Chicago!

I spent last weekend in Chicago for a couple of auditions. I had never been to Chicago before, so despite the stress of auditioning, I got out and enjoyed the city.

I got frozen yogurt at Pinkberry…

Saw the Bean…

AND I was able to catch part of the Chicago Harp Quartet’s concert at the Church of Beethoven Concert Series in Oak Park, IL.  

www.chicagoharpensemble.org, and also like them on Facebook.  

And luckily for those of us who live too far away to regularly attend their concerts, you can find them on YouTube!

Curious people checking out the harps after the show…

Great job, CHQ!  I’m glad I got the chance to hear you!

February Harpist of the Month!

So I decided to add a new feature to my blog this month, and it is called - Harpist of the Month!  Each month I will pick a harpist to interview (or beg a harpist to let me interview them) and they will be featured on the blog.  

My first harpist of the month is Ms. Christina Brier!  Christina is a second year master’s student at the Eastman School of Music and will be graduating in May.  

The first thing I asked Christina was, of course, the question all harpists are asked - why the harp??

Christina said, “I played violin.  I started violin in kindergarten.  I played in youth orchestra when I was in third or fourth grade and I saw harps there.  And I thought, I would much rather play that!  So I started asking my parents for a harp, and they said no.  And then I kept seeing harps.  I would see them in symphonies, on tv, in recordings, etc.  And then this random lady in my dad’s choir found out that I wanted to play harp, and she said oh, we have a lever harp that we don’t use, you can use that.  And then they knew this lady who was a harp teacher.”

The rest, as they say, is history.  

With the help of a generous aunt, Christina got her pedal harp when she was twelve.  After graduating high school, she majored in music at the Maranatha Baptist Bible College in Watertown, Wisconsin.  Because she was their first harpist, the school created the harp performance major for her and made her harp teacher, Jeanne Henderson (who was also my harp teacher’s teacher… I think this makes Christina my harp-aunt or something), an adjunct professor.  Christina would travel an hour to her harp teacher’s house on the weekends for lessons and attended studio class with the violinists.  Christina talked about the advantages and disadvantages to being the only harpist at the school.  

Christina:  Advantages are if they want a harp, they use you for everything, and they think the harp is amazing.  Disadvantages are, the program has only about sixty people, so I didn’t get to play that much.  I had to play percussion a bunch.

Me: ????

Christina:  Oh, another little known fact - In 5th through 9th grade I played percussion in band, and I took lessons.  So I can sort of play percussion.  I don’t claim that as any great skill.

Who knew??

I asked Christina if she had played any cool gigs or concerts that really stuck out in her memory, and she said, “Playing Mahler was awesome.”  

We’re definitely agreed on that.  

Christina recently performed her master’s recital and it was spectacular!  The Program included Benjamin Britten’s Suite for Harp, Gabriel Faure’s Une Chatelaine en sa Tour, a duo for two harps (which I played in!) called “Parvis” by Bernard Andres, Saint-Saens’ Fantaisie for harp and violin, and Ravel’s Introduction and Allegro.  When we talked, I asked her to share why she picked the pieces she played.  

Christina:  The Britten I heard for the first time several years ago, and when I heard it I thought, I really want to play this piece.  So that’s always been on my to do list, so when it came time for my recital, that was the first I asked if I could do.  And then Faure - before I started playing the harp, my dad bought me some harp cds.  One of them had the Faure on it, so I’ve always wanted to play that, too.  I also wanted to play duets, and she (Ms. Bride, our harp teacher) said, “How about Parvis?”

So, I definitely learned a few things about Christina - not only does she play the harp, but she has also played the violin, piano, and percussion.  Thanks for talking to me, Christina!

It may have been cold outside, but the music was hot in Eastman Theatre!

Last night I played in the very last Eastman Wind Ensemble concert of my graduate school career (!!!!).  It was also the Eastman Wind Ensemble’s 60th Anniversary concert.  The performance featured music that was performed in one of the very first Eastman Wind Ensemble concerts (Stravinsky’s “Symphonies of Wind Instruments”), music by Mozart and Gabrieli, and two world premieres, “Mambo Metallico” by Roberto Sierra, and “Wind Religion (which Sophie Rusnock and I played in),” by Douglas Lowry (who is also the dean of the Eastman School).  Professor Scatterday was joined on the podium by Michael Votta (who conducted the Mozart) and Donald Hunsberger (the Stravinsky).  

I was afraid that the snowstorm outside would mean that we wouldn’t get much of a crowd, but we did have a fair number of people show up (thanks, hardcore EWE fans!  Or auditionees trapped by the storm, whichever). All of the music was great, but I think my favorites were the two world premieres.  Sierra’s “Mambo Metallico” was a lot of fun to listen to, and “Wind Religion” was great fun to play.  It was also great to have the EWE’s last conductor, Donald Hunsberger, perform a piece.  I played a piece for last semester’s Debussy concert with him and I really enjoyed having him as a conductor.  Although the only piece I played for him in this concert was our supersecret surprise encore (Shostakovich’s “Folk Festival”) I sat in on a couple of his rehearsals for the Stravinsky.  

I always forget that the Eastman Wind Ensemble was THE first wind ensemble.  Its founder and first conductor, Frederick Fennell, intended it to be different from a wind band in the sense that there is only one player per part - essentially an orchestral wind section, plus saxophones and percussion (and occasionally harp and piano).  He wanted to encourage composers to write for this type of instrumentation and to see it as a serious ensemble.  Although it may have taken awhile for his ideas to be accepted, eventually they were, and the Eastman Wind Ensemble is probably the reason a lot of the wind ensemble repertoire exists.  

We’re famous!  We even have a Wikipedia page, which I think is pretty cool.  

Being a fan of playing in orchestra, I never thought I’d say this but I’m so glad that I’ve played in so many Eastman Wind Ensemble concerts with Professor Scatterday.  I think I’ve learned more about ensemble playing in this group than in any other.  It’s been a privilege, and I will miss it!

Here’s to you, Eastman Wind Ensemble.  Happy 60th!

I love Mahler

I love Gustav Mahler.  Playing all of his symphonies (including Das Lied von der Erde) is on my bucket list, and so far I have played Nos. 1 and 3.  If I see Mahler programmed on a symphony concert somewhere near me, I will probably be there. 

So you can imagine how excited I was when I saw Mahler’s fourth symphony programmed for the Eastman Philharmonia’s first concert of the semester.  Mahler 4 is one of his smaller symphonies, calling for a moderately sized orchestra and only one vocal soloist, as opposed to his usual gargantuan orchestra and a chorus or two.  It’s also one of his shortest, a mere 54 minutes in length.  Despite its “smaller” size, it’s still pure Mahler, with an amazing depth of emotion and beauty - one of the main reasons I love his music (I think Mahler is the only composer that has ever actually made me cry - Mahler 9, Boston Symphony). 

The Eastman Philharmonia played a wonderful Mahler 4.  The drama before the concert was that the vocal soloist the school had hired cancelled a few days before the performance, I think because of illness.  Luckily they had an understudy, a vocal major at the school who is in her junior year.  Despite having to be miked, she delivered a beautiful performance and saved the day! 

My duo partner, Christina Brier, was on the harp part and she ROCKED!  Her playing was extremely clear and perfectly audible.  I always find Mahler harp parts to be deceptively tricky.  They usually look quite simple, almost sight readable, on the page.  And then you get into rehearsal and realize that you REALLY have to know that part in order to play it well.  I really like Mahler’s harp writing and I find it to be very effective.  Although you often have to count long blocks of empty measures, I prefer that to playing parts that are very difficult but covered by the rest of the orchestra *cough* RICHARD STRAUSS *cough cough*. 

So, kudos to the Eastman Philharmonia for a great Mahler 4.  Love those sleigh bells. 

I will be playing in a concert this Friday, a celebration of the Eastman Wind Ensemble’s 60th anniversary.  This performance will include a piece that was played for one of the Wind Ensemble’s very first concerts (Stravinsky, “Symphony for Wind Instruments”), as well as two world premieres!  Sophie Rusnock and I will be on the harp parts for one of the premieres, as well as a possible top secret surprise encore (if y'all clap long enough)!!!!!!!!!

Spring Break!

For Spring Break 2012, I got to fulfill one of my Teenage Dreams.  

When I was in high school I always wanted to play in the pit orchestra for the musicals (when I was in middle school I tried to sing in a musical, but I’m not going to tell that story).  A couple of the musicals that my high school put on had harp parts - Once Upon a Mattress, Kiss Me Kate - but there was always a more senior harpist who was given the part.  In college I got to play for a couple of operas, but never a musical.  I once had the chance to play in the pit for a production of the WIZARD OF OZ but had to turn it down because it conflicted with another gig!  So when I got a text from a friend asking if I would be interested in playing for a local high school production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Stephen Sondheim), I said yes, absolutely!  

The production was a success and it was so much fun!  I got to see some old friends and meet new people.  It turned out that more than half the pit orchestra were Crane School of Music graduates, so we had lots to talk about!  The kids in the show did a great job too.  Especially on the last day - I walked into the auditorium with my harp about an hour and a half before the show, and the music director told me that a bunch of the kids had gotten food poisoning the night before!  Regardless, the show went on and they did a wonderful job, even though some of them were still sick.  Someone told me that the boy playing the lead character was running to the bathroom in between scenes to throw up!  You wouldn’t have been able to tell, though.  It must have been such a bummer to be onstage trying to act while feeling sick, but I guess that will make it more memorable for them!