révolutionnaire et
Romantique. “Will there be an audience for
that, or will they find that, towards the end of
the year, people are just not excited for those
last couple of concerts?”
Telling Compelling Stories
Clive Gillinson, the executive and artistic
director of Carnegie Hall, declines to say if
anniversary celebrations in themselves drive
ticket sales. “We are not driven so much by
what gets great ticket sales, but what are the
really important stories to tell,” he says. “We
feel that artistically we should always be
about telling great stories.”
Accordingly, Beethoven represents an
important, multi-dimensional story. No other
composer’s music redefined so many major
forms (sonatas, quartets, concertos, sympho-
nies), or accompanied world-shaking events,
as when his Ninth Symphony was played in
Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
But Gillinson, a onetime London Sym-
phony Orchestra cellist, admits that there is
always a risk of audience fatigue. Carnegie
Hall has weighted its 2020 Beethoven cele-
bration of (so far) 70 programs and 86 works
on the first half of the year rather than closer
to the composer’s observed birthday of
December 16 or 17. “We feel towards the end
of the season people will literally be perhaps
somewhat Beethoven’d out.”
Elsewhere, among the many string quar-
tets touring with the Beethoven cycle this
year, is the Calidore String Quartet, whose
plans include complete cycles in Buffalo, Del-
aware, and Toronto, as well as partial cycles in
Europe and Los Angeles. First violinist Jeff
Myers shrugs off the recent backlash, relating
that he has been approached by patrons who
say that this is their first complete quartet
cycle in 50 years of concert-going.

Still, Myers admits, “Sometimes we get
requests of “anything but Beethoven.’”
The Calidore has commissioned a new
work by British composer Anna Clyne,
inspired by Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge, which
it is expected to tour this spring. The idea
is to refract Beethoven’s piece through a
modern lens, not unlike a project that took
place during Mozart’s 250th anniversary
year (2006), in which director Peter Sellars
commissioned new operas by John Adams
and Kaija Saariaho.
Meanwhile, a handful of chamber groups
have focused on more obscure Beethoven.
The Fine Arts Quartet in January released a
Naxos recording of obscure gems, including
forgotten original versions of his quartets
Op. 18, No. 1, and Op. 131, and novelties
like his preludes and fugues. Deutsche
David Finckel
Grammophon has issued “Rarities,” a collec-
tion featuring violinist Daniel Hope and col-
leagues performing a quintet and assorted
sonata and duo fragments, several billed as
world premieres.
Can’t Live With ’Em . . .
Bucking the larger trends, some musicians are
approaching the Beethoven year with a more
restrained—some might say dutiful—nod to
the composer. “I’m not an anniversary-driven
person,” insists David Finckel, the cellist and
co-artistic director of the Chamber Music
LISA-MARIE MAZZUCCO
Society of Lincoln Center. “It’s nice to know
when somebody has been dead for 250 years
[or so]. But that doesn’t really drive our pro-
gramming.” Still, the centerpieces of the
2019–20 season at the CMS include a com-
plete Beethoven quartet cycle performed by
the Danish String Quartet (DSQ), and a cello
sonata cycle played by cellist Paul Watkins
and pianist Alessio Bax.
“I feel that any true chamber-music audi-
ence should hear the Beethoven quartets at
least once every five years,” Finckel says. “I
knew that 2020 was a Beethoven anniversary,

26 March-April 2020  / Strings

but the reason that the quartets are happen-
ing at CMS this spring is because it’s the 50th
anniversary of CMS.”
DSQ members voice some ambivalence
about anniversaries too, noting that com-
poser fatigue affects performers as well as
listeners. “Honestly, we find these anniver-
saries quite boring,” violist Asbjørn Nør-
gaard says in an e-mail. He admits that “a
full Beethoven cycle is just a very compelling
narrative” and that performing all 16 quar-
tets can be a “life-changing endeavor.” But
there is a flip side: Ever since the ensemble
binged on Carl Nielsen’s quartets during his
150th anniversary year in 2015, they haven’t
touched his music.
“I think we w ill also need to give
Beethoven’s music a little break after 2020,”
Nørgaard says. “In a perfect world, we
should be able to create excitement for all of
to promote underrepresented composers of
the past and reshape the canon will likely
be disappointed. As critic Joshua Kosman
lamented in the San Francisco Chronicle, the
2019 bicentennial of Clara Schumann’s birth
yielded little interest, even at a time when arts
groups have made strides in programming
more female composers.
“When you are looking at a composer who is
significant but has less stature, you’re not
going to find the same sort of rewards,” says
Lankenau of Boosey & Hawkes. But that isn’t
stopping him from using birthdays to drum
up interest in contemporary composers’ work.
Future projects on Boosey’s radar include the
centennials of American composers Jack
Beeson, Carlisle Floyd, and Ned Rorem.
Unlike celebrations of Beethoven and
Mozart, there is little risk of oversaturation
or fatigue, Lankenau notes. “It’s an opportu-
nity to really take advantage of the fact that
there are performers out there who knew
these people and have worked with them—
and to reignite that excitement.” n

I feel that any true

chamber-music
audience should
hear the Beethoven
quartets at least once
every five years.
—David Finckel

this amazing music in other ways than arbi-

trary year counts.”
I put Nørgaard’s point to the DSQ’s for-
mer publicist, Hannah Goldshlack-Wolf,
who is now a senior account manager at
WildKat PR. “Anniversaries . . . can’t live
with ’em, can’t live without ’em,” she writes
in an e-mail. Though some milestones pro-
vide useful publicity hooks, she recalls
being asked to publicize 35th anniversaries
of “institutional relationships” and 40th
anniversaries of professional debuts.
“Those are a much, much harder sell.”
By the same token, musicologists and music
critics who hope that anniversaries can serve

StringsMagazine.com 27
 OLD,
HING W
M E T NE
SO ETHING
SOM

28 March-April 2020  / Strings

 Cajun fiddler Louis Michot
bonds traditional music
with contemporary culture
By David Templeton

T
radition. Within the worlds of
folk, world fusion, and classical
music, a deep respect for tradi-
tion has always—or at least
often—been key. That is espe-
cially true for players like Cajun fiddler Louis
Michot, co-founder of the Grammy-winning
Louisiana French Cajun band known as the
Lost Bayou Ramblers. For Michot, however,
tradition—whether as a source of inspiration
or instruction—works best when treated like
a map or a guidebook, to be studied and
interpreted, rather than as a sacred list of
laws and rules that must be faithfully fol-
lowed without question.
“The thing to remember is, what we now
call ‘traditional music’ wasn’t always so
traditional,” suggests Michot, speaking
from his home in New Orleans, Louisiana.
“To the people who originally made some
of these old songs, at the time, those songs
were pretty cutting edge and progressive.
In carrying on traditional music, in being
the stewards of that music, we also have to
be creators and artists. We should never
shy away from doing something new with
those great old songs, something that hon-
ors the tradition, while staying relevant to
our times.”
The Lost Bayou Ramblers, formed in 1999
by Michot and his brother Andre (who plays
accordion and pedal steel guitar), have
earned a strong following by doing just that.
Often compared to groups like the Pogues,
the Lost Bayou Ramblers are traditional
interpreters of French Louisiana Cajun music
while also remaining modern, progressive,
inventive—and undeniably “punk” in terms
of their visceral, rock-steady, occasionally
downright wacky sense of playfulness.
The web-based blog “The Green Man
Review” suggested as much in praising the
Ramblers’ 2012 recording Mammoth Waltz,
calling it, “one of the weirdest and greatest
Cajun records ever.” The band went on to pick
up a Best Regional Roots Album Grammy
Award for its 2017 release Kalenda, after
which the website SavingCountryMusic.com
ZACK SMITH PHOTOGRPAHY

proclaimed, “If Cajun music ever takes fire

and becomes the next hot thing—sort of
like swing, bluegrass, and traditional

StringsMagazine.com 29
country have at times—you can be assured
many will be pointing to the Lost Bayou
Ramblers as a major influence, and one of
the primary catalysts to creating appeal
beyond the Cajun world.”
For all the ink spilled describing the
group’s brazen experimentation, Michot
often argues that the heart of the band still
beats with the pure, authentic, traditional
sounds of Cajun music. It’s one of the rea-
sons Michot sings all of the band’s songs in
French. “I’ve always believed that tradition
is incredibly important,” allows Michot. “It
teaches us who we are, where we came from,
and how to interact with our society and our
landscape. It’s our origins.”
That said, the main thing to remember
about tradition—any tradition—is that it
always has and always must evolve as the
times change. “If a type of music or art isn’t
evolving and changing with the times, it
becomes stale fast,” Michot observes. “It
needs to be alive and growing and relevant
and active in its current culture. That’s how it
stays vibrant, how it survives and thrives.”
As a testament to Michot’s tireless quest to

BRIAN RICHARD
play old music in new ways, he frequently
engages in ambitious side projects. One of Lost Bayou Ramblers
those is his other band, Michot’s Melody

Makers. Another is the recent all-strings col-
laboration he’s dubbed “Le String Noise,” a
fusion of his own Cajun style with that of the
acclaimed avant-garde classical duo of
Pauline Kim and Conrad Harris, who perform
under the name String Noise. With cellist
Leyla McCalla of Our Native Daughters as the
fourth member, the hard-to-pinpoint quartet
is releasing a live album on April 17. Another
live recording, featuring Michot’s Melody
Makers, will be released sometime in late
summer or early fall of 2020.
Le String Noise is the result of a residency
Michot did at New York City’s the Stone, where
composer John Zorn serves as artistic director.
It was musician Gordon Gano, of the Violent
Femmes, who first introduced Michot to Kim
and Harris and, to a degree, set the project in
motion. “The night Gordon introduced us, Pau-
line and Conrad had a gig, and she was playing
some John Zorn pieces,” Michot recalls. “At one
point, they invited Gordon and me up to join
them and we ended up doing Violent Femmes
songs with four violins. It was wild.”
That was in 2016, and not long after,
Zorn asked Michot to do the residency at
the club. That residency included the devel-
opment of recording projects. “I released
one other album during that time, but this
will be my second release of my residency at
the Stone,” he says. “It’s a really interesting
group—two violins, a fiddle, and a cello, if
you will, and we do so many different kinds
of music. Pauline and Conrad are pretty
avant-garde, doing really progressive mod-
ern classical music. Leyla pulls from a lot of
her Haitian roots, and then there’s me with
my own take on things. We just kind of
went around the board and traded songs.
There’s some Cajun stuff, some Haitian
stuff, some original stuff, and a few really
crazy, out-there pieces that String Noise
brought to the table.”
One of those “out-there” compositions is
an improvisational piece that involves a spe-
cially designed computer program. “We fol-
low the computer, which tells us what key to
play in, and what to play,” Michot explains.
“It’s really cool, because anything can hap-
pen. You just follow some basic guidelines
and see where you end up.”
C
ompared to the Le String Noise
project, the upcoming album
from Michot’s Melody Makers
sounds positively old-fashioned.
And it is. But only to a degree.
“I grew up accustomed to playing with accor-
dion-based bands, which is pretty much the
tradition among most traditional Cajun and
Zydeco bands,” Michot says. “So I started
Michot’s Melody Makers as a Cajun string band,
which is actually taking things back to the ear-
lier repertoire of Cajun bands,  before  the
accordion came along. Right at the beginning
of the recorded music era in the late 1920s,
we were lucky enough to catch a few of these
much older songs, this much older repertoire,
which was fiddle based, because the accor-
dion was already taking over and the fiddle
was losing popularity as the lead instrument.
That accordion was, of course, a diatonic
accordion, which limited the tonal range of
the songs, as well as the rhythms and stuff.
So, the whole repertoire took a turn in a new
direction. But luckily we caught a few dozen
good recordings of the earlier Louisiana

30 March-April 2020  / Strings

French fiddle music, and that’s what we play,
that early, early repertoire.”
Michot’s Melody Makers includes Kirkland
Middleton and Bryan Webre, the drummer
and bass player of the Lost Bayou Ramblers,
plus Mark Bingham, an acclaimed musician
and producer who, among his many other
projects, arranged the strings and horns on
R.E.M.’s iconic 1991 album Out of Time.
“The music we play is very traditional while
at the same time being ultra-progressive,”
Michot says, “because we use very old tunes,
and we try to do those old rhythms justice, all
of which is really fun.” Blood Moon, the first
album from Michot’s Melody Makers, was
onto Blood Moon, along with some stuff we’ve
been working on since.”
The album will be released in the late
summer or early fall, and when it drops,
Michot believes it will prove equally excit-
ing to those who prize strict tradition and
those with a desire for something they’ve
never heard before.
“In Michot’s Melody Makers, especially
with this new recording, we are tapping into a
style of Cajun music that really has been long
forgotten,” says Michot. “This is music that
has not been performed by modern Cajun
bands for a long, long time. So in a way, we’re
so traditional we’re actually groundbreaking.”
Blending the new and the old, the familiar
and the different, is ultimately the tradition
Michot reveres the most deeply.
“Music is music,” he says. “It really is the
universal language. I have had some amazing
collaborations with people whose traditions
are very different from mine. I learn from
them, and they learn from me. That’s always a
beautiful thing.” n

This is music that has

not been performed
by modern Cajun
bands for a long, long
time. So in a way,
we’re so traditional
we’re actually
groundbreaking.
—Louis Michot

released in September 2018. The upcoming

second release was recorded during a two-
night stand at the Saturn Bar on St. Claude
Avenue in New Orleans.
“That’s an amazing venue to record a live
album in because it used to have an old box-
ing ring, so it sounds great,” says Michot.
“There’s a lot of wood, all old material, and a
little balcony that goes around on three sides
so people could watch the boxing matches
back in the day. We had 200 people in there
for the first night, and it’s a small place, so
the crowd was pretty rowdy, and then we did
a second night on a Sunday and it was great, WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/GEWASTRINGSUSA
too. Recording over two nights gave us a WWW.GEWAMUSICUSA.COM WWW.INSTAGRAM.COM/GEWASTRINGSOFFICIAL

chance to experiment a little, and to get

down some of the songs that never made it

StringsMagazine.com 31
Philip J. Kass examines
an instrument collection

32 March-April 2020  / Strings

 Estate
Planning
A primer on the process of
preparing an estate appraisal
By Philip J. Kass
B
artolomeo Giuseppe Guarneri ‘del Gesù’ lived from
1698 to 1744. His instruments, however, have
enjoyed a somewhat more extended lifespan and
have thus all outlived more than several caretakers.
And if in this one inevitability has been met (death),
the other (taxes) has followed closely on its heels. Over the
course of my career, I’ve spent a fair amount of time putting
together musical-instrument appraisals for estate purposes. It is
a complicated undertaking, but the good news is, unless you are
the heir to a storied Cremonese, you probably won’t need one.
Who Needs an Appraisal?
Hardly anybody reading this article will ever need a musical-
instrument appraisal for estate purposes. But if you happen to
have a few loose Guarneris lying around, then the IRS is going
to need one (the current IRS estate exemption is $11,400,000).
That said, it should be pointed out that the IRS is only con-
cerned with federal tax returns. Every state has its own set of
rules, all of them different, and all of them with different condi-
tions regarding estate taxes. So, if you think you might fall into
the taxable category, you should get in touch with a family
financial planner, tax accountant, or estate lawyer.
So, if you are the sort who owns a multimillion-dollar instru-
ment, or a collection of such instruments, your heirs may need to
file an appraisal for these with the IRS. For such an appraisal,
focusing solely on instruments and bows, you will need a specialist
versed in violin-family instruments who can create a persuasive
report, which not only establishes a fair market value for the
instruments but also justifies his or her conclusions. That indi-
vidual will probably need to have membership in one of the leading
appraisal organizations and will need to have completed a series of
classes on the subject of specialized appraisals. More critically, he
or she must understand acknowledged certification.
What? Patience, and read on.
What You Need
The documents required by the IRS for gifts, estates, and
MATTHEW SALOMON
charitable donations are specialized appraisals. They look
StringsMagazine.com
only vaguely like the ones you’re used to seeing. An estate
appraisal I recently completed for a Guarneri ran 18 pages. It
could have been longer had I chosen to include copies of docu-
mentation within the body of the text. The description of the
instrument itself ran just two of those pages. The rest con-
sisted of the additional caveats, explanations, and discussions
of the items in question, and justification of the value
assigned, definitions of terms, sources of data, and so forth.
The point of the document is to leave nothing ambiguous or
unclear. And there’s a very good reason for that.
After a period of time during which the IRS became increas-
ingly aware that frauds were being committed in such matters,
they began to work with a group called the Appraisal Foundation,
an independent body founded by the members of the various
appraisal organizations, such as the Appraisers Association of
America, the American Society of Appraisers, the International
Society of Appraisers, and other similar organizations. Work-
ing with the IRS, they drafted a series of regulations that com-
plied with IRS rulings so that appraisers could perform such
work without running afoul of the authorities. These regula-
tions are known as the Uniform Standards of Professional
Appraisal Practice, or USPAP.
USPAP rules are standards, and they exist as much to protect
the appraiser as they do to issue a clear opinion to the IRS.
Appraisers who cut corners, violate the standards, or use a pre-
determined value to benefit their clients risk being censured by
the IRS, barred from writing appraisals accepted by it, and can
even stand financially liable for the difference between their
value and the one the IRS accepts.
Establishing a Value
What is Fair Market Value? The IRS provides this definition: “The
price at which the property would change hands between a will-
ing buyer and a willing seller, neither being under any compul-
sion to buy or to sell, and both having reasonable knowledge of
relevant facts.” This often reflects retail prices but can be equally
balanced between both auction and retail sales data—the collec-
tion of which can be tricky.
33
 The point of the appraisal is to leave nothing ambiguous or unclear.
Here arises the question of which market
to rely on.
A top example of classical Cremonese
work, in fine condition, almost invariably
sells in the retail market, and thus sales
data is sketchy at best. The compromised
and troubled instrument or bow will most
likely sell in the auction market. So, the
appraiser will have to determine which mar-
ket is most reasonable and logical for the
items in question and draw data from it, all
the while explaining what data is appropriate
and what is not. Throughout the process, the
appraiser must demonstrate an understand-

You will need a

specialist versed
in violin-family
instruments who can
create a persuasive

MATTHEW SALOMON
report, which not only
establishes a fair
market value for the times in connection to downloadable PDF cata- that appraisals are reused as certificates,
instruments but also logs. Tarisio, on the Cozio pages, posts past
sales data on instrument makers’ works that is
something the insurance world knows to be
unintended use. The writer of a certificate,
justifies his or her regularly updated. whose interest is in the authenticity rather

conclusions. Private sales, on the other hand, are privi-

ing of the current market and knowledge of
the items being appraised.
For each individual item in an estate
appraisal, the IRS will require at least three
similar examples, drawn from both auction and
retail markets. The appraiser then must explain
how the available sales relate to the item in
question and why it should be higher or lower
or the same as the sales-data instruments,
which are generally known as Comparables.
Finding appropriate Comparables ranges from
the simple to the impossible. On one hand, auc-
tion houses nowadays publish their results
online, sometimes including images and data
about the instruments in question and some-
leged information, and needless to say there
aren’t a lot of dealers willing to divulge
details without a degree of anonymity. There-
fore, one of the caveats to such information
is that it is accurate.
USPAP also provides a plan for an insur-
ance appraisal, the key difference being that
the insurance company does not need Com-
parables. However, I have incorporated a
number of these features within my own
insurance appraisals, including snapshot
photos of the item being appraised (to reveal
its condition at the time of appraisal), and a
full description with measurements and
provenance data, all of which an insurance
company might find very useful in the event
of a loss or theft.
One additional caveat included in all of
these documents, however, is a statement
regarding limited use. It is often the case
than the value, wears a different hat, so to
speak, than does the appraiser, for whom
value is paramount, and this difference
lends further credibility to the appraiser’s
report. Besides, no appraiser likes having
their appraisal, which presumes authenticity
as described rather than making a firm
attestation, presented as the sort of fact on
which thousands of dollars can change
hands in a commercial transaction.
As I said earlier, the chances of your need-
ing an appraisal for estate purposes are
probably fairly slim, depending on the advice
of your financial advisor, and so you will
probably never need to confront this issue,
but it always helps to be better informed on
the subject—after all, who knows where
prices are going, or how the taxman will
view them in the future? If this information
can help you avoid a crisis one day, then it is
definitely worth knowing. n

34 March-April 2020  / Strings

I N T R O D U C I N G

ELECTRO

S E R I E S
P L U G I N . N AT U R A L LY .

eastmanstrings.com
 SPECIAL FOCUS ON
MUSICAL ADVENTURE
38 A MUSICAL TOUR THROUGH IRELAND
40 THE IMPACT OF CLASSICAL-MUSIC SUMMER INTENSIVES
46 EAST-AFRICAN EXPEDITION, VIOLIN IN HAND
50 SUMMER STUDY GUIDE DIRECTORY
StringsMagazine.com 37
TOUR DE FORCE
A musical adventure in Ireland marries sights, sounds, and late-night sessions
By Bill Kronenberg
A
s a relative newcomer to the world
of Irish music, I anxiously awaited
the arrival of my tour mates in the
Dublin airport. I was embarking
on a musical tour of Ireland with
Stringletter Travel (full disclosure, a travel
service offered by Strings’ parent company)
and I hoped to meet some other fiddlers. To
my horror, it turned out that I was the only
fiddler amongst a group of pickers—guitars,
mandolins, electric bass. A lone melodist in a
sea of harmony. I soon discovered there was
nothing to worry about, however. Everyone
was onboard for a good time and all the
38 March-April 2020  / Strings
sessions were as non-competitive as could
be—much more about sharing music than
playing reels at breakneck speeds.
There were 30 of us on the tour representing
all parts of the United States, Canada, and Aus-
tralia (Yackandandah in particular). For most
of us, this was the first time we had been on an
organized tour. We all agreed how nice it was to
get up each morning without needing to study
maps and transit options. And it was hard to
imagine better choices for destinations. The
credit for this goes to our guides, Sean and Eoin
Kearns, and our highly skilled bus driver, John.
Sean and Eoin are a father-and-son team of
guitarist and banjo player. Their love of coun-
try and music created a traveling atmosphere
of wonder and joy. The other travelers were
also fine musicians and the nightly sessions
included folk and blues as well as traditional
Irish tunes.
This trip was about discovering beauty—
natural, historical, musical, and human. The
days were filled with the sights of Ireland: the
meeting of mountains and sea, castles, ancient
CALUM-MACAULAY
archeological sites, castles, breweries, castles,
luthiers, castles, renowned pubs, and castles.
We started in County Donegal, and stayed
in Ardara, a small town with music-filled

pubs and a statue of John Doherty, a famous
fiddler, as the centerpiece of the town
square. Donegal was the most remote loca-
tion we visited, with much natural beauty,
peat, sheep, and great music. The cliffs of
Sliabh Liag were the most stunning meeting
of land and sea on the trip and far less
This trip was about
discovering beauty—
natural, historical,
musical, and human.
COURTESY OF O’SULLIVAN’S COURTHOUSE PUB
crowded than the more famous Cliffs of
Moher. Another most impressive sight:
Grianán of Aileach, a 1500-year-old stone-
ring fort sitting high atop a hill that was the
seat of power for the O’Neill clan.
The musical experience was a combina-
tion of listening and playing. In Ardara, we
visited Nancy’s Bar and Leo’s Tavern. We
heard some fine local musicians in each stop
and had our own sessions as well. The
instrumentation included fiddle, tin whis-
tle, f lute, accordion, concertina, guitar,
mandolin, bouzouki, four-string banjo,
bodhran (the Irish drum), and harp.
Although I could have stayed in Donegal far
longer, it was time to move down the coast on
the Wild Atlantic Way, as it is known there.
The next stop was Galway, a lively city with
musical pubs galore and a university. The first
opportunity matching tune and location was
playing “The Bucks of Oranmore” inside
Oranmore Castle. This was made far more
special by playing it with vocalist Cian Finn.
Cian’s father, Alec Finn, was the longtime
bouzouki player in the legendary Irish folk
band De Dannan and, along with his wife,
artist Leonie King, lives in the castle. Cian is
carrying on the musical tradition.
A word about the Irish weather. It has been
known to rain. But, somewhat miraculously,
we only had one day of rain on the trip and it
was in Galway, where we spent most of our
time in the pubs listening to amazing music. I
StringsMagazine.com
had just learned a tune called “Sean Ryan’s
Jig” before leaving home and was delighted to
find Sean Ryan himself playing whistle in a
session along with Cian Finn from the castle.
The next day the sun returned as we
headed to County Kerry and the Dingle Pen-
insula. This road trip afforded two opportu-
nities to match tune and location. In the
bus, on the road to Lisdoonvarna we played
“The Road to Lisdoonvarna.” The signature
stop on the way was at the Cliffs of Moher.
My only firm request on the trip was to play
“The Cliffs of Moher” on the Cliffs of Moher.
Many thanks to my fellow travelers Larry,
Paul, and Tim for forming the band that
made this a reality.
The highlight in the town of Dingle was a
visit to O’Sullivan’s Courthouse Pub, owned
by one of Ireland’s most popular musicians,
Tommy O’Sullivan. He favored us with a cou-
ple of original tunes displaying his prowess
on guitar and vocals.
Continuing south, we headed to Killarney
where we visited Kate Kearney’s Cottage.
There we heard the unique sound of uilleann
pipes, which differ in tone, range, and func-
tionality from Scottish bagpipes. A partial
SPECIAL FOCUS ON
MUSICAL ADVENTURE
O’Sullivan’s Courthouse Pub
translation of “pipes of the elbow,” uilleann
pipes are inflated by a bellows under the play-
er’s right arm rather than by blowing into the
bag, as they are in the Scottish bagpipes.
Our last stop was in the town of Kilkenny
where, along with more great music, we
toured Smithwick’s Brewery. The craft-beer
revolution has not yet hit Ireland in full
force, but beer and whiskey are plentiful in
the traditional forms.
The night ended with another session—by
we travelers in the hotel. No one wanted this
session to end and it lasted until 2 am. As in
all the previous sessions, everyone traded
tunes and to our surprise, the publisher of
this magazine picked up a guitar and shared a
mighty fine blues.
My final day was spent in Dublin with a
former violin student who now teaches
Irish music. She invited me to work with
her adult orchestra on improvisation. The
class was followed by wining and dining
and another session that continued into
the early morning.
I will not forget all the magnificent sights,
but my most powerful memory will be of the
love of music that permeates the island.  n
39
 Aspen

A PLACE
IN THE
SUN The role of the summer
classical-music intensive in the
education of its students
By Emily Wright

ABOVE PHOTO: COURTESY OF MEADOWMOUNT SCHOOL OF MUSIC, RIGHT: ELLE LOGAN

40 March-April 2020  / Strings


A
lan Fletcher, president and CEO
of the Aspen Music Festival and
School, was working with the
Pittsburgh Symphony Orches-
tra while they were in Aspen for
a brief residency. During rehearsal, he polled
the group, asking musicians who had
attended Aspen to stand. Nearly half of the
ensemble stood up.
A survey of career trajectories of students
who participate in intensive classical summer
programs—Aspen, Bowdoin, Idyllwild, Mead-
owmount, Music Academy of the West, Tangle-
wood, and Taos, to name a few—shows a
demonstrable tendency toward placement at
or near the top of their chosen field. And while
it is possible to successfully navigate the tran-
sition from earnest student to successful pro-
fessional musician without attending an elite
summer intensive, the advantages that come
from doing so are substantial and undeniable.
That these types of programs put students
in contact with celebrated faculty and give
them the space and time to focus exclusively
on their music is well documented. But, as so
Meadowmount
StringsMagazine.com
SPECIAL FOCUS ON
MUSICAL ADVENTURE
many alumni have mentioned, there is also the
sense that these are places where young musi-
cians grow up, returning again and again not
only as serious string players, but as adoles-
cents finding their way to adulthood. Each pro-
gram supports this growth in its own way,
and thus it is difficult to generalize on the
“summer-intensive experience” as a whole, but
Meadowmount, Aspen, and Idyllwild Arts
serve as good examples of how long-lasting the
effects of these kinds of programs can be on
the overall career trajectories of their students.
Meadowmount School:
Distraction-Free Focus
Meadowmount founder Ivan Galamian’s leg-
acy among string players is unavoidable: His
students became some of the most prolific
teachers and performers of the 20th century,
their students going on just as frequently to
perform as soloists, holding scores of faculty
and orchestral positions. If his ingenious
scale system is a reflection of his meticulous
approach to technique and practice, the
Meadowmount School is the physical embodi-
ment of it. The relative remoteness of the
upstate New York campus is intentional;
there is little to distract students from the
rigorous schedule: five hours compulsory
practice for students under eighteen—50
minutes of playing, ten minutes of reflection,
six days a week. This enforced consistency
may not always be popular with students,
says school director Eric Larsen, but it is
essential to cultivate the work ethic at the
center of Galamian’s philosophy.
I caught up with Meadowmount alumna
Shannon Lee on a layover between flights, her
international competition and performance
career in full swing. For her, the fact that
Meadowmount hasn’t changed much over the
years is part of its appeal. “It’s like going back
in time, because you hear old stories about the
place; teachers might reminisce about which
cabin they stayed in, where they had their les-
sons, great performances they witnessed in
that hall. We had very little phone reception or
WiFi, and because the campus is not particu-
larly efficient—all the buildings are along one
straight, long path—you’re often walking
back and forth, just taking in the natural sur-
roundings. It was a good place to focus and
create your own distractions and fun, just
spending time with the other people there and
sharing the unique environment.” For serious
students, a few weeks away from the churn of
41

Idyllwild
“Many times these
youngsters are
changed for life;
other times they find
out that this is really
not what they want
to do. I think both
are equally valid.”
—Eric Larsen on the
structured curriculum
at Meadowmount
42 March-April 2020  / Strings
daily life gives them a unique souvenir to bring
home: a greater ability to focus.
While the faculty overflows with brilliance
(counting James Ehnes, Lynn Harrell, Hans
Jorgen Jensen, and Jeffrey Solow among its
ranks), every person interviewed agreed: the
students find inspiration mostly in each
other. Ehnes, a Meadowmount alum himself,
says, “Perhaps the most special thing about
Meadowmount is the way it brings young peo-
ple together and inspires them to be the best
versions of themselves. Often, this is the first
chance for these young musicians to be sur-
rounded by peers that share their passions.”
More than just motivation, finding a like-
minded social group can make the turbulence
of coming of age a little less buffeting.
In addition to private lessons, chamber
coaching, and master classes, students can
take orchestral audition, entrepreneurship,
and alternative-career workshops to round out
their studies. For an establishment noted for
its old-fashioned approach, these decidedly
pragmatic courses prepare proto-professionals
for more than just the stage.
Aspen: Connections for a Lifetime
in Music
The list of Aspen alumni is staggering. Trying
to come up with half dozen representative
names means leaving out more than a dozen
generational soloists, along with an astounding
proportion of principal players from presti-
gious ensembles across the world, from the
Met, Chicago, and Cleveland to Vienna, Berlin,
and Montréal. Given this, it might be easy to
ascribe a sense of loftiness, of unreachability
to Aspen’s program. In speaking to partici-
pants, administrators, and faculty, however, I
find the overarching theme is quite the oppo-
site: a sense of chosen family, of inclusion, and
of deep roots.
The Aspen Music Festival and School fac-
ulty is a community of artists aching to
return the favor: to give to others what the
storied program has given to them. “Students
are in touch with their future by being at
Aspen,” says Fletcher. This is certainly the
COURTESY OF IDYLLWILD ARTS
case, not only because they will likely encoun-
ter faculty they’ve worked with later in life at
auditions, but also because it is a place that
draws artists back again and again.
Violinist Sarah Chang has spent every sum-
mer of her life at Aspen: Her father brought
the family there while pursuing his own violin
career. She first participated as a student at
age six, eventually becoming an artist-in-
residence, these weeks acting as the perfect
tonic for the life of a virtuoso. After a year
concertizing with the best musicians in the
world, there is something different that takes
hold once she arrives on campus. “One of the
best things about it is the way it grounds you,”
she says. “It humbles you, and some small part
of you still feels a student, and you think I
still have so much to learn. It shapes your life. It
just has this pull on your soul.”
Her fond memories go back to an era before
recent renovations made the campus an archi-
tectural masterpiece, among them,  Miss
DeLay spending an hour on the first three
lines of the Sibelius Concerto, and Chang’s
own adolescent mischief with other students
trying to look grown-up enough to get into a
nightclub.  “Forming these friendships, in
this beautiful place, with the intense train-
ing, all striving for excellence in a tight
OBERLIN CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC
WHERE CREATIVITY FLOURISHES
Welcome to violinist Francesca dePasquale and cellist Dmitry Kouzov,
who join our distinguished string faculty in 2020.

“A beautiful musician… “Dmitry Kouzov is

she’s remarkable.” a true artist.”
—ITZHAK PERLMAN —MSTISLAV ROSTROPOVICH

VIOLIN VIOLA CELLO DOUBLE BASS

David Bowlin Kirsten Docter Darrett Adkins Peter Dominguez
Sibbi Bernhardsson Peter Slowik Dmitry Kouzov Tracy Rowell
Francesca dePasquale Derek Zadinsky
Marilyn McDonald
William van der Sloot

Oberlin Conservatory of Music

39 West College Street, Oberlin, OH 44074
440.775.8413 | www.oberlin.edu/con

READY TO
APPLY?  older, it’s nice to hang onto these things.”
These programs are designed for serious
young musicians with a strong desire
to improve and a work ethic to match.
The things students have in common:
private lessons, lengthy practice built
into daily life, experience with recitals
and/or competitions, a significant
amount of technical knowledge, and the
basics of music theory. When asked,
administrators commented that the
other thing many of these students had
in common was a big personality—a
sense of self and confidence.
Audition requirements exist on a
spectrum, with video examples of
contrasting pieces the standard.
Meadowmount provides mandatory
chamber excerpts, while Aspen requires
a résumé, a recent recording of an entire
first movement of a concerto, and a
contrasting piece. Idyllwild’s intensives
each call for a scale, two arpeggios, and
two contrasting pieces that showcase a
student’s finest playing.
First-time applicants may find the
process daunting, but remember
that these are, at heart, educational
institutions. Every administrator and
faculty member is there to serve and
support developing artists. If a player
hasn’t perfected a movement of a
concerto, there are dozens of smaller
regional programs to serve as a
starting place.
A sense of determination is often what
makes the difference. Alan Fletcher
says, “I do believe there is such
a thing as talent, a kind of affinity . . .
that is hugely overrated. A dramatic
capacity to focus, really smart practice,
and an unwillingness to give up—these
are by far the larger factors. So if I see
someone who has a dazzling physical
gift, say speed or agility, and then
another student comes along who may
not be as far along but has that spark,
that sense that nothing is going to stop
them, I think that’s the lucky one.”
44 March-April 2020  / Strings
community . . . at the same time getting in
trouble together and having all of these mon-
umentally important experiences; as we get
Part of what defines the Aspen experience
is its scope: Boasting five full orchestras and
numerous chamber groups, the roughly 650
students and 130 faculty members combine
to put on more than 400 performances dur-
ing the eight-week session. The majority of
participants perform solo works in addi-
tion to their ensemble repertoire, with a
decided emphasis on new music—the expo-
sure to and promotion of which is essential
to Aspen’s mission.
AMFS was the first program of its kind to
employ side-by-side ensemble experience,
where students are stand partners with fac-
FUN FACT:
Preeminent
pedagogue Dorothy
DeLay gave violinist
Sarah Chang her
first driving lesson
at age 13 in
Aspen’s circular
parking lot.
ulty, instilling the realities of discipline and
professionalism in a supportive context.
This bond between faculty and students cre-
ates a sense of mentorship and camaraderie,
forging relationships that last far beyond
the eight-week program.
Idyllwild: Empathy and Artistry High
Above the Desert
The chamber-music intensive for strings
and piano at Idyllwild Arts is a week-long
immersive camp whose brevity is chief
among its strengths. Seven days can serve
as an introduction to the high expectations
of pre-professional development, a fast-
paced dose of inspiration for players destined
for the conservatory, and an opportunity to
work with world-class faculty.
Students arrive and immediately get to
work after being placed into ensembles,
with individual attention from instructors
throughout the week. Lengthy private
practice sessions are the norm, not because
they are compulsor y, but because the
expectation of excellence is not softened by
the length of the camp.
Music chair Jeanette Louise Yaryan
reflects on students’ progress over the course
of the camp: “The willingness to try new
things, to create a solid support system for
each other was palpable onstage, and their
level of awareness in the moment of the per-
formance was among some of the finest I have
seen from students at their age.”
Cello faculty (and cellist of the Calder
Quartet) Eric Byers echoes the idea of com-
passion and communication at the heart of
chamber playing: “This year I witnessed
groups forming a tight bond during their
week of work together. The setting provides
a beautiful place to deeply focus on chamber
music. I noticed students starting to play
totally differently as they learned how their
part fit with the whole, and what role they
were playing at all times. The week grew
their interest in chamber music, and I think
everyone came away from it surprised and
excited about what they had accomplished
in such a short amount of time.”
Idyllwild also offers two-week orchestral ses-
sions for devoted musicians ages 13–18. The
experience can be transformative for students
who have not performed with a truly large
ensemble before. Recently retired conductor
Larry Livingston’s 30-year tenure fostered a
sense of inspired evangelism, where students
could first fall in love with the music, creating
an incredible drive to master it. Students get a
hefty dose of music history, with Livingston
frequently detailing the lives of composers, the
context in which pieces were written, and the
mechanics behind the orchestrations. As a
result, students develop a lasting desire to do
whatever it takes to be of service to the
music. This approach is baked into the DNA of
the program, which will be helmed by maestro
Ransom Wilson beginning in 2020. 
Art is the stuff of emotion, wrought
through discipline. This is the axis about
which Idyllwild Arts revolves, and why it con-
tinues to be a touchstone for many alumni,
long after they’ve taken their last journey
back down Mt. San Jacinto.  n
 ● Worldwide acceptance, decades of performer
CONCORD and luthier experience
INTERNATIONAL ● Christopher basses in Gamba, Busseto or Violin
GROUP, INC. shape; in 1⁄10 to ⅞ size, ⅝ and ⅞ 5-strings, fully carved
and laminated instruments (environment-friendly!)
● Christopher replica Amati and Gofriller bass models
● Christopher Cello and Violin
● NEW: H. Löwenthal replica bass models, made in
Europe from well seasoned European tonewoods

S U P PL IE S IN STOCK
LUTHIER b on y fingerboards
o d s • e
• tonewo air
in s t r u m e n t parts • bow h
•

QUALITY INSTRUMENTS

fine double basses

Pegasus
Quality horse hair

Christopher Cello
VC600F

H. Löwenthal
Panormo model

CONCORD
INTERNATIONAL
GROUP, INC. 2380 Vantage Drive, Elgin, il 60124, usa · Tel: 847-836-8688 · www.concordgroup.com · info@concordgroup.com
46 March-April 2020  / Strings

SPIRIT OF
ADVENTURE
My violin has taken me around the world—and back again
By Kaethe Hostetter
T
he last ten years of my life have been a swirling
East African adventure with my instrument serv-
ing as my North Star. I’ve found myself deep in the
Rift Valley, playing violin with tribal communities
who would be surprised to learn they are techni-
cally Ethiopian. I’ve learned melodies in the unique, walled
city of Harar—a UNESCO world heritage site and one of the
most sacred cities of Islam. This trade-influenced town in
Eastern Ethiopia was where French poet Arthur Rimbaud
settled for a time, working for a coffee trader at the end of the
19th century.
I’ve crossed the border by train to the deserts of Djibouti,
where I jammed on oud melodies with Somali incense traders,
and traveled to the reggae studios of the Rastas of Shashamene.
I’ve traveled to the border of Kenya and Ethiopia, setting up in
the shade with my fiddle at a Saturday market among bead ven-
dors and farm stands, with music as my first offering of
acquaintance and greeting at every turn.
My violin has brought me to a dark club in Addis Ababa,
where a legendary singer was reviving his dormant career
after the trauma of the military Derg regime had left him all
but silent. My violin has also brought me onstage with the
biggest pop star in Ethiopia, Teddy Afro, playing to a stadium
audience of around 20,000.
How did I get here?
I am lucky to come from a family that encourages musical
adventure and experimentation. My mom, a classically trained
pianist and cellist, also became the executor of Paul Bowles’
musical estate. Her frequent trips to Morocco in the ’90s to
archive his manuscripts became an elusive and mystical theme
in our lives at home, as she would return with pottery, rugs,
and stories about Bowles’ field recordings for the Library of
Congress. Meanwhile, my father, a luthier known for his broad
expertise in stringed instruments, and for his workshop in the
redwoods of California, also produced and recorded a series of
COURTESY OF KAETHE HOSTETTER
acoustic guitarists in Madagascar, bringing some of the musi-
cians for a tour in US in 1994. These early influences set the
stage for a unique approach to life, where music, connection,
and adventure meet.
StringsMagazine.com
SPECIAL FOCUS ON
MUSICAL ADVENTURE
I first really explored improvisation with career circus accor-
dionist and clown Peter Bufano, who hired me when I was 18 to
play in a summer circus-tent tour in the grassy New England
countryside. With two shows a day for three months, there were
plenty of possibilities to develop soloing ideas, incorporate
pedals, and get used to the range of the five-string violin my
father built for me specifically for the tour.
My years of classical training made me feel that no tech-
nique was out of my reach, that my only limitation was my
courage. After a certain period of working in orchestras around
Boston in the early 2000s, I found myself daydreaming—how
far could my violin take me?
In Boston, I fell in with a group of like-minded creative
folk, and soon met Danny Mekonnen. We started a Sunday
practice group, unearthing Ethiopian music from his parents’
old cassette collection. Enthusiastic about the food as well, we
dove deep into the cooking tradition, even making our own
tej (honey wine) to the soundtrack of golden-era Ethiopian
sounds from such artists as saxophonist Getatchew Mekurya.
The group settled into a 14-piece band with a horn section,
bass guitars, accordion, drum set, and, of course, violin. We
chose the name Debo Band, referencing “communal labor” in
Amharic, Ethiopia’s official language.
I
t was with Debo Band that, in 2008 I first traveled to Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital city. We had begun gaining recog-
nition, touring all over the US, and were invited to perform
at the Ethiopian Music Festival, which featured both tradi-
tional and experimental Ethiopian music. On our first night
we visited Fendika—a life changing evening for me. This dimly
lit traditional bar served us tej while acoustic musicians and
vocalists—azmaris, Ethiopia’s traditional troubadours—
enraptured the customers with their improvised political com-
mentary and poetry embedded in ancient melodies. I was taken
by the strong, melismatic voices, the acoustic virtuosity of the
musicians, the vapors of the tej, the audience joining the per-
formers in song, and the incredible crack of a unique, seemingly
effortless handclap that everyone managed while also stomping
on the packed dirt floor of the bar.
47
 This was my initial introduction to the core the bench next to Asrat, the drummer, who singers at weddings and hotel openings. Over
traditional set of instruments—masinko would teach me Amharic and melodies while the years these gigs have become both more
(one-string fiddle), krar (lyre), and kebero (goat- he was playing. I absorbed everything, inter- frequent and also more difficult. Session
skin drums played with sticks). It was also the nalizing how to navigate between artistic recordings and events are more common, but
night I first met a beautiful woman named license and immovable tradition. smaller clubs have been disappearing—
Selamnesh, a vocalist of my exact age to the Increasingly, I was also participating in demolished, burnt down—taking an aspect
month, whose friendship, despite the many the daily routine of the masinko players of of my Addis musical life history with them.
contrasts of our lifestyles, would come to be the bar, which included chewing khat Eventually, after about 5 years, seeking a
significant proof of the power of music to leaves and playing music all day. They deeper, more personal creative project, I
reach across great barriers. taught me music and Amharic—and I was invited a few musicians to join me in a group
These first experiences would prove to be a always with my violin. It was at this point we called QWANQWA (the Amharic word for
strong pull that I could not ignore. Upon my that I succumbed to the intoxicating and “language”), named in honor of music as the
return to Boston, I found the sounds of surprising sounds of the masinko, thanks universal language. QWANQWA brings
Addis, the nascent friendships, the elusive- mostly to the brilliant experimenter Endris together my violin and the traditional
ness of the music, and the friendliness of the Hasan, who would become an ongoing part- instruments I encountered on my first
culture were calling me to venture further ner and colleague in music. night in Addis.
into unknown territory. I was in the music scene by then, and Along the way, QWANQWA has had its ups
As soon as I could return, I did. Within a slowly, here and there, began to collaborate and downs. Our first big break was an invita-
year, I found myself spending more time in with musicians in town; I started getting tion in 2016 to Roskilde, one of the largest
Addis than in the US. In effect, I moved calls for my own gigs, where I would hire my music festivals in Europe. Ethiopia’s poverty,
there—renting a small place a few doors own band. I would play concerts, get called as combined with the allure of the West, has led
down from the very bar that first entranced a session player, make arrangements for many Ethiopians to flee to other countries,
me. I would go there every night, sitting on films and TV shows, and perform with seeking a better life. Our original drummer

KUN and MAGIC ROSIN PRESENT

A PRIZE WORTH SHARING!

ENTER TO WIN A PRIZE PACK WITH THE KUN
SHOULDER REST
MAGIC ROSIN
Premium quality, professional-grade
ENOUGH GOODS TO GO AROUND. Our Collapsible shoulder rest
for ½ & ¾ size violin is now
rosin that provides excellent grip and
delivers a clear, complex tone. Used
5 winners will receive 4 Kun Junior Collapsible rests and 4 Magic Rosins. available in four vibrant colors: by string players of all ages and ability,
Atomic Green, Razzle Dazzle, from soloists to students. Our special
The winners can choose to keep all the rosin and rests; or share them with a student, friend, or classmate. Blue Moon and Papaya. The recipe uses only premium, purified
Junior Collapsible in color is pine resins, additives like oils, waxes,
GIVEAWAY RULES No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. Entrants must be 18 years or older. Each entry
must be individually submitted using the Official Entry Form at www.stringsmagazine.com and received by April 30, the same well-loved, reliable dyes, or metal fillings commonly used
2020; facsimiles may not be substituted. Prize drawing will be made on or around May 7, 2020. The grand prizes product you already know: by rosin manufacturers. The
will be fulfilled by Strings within 60 days of receipt of winner’s written acceptance. Employees of Strings magazine,
comfortable and simple to production process yields rosin with a
String Letter Media and The Kun Shoulder Rest Company, Connolly and Magic Rosin are not eligible to win. Odds
of winning depend on the number of entries received. Limit one official entry per person, with unlimited additional use, it folds for easy storage clear, glass-like appearance. Designs
bonus entries per referral or social action. Strings magazine reserves the right to notify the winner by mail or by e-mail in children’s instrument cases. are placed underneath that transform
and to identify the winner in the magazine as well as the Strings website and Facebook page. International entrants,
please note: If the winner is resident outside the United States, he or she is responsible for all shipping, customs, Each Junior Collapsible rest each piece into a beautiful music-
and tax costs. In the event that an international winner is unwilling or unable to cover these costs, he or she will in color has an MSRP making tool, with personality! Each
forfeit the prize and a new winner will be selected at random. For the name of the prize winner, send a self-addressed,
of $30.75. Magic Rosin has an MSRP of $16.
stamped envelope to The Kun Shoulder Rest and Magic Rosin Giveaway 2020, c/o Strings magazine, 941 Marina
Way, Suite E, Richmond, CA 94804. Taxes are the responsibility of the winner. No prize substitutions are permitted.

48 March-April 2020  / Strings

and bass krar player used the opportunity to
seek refuge in Europe, abandoning the group
before we’d even played our concert—leaving METZLER VIOLIN SHOP PRESENTS
me stuck with just one other band member on THE FOURTH ANNUAL MARCH 23
a giant stage (we got a local drummer to join
CONTEMPORARY
NATHAN
us). But I rebuilt the band, stronger and bet- COLE

AMERICAN VIOLIN
ter than ever. The current lineup, now four
years solid, has multiple international
tours under its belt, and includes connec-
tions, like the vocalist Selamnesh, I made
& BOW MAKER
that first night at Fendika. EXHIBITION & SALE MARCH 24
TENG
LOS ANGELES
In the fall of 2020, QWANQWA is coming
LI
to the US for a collaboration with cellist
and rising jazz star Tomeka Reid and her
string group Hear in Now. We will be
bringing our traditional scales, rhythms, March 23-25, 2020 MARCH 25
ROBERT
604 S Central Ave, Glendale. CA, 91204
metzlerviolins.com (818) 246-0278 DEMAINE

I found the sounds

of Addis, the nascent
friendships, the
elusiveness of the
music, and the
friendliness of the
culture were calling me
to venture further into
unknown territory.

and ornamentations to the incubation CLAIRE

G I V E N S V I O L I N S , I NC .
Established 1977
process before premiering our collabora-
tion at the Hyde Park Jazz Festiva l.
Although the ten-piece ensemble won’t be
very mobile, the five of us in QWANQWA Fine Violins,Violas, Cellos & Bows
will then strike out on our own for a three-
month tour across the US.
I’m thankful for the work ethic and ability
to break things down to their most basic 1201 MARQUETTE AVENUE SOUTH SUITE 150 MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55403
components that my years of classical 800.279.4323 612.375.0708 GIVENSVIOLINS.COM
training ingrained in me. The flicker of dis-
covery is seductive, but diligent practice is
what truly fuels exploration. A deep per-
sonal connection with my instrument was
forged at a young age; my time in Ethiopia
has allowed me to follow that connection
further than I ever expected.  n
STORE.STRINGSMAGAZINE.COM

StringsMagazine.com 49
 STUDY GUIDE

This is Brevard . SUMMER STRINGS

Be inspired. Be here.
AT EASTMAN!

EASTMAN CELLO INSTITUTE

EASTMAN EXPERIENCE:
SUMMER CLASSICAL STUDIES

SUMMER 2020 F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N G O T O :
scholarships available summer.esm.rochester.edu
Email: summer@esm.rochester.edu
APPLY NOW AT
Call: (585) 274-1074 | Toll-free: 1-844-820-3766
BREVARDMUSIC.ORG
EASTMAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC • UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER

GREEN MOUNTAIN
Develop. Inspire. Play.
CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL
Kevin Lawrence, Artistic Director
www.gmcmf.org
opening season!
An intensive program of solo and chamber July 21st - August 12th 2020
music study for serious young string players
Nicole Peragine Apply now at
JUNE 28 - JULY 26, 2020 BURLINGTON, VERMONT Director of Orchestras musicconservatory.org

Zephyr Point Chamber Music Camp Inviting professional

and college aged
at Lake Tahoe, June 28 – July 3 Violinists, Violists,
and Cellists

SUMMER INSTITUTE JUNE 18-28, 2020

Expanding Artistic Freedom and
The Art of Teaching with The Feldenkrais Method

Fun & intensive chamber music camp for ages 5 and up

Contact Carol Rice at carolricecello@gmail.com Apply at CarogaArts.org/apply

Cellospeak Adult Cellospeak

at Lake
HANS Tahoe J.Adult
NEBEL’S
June Summer
23-30: WorkshopsJune Summer
30-July 5: Workshops
VIOLIN REPAIR WORKSHOP
for advanced for students age 5
string Two
students
fabulous workshops:
Renowned violin
Two fabulous workshops:
2020 workshops : 2020 workshops :
July 23 - 29 for in-depth July 23repair expert
- 29 for in-depth
Skill Builder Week
individualized instruction Skill Builder Week
individualized instruction
July 19 – July 25
and July 30 - August 5 for July 19Hans J.
– July 25
and July 30 - AugustNebel
5 for
Ensemble Weekquartets and
coached cello
July 26 – August 1
will offer 4
Ensemble Weekquartets and
coached cello
July 26 – August 1
cello choir. Ratio of student cello choir. Ratio of student
to ouratextraordinary
Held faculty
Bryn Mawr College, Held
one-week
to ouratextraordinary faculty
Bryn Mawr College,
is 4 to
Bryn 1! PA
Mawr, is 4 to
Bryn workshops
1! PA
Mawr, in
For application information, the Berkshires.
For application information,
see: www.cellospeak.org see: www.cellospeak.org
MCLA.EDU/VIOLIN
SUBSCRIBE TO STRINGS
info@cellospeak.org info@cellospeak.org
MCLA STORE.STRINGSMAGAZINE.COM

50 March-April 2020  / Strings SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

 2020
APPLE HILL CENTER for CHAMBER MUSIC

Summer 2020
Chamber Music Workshop A learning vacation in a
serene, natural setting
where all levels can feel at
Session I home and be inspired.
June 19–28 Enjoy in-depth classes with
knowledgeable, supportive
Session II teachers, jam with kindred
spirits, and have a ton of fun! 
July 3–12
APR 24-26 OLD TIME ROLLICK traditional Appalachian
Session III Fri–Sun music and dance weekend
July 17–26
MAY 1-3 SCOTTISH STRING FLING Alasdair Fraser
Fri–Sun & Natalie Haas’ fiddle and cello weekend 
Session IV
July 31– August 9 AUG 10-14 BLUEGRASS CAMP instrumental and vocal
Mon–Fri music with the best in Bluegrass
Session V Our week-long music and dance camps
August 14–23
JUN 28-JUL 4 WESTERN & SWING WEEK Swing/Jazz,
Sun–Sat Western Swing and Classic Country
Apply Now! JUL 19-25 NORTHERN WEEK New England, Québécois,
Sun–Sat English, French, and Scandinavian
www.applehill.org • music@applehill.org AUG 16-22 SOUTHERN WEEK Appalachian, Old Time,
Sun–Sat Cajun and Zydeco
603-847-3371
Nelson, New Hampshire, USA REGISTER AT ASHOKAN.ORG
477 Beaverkill Road Olivebridge, NY (845) 246-2121

make us your last stop.

Our main product is customer service; if you are a string player or an
aspiring player you will find the most knowledgeable and helpful people
working at Stamell Strings. We look forward to serving you for many
years to come!

SINCE 1989

stamellstring.com
(800) 766 0936

StringsMagazine.com 51
WHAT’S IN THE CASE?

SWEET
AND SUNNY
Seattle Symphony
concertmaster Noah Geller
describes his Postacchini
and Kostina violins
By Laurence Vittes

I
n the space of a year, Noah Geller has made
the transition not only from concertmas-
ter of the Kansas City Symphony to the
Seattle Symphony but from one music direc-
tor (Ludovic Morlot) to another (Thomas
Dausgaard). Both have leaned heavily on
Geller’s talents. When Geller debuted in Sep-
tember 2018, Morlot scheduled Janáček’s The
Cunning Little Vixen suite with its charming
solo. In October 2019, Dausgaard scheduled
Geller to play Karl Amadeus Hartmann’s
emotionally demanding Concerto funèbre.
Geller grew up in Chicago, listening to
Samuel Magid lead the Chicago Symphony
and after him Robert Chen. Before joining
the Kansas City Symphony, he was a mem-
COURTESY OF SEATTLE SYMPHONY

ber of the Philadelphia Orchestra begin-

ning in 2008, where he served as acting
assistant concertmaster for the 2010 and
2011 seasons. He performs on a violin
made by Andrea Postacchini around 1840,
occasionally in recitals with his percussion-
ist wife, Mari Yoshinaga.

52 March-April 2020  / Strings

 I caught up with Geller just as he was fin-
ishing up a grueling schedule of end-of-the-
year concerts to find out why his Postacchini
is the perfect concertmaster’s violin.
What should we know about Postacchini’s
instruments, and about the luthier himself,
other than the fact that he was known as
“the Stradivari of the Marches”?
The merit of Postacchini’s work, at least
with respect to the violin that I own, is
more in the tone quality of the instrument
than in the craftsmanship. I believe that
he was making do with the somewhat
crude materials that were available to him
locally, and that accounts for the some-
what plainness of the wood. However, as a
player, I have always been drawn much
more to the sound and feel of an instru-
ment rather than its look. Of course, looks
matter to a degree, but I’m not looking at it
while I’m performing.
How did it come to you?
I found my Postacchini while I was in the
Philadelphia Orchestra. My apartment was
above the shop of local dealer Fred Oster, and
I loved tinkering with the fiddles downstairs.
This instrument caught my attention because
it was so easy to play, and it had a bright,
shining quality that I was attracted to. This
was the first “major” instrument purchase
that I made. I was encouraged before my pur-
chase after a few people I respected com-
mented on its good sound, even though they
did not realize that I was trying it out.
In what condition did you buy it? What had
to be done?
Basically the only work that I had done to the
instrument was installing a new bridge and
post, courtesy of Christopher Germain in
Philadelphia, and after that, I didn’t mess
with it too much. I typically blame myself
instead of the instrument if things aren’t
sounding good. Probably I could have been
wiser in certain respects. For instance, I now
realize that the strings need to be changed
very frequently if you are maintaining a rig-
orous playing schedule, so I try to change all
my strings twice a month if I’m really busy.
The strings can be broken in quickly if rubbed
vigorously with a paper towel or something
similar for 20 minutes or so, followed by a
good practice session.
StringsMagazine.com
Was it love at first sight?
I have always liked the sound of my Postacchini.
It is so important to feel like the sound coming
out of the violin is similar to that ideal sound
that we have in our imagination, and this vio-
lin definitely makes me happy in this regard.
What do you love about it? What do wish it
could be improved?
I think one of the most important quali-
ties of this instrument is in the sweetness
that it delivers. Often, I am called upon by
composers to produce a sweet, singing
This instrument
caught my
attention because
it was so easy to
play, and it had
a bright, shining
quality that I was
attracted to.
sound, and this violin is an ideal partner
for those types of passages. If I had to find
a weakness, I would say that it is hard to
make this violin sound gritty or rough. But
this could also be interpreted as a blessing
in that it’s hard to make my Postacchini
sound bad!
How does it compare to the famous violins
your childhood idols played on?
Those great Strads and del Gesùs are in a
different category from the work of virtu-
ally every other violin maker in history,
with few exceptions. I am always blown
away when I hear a great player with one of
these instruments—not just by the play-
ing. It is as if you could distill sunshine
into aural form.
How does it like Seattle’s climate? Does it
travel well?
My Postacchini is not very finicky when it
comes to changes in temperature or humid-
ity. I am lucky, as I know some people really
struggle with this.
What bow(s) do you use?
For use with my Postacchini, I have a bow
by Otto Hoyer from 1922, and a modern
bow by Gary Leahy (Ireland) made in 2019.
With my Kostina violin, I use a different
modern bow by Matthew Wehling. Again,
with bows, the market is prohibitive for
some of the really amazing ones. I have to
say I am very happy with my modern bows
and am impressed by the work that is being
done nowadays.
What case?
My case is by the Taiwanese company Pedi.
It’s very nice, light, and strong.
Tell me about your Kostina.
I would be remiss not to talk about my
excellent modern instrument made here in
Seattle by Alina Kostina. The craftsman-
ship that went into this instrument totally
knocks many old instruments out of the
water, in my opinion. The tone is beautiful,
too, and quite powerful. I do alternate
between using my Postacchini and my Kos-
tina, depending on repertoire.
What new recordings can we look forward to?
You can most prominently hear the Postacchini
in my recordings of Saint-Saëns’ Introduction
and Rondo Capriccioso and The Muse and the
Poet with Michael Stern and the Kansas City
Symphony. In the near future, look out for the
Seattle Symphony’s recording of Strauss’ Also
Sprach Zarathustra conducted by our wonderful
new music director, Thomas Dausgaard.
What piece is your favorite to play with
your wife?
My wife, Mari Yoshinaga, always schools
me when we prepare music together. I have
learned a lot from her, especially in regard
to movement in music and how to play
rhythmically. Probably the biggest pieces
we’ve played together are Piazzolla’s Histoire
du Tango and Paul Lansky’s Hop, and I look
forward to learning many more through
the years. n
53
TALES OF THE TRADE

The Tête-Bêche model can be easily

re-haired by its owner with a new
bow-hair hank from Nehr.

BOW
AND TELL
Gilles Nehr’s Tête-Bêche
bow builds on 20 years
of innovation
By Patrick Sullivan

A
damaged bow is no treat for any eyes,
but it’s a particularly sore sight for a
bow maker like Gilles Nehr. Even a care-
ful musician can suffer an attack of the but-
terfingers—and a single slip with the fragile
stick can cause irreparable damage to the vul-
nerable head, or require a repair that may
deprive a bow of 90 percent of its value.
Twenty years ago, the desire to ward off
such disasters drove Nehr to take a fresh look
at his craft. Doing repairs and restorations
COURTESY OF GILLES NEHR

on old bows had given the young artisan a

dismaying view of the fragility and instabil-
ity of traditional designs.
Back then, Nehr was already an accom-
plished practitioner of a trade that embraces

54 March-April 2020  / Strings


centuries-old tools and traditions. Born in
France, he began a bow-making apprentice-
ship at age 16, with training in Marseille and
Mirecourt. He moved on to René Morel’s New
York workshop, where he did work for the
likes of Itzhak Perlman and Isaac Stern.
But, encouraged by fellow bow maker Isaac
Salchow, Nehr cast aside custom and set out
to innovate his way to a sturdier bow. “I was
very young at the time,” Nehr recalls. “It was
that age when you still think you could shape
the world ahead of you.”
In 1999, Nehr produced his first Tête-
Bêche (French for “head to tail”)—a bow
with a vertical tip. Simply put, Nehr flipped
the ivory tip over, making it into a shield to
protect the whole head from top to bottom
to help prevent splits and breaks. It had an
unorthodox look, but it caught on with
string players.
Yet Nehr wasn’t satisfied.
In the two decades since, his design has
undergone a dizzying series of evolutions.
Nehr has replaced ivory tips with light but
sturdy metal. He’s lopped off the whole per-
nambuco head to leave just a stick with no
mortise to weaken it. He’s created an inge-
nious system that allows violinists to do
their own rehairs.
And he’s sold scores of his Tête-Bêche
bows to musicians around the world.
Acclaimed soloist Kurt Nikkanen, concert-
master of the New York City Ballet Orches-
tra, recently bought one of Nehr’s newer
creations. “It’s a sophisticated 21st-century
tool that rivals the best bows I’ve played, if
not surpasses them,” says Nikkanen. “The
self-rehairing aspect totally sold me. If
you’re able to just pop in the plug yourself,
you have pretty much a stress-free life as far
as the bow goes.”
But none of this has been easy. The evolu-
tion of the Tête-Bêche has been a long and
painful process, Nehr says. “Every bow was
very, very different at first, and each one
was difficult to make—a bow for glory,” he
recalls with a chuckle. “I was having a lot of
success, but they were taking so long.”
Each new bow, though, was helping Nehr
to improve the next one. And while a pas-
sion for safety birthed the Tête-Bêche,
Nehr’s innovations taught him something
else: his changes were improving the sound
his bows could produce. As he explains,
“The more I was making the moving parts
StringsMagazine.com
The strings trade is a field of great variety—there are so many roles, passions, and stories.
This department shines a spotlight on the trade and the people involved in the art of the instrument.
smaller, the more I was making them fit
tightly to the stick, the more the sound was
getting better.”
These days, Nehr’s design has settled
down. “The model is very mature,” he says.
“I’ve been working on improving details.
The changes of these details today are so
precise and small it looks like it’s not
changing much.”
But materials are one area of ongoing
innovation for Nehr—and he’s particularly
excited about one recent change. “Like
every bow maker, I’ve been looking for an
alternative to pernambuco,” he says. The
exotic hardwood, from an endangered tree
found only in Brazil, has been the go-to for
fine violin bows for hundreds of years. But
it’s becoming increasingly controversial
and hard to find.
Every bow was very,
very different at first,
and each one was
difficult to make—
a bow for glory.
—Gilles Nehr
Nehr, however, says he’s identified an ideal
replacement: giraffe thorn acacia from
southern Africa. “It’s just incredible,” he says.
“It’s a strong wood with a lot of elasticity.”
And the sound, he says, is beautiful. “With
many alternatives to pernambuco, that’s a
problem—the pitch is very high,” Nehr says.
“But acacia, it’s strong but it’s warm.”
Nikkanen agrees. “I thought it sounded
every bit as good as pernambuco,” the New
York violinist says. “I couldn’t be more
pleased.” The only problem? “It’s just not that
interesting to look at,” Nehr says with a
laugh. “It’s not beautiful like pernambuco.”
Recently, Nehr has begun using a new pro-
cess that greatly improves the color of the
acacia, changing the wood’s appearance dra-
matically. “Some people even mistakenly
ABOUT THIS DEPARTMENT
think that it is pernambuco,” he says.
For t rave l i ng mu sic i a ns, t he new
wood—which is not endangered—and the
lack of an ivory tip offer big benefits at
border crossings, where there’s rising scru-
tiny and complications for musical instru-
ments that incorporate materials from
imperiled species.
“My bows now are 100 percent made of
material that is not endangered,” Nehr says.
He’s also embraced a new metal for the
head: titanium. “It was the first metal I was
thinking of for the head, even early on,” Nehr
recalls. “Unfortunately, it was way too hard
to work by hand.”
Even after some companies started to offer
the service of casting small metal pieces,
they wouldn’t make a titanium head because
it had too many details. “Titanium involves a
very complicated technology, and that tech-
nology was still young,” Nehr says. “It was
very frustrating for me.”
Over the years, though, titanium casting
became more precise and efficient. “I finally
had my designs accepted, for both heads and
frogs,” Nehr says. He’s been able to use tita-
nium for over a year now, with results that
impress even tradition-minded musicians.
Nikkanen, for example, originally bought
an older version of Nehr’s bow, without a tita-
nium head. Its stability alone was a major
plus. “I got it at a good time, because I had a
lot of performances in a lot of different
places,” Nikkanen says. That included Singa-
pore, where he encountered 100-degree tem-
peratures and 90-percent humidity. “The bow
was unchangingly stable in every weather,”
Nikkanen says.
But then a colleague brought a titanium
Tête-Bêche to work.
“I thought it played even better than
mine,” Nikkanen says. “The titanium head
gave it more projection and a quicker
response. I was tempted to ask her to trade.”
Instead, he’s having Nehr retrofit his bow.
Nikkanen still sounds amazed to count him-
self among the converts to the Tête-Bêche. “I
historically have never been very open to
innovation in violin or bow design,” he says.
This is illustrated by the instrument he plays,
an antique made in 1600 by Gasparo da Salò.
Yet the Tête-Bêche, as contemporary as can
be, had him at hello. “I was sold on Gilles’ bow
within the first half hour of playing it,”
Nikkanen says. “That to me says it all.” n
55
YOUR INSTRUMENT
The soundpost is set just inside the treble foot of the bridge.
UNBREAK MY ART
A soundpost crack is tough to repair and results
in certain depreciation
By James N. McKean
S
ometimes your best friend is your worst
enemy—and it’s always someone you
can’t live without. When it comes to your
violin, it’s the soundpost: the indispensable
heart and soul of your instrument’s sound
and response. Since it can be adjusted to meet
your own particular needs and taste, it’s your
best friend. But it can also break your heart.
A dowel of spruce wedged between the
top and the back, the soundpost is set just
inside the treble foot of the bridge, and
slightly back of it, toward the tailpiece. That
off-center position is what makes it acousti-
cally so important: By not being directly
under the bridge, it allows a delay of the
vibrations from the top to the back. The two
56 March-April 2020  / Strings
plates are connected, and yet independent,
making a vital contribution to the complex-
ity of the overtones. It’s a delicate balance—
the top and back have to be strong enough
to withstand immense pressure and con-
stant movement, and yet flexible enough to
vibrate freely. That’s easy enough to do for
an experienced violin maker, and the
results can be astonishingly long-lived—
there are violins being played today made
over four hundred years ago with no dam-
age from the soundpost.
But even the best balance can be upset. No
matter how careful you are, accidents do
happen; you slip on the ice and the case goes
flying, or you land on it. And that’s when your
best friend can, in a second, turn into your
worst enemy. The angled ends of the sound-
post have to match the inside arching
perfectly, and the edges left sharp to ensure
the best and most complete contact, and to
keep it from slipping. Almost without excep-
tion, a soundpost crack is the result of a
sharp jolt, when that sharp-edged, hard
dowel turns from a piston into a spike,
cracking the wood it rests against.
If your instrument does happen to get a
soundpost crack, there’s no way around it:
This is as serious as it gets. Aside from the
intrusive repair, there will be significant
depreciation. “It’s usually ten to 15 percent of
the total value for a soundpost crack in the
top, but for a crack in the back, it’s 40 to 50
percent,” says Rob Mayes, director of sales at
Carriage House Violins in Upper Newton
Falls, Massachusetts.
A back crack is so much more problematic
JUST PLAIN BILL/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
than a top crack—which is why it accounts
for a much higher rate of depreciation. Aside
from the fact that the maple is twice as
thick in the soundpost area, necessitating
that much larger a patch, there is a greater
chance of the crack reopening. Think of the
way the back moves: It acts as a trampoline,
with the soundpost constantly pushing it
outward as it responds to the movement of
the bridge. Also, maple is fiendishly difficult
to retouch, and that area of the back is
highly exposed and subject to wear.
The depreciation is even greater on contem-
porary instruments, since a major crack greatly
reduces their salability. It’s perfectly under-
standable: Why would someone buy an instru-
ment with major damage, no matter how well
repaired, when they can just go directly to the
maker and get a pristine one? The standard
practice is to replace the broken part (a time-
honored custom, by the way; I know a Stradivari
violin with a top made 20 years after the rest of
the instrument, and there is a famous Joseph
Filius Andrea Guarneri cello with a top by
Guadagnini). But then the entire instrument
has to be revarnished to match the new part
with the rest, and the whole process takes
many months before the instrument is ready
to be put back in service.
So as substantial as the cost of the repair
will be, it’s easily dwarfed by the loss of value.
Be sure to get written statements of both
from your repair shop to submit with your
insurance claim.
T
he reason a soundpost patch is such a
cause of concern is that while the crack
looks like just a tiny scratch, it’s in the
most structurally stressed part of the instru-
ment, subject to constant pressure and
movement. Just gluing it won’t do the trick,
even with reinforcing studs on the inside.
The only remedy is a patch—thinning down
the original wood and replacing it.
The repair itself requires a high level of
expertise and experience. Just taking the
top off is a risky prospect, one that requires
hours of painstakingly slow effort to loosen
the plate without causing any additional
cracks or damage to the edges. A plaster cast
of the top is poured, and any distortions to
the arch in the damaged area corrected.
Once the crack is glued and the top securely
clamped into the plaster counterpart, the
area for the patch is thinned down. Only a
few tenths of a millimeter of the original
spruce are left over the crack itself, to
ensure that it doesn’t reopen over time. To
match the flexibility of the rest of the top or
back, and to prevent any ancillary cracks
from developing, the patch has to be gradu-
ally feathered in with the original wood.
Even though the original crack in a violin
top might be a ghost line only a centimeter
long, the resulting patch will at a minimum
be two and a half by three and a half centi-
meters, and even larger on the back.
Fitting a patch properly can easily take a
full day. Using chalk on the prepared area as
a guide, the repairperson minutely shapes
the patch with a knife and steel scraper
until the new piece is entirely and evenly
white from the chalk. Gluing the patch in is
an art unto itself. Due to its unsurpassed
bonding and invisibility, hot hide glue is
still the only adhesive used in violin making
or repair. But its proper use, particularly in
repairs, requires as much skill and expertise
as the actual wood work. If left too thin, the
glue can cause the grain of the top to reverse
and cloud the varnish; but used too thick, it
will gum up and prevent a perfect bonding
of the new wood with the old. And it begins
to cool almost immediately, so there are
only seconds to apply it and clamp the patch
in place before it begins to set.
Hide glue takes 24 hours to set and dry
properly. After the patch is unclamped,
the new wood is very slowly and carefully
thinned down to blend with the original.
StringsMagazine.com
And while the repairperson uses a dial vibrates. But restoring the structural integ-
micrometer, graduated in tenths of a mil- rity of the plate is the driving factor; the
limeter, he or she is guided as much by feel resulting sound, good or bad, matters little if
as by the measurements. the repair doesn’t hold up.
How will a patch affect the sound? That’s The good news is that all it takes to avoid
impossible to know. It varies with every being your own worst enemy is to be careful.
instrument. The wood has been chosen to Preventing a soundpost crack (or any dam-
match the original, and it’s been properly age, for that matter) is pretty simple. Get a
thicknessed to make it blend as well as pos- set up done by a top professional and keep
sible. But still, the patched area is now a your instrument in a safe place (the safest
sandwich of two pieces of wood, with glue in being, of course, the case), and you won’t
between. That will inevitably affect the way it have anything to worry about.  n
full tuition
scholarships
for accepted
students
Robert McDuffie
Center for Strings
preparing the entrepreneurial musician for
the real world — the students, faculty artists,
and staff of the McDuffie Center have created
something unique. You can feel the dedication of
these special students and their faculty mentors
Faculty
at chamber music coaching sessions, private
lessons, orchestra, recitals, and performances.
Robert McDuffie, violin, Founder, concert violinist
Amy Schwartz Moretti, violin, Director, concert violinist
Richard Aaron, cello, renowned pedagogue
Julie Albers, cello, principal cellist, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
Rebecca Albers, viola, principal violist, Minnesota Orchestra
Lawrence Dutton, viola, Emerson String Quartet
Annie Fullard, violin, chamber coach, The Cavani Quartet
Hsin-Yun Huang, viola, concert violist
David Kim, violin, Concertmaster, Philadelphia Orchestra
Elizabeth Pridgen, piano, concert pianist
Ward Stare, conductor, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra
Daniel Tosky, double bass, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
Jeff Turner, double bass, former principal bass, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
mcduffie.mercer.edu
57

CLASSICAL GUITAR
SPANISH
REPERTOIRE
FOR CLASSICAL GUITAR
Complete arrangements of “Bolero” by Julian Arcas,
“Guardame Las Vacas” by Luis de Narváez,
“Lágrima” by Francisco Tárrega,
“El Testament d’Amelia” by Miguel Llobet
and “Canarios” by Gaspar Sanz
BY PATRICK FRANCIS
If you’re planning to buy a new stringed
instrument from a violin shop, auction
house, or online, this clear, concise
insider’s guide will help you get the
best value while realizing your dream.
store.StringsMagazine.com
58 March-April 2020  / Strings
NEW PRODUCTS
COURTESY OF KUN
DIAL UP THE DAZZLE
Kun adds some color to the mix
By Megan Westberg
Includes video
C
omfortable. Functional. Practical.
These are probably the kinds of words KUN JUNIOR COLLAPSIBLE
you’d conjure up if asked to describe SHOULDER RESTS
your shoulder rest. And all of these adjectives
describe a shoulder rest that is working well • Junior Collapsible model available in
for its player. But Kun was hoping for descrip- atomic green, razzle dazzle, blue moon,
tors with a bit more flair, especially from its and papaya
younger customers. Thus, it has rolled out
• Models based on Kun Original with
shoulder rests in a variety of colors: atomic
convenient, foldable ends
green, razzle dazzle, blue moon, and papaya
in its Junior Collapsible models (for 1/2- and • $30.75 (MSRP)
3/4-size violins). Who says a shoulder rest
kunrest.com
can’t be fun?
 Forget
about
your Imagine a bow that makes
playing so natural and easy

bowing that you simply forget all

the difficulties that you have
experienced with normal
troubles bows.

Your Müsing bow is waiting

for you, ready to play every
piece of music to perfection -
effortless, powerful, precise,
agile, predictable, and reliable.

www.muesing.eu

www.gewamusicusa.com

StringsMagazine.com 59
ON MY MUSIC STAND

PLAYER:
Rebecca Fischer is
a New York–based
violinist, writer, and
educator. An expressive
solo and collaborative
performer, she played
first violin in the Chiara
Quartet for 18 years and
forms one-half of The
Afield. Fischer teaches
at the Mannes School
of Music and Greenwood
Music Camp, where she
is associate director.

TITLE OF WORK
BEING STUDIED:
Dissolve,
O My Heart

COMPOSER:
Missy Mazzoli

DATE COMPOSED:
2010

NAME OF EDITION
STUDIED:
G. Schirmer

BEL CANTO
Approaching the operatic,
unpredictable voice
of Missy Mazzoli
By Rebecca Fischer
M
y mother told me as a child that if I
turned on the radio and heard music
that could immediately be sung, it was
probably Mozart. Mozart’s lyricism is unmis-
takable. His works scored for any instrument
can be reimagined as an operatic scene. Play-
ing a Mozart concerto or string quartet, one
can find that the character possibilities in
the musical conversation—where a musical
motive suggests an operatic mother, a suitor,
or a grandparent—are limitless. Every com-
poser has a distinct rhetorical style. When I
am working on solo Bach, I listen to the inter-
action of the sequences, the length of the
phrases, how the bits of music speak to each
other. Getting into the composer’s mind is
my goal whenever I’m working on a piece.
BEN SEMISCHZ
I was first introduced to Missy Mazzoli’s
music through her mesmerizing opera Song
from the Uproar: The Lives and Deaths of Isabelle
Eberhardt (2012). The size of the sound she
creates is captivating, the flow of the music
constantly churning yet never predictable in
its direction. I was also struck by the plentiful
use of electric guitar in the opera, and how a
piece of contemporary classical music is
enhanced by the plaintive and unconstrained
power of this instrument.
In 2018 Mazzoli was the guest composer-
in-residence at Greenwood Music Camp,
where I teach in the summers. Young musi-
cians played her string quartet Death Valley
Junction, and in working with them I was
again entranced by the changeable direction

60 March-April 2020  / Strings

of Mazzoli’s music and the rock ’n’ roll vibe
she commands from four string players.
When programming a recital at Columbia
University in 2019, I decided to include
Mazzoli’s piece for solo violin, Dissolve, O
My Heart, on an evening featuring music by
American women. Written in 2010, this
work was commissioned by Jennifer Koh
for her Bach and Beyond project. Tangen-
tially inspired by the Chaconne from Bach’s
D minor Partita, Dissolve quotes the open-
ing D minor chord of Bach’s work, which
Mazzoli describes as anchoring “the entire
piece even as it threatens to spiral out of
control.” I was especially curious to explore
how Mazzoli, known as a prolific operatic
composer, might engage the solo violin as
its own kind of operatic instrument.
moments. Besides learning to rely on the
feeling of playing (kinesthetic memory), the
way the piece sounded (aural memory), and
the way it looked on the page (photographic
memory), I had to test my structural memory
by creating my own way of “seeing” the piece.
This was a kind of latticework I put together
of significant harmonic changes, the way
phrase contours look and feel, color-coded
sections, etc. In effect, I had to rewrite the
piece inside my head with hand-holding
devices to creatively stimulate my memory.
In memorizing Mazzoli’s piece I intended to
create the onstage experience of an incredi-
bly intimate sound world that expands and
contracts as the piece grows and changes.
Like a large, breathable organ.
As performers across generations become
more familiar with the composers of our time,
we learn to recognize the distinctive rhetoric
and cadence in our favorite music of theirs. I
look forward to more musicians getting to
know Missy Mazzoli’s work and her uniquely
lyrical, brooding, secret, wild voice. n

I had to test my
structural memory by
creating my own way
of ‘seeing’ the piece. B14002
Student Economy
Velvet Violin Case
Space, time, and sound—these are the
most significant elements in Dissolve, O My
Heart that challenge the performer. The
piece opens and closes with long, muted
chords and the composer’s instructions,
“melancholy, distant.” These timeless, inti-
mate sections return throughout the piece,
followed by long rests of silence, only to be
interrupted by ferocious passages that test
the upper sonic limits of a solo violin. In the B16002
piece’s climax, full of sixteenth notes and Economy Velvet
sliding double-stops, Mazzoli marks “wild,
unhinged,” and I am reminded of the power Violin Case
of the electric guitar as I attempt to create
whirling resonance on my comparatively
small, acoustic wooden box.
Having spent years memorizing complex
string quartets by composers like Bartók, I
hoped I had developed a good bag of tricks to
address memory challenges. But memoriz-
ing Mazzoli’s piece required a new set of
Distributed Exclusively in North America
techniques. Specifically, because the magic
by Howard Core Company
of the music’s flow lies in the defying of reg-
www.bobelock.com
ular rhythmic patterns, it was difficult to
grasp the minute details of recognizable

StringsMagazine.com 61
REP PREP
A LITTLE FLASH
How to practice David Popper’s Gavotte in D
By Benjamin Whitcomb
D
avid Popper’s Gavotte in D major is a
delightful, short work that intermedi-
ate cellists have been learning and per-
forming for decades. Like so many of
Popper’s works, it contains a variety of cello
techniques, which makes it a great teaching
piece. It is also considerably easier than
many of his other works, making it a good
introduction to Popper’s compositions.
As with any piece of music, the more effi-
ciently you practice it, the better and more
quickly you will learn it. A good first step is to
scan the piece to look for the technical chal-
lenges and then practice these in isolation. In
this case, there are four things that stand out.
1. Bowings
Try applying the bowings of various short
passages to your scale practice to familiarize
yourself with the various techniques
required (see Ex. 1, p 63).
2. Ornaments
When you see that ornaments such as trills,
turns, or mordents are called for, it is good to
practice these during your warm-up routine.
For example, you could apply mordents to
your scale practice as seen in Ex. 2. Notice
how your bow has to anticipate the change of
direction for the ornamented notes. In effect,
you are playing what is notated in Ex. 3.
Although you do not need to start the mor-
dent quite as early as I do in Ex. 3, when you
begin practicing them it is good to start the
ornaments as early as possible.
3. Thumb Position
Since this work contains some passages in
thumb position, you would benefit from
spending some time working on your comfort
level, accuracy, tone, and intonation in thumb
position as well. Working through the four
common patterns of tetrachords (i.e. collec-
tions of four notes) is one good possibility
(Ex. 4). In the fingerings in Ex. 4, T = thumb,
L = low, H = high, and R = regular (i.e. neither
high nor low). Next, try spending some time
practicing various scale patterns with the
62 March-April 2020  / Strings
thumb on the half-way harmonic (Ex. 5). Be
sure to practice the pattern for F-sharp minor
as well, as it is the key that the longest and most
difficult thumb position passage is in (Ex. 6).
4. High-Register Harmonics
In this gavotte, the groups of harmonics in
the treble clef certainly catch one’s attention.
Become as comfortable as you can with the
various harmonics in this register: They
appear with some frequency in the advanced
repertoire, plus they will be useful landmarks
for finding other high notes in the future.
Practice the harmonic arpeggios in Ex. 7
until they become comfortable and familiar.
You might also try manipulating them in
various ways, such as by using them to play
bugle tunes, like in Ex. 8. For these harmon-
ics to speak well, place the bow closer to the
bridge and move it faster than you would for
a stopped (i.e. non-harmonic) note.
Now that you have accomplished a signifi-
cant amount of the preparatory work that will
make learning the piece much easier, it is time
to walk through the sections and identify spe-
cific practice strategies for each passage.
Measures 1–8
The bow stroke here is perhaps the most
important feature. Try isolating the right hand
by practicing the open string pattern, such as
in Ex. 9. Experiment with different lengths of
articulations. Find the exact stroke that
sounds cleanest and that best fits the perky
mood of the piece. Really lead with the wrist on
the up bows, not only for good technique and
articulation, but to help the up-beats sound
directional—like they truly pull the music into
the following downbeat.
Although the meter is indicated as com-
mon time, it really benefits from having a
cut-time feel. Strive to create a longer line by
having only one or two goal notes (i.e. strong
arrivals) per phrase.
Carefully tune the F sharp in m. 2 and the
D in m. 4. In m. 3, ensure that the second-
finger E is absolutely identical in pitch to
the first-finger E.
David Popper's Gavotte in D is
available online at imslp.org.
Be sure to play the piece very steadily and
rhythmically. When you hear a recording or
see the piano part, you will notice that the
piano has steady eighth notes with which your
part should always line up.
Measures 8–15
These are the most difficult measures of the
piece, so be prepared to spend extra time with
them. Be sure to practice challenging passages
like these as slowly as necessary in order to be
comfortable and accurate at all times.
Beware of the intonation of the G sharp in
m. 10 and the E sharp in m. 11. Aren’t you glad
you already spent time practicing different fin-
ger patterns in this position? Practice these
two onerous notes by isolating them, and then
by pausing on them. Be sure that the tone
quality does not suffer as you cross to the D
string. On some cellos, one must significantly
boost the volume on the D string in order to
sound connected to the notes on the A string.
The other challenge in this passage is pro-
vided by the mordents, which you also prac-
ticed beforehand. Again, pay close attention
to the timing of the bow (Ex. 10). It is easy to
underestimate the importance of the right
hand in a passage like this. Do not overlook
the huge dynamic change in m. 13 from piano
to fortissimo. This change will best be accom-
plished with a significant increase of both
arm weight and bow speed.
Measures 16–19
Exaggerate the articulations and dynamics
in this passage. Isolate and practice the stac-
cato stroke in mm. 18–19. With a stroke like
this, be sure to save bow. Try practicing even
longer groupings, such as in Ex. 11. The
amount of bow that each note gets is
extremely small indeed. Again, ensure that
the G sharps are in tune, and that they are
precisely the same pitch every time.
Measures 20–24
Sing through the dotted half notes. Keep
t his passage interest ing—t he ef fect
should be one of anticipation, rather than
 ABOUT THIS DEPARTMENT
Sometimes technique work is more rewarding if it’s in preparation for playing
a special piece. Here you’ll find a lesson that is specific to inspirational repertoire.

of sounding stuck or static. Make a clean also save bow so that you keep control of stop the bow one instant before the reprise
and accurate shift in m. 22, ensuring that the tone and have enough bow left for the in the middle of m. 24.
the pitch of the two F sharps is exactly the last two notes in m. 24. To accomplish this,
same (but in different registers, of course). move closer to the bridge and be sure to Measures 24–32
Make a large crescendo in mm. 23–24, but start the note near the tip. You may wish to These measures consist of a repeat of earlier

Example 1
Example 1

? ## 44
Example
Example 1
1 etc.

?
? ## ##
etc.

44 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ. œ
etc.

œ œ œ œ œ œ. œ. œ. œ. œ œ. œœ..
etc.

œœ œœ. œœ œœ... œœ... œœ... œœ... œœ.. œœ.

œœ œœ.. œœ.. œœ.. œœ... . œœ.. œœ.. œœ.. œœ œœ.
. . . .
. . .
œ.. œœ... œ.. œ..
? ## œ. œ.. œ.. œ œœ... œœ. œœ. œœ
œœ. œœ... œ.. œ..
etc. etc.

œ. œœ œ œ œœ.
? ## ## œœ œœ. œœ. œ.
etc. etc.

? œœ. œœ. œ œ œ. œ œ.
etc. etc.

œœ. œ œ œœ. œœ.

etc. etc.

œ . . œœ œœ œœ.
. œœ... . .
Example
Example 2
2
Example
Example 2
21
? ## 44 11
1

?
? ## ##
1 1

44 œ œ œ. œ.
œ. œ. mœœœ œœ. œœ.
1

mœœœ œœ. œœ. œœ œœ. œœ.

1

œœ
m œœ. œœ. œ.. œ.. m
m . . m œ.. œ..
m
m . . m
m m m
Example
Example 3
3
Example 3
?# 4
Example 3 etc.

? ## ###
etc.

œ
3 3 3 3

? 444 œ œ œ œ œ. œ. œ
3 3 3 3 etc.

œ œ œ œ. œ. œ œ œ œ œœ
etc.

œ œ œ
3 3 3 3

4 œœ œœ.. œœ.. œœ œœ œœ œœ. œœ. œœ11

3 3 3 3
œœ œœ
œœ œœ.. œœ.. œœ œœ œœ œœ. œœ. œœ11 œœ . .
. .
œ
1œ
1
1
œ œ
. . . . 1
1
1
1
1
Example 4
Example 4
Example
Example 4
Major
4 Minor Phrygian Lydian
Major Minor Phrygian Lydian

& 4222
Major
Major
T R1 R2 3 Minor
Minor
T R1 L2 Phrygian
Phrygian
TT L1 Lydian
Lydian
TT H3

œ œ œ #œ
T R1 R2 3 T R1 L2 L1 H3

œ œ #œ œ œ œ œ bœ œ œ œ #œ
T R1 R2 3 T R1 L2 T L1 T H3

&
& 44 ## œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ ## œœ ## œœ
T R1 R2 3 T R1 L2 T L1 T H3

œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ bb œœ œœ œœ

Example
Example 5
5
4
Example 5
# œ œœ #œ œ œ œ œœ ## œœ œœ
œ œœ ## œœ œœ œœœ œœœ
Example 5
&
& 44 ## œœ œ ## œœ œœ œ œœ ## œœ œ œ œ œœ œœ œœœ œœ œ # œ œ
&4 œœ œ # œ œ œ œ # œ œœ œœ œœ œ œ

œ œ œ œ
&œ œ œ œ œœ œœ œœœ œœ œ œ œ œ œœ bb œœ œœ œœ œ b œ œ œ œœ bb œœ œœ œœ œ œ # œ # œ œœ œœ ### œœ œœ
&
& œœ œœ œœ œœ œ œ œœ œœ œœ œœ œ b œ œ œœ bb œœ œœ œœ œ b œ œ œœ œœ ## œœ ## œœ œ œ œ

Example
Example 6
6
Example 6
4 œ œ œ Œ
Example 6
& 44 # œ #œ œœ ## œœ œœ œœ œœ #œ ## œœ #œ œœ
& œœ #œ œ œœ ŒŒ
& 44 ## œœ ## œœ œ œ ## œœ #œ ## œœ œ

StringsMagazine.com 63
REP PREP
material (mm. 1–8). Whether or not you decide
to play this passage slightly differently from
the opening material, ensure that it sounds
every bit as engaging as the beginning. When
you take the first ending (m. 32), place a breath
in the middle of the bar to separate the musical
ideas and help define the form of the piece.
Measures 33–46
Try practicing scales with the bowing in mm.
33–34. Avoid letting this sound stilted or
mechanical—rather, it should sound light and
attractive. Try Ex. 12 to isolate and practice the
shifts in mm. 35–36.
Also, practice saving bow in these two mea-
sures. Bowing a bit closer to the bridge can sig-
nificantly help you slow the bow down without
losing tone quality.
Isolate and practice at length the harmonics
in mm. 36 and 40. A few tips to keep in mind:
• Ensure that the left elbow is able to move as
you cross strings.
• P ractice placing and lifting the fingers
instantaneously (as one finger touches
the string, any other finger already on that
string should lift as quickly as possible).
• You may find that the harmonics speak
better if you place the finger on the far side
of the string (as opposed to being on the
top of the string).
• Until you get used to playing high harm-
onics, you may also wish to use a tiny bit of
portato bowing (slightly rearticulating
each pitch).
Experiment a bit with timing and dynamics
in mm. 42–44. As with mm. 22–24, there
should be a sense of anticipation (and perhaps
some humor as well). While mm. 8–15 make up
the most difficult passage in the piece, this pas-
sage (mm. 33–41) sounds the most difficult
and dazzling. Your goal should be to master the
technique of the passage to such an extent that
you can project how much fun it is to play it.
Measures 47–55
This passage is another repeat of the refrain.
Consider the possibility of slightly delaying
your entrance in the second half of m. 47.
Measures 55–64
Carefully tune each note in mm. 55–56. In
particular, make certain that the B in m. 55 is
64 March-April 2020  / Strings
both in tune and beautiful. The finger should
be all the way down against the fingerboard
and feel balanced right before the bow articu-
lates the note. To help with this, you might
consider the possibility of not playing the pre-
ceding A as a harmonic. Save bow in mm.
58–59. Again, moving a bit closer to the bridge
is very useful. Carefully tune these pitches as
well. For example, is the pitch of the first-fin-
ger E in m. 58 exactly the same as that of the
fourth-finger E that precedes it?
Isolate and practice the shifts in the begin-
ning of m. 62 (Ex. 13).
Be sure
to practice
challenging
passages like
these as slowly
as necessary
in order to
be comfortable
and accurate
at all times.
Measures 64–72
Practice these harmonics in a similar manner
to how you practiced mm. 36 and 40. You may
find yourself using even more bow here in order
to get a clear and beautiful sound. Try to make
mm. 64–66 sound final—as though this is how
the piece is going to end. Do not hold anything
back in the middle of m. 67! Use a broad, full,
unapologetic stroke. Maximize the contrast
and the surprise. Similarly, in the middle of m.
69, instantly switch to a light, innocent, and
well-behaved piano dynamic. Try using a circu-
lar stroke here—one that allows you to stay in
the same part of the bow.
The perfect fifths in mm. 69–71 must be per-
fectly in tune, as must the final two chords in
mm. 71–72. If these are sometimes out of tune,
try adjusting the height and angle of your left
elbow. (You will probably find yourself raising it
somewhat.) Some editions mark these last two
chords arco and others as pizzicato—which is
what I prefer. If you do choose pizzicato, be sure
to use a nice, big motion and follow through
(despite the piano dynamic) to result in a reso-
nant tone. The B section of this piece is
a musette (a type of dance in duple meter with a
held drone note) in D minor that can move at
a considerably quicker tempo if you wish.
Measures 73–80
Again, fortissimo with accents should be very
loud. It is wonderful to learn how to play truly
loud dynamics on a cello. Careful with the into-
nation of the shift to third position in m. 74.
Isolate it and repeat it, very slowly at first. In
mm. 7–76, you have the opportunity to tune
your stopped pitches against an open string,
which is always one of the many good ways to
practice intonation. The major ninth from E to
D may not sound right at first, but you can
quickly learn to hear the precise placement of
this interval that makes it “in tune.” Practice
leaning more on the A string than the D string
in this passage (mm. 75–76) so that listeners
hear more melody than accompaniment.
Measures 81–94
Here, you need to lean the bow much more on
the D string than the A string in order to
hear the melody well. Tune all of these notes
carefully. Slow practice is indispensable. Do
not neglect the accents in mm. 82–84. You
may find that you have to work harder to bring
them out on the D string than on the A string.
Be sure to bring the dynamic level down five
levels (from ff to pp) in mm. 85–94. However,
keep the sound quality beautiful and vibrant.
Measures 95–102
As with mm. 20–24 and 42–44, here is another
passage that can sound quite effective if played
with a sense of anticipation, playing with the
listener’s expectations. If played matter-of-
factly, as though following a set of instructions,
it will fall flat. And try adding a ritard and a
diminuendo into the fermata in m. 102.
This delightful and charming little compo-
sition is fun to play and easy to listen to.
Non-cellists generally have no idea how easy
or difficult it is, and it is just flashy enough to
be a nice encore or stand-alone piece worth
learning and keeping in your repertoire.
Happy practicing! n
 Example 7

œœ œœ œœ
Example 7

œœ œ7œ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ
I II III IV

4 œœ œœ œœ
Example 7
œ œ œœ œœ
œœ
I II III IV

& 4 œ œ œ œ œ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ
IIœ œœIIIIII
& 44 IIœ œ œ œœ
Example 7
œœœ œ œœ œœ
I II III IV

œ œ œ
Example
& 44 IIœT œœœ1 œœœœ2 œœœ œœ œœ
Example 7
Example 7
œ3 œœœ IIœ
œœœ œœœ œœœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œœœ œIII œ
IV

œ œ œœœ œœœ œœœ œ œ

II IV

œœœ œœœ
& 4444 œœTT œ11 22 œ œœœ œ œœœ
III IV

& œ œ œ œœœ œœœ œ œœœ œœœ œœœ œ

II IV

& œ œ œ œ œœœ œ œ œ œœœ œœœ œœœ

&4 œ œ œœœ œ œœœ
3
3
œ œ œ œ œ œ
Example
Example T
81
811 2 3 œ œ
## # T4 81IIj
œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ
T 2 3

œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ
T 2 3

œIIj
II

œœ œœ œœ œœ
Example 2 3

& # ## 444
&
Example
Example 8œj
8
8
8œIIII œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
& ## 44 TIIIIjj œ œ œ œ
Example
œœœ2 œœœ œœœ œœœ œœœ œœœ
Example
## j œœœ11 œœœ œœœ œœœ œœœ œœœ œœœ œœœ
& # ### 4444 œœœœTTj
&
& œ œ2 œ œœœ
œ
œ œ œ œ œœœ
œ
œ œ œ œ œœœ
œ œ œ œ œœœ
œ
& 4
Example 9
1 2

9T≤ œœ.. œœ.. œœ.. œœ.. œœ.. œœ.. œœ.. œœ.. œœ.. œœ.. œœ.. œœ..
Example 9TTT 1 2

œœ ˙˙ ˙˙ ˙˙
1 2

? ## # 44 ≤. .
1 2

œ9œ≤.. œœ.. ÓÓ
Example 1 2

?
? # # 44 œ œ. œ. œ. œ. ˙ œ. œ. œ. œ. ˙ œ. œ. œ. œ. ˙
Example 9
9œ œ Ó
Example 9
# 44 ≤ œœœ... œœœ... œœœ... œœœ... œœœ... œœœ... œœœ... œœœ... œœœ... œœœ... œœœ... œœœ...
Example
œœœ ˙˙˙ ˙˙˙ ˙˙˙
œœœ≤≤≤.... œœœ....
Example
?
? #
# 444 ÓÓÓ
? ## ####
?
44 œ œ. œ. œ. œ. ˙ œ. œ. œ. œ. ˙ œ. œ. œ. œ. ˙
œ œ Ó
œœ.. œœ œœ œœ œœ.. œ œœ œœ.. œ œœ œ # œ. œœ..
Example 10
œœ.. œœ.. œœ œœ.. œœ.. œœ œœ.. œœ œœ.. œœ.. # œ # œ. œœ..
Example 10 j
œ œ
œ œ œ . œj
#œ . ˙˙
B # 4 œ. œ œ œ. œ œ œ ## œœ.
œ œ
œ. œ œ œ œ. œ. # œ ## œœ.
Example 10
œ. œ.
œ
B ## # 44 10œ. œ œ œ œ. œ œ. j
œ œ. œ. ˙
œœœ... œœœ33 œœœ œœœ œœœ... œœ33 œœœ œœœ... œœ33 œœœ œœ # œ..
œ
œœœ...
Example
B # 4 10 . œœœ... œœœ œœœ... œœœ... œœœ œœœ... œœœ... ## œœ # œ.. œœœ...
Example 10
# # 44 œœœ... œœœ œœœ...
Example j
œ. œœ œ
œœ œœ
œ. œ œ œ œ. œœ3 œ œœ ### œœœ.. œ.
œœjj
˙˙˙
Example 10
B
B
B # ### 4444 œ œ. œ œœ
œ œ œ. œ. œ œ. œj
œ œ œ. œ. ## œœ ### œœœ.. œ. ˙
B #
#
# 4 11
3 3

Example 3 3 3

œœ.. œœ.. œœ.. œœ.. œœ.. œœ.. œœ.. œœ.. œœ.. œœ.. œœ.. œœ.. œœ.. œœ.. œœ.. œœ.. œœ.. œœ..
Example 11
œœ.. œœ.. œœ.. œœ..
3 3 3

œœ.. œœ.. # œ.. œœ.. œœ.. # œ..

3 3 3

œœ ## œœ œœ.. ## œœ..
3 3 3
Example 11
B œ. œ. œ. œ. #œ œ. œ. œ. œ. #œ
B ## ## 444 œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. # œ. œ. # œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. # œ.
Example 11
œ #œ œœœ... œœœ... œœœ... œœœ... œœœ... œœœ... œœœ... œœœ...
Example 11
œœœ... œœœ... œœœ... œœœ... œœœ... œœœ... œœœ... œœœ... œœœ... œœœ...
Example 11
B # # 44 # œ œœœ... œœœ... œœœ... œœœ... ## œœ... œœœ... ### œœœ.... œœœ... œœœ... œœœ... œœœ... ## œœ...
Example 11

B # 4 œœœ ## œœ
œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. ## œœ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. œ. ## œœ.
B # 4
B ### ## 444 œ # œ
B œ. # œ
# 4
Example 12
## œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ
Example 12
B ## 44 œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ
.. .. œ ..
Example 12
B # œ #œ œ œ œ . .œ œ œ œœ ## œœ œœ œœ .
B # # 44 œ œ œ
Example 12
œ .. .. œ ..
Example 12
### œœœ œœœ œœœ œœœ1 œœœ œ3
Example 12
# # 44 œ1 œœœ1 œœœ œœœ #œ œ œ
&

œœœ œœœ22
Example 12
B œ ... ... œ33 ...
&

B
B # 4 œ1 œ1 #œ œ œ œ1 œ œœœ3
B ### ## 444 œœ1 œ œ .. œœœ3 œII ### œœœ œœœ œœœ
(2)

.. ..
&

œ3
(2)

# 4 II
#œ œ œ
&

1 2 &

& 1 (2)
Example 13 II
&

œœ ..
1 1 2 3 1 (2) 3

œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ
Example 13
1 1 2 3 1 (2) 3

## # 4
1 1 2 3 1 (2)
II 3

.. .. ..II .. ..
1 1 2 3 1 (2) 3

œœ œœ œœ .. œœ .. œœ œ . œœ
Example 13 II

& # ## 444
&
II

œ œ . .œ œ œ . .œ œ .
œ œœ œœ œœ ..
Example 13
.. .. œ .. .. œ œ œœ ... ..
Example 13
& ## 44 œ0 œT œœœ1 œœœ œT œ. œœœ œœœ œ. œœœ œ
Example 13

œœœ œœ .
Example 13
## 4444 œ0 œœœT œ1 œ œœœT œ00 ... ... œ œœœ ... œ œ œœœ ... œ ... ... œ œ œœœ œ. ...
& # ###
&
& œœœ0 œT œT œœœ0 .. .. œ œ. œ. œœœ .. .. œ œ œ œœœ ... ..
& 4 œœœ œœœ
œ000 œ000 œ œ.
1
T 1 T
T
T 1
1 T
T
0 T 1 T 0

StringsMagazine.com 65
 TECH SUPPORT
PLAYING
“The art of not playing in tempo—one has to learn
it. And the art of not playing what is written on
the printed paper.” —Pablo Casals
THE MUSICAL R
hythm is more than just keeping time.
When considered within the context
THIEF
of a piece, it can be a powerful expres-
sive force, providing shape and poignancy,
life and space. For a lesson in rhythm’s pro-
found influence, consider the art of rubato
Make use of the (in Italian, literally “stolen”). Rubato is the
subtle art of rubato act of taking time from one beat, or group
By Scott Flavin of beats, and giving it back in subsequent
beats. This is a relatively simple concept,
and can be used in myriad ways, highlight-
ing expression and meaning in music when
used with balance and taste.
66 March-April 2020  / Strings
There are, of course, many ways players
can influence time in their phrasing. Slow-
ing down (ritardando) and speeding up
(accelerando) are used all the time. Also
important is the agogic accent (agogic
accentuation), where a note (or series of
notes) are lengthened, giving them weight
and importance.
Use Rubato Sparingly, and in the Right Places
First, you need to determine where to
apply rubato. The key is often in the char-
acter of the music. If the music is driving,
Quite often, the way
you use your voice
naturally will give you
hints as to where
you might want to
linger, and where you
might want to move
the phrase forward.
you probably don’t want to stretch or be
too free; if it’s searching, or passing
t hrough remote har monies or l arge
melodic leaps, this might be a place to
apply rubato.
Also keep in mind what the accompaniment
is doing. If there is a steady accompanying
pattern (ostinato), you may not be as free as if
there were irregular accompanying figures.
Another important consideration is the style
of the music—in what musical period was the
piece written? For example, the treatment of a
crescendo in Mozart might be intensified by
moving the pace forward (faster), while a cre-
scendo in Tchaikovsky might impart that
intensification by pulling back the pace, allow-
ing the crescendo to expand in time.
A great starting point is to sing the given
phrase. Quite often, the way you use your
voice naturally will give you hints as to
where you might want to linger, and where
you might want to move the phrase forward.
 ABOUT THIS DEPARTMENT
A string player is never done honing his or her technique.
Here you’ll find new ideas about how to practice and approach your instrument.

In addition, listening to performances of far you can stretch and be free while not los- Be a Thief!
great artists can help you find your own con- ing the overall structure and pulse of the In the midst of exploring rubato, you obvi-
nection with the freedom of a phrase—just piece. Recording yourself will help, as well as ously must always keep honing the solid
be careful not to merely copy! listening to the greatest musicians of all and consistent application of rhythmic
instruments (and voice!) and all genres. One skills—the more you are in control of your
Practice Harnessing Time of my great inspirations is Frank Sinatra— rhythm, the more you can search out fresh
To gain control of rubato, there are several the way he shapes a phrase and emotion and bracing rhythmic freedom. Using
strategies that will help. Practice scales, of the lyrics with rubato is absolutely stun- rubato effectively can take the music off the
arpeggios, and basic études with the met- ning. Jascha Heifetz also had a unique gift of page, enhance your musical ideas, and cre-
ronome, choosing areas to take time and balancing freedom with rock-solid rhythm ate greater communication with an audi-
make it up, slowing down and moving for- and pulse, combining the two with a beauti- ence, bringing your musical expression to
ward to meet the pulse. In repertoire, play ful sense of proportion. another level! n
a section with a metronome while using
rubato; the challenge is to maintain your
connection with the pulse while you are
playing with greater rhythmic freedom. A
great example in the violin repertoire is
the Adagio from Bach ’s G minor Solo
Sonata—the chords outlining the har-
mony should be within the pulse, while the
“connective tissue” of the faster notes
between the chords may be executed with
some freedom. Playing this movement
with a metronome allows you to play with
freedom, while not losing the inevitability
of the pulse of this incredible music.

Use Rubato Responsibly

Use rubato wisely. Too much and the music
can sound out of control and descend into
chaos. Ideally there should be a balance
between a steady sense of rhythm and free-
dom of expression. Listen carefully to how

PLACES TO
CONSIDER
USING RUBATO
• The highest or lowest notes in a phrase
• Large intervals between notes (these
may require extra time)
• Moments of harmonic tension,
dissonance, and non-chord tones—
appoggiaturas, for example (these can
also be places to linger)
• Dramatic dynamic changes (for example,
Beethoven subito dynamics)
• Patterns, groups, and sequences
• Beginnings and endings of phrases,
gestures, or sections.

Untitled-1 1 9/4/18 10:3967

StringsMagazine.com AM

STAGE & STUDIO Here you’ll find musings and advice on creating, performing, and recording string music.
The Town Quartet
GOING J
oshua Bell. Frank Huang. The Emerson
Quartet. String players grow up with
these kinds of stars in their eyes: the solo-
FREELANCE
ists, the concertmasters, the quartet players of
legend. And as inspiration goes, players
with such burnished résumés serve as
What it takes to make important role models. But it is the unvar-
it in the gig economy nished truth that not everyone can look
forward to building a career as a soloist or
By Don Kaplan orchestral player. There are simply more
performance majors than jobs in those
areas. So if you have a passion for music
and want to be a performer, how do you
support yourself?
The members of the Town Quartet have a
few ideas. This San Francisco Bay Area ensem-
ble was founded by Corey Mike (violin), Jacob
Hansen-Joseph (viola), and Lewis Patzner
(cello). They have been performing together
along with guest artists for close to nine years,
have all worked as freelance musicians, and are
around the same age (34–41). I recently sat
down for a round table discussion with the
group about their lives as freelancers, and how
they feel about their career choices.
School Days
All three members of the quartet agreed their
training in school had been directed toward
orchestral and solo work but not toward other
performance opportunities. They had to pre-
pare for “real world” jobs by studying with
coaches and taking classes outside the required
curriculum. Mike explained: “The job market
68 March-April 2020  / Strings
ABOUT THIS DEPARTMENT
itself wasn’t part of my education. Nobody ever
talked about what was practical, and my class-
mates had very little idea of which career path
to take. I definitely improved at playing orches-
tral repertoire but wanted to do chamber
music. I followed my own path by studying
with as many teachers as possible and playing
as much chamber music as I could.”
Patzner was also more interested in per-
forming chamber than orchestral music in
school. “If I had chosen to take only the bare
minimum of required courses, I would have
been best prepared for orchestral playing.
But I chose to play extra chamber music
every semester and participate in the
school’s jazz program. Freelancing was a way
of life in my household, so I always knew I
was going to be a professional musician and
freelancing would be part of it.
“At first I wanted to be a rock star and part of
a touring band. I did tour as a side musician for
rock bands and with my own metal band. That
gave me opportunities to record and perform
with different groups, write instrumental
parts, improvise, and get some counterculture
mixed in with my background”—experiences
that would qualify him for a variety of jobs
later on.
Hansen-Joseph went beyond the basics
by studying with a private teacher “whose
idea was to be the most well-rounded you
could be. I kind of modeled myself after
him . . . private teachers didn’t focus on
playing in an orchestra.”
Upside-Downside
Freelancers aren’t bound by 9–5 positions
and lead more f lexible lives than musi-
FREELANCING TIPS
cians who are employed by orchestras. 1. Join a chamber group. There’s usually someone in the ensemble or at a performance
They can often choose their own reper- who can give you a referral. Try to play with several groups: Each is likely to have a focus
toire, decide when they want to perform, (Baroque, late-Romantic, 20th-century, jazz) that can lead to additional work.
write and play their own arrangements,
2. Apply with more established musicians in the freelance world. Go to auditions and try to
schedule rehearsals at any time, work at
get referrals even if you don’t get the job you were auditioning for.
venues of their choice, and get free food at
some of those venues (always a plus!). 3. Stay in touch with your colleagues. Use these contacts to make more contacts.
Freelance musicians become part of a
community that develops both professional 4. Be professional and show up on time. Have a good attitude even when you don’t feel like
and casual relationships. “You play these it. Many people would rather hire someone who is professional rather than someone who
gigs and spend time with these people and plays brilliantly but is difficult to deal with.
they become your friends,” says Hansen-
Joseph. “That’s part of how you maintain 5. Look for alternative venues like movie theaters, galleries, and cafes.
your freelance career: by being friends with
6. Promote yourself: Fundraise and get donations at performances. Consider using social
people so when they can’t play a concert,
media so people can read about your background, look at photos, and find out about
they call you to fill in. Sometimes you have
upcoming performances.
to perform with people you would rather not
perform with, but every day, every interac- 7. Refer to Groupmuse, a social network that connects classical musicians and local
tion, every new person you work with, you audiences through chamber-music soirees.
learn how to work with other people.”

Kevin Lawrence,
Artistic Director
GREEN MOUNTAIN www.gmcmf.org
CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL 336-784-5128

An intensive program of solo and chamber music study

for serious young string players BISCHOFBERGER
VIOLIN VIOLA CELLO MASTER VIOLINS
Lina Bahn Rictor Noren Lila Brown Stefan Kar tman CLASSES
Julia Bushkova Janet Orenstein Sheila Browne Sarah Kim Matt Haimovitz
Elizabeth Chang Carolyn Stuar t Caroline Coade Steven Pologe Chad Hoopes Professional Repairs,
Lynn Chang
Jubal Fulks
Janet Sung
Shannon Thomas
Susan Dubois
Roger Myers
Alan Raffer ty
Rhonda Rider
Violaine Melançon
Philip Setzer
Appraisals, & Sales
Carolyn Huebl Sandy Yamamoto Michael Strauss Alison Wells
Bayla Keyes Won-Bin Yim Daniel Sweaney Brooks Whitehouse 1314 E. John St.
Kevin Lawrence Basil Vendryes Alice Yoo Seattle, WA
Lembi Veskimets Matthew Zalkind 206-324-3119
JUNE 28 - JULY 26, 2020 BURLINGTON, VERMONT www.bviolinsltd.com

70 March-April 2020  / Strings

 However, every week is different, and the
benefits of being a freelancer are matched
with challenges. In the absence of steady
work, income is variable. This economic
uncertainty can lead to freelancers accepting
work they would rather reject, playing music
they would rather not play, or having to play
the same pieces over and over because that’s
what employers or agents want.
Building a Career
Building a freelance career is an exercise in
creative, relentless multitasking. You may
need to teach, record for promotional pur-
poses at home instead of in a studio, and play
in venues like museums, cafes, bookstores,
churches, or private homes. “To be a fulltime
freelancer, you absolutely have to multitask,”
says Mike. “And being flexible helps get gigs.
The more different genres you play, the more
gigs are open to you.”
Establishing residencies or a donor base can
be key in sustaining an ensemble. The Town
Quartet started as the result of a contact at a
local cafe. Mike, who had been working there,
told the owners he wanted to form a string
quartet, and the owners agreed to pay a
weekly stipend so the quartet would perform
there every Sunday. Although the quartet
plays at other venues, the Berkeley cafe has
been its home base since 2011.
High-profile groups like the Kronos Quar-
tet can hire managers and grant writers to
organize concerts and arrange bookings. As a
freelance ensemble, you’ll need to do all that
work on your own.
As Patzner points out, “There’s the inevi-
table administrative work that goes into any
music career as a freelancer. You’re dealing
with so many people. You have to communi-
cate with clients, fill out forms, send photos,
create schedules . . . I’m pretty busy so I don’t
advertise very much, but I do have business
cards, sometimes create posters and videos,
have a podcast to announce events and proj-
ects, and have paid for Facebook ads.”
“Being a freelance musician is a juggling
act,” adds Hansen-Joseph. “You’re con-
stantly trying to squeeze as much as pos-
sible into your day, moving gigs around
when you get better offers, and contacting
the people who hired you. It comes with
the territory.”
Says Patzner: “I see myself doing this for
the rest of my life. I would like to do more
chamber music—that’s the most fun. I see
myself becoming choosier and choosier
about the work I want to do—and if it’s
music I don’t really care about, then the
money will have to be really good!”
For these freelancers, in their own words,
they’re close to “living the dream” while still
pursuing their ideals: playing even more
chamber music, having more time to pursue
personal interests like composing and
arranging, and having more control over
what music they play and where they play it.
Everyone was in agreement: “Right now
there’s nothing I’d rather be doing.” n

Aria
International Summer Academy
2020 Boot Camp Sessions at Mount Holyoke College, MA, USA
2020
Mihai Tetel,
director

session 1: June 25-July 6 session 2: July 8-19

session 3: July 21-August 1
Introduce your
Stephen Balderston David Bowlin string students to
Cello

violin

depaul university oberlin conservatory

Wesley Baldwin
university of tennessee
Lynn Chang the wonderful world
boston university &
Phoebe Carrai boston conservatory of fiddling!
the juilliard school & longy school
Nick Curry Gregory Fulkerson
university of north florida nyu
Norman Fischer Hal Grossman Weekend program
rice university university of oregon
designed to inspire

C
Sarah Kim Solomiya Ivakhiv
university of miami/ohio
Scott Kluksdahl university of connecticut and build confidence
university of south florida Renee Jolles in young musicians
Dmitry Kouzov eastman school
university of illinois
Oleh Krysa Fiddle tunes and
Melissa Kraut eastman school techniques for violin,
cleveland institute
Andrew Mark Katie Lansdale viola, cello and bass
boston conservatory boston conservatory &
Alan Rafferty hartt school
Ear training, body percussion,
cincinnati college-conservatory Irina Muresanu
Mihai Tetel university of maryland singing and folk dancing
hartt school
Bruce Uchimura Kirsten Yon Hands-on crafts and
western michigan university
university of houston a not-for-profit music & nature center
Paul York Peter Zazofsky nature hikes in 385 acres in the beautiful Catskill Mountains,
university of louisville boston university of forests, fields and streams 100 miles north of NYC
Private lessons, master classes, workshops, seminars on technique, musicianship,
intelligent practicing, auditions, and career. Application deadline: April 1, 2020.
Learn more and reserve your weekend 
For more information please visit the
ARIA website at www.ariaacademy.com tel 765.212.0327 ASHOKANCENTER.ORG / 845-657-8333
or email Mihai Tetel at mtetel@yahoo.com www.ariaacademy.com

StringsMagazine.com 71
 PVC_YouthOrchestraad_725x4875-final.pdf 1 6/14/18
workshop and galler y
Expert appraisers, restorers
and dealers in violin family
instruments and bows
11 East Adams, Suite 1450
Chicago, Illinois 60603
312.566.0429
Learn more at darntonhersh.com
72 March-April 2020  / Strings
1:20 PM
Carolyn Foulkes SHOP
LUTHIER
BOOKS
B A RO QU E S T R I N G
INSTRUMENTS
Historical and Contemporary
Affordably Priced for the
Young Professional
PERRIN & ASSOCIATES FINE VIOLINS
517 North Charles Street, 2nd Floor
Baltimore, MD 21202
(410) 539-0043 • perrinviolins@verizon.net SEE OUR FULL CATALOG
www.perrinviolins.com store.STRINGSMAGAZINE.com
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
 Bach Cello Suites Workshop
Bach gave us the map... let's take the journey

Matt Haimovitz Artistic Director

with faculty:
Phoebe Carrai
Elinor Frey
Jennifer Morsches
BachCelloSuitesWorkshop.org
A unique immersion for the adult amateur cellist
Sunday, July 26 - Saturday, August 1, 2020
Albany, New York
518-429-6613

bowhair.com
July 28-August 3, 2019
College of St. Rose, Albany, NY

We ship worldwide.

Purveyors
MUSIC AT of finest quality horse
PORT MILFORD hair for all bows of the violin family.
Celebrating 201-264-2433

34 Years
EST. 1987
Rebuilt
Steinway
Grand Pianos

Catering to and priced for

professionals and students

CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL Since 1997

& SUMMER ACADEMY 32 Irving Avenue Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632

FlemingsPiano.com
July 19–August 16, 2020
ONTARIO, CANADA
JOSHUA BELL
CHAPTER 1

JOSHUA BELL is a celebrated violin soloist and began

study with his career as one of those incorrigible prodigies, one
PUBLIQuartet ADVENTURES OF A
VIOLINIST ON THE of the plucky ones who effectively navigated the
Quatuor Saguenay CUTTING EDGE

Select members of waters between childhood and adult success.

Toronto Symphony Orchestra Download this ebook to follow the path of his career,
Canadian Opera Company as told through stories in Strings magazine.
Royal Conservatory of Music Faculty

musicatportmilford.org EDITED BY
MEGAN
WESTBERG
store.StringsMagazine.com$9.99
BACKSTAGE 1

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION StringsMagazine.com

StringsMagazine.com 73
FOR THE RECORD
JOY & DESOLATION
Tesla Quartet; Alexander
Fiterstein, clarinet
(Orchid Classics)
AN EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER
The Tesla Quartet explore joy and desolation on new CD
By Greg Cahill
T
he International Review of Music has
praised the Tesla Quartet for its
“superb capacity to find the inner heart
of everything they play, regardless of era,
style, or technical demand.” Joy & Desolation
(Orchid Classics), the ensemble’s latest record-
ing, lives up to that promise as it spans the
centuries, from Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet to
Carolina Heredia’s 2014 Latin-inspired minia-
ture, to plumb seemingly disparate emotions.
The quartet—Ross Snyder and Michelle Lie,
violins; Edwin Kaplan, viola; and Serafim Smi-
gelskiy, cello—has garnered a host of acco-
lades in the past decade, including Second
74 March-April 2020  / Strings
Prize—as well as the Haydn Prize and Cana-
dian Commission Prize—at the 12th Banff
International String Quartet Competition.
Strings asked Tesla violinist Michelle Lie to
discuss the new project.
Why were you drawn to works inspired by the
juxtaposition between joy and despair,
including war and personal loss?
Life is full of these emotions and I think the
music gives us a chance to explore and
express such feelings. For us, it is important
to share these emotions through our music
making, to give our audience a space to
COURTESY OF TESLA QUARTET
explore these ideas. The title might suggest
that the music is very black and white, but in
reality nothing is ever quite so simple. There is
actually a rich complexity within these works,
and the two emotional worlds do coexist.
Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet is generally warm,
congenial, and optimistic, but it’s interesting to
know that his wife, Constanze, had been seri-
ously ill around the time of its composition.
How are these works compatible with the
Tesla Quartet vision?
We have always had a passion for contemporary
music and music that has been overlooked or

underplayed, so it was important to us that we
represent this on the album. We’re delighted
to have made the world-premiere recording
of Carolina Heredia’s Ius in Bello, which was
written in 2014. English composer Gerald
Finzi wrote really beautiful music for strings,
but unfortunately no string quartets. This
arrangement of the Five Bagatelles gave us the
opportunity to explore his musical world in a
chamber-music setting. Part of our vision as
a quartet is to share a variety of music from
different periods with our audience, and to
show that this music is still as relevant to us
as human beings today as it was when it was
written. There’s something universal in each
work on the album.
What was the impetus for the project?
The album project came together as a result
of our first performances of the Mozart Clar-
inet Quintet with Alex Fiterstein at the
Swannanoa Chamber Music Festival in 2017.
We had never played together, but there was
an immediate chemistry between us, and we
really enjoyed those concerts. The quartet
had just recorded its first album earlier that
year, and we were eager to follow up with a
second, so we thought that recording the
Mozart with Alex would be a good step. By
November, we were planning what other rep-
ertoire we would feature on the album and
how to raise money to make the recording.
We ended up doing a Kickstarter campaign
and successfully funded the album that way.
How did you manage the programming
process?
We knew that we wanted to record the
Mozart and needed to find more works to
complement it. Because there are already
many recordings out there that pair the
Mozart and Brahms quintets, we didn’t want
to repeat that trend. We put some feelers out
and did a little research, and when we came
across Carolina Heredia’s new clarinet quin-
tet, we felt that it would be a good contrast to
the Mozart. Alex mentioned how the Finzi
Five Bagatelles, originally for clarinet and
piano, were popular among his clarinet stu-
dents, so when we found out there was a
quintet arrangement, we thought it would
be a good opportunity to introduce the
music to a string-loving audience. He also
had a connection with John Corigliano, hav-
ing previously worked with him on the
StringsMagazine.com
Each recording represents a body of choices an artist makes to define its character.
This department gives musicians the opportunity to discuss some of those choices and other aspects of a specific recording project.
composer’s Clarinet Concerto, so it only felt
natural to include the Soliloquy on the album.
Did each member submit a work for
inclusion?
We didn’t necessarily have formal submis-
sions from each member, rather it was an
organic process, I’d say. We all took some
time to explore repertoire, and we’d email
back and forth when we found something
interesting.
Were there other works considered and
rejected?
We did consider Bernard Herrmann’s Souve-
nirs de Voyage, which is a beautifully haunting
The title might
suggest that the
music is very black
and white, but in
reality nothing is ever
quite so simple.
—Michelle Lie
work reminiscent of a lot of his film scores.
But in the end, the charm of the Finzi Baga-
telles won us over.
While duality inspired the coming together
of these compositions, they are quite
different musically (for example, the
stylistic leap from Mozart to Heredia). These
selections represent the evolution of the
string-quartet idiom. How did you approach
the unique aspects of each quartet?
This is a really nice question! We really
embraced the unique qualities of each piece,
which I think is why there is so much con-
trast on the album. Especially when it comes
to Carolina’s work, the idiom clearly shifts,
ABOUT THIS DEPARTMENT
and modern instrumental techniques are a
driving force. The Finzi provided an interest-
ing challenge in that the original part wasn’t
arranged for strings, so we had to find the
right balance. What would have been a clear
melodic line on the piano was now divided
between violin and viola, so we had to be
really aware of the textures we were creating.
In contrast to the intricacies of the Finzi, the
Corigliano is so spare and delicate in its tex-
ture that every note has to be perfectly
crafted from beginning to end. When it
comes to music making, however, we treated
each piece equally in our hearts. While each
work represents historically different influ-
ences, the one thing that we always focused
on was the character of the work. The rest fol-
lows through naturally, I’d say.
What were the challenges of playing with a
clarinetist in terms of voicing and sound?
Mixing string quartet and clarinet can be a
tricky process. Alex has this amazingly gor-
geous and pure constant sound, while as a
quartet we are more used to the undulation
of the sound using vibrato. This was particu-
larly challenging in the Corigliano, since we
didn’t want a stark difference in the sound
between clarinet and strings, but this par-
ticular piece’s sound-world isn’t normal, nice,
or luscious. We focused on the disparity in
quality between first violin and clarinet and
ended up with distinct musical voices, the
clarinet more present and human, and the
violin more distant, like a spirit. In terms of
voicing, the clarinet can cover a wide range
similar to the middle voices of a string quar-
tet. The Finzi is a lot of fun to play because the
challenge is to allow the clarinet to maintain
the “soloist” spotlight, but the string-quartet
arrangement allows us to also come in and
out of the spotlight, sometimes taking Alex
with us for a moment.
What do you hope the listener comes away
with from this recording?
For us, making this recording was a growing
experience. I am very grateful for that! With
the variety of music on the album, I hope lis-
teners will find something that speaks to
them, whether it is a moment of joy or a
moment of contemplation. I also hope the
album might spark some curiosity and
inspire people to seek out new music by com-
posers they might not know very well. n
75
ON RECORD

BACH: SONATAS
AND PARTITAS
FOR SOLO VIOLIN
Tomás Cotik, violin
(Centaur)

SEI SOLO
Thomas Zehetmair, violin
(ECM New Series)

BACH
TWO WAYS
Two recent recordings of the
Sonatas and Partitas reveal
striking interpretive differences
By Sasha Margolis

T
hese two new releases offer radically
distinct visions of Bach’s unaccompa-
nied violin music. Drawing upon dif-
fering strands of historical performance
practice, they also provide contrasting
ideas about the role of the artist’s person-
ality in this music.
The differences begin with equipment.
Tomás Cotik chooses an intriguing blend of
period and modern gear: a Baroque bow
with a nineteen-year-old violin, tuned to
A=440, and strung with synthetic strings,
which Cotik says are “slightly softer and
more resonant than the ones that I use reg-
ularly.” The result is an appealingly open
tone, beautifully plain and pale in move-
ments such as the D minor Allemande and
Sarabande, and geared toward lightness
and simplicity in faster music.
Thomas Zehetmair, who recorded his first
Bach set in 1983 on modern equipment, opts
this time for a pair of period violins, tuned
to about A=410: for the sonatas, a 1750

76 March-April 2020  / Strings

I started my musical
journey twelve years ago,
continuing to love what I do.
I am extremely elated
that snow violin has fulfilled
my life with its intensity,
power and beauty.

Yaas Azmoudeh

www.snowviolin.com 1-800-645-0703 snowviolin@yahoo.com

Eberle, slightly broader in sound, and for the
partitas, a mildly brighter South Tyrolean
instrument from 1685. Matched with repli-
cas of two bows dating from 1720 (when
Bach’s works were written) and recorded at
the ancient St. Gerold monastery in the Aus-
trian Alps, these violins allow Zehetmair to
realize the extraordinary range of colors he
perceives in Bach’s score.
Zehetmair’s adoptions from historical
practice include a reliance on strong and
weak beats for creating large shapes, and an
extensive use of ornamentation, not only in
repeated portions of short movements, but
also within arpeggiations in the G minor
Fugue and the Chaconne. Departures from
historical practice include certain dramatic
Zehetmair’s
contrasts between
spectral slurs and
solid staccati
sometimes create
a kind of musical
chiaroscuro.
bow strokes, along with dynamic extremes
enabled by the ecclesiastic acoustic. Zehet-
mair’s ghostly B-minor doubles evoke an
organ or recorder; his contrasts between
spectral slurs and solid staccati sometimes
create a kind of musical chiaroscuro.
Cotik remains within consistent dynamic
regions for broad swaths of music, but does
not generally adopt strong-weak patterns or
clipped slurring, despite his use of a Baroque
bow. His shaping is simple, and he excels in
monophonic movements such as the doubles
of the B minor Partita; his C major Allegro
assai is especially virtuosic. Occasionally,
as in the G minor Presto, a seeming loss of
contact between Baroque bow and syn-
thetic string results in loss of articulation
and rhythmic clarity.
78 March-April 2020  / Strings
Zehetmair is adept in his handling of
Bach’s heftiest movements. His Chaconne
is extraordinar y in its progression of
moods, his C major Fugue confidently gen-
tle, and the arrangement of polyphonic
voices throughout is never less than per-
fectly clear.
Here, Cotik suffers by comparison. He
elects to always break triple-stops, per-
haps owing to his choice of bow, and in
repeated triple-stopping these breaks can
take on an obtrusive rhythmic character.
Elsewhere, the rhythm with which he
organizes the voicing of large chords can
become difficult to follow.
Ultimately, these two artists will appeal
to different listeners. Cotik ’s Bach will
seem refreshingly straightfor ward to
some, insufficiently opinionated to others,
while Zehetmair’s will appear either eccen-
tric or revelatory.
DOHNÁNYI PIANO
QUINTETS, STRING
QUARTET NO. 2
Takács Quartet;
Marc-André Hamelin,
piano (Hyperion)
Having recorded the piano quintets of
Franck, Shostakovich, and Robert Schumann
with the Canadian pianist Marc-André
Hamelin, the Takács Quartet and Hamelin
moved on to the two written by Ernő von
Dohnányi, 20 years apart, in the bloom of his
youthful energy, passion, and command both
as a virtuoso pianist and composer before
World War I intervened.
The music veers from gorgeous late
Romanticism—no wonder Brahms had the
Kneisel Quartet and Arthur Nikisch play the
Op. 1 Quintet for him—to sounds and atti-
tudes that have more of Dohnányi’s own
personal hyper-Romantic stamp, like the
exhilarating second subject of the first
movement, or the decadent waltz theme of
Op. 26, recalling his Variations on a Nursery
Tune written the year before.
The music is occasionally filled with omi-
nous harmonic complexities of things to
come conflicted with an ecstatic yearning for
the old beauties. All of this is captured by
vibrant performances that hew to the idea of
the composer as a Hungarian Brahms with
more reflective schemes, perhaps the influ-
ence of Bruckner.
The sound, recorded in the concert hall and
recording studio of the Nimbus Foundation
in east Wales, captures the characteristic
Takács sound—aristocratic, intellectual,
full-bodied, and especially outstanding in its
use of textures and narratives created by the
clarity of their layering. Hamelin remains a
poet with whom no string player has ever
failed to fall in love.
There is at least one Takács recording that
remains to be issued before Richard O’Neill
takes over for Geraldine Walther in June. It’s
an album of piano quintets by Elgar and Amy
Beach with Garrick Ohlsson, recorded in May
and slated for release in the summer.
 —Laurence Vittes
DVOŘÁK AND KHACHATURIAN
VIOLIN CONCERTOS
Rachel Barton Pine, violin;
Royal Scottish National
Orchestra, Teddy Abrams,
cond.
(Avie Records)
Pairing the violin concertos of Antonín
Dvořák and Aram Khachaturian on the same
album is an unusual move. But as violinist
Rachel Barton Pine explains in her liner
notes, coupling two such different works was
not her original intention. After a conductor
colleague backed out of a planned recording,
she found herself with a hall, an orchestra,
and a producer. A last-minute decision to
record Dvořák and Khachaturian under the
baton of Teddy Abrams resulted in this new
disc. Though the two compositions are not
linked by time period or nationality, they
both show the inf luence of folk music,
and Pine makes a persuasive case for juxta-
posing them. The Royal Scottish National
Orchestra partners perfectly with the solo-
ist, with particularly outstanding solos from
the principal horn and trumpet in the
Dvořák concerto.
Placing the Khachaturian second on the disc
is a wise move, with the fireworks of the last
movement providing an excellent closer for an
album full of lively color. Pine’s avowed love of
heavy metal shows in her dramatic expression
of David Oistrakh’s cadenza. Conductor
Abrams brings out the best in the orchestra,
creating a quicksilver lightness in the string
section that is an excellent foil for the soloist’s
intensely projecting tone.
 —Miranda Wilson
 Quality and Service since 1912

The specialist for rosin,

stringed instruments, accessories and tools
for violin makers
Export ~ Import ~ Wholesale

www . pk.at
petz@pk.at
Delivery only to resellers
free shipping - fair prices -
no minimum order quantity - prompt delivery

MUSIC SOFTWARE
WITH ORCHESTRAL PLAYERS DISCOUNT AVAILABLE AT

www.stringsbymail.com

StringsMagazine.com 79
 EXPERIENCE NEW PLACES … WITH THE FOCUS ALWAYS ON MUSIC.
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR UPCOMING TRIPS AT MUSICALTRAVELER.COM
Advertiser Index
American String Teachers Association, astastrings.org ������������������������������������ 21
Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music, applehill.org ���������������������������������������� 51
Applebaum Violin Shop, applebaumviolin.com/pages/home.html���������������������� 58
Aria International Summer Academy, ariaacademy.com ���������������������������������� 71
Ashokan Fiddle & Dance Workshop, Ashokan.org�������������������������������������� 51, 71
Bach Cello Suites Workshop, BachCelloSuitesWorkshop.org ���������������������������� 73
Bischofberger Violins Ltd., bviolinsltd.com ���������������������������������������������������� 70
Brobst Violin Shop, brobstviolins.com �������������������������������������������������������������� 6
Claire Givens Violins Inc., givensviolins.com�������������������������������������������������� 49
CodaBow International, codabow.com �������������������������������������������������������������� 9
Concord International Group, Inc., concordgroup.com ������������������������������������ 45
Connolly Music Company, connollymusic.com������������������������������������������������ 15
Darnton and Hersh, darntonhersh.com���������������������������������������������������������� 72
David Kerr's Violin Shop, kerrviolins.com ������������������������������������������������������ 73
Eastman, eastmanstrings.com ���������������������������������������������������������������������� 36
Gewa, gewamusic.com �������������������������������������������������������������������������� 31, 59
Glasser Manufacturing Company, glasserbows.com������������������������������������������ 35
Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival, gmcmf.org�������������������������������������� 70
Hand Made Imports, flemingspiano.com�������������������������������������������������������� 73
Huthmaker Bowed String Instruments, huthmakerviolins.com�������������������������� 25
Ifshin Violins, ifshinviolins.com ���������������������������������������������������������������������� 2
J. Michael Fischer Violin Shop, mfischerviolins.com���������������������������������������� 49
Johnson String Instrument, johnsonstring.com����������������������������������������������� 83
Killington Music Festival, killingtonmusicfestival.org�������������������������������������� 51
Kun Shoulder Rest Giveaway, stringsmagazine.com/win ���������������������������������� 48
80 March-April 2020  / Strings
Luis and Clark, Inc., luisandclark.com ���������������������������������������������������������� 11
Mercer University, mercer.edu/mcduffie �������������������������������������������������������� 57
Metzler Violins, metzlerviolins.com���������������������������������������������������������������� 49
Musafia Italia s.r.l., musafia.com������������������������������������������������������������������ 67
Music at Port Milford, mpmcamp.org������������������������������������������������������������ 73
NS Design, thinkns.com ������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 27
Oberlin College, oberlin.edu/conservatory ������������������������������������������������������ 43
Perrin and Associates Fine Violins, perrinviolins.com�������������������������������������� 72
Petz Kolophonium, petzkolophonium.com������������������������������������������������������ 79
Pirastro GmbH, pirastro.com�������������������������������������������������������������������������� 4
Potter Violin Co., pottersviolins.com�������������������������������������������������������������� 72
Robertson & Sons Violin Shop, robertsonviolins.com ���������������������������������������� 3
Rozanna's Violin Shop, rozannasviolins.com �������������������������������������������������� 73
S. Bobelock Inc., bobelock.com�������������������������������������������������������������������� 61
Shar Products Company, sharmusic.com�������������������������������������������������������� 84
Snow Stringed Instruments, Inc, snowviolin.com�������������������������������������������� 77
Stamell Stringed Instruments, stamellstring.com�������������������������������������������� 51
String Masters, stringmasters.com ���������������������������������������������������������������� 79
Summer Study Guide ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 50
Symerge, stringcamp.com ���������������������������������������������������������������������������� 69
The Kun Shoulder Rest Inc., kunrest.com������������������������������������������������������ 19
Vann Bowed Instruments Ltd, bowhair.com; michaelvann.com ������������������������ 73
Wittner GmBH & Co., wittner-gmbh.de���������������������������������������������������������� 59
Yamaha Corporation of America, yamaha.com�������������������������������������������������� 7
 TEEN WINS ‘PLAY WITH SPECIAL FOCUS ON VINTAGE WIN A SPECIAL PRIZE WIN AN AIR CASE SPECIAL FOCUS ON UNRAVEL THE MYSTERIES GET YOUR PLAYING WIN A TEACH THE PROCESS,
RAY’ COMPETITION INSTRUMENTS & BOWS FROM THOMASTIK-INFELD! FROM GEWA MUSIC USA ADULT AMATEUR PLAYERS OF MENTAL PRACTICE UP TO SPEED MÜSING BOW! NOT THE RESULT

YEVGENY
Black KUTIK
TAKES
Violin
Jenő
A TRIP
Is All DOWN
MEMORY
About
Hope HubayVIRTUOSO VIOLINIST
Latching on
to Beethoven’s
Late Quartet,
Op. 131
LANE

6 String Stars
& TEACHER TO THE STARS on Instrument
Setup

Start Imagining
Your Summer
Adventure

The Miró Quartet

Celebrates in a Big Way Do the Grammy Awards Matter?
Ensemble Players Who Go Solo Some Tips on Buying at Auction
Amplify Your Acoustic Fiddler Natalie MacMaster’s Life in ‘Sketches’
November/December 2019 No. 291

SPECIAL FOCUS ON ADULT PRACTICE MORE ART (AND) HISTORY

AMATEUR PLAYERS EFFICIENTLY WITH GESINA LIEDMEIER WIN AN NS DESIGN RAY CHEN PUTS ADJUSTING TO THE 1689 'BAUMGARTNER' STRAD TAKE IT UP TO TEMPO WHAT IT TAKES TO MAKE IT IN VEGAS
VIOLIN OR CELLO! YSAŸE ON THE MENU

Sudan
Archives
Fuses African
Fiddling with
Stravinsky
Soul

Embark on
a ‘Year of

WWI
Wonder’ Hilary Hahn
(Finally)
A Moment of Completes Her

& the
Improvisation Solo Bach Set
in Violin
Making ‘One Long Song’:

Violin
Bassist Barre
Phillips Sums Up
a Stellar Career

Rachel Barton STRING PLAYERS

Pine on Her
‘Music by Black
AND MAKERS COMPOSER
ON THE FRONT
CAROLINE
Composers’
Project OF CHANGE

SHAW
KEEPS FINDING HER WAY HOME
TO THE STRING QUARTET

NEYLA
PEKAREK
Goes Solo, Turns Songwriter,
Trio Oreade
Seizes the Moment—
Strads in Hand
Jasminfire’s
Spiritual Journey
to Jazz
Contemporary
Makers Talk Historical
Influences
and Celebrates a Western Muse May/June 2019 No. 288
StringsMagazine.com

SUBSCRIBE OR RENEW TODAY

store.StringsMagazine.com
SHOP TALK

What’s your favorite part

of the process of making
an instrument?

A
fter 40 years of violin
making, the time I spend
arching the plates con-
tinues to engage me deeply. On
these days, I hurry to my bench
and forget about all the noise
from the outside world. For me
there is something deeply fas-
cinating about sculpting an
arch, striving to create sound
in three dimensions, making
something beautiful and har-
monious both visually and
tonally. It’s a search I never tire
of for results I can never quite
rest with. Anthony Lane
In order of magnitude, the
three most important factors
determining the tonal “success” of a violin are wood selection,
arching, and graduation. So after the trees’ work is finished,
mine begins. Within the fixed form of a violin’s outline, an infi-
nite number of arches may be sculpted. I liken it to an Indian
raga, a fixed musical form within whose boundaries an infinite
number of variations may be played.
My options are endless, and I only need to open my eyes and look
at the masters to begin to understand that. It is always a revelation
to study and learn from the work of those who have come before me.
How did this particular maker wrestle with the different arches of
the top and back plates, the long arch, the cross sections, the counter
arch near the edges, the arching height, the fullness in the bouts—
and how does this arch reflect in the violin’s sound, its depth, its
flexibility, its power, and its tonal beauty?
These are the questions I work to resolve or, perhaps I should better
say, explore every time I eagerly sit down at my bench, let time fall
away, and dive into the work of finishing the arching. It’s a real joy.

 —Violin maker Anthony Lane

Strings (ISSN – 0888-3106, USPS - 1127) is published bi-monthly by String Letter Publishing, Inc., 941 Marina Way S., Suite E, Richmond, CA 94804. Periodical postage paid at Richmond, CA 94804 and additional
mailing offices. Printed in USA. Canada Post: Publications mail Agreement #40612608. Canada Returns to be sent to Imex Global Solutions, PO Box 32229, Hartford, CT 06150-2229. POSTMASTER: Please send
address changes to Strings, String Letter Publishing, Inc., PO Box 91149, Long Beach, CA 90809-1149.

82 March-April 2020  / Strings

 JOHNSON
STRING INSTRUMENT

We help musicians
of every age find joy
in music!

Visit us at johnsonstring.com and carriagehouseviolins.com.

1029/1039 Chestnut Street | Newton Upper Falls, MA 02464 | 800–359–9351