Category Archives: Performing

Auditions, Performing, Practicing

DON’T PANIC

3 Comments

I finally had a quick urge to come tell you guys how I’m doing, and then Windows Live Writer (the program I use to write my blog posts) wouldn’t OPEN!  I briefly panicked, and tried to open it a whole bunch of times, and kept getting error messages, then I started to do a Google search, realized I didn’t have time to get into a fancy computer problem because I’m already an hour late on my practice schedule (which is fine, it just means I HAVE to, absolutely HAVE to practice tonight after teaching)…anyway, then magically about three windows opened up, so here we are.

dontpanic

My teacher once (or more than once) said, the most important things at an orchestral audition are rhythm, intonation, rhythm, and rhythm.  Others have argued for more intonations.  But yesterday I think I actually started to get the whole “something special” idea…

If you’re not a musician, you’ve probably already stopped reading.  But in a nutshell, I’m trying to get everything on my list (which includes a couple of solo concertos and then a whole bunch of excerpts from the orchestra literature, i.e. Brahms Symphony no. 4, 1st violin part, measure 392 to the end) in tip top shape.  I’m practicing with a drone, I’m practicing ever so slowly, I’ve broken everything down to get the precise rhythm, bowing, and sound that I want…and now I’m putting it back together.

The trick is to put it back together so that it doesn’t sound like you are worried about rhythm or intonation.  To play in a way that makes it sound as if you are absolutely throwing caution to the wind WHILE playing with wonderful sound and intonation and rhythm.  And while you are absolutely focused on the tiniest of details, you must make it sound like you are just thinking about the long lines and the long phrasing…something that I do much more naturally outside of audition preparation because I am actually less focused on the details (maybe that’s a major fault of mine in other performances, but I can’t worry about that right now).

Plus there’s the audition scene—it’s like the Olympics. you have to be in the zone, you have to focus, you have to do the whole Michael Phelps, have your headphones in, ignore everybody and just do your thing that you’ve been training for…and then in a couple of minutes you’re done. 

This post probably doesn’t even make any sense because I’m just rambling, and I’m overwhelmed, and I should already be practicing.  I’ll be okay in a few more days though, that’s all.  The other day I was having a minor breakdown from the stress, and I asked Chris if it had been like this in the past—he said he didn’t remember.  Musicians do this sort of thing all the time, but I think as I’ve gotten older I am putting more pressure on myself.  Or I was too young to know better.  Or I’ve just forgotten how being under intense stress all the time felt?  Anyone want to weigh in on that?

Performing

The Ballad of Baby Doe

8 Comments

This weekend I’m performing in the orchestra for Winter Opera St Louis‘s performances of The Ballad of Baby Doe by Douglas Moore.  We perform  Friday at 8 pm, Sunday at 3 pm, Chaminade Preparatory School.  It’s the regional premiere!

We started rehearsing yesterday.  The way this works is that we have a few orchestra only rehearsals (in this case, 1 or 2) and then a couple dress rehearsals and then BOOM it’s performance time.  The singers have been rehearsing for a couple weeks, because they have to have their parts memorized and of course there is staging and costumes and everything on their end.  We just have to hide below the front of the stage and read our parts and stay with the conductor, much easier, really!

IMG_4826

I play as concertmaster which means I’m the first chair, first violin.  For this performance there are only five total violins so that’s not really that impressive 😉  But it’s my job to help lead the orchestra and interpret what the conductor is saying and all that.

And occasionally play solos—last night in the second rehearsal there was a solo that I totally forgot to play.  We were rehearsing one of the arias with the singers and I was just listening (I think) and zoned out, and Steve, the conductor, turned to me, and said, um, you should be playing your solo right now.  It was only about four measures long…and I just missed it entirely.  Oops!  I appreciate that he knows me well enough to know he didn’t need to worry about it, and he didn’t stop or anything.  I’ll get it next time for sure.

IMG_4512

(I thought it was important for me to wear as many grey sweaters in this post as possible.)

So that makes for a busy week.  Some weeks I have tons of free time, and other weeks are filled with extra opera rehearsals and practicing (NOT for the opera, for that other thing.)

How was your weekend?  I hear there was some sort of football type sporting event people watched during my rehearsal yesterday?

Performing

Your way or norway!

My sister Carrie is going to Norway with her Quartet.  They need our help on Kickstarter.  I told her since I have such a great following on my blog I’d tell you guys all about her.  She’s almost as cool and as talented as I am 😉

Tantillo233

(Hey, it hasn’t been a year yet.  I can totally still use these pictures.)

I’ve copied some information below from their Kickstarter website.  I highly recommend you go and check it out yourself.  If you think it’s a worthy cause, chip in some of your hard earned cash!  You’re only charged if enough people chip in to fund the project.  It really does take a village, doesn’t it? 

(What is Kickstarter? Kickstarter is a funding platform for creative projects. Everything from films, games, and music to art, design, and technology. Kickstarter is full of ambitious, innovative, and imaginative projects that are brought to life through the direct support of others.)

I’ve backed the group, now it’s your turn! (Carrie is the one on the far left in the below photo. )

Chartreuse: Transatlantic Tour: Music of the Now in Norway

THE GROUP:

Chartreuse comprises violinists Myra Hinrichs and Francesca Fetten, violist Carrie Frey, and cellist Helen Newby.  We believe that music is best presented as a personal and social endeavor, which for us means performing with people we care about and playing music by composers we can meet and work with directly.  This project is about bringing together our musical and personal backgrounds and performing for diverse audiences in and outside of our small-town bubble.  We have created a piece with composer Peter Swendsen here in Oberlin, we are preparing a work by Tyler Futrell, currently residing in Oslo, and our next step is to perform our blended American-Norwegian program in Ohio and in Norway!

THE PLAN:

We will be traveling to Oslo on January 21st. We will meet with composers (Martin Rane Bauck and Tyler Futrell) and musicians (the Cikada quartet) in Oslo to network and present our concert. After we workshop pieces, we will perform in Oslo and in Tromsø. We will return to the U.S. in early February and perform our concert program in Oberlin.

Are you intrigued?  At least click on the kickstarter link to watch their video.  It’s adorable and wonderful. 

If and when they become famous, you’ll be able to say you helped them get “kick”-started!  And for as little as $5, you can get an “electronic shout-out.” Whatever that even means.  For as much as $500 you can get a home concert (limited to the greater Oberlin/Cleveland area).  That’s a great deal!

I’d be honored if you’d share this with your facebook friends, twitter followers, and whatnot.  I’m not giving you anything but gratitude, love, and friendship, but I think that’s more than enough!

Performing

Holiday Magic Train

3 Comments

holidaymagictrain

This will go down as one of the oddest gigs I’ve ever played.  As you can see, my friend Jen and I are playing music ON A TRAIN on Saturday, December 8.  I’m a little nervous about playing violin while moving, as I have never been a subway busker or anything like that, and I’m nervous about using public transportation in St Louis…(joking…sort of…;) ) but it should be a fun time.  I hope.  We’ll be miked and I presume piped through all the cars. 

It wouldn’t be at all creepy or stalky (which is evidently not a word) if you showed up to listen.  It’s just the cost of a metro ticket.

Giveaways, Performing

Want to win free tickets? (Closed!)

7 Comments

Welcome to my “new blog”!  I’ve switched to being self-hosted with a wordpress dot org blog rather than wordpress dot com.  If you have your bookmarks or RSS feed pointed at hannahviolin.wordpress.com, please redirect them to hannahviolin.me.  You’ll thank me later, I’m sure!  I’m really excited about this move and what it means for the blog, and I hope you will appreciate it as well.  (More likely you won’t notice too many changes, but trust me, it’s a good thing.)

In celebration of the next website, I’m hosting a giveaway.  Now, this is for local readers only (St Louis, Missouri area) as it’s a giveaway for two free tickets to a concert I’m playing in next week.

cpstl1759

Next Wednesday, November 14, at 7 pm, Chamber Project St Louis, is playing a concert at the Schlafly Tap Room in St Louis (2100 Locust Street  St. Louis, MO 63103).  Yes, I’ll be playing!

Here’s the program:

SONG
Harp, flute and strings surround you
with beautiful sonorities.
TANN                         Song of Amergin
MOZART                    Duo in B flat Major, K. 424
ROCHESTER YOUNG Song of the Lark
JOLIVET                      Petite Suite

If you are reading and say, oh, I don’t like classical music, or I’ve never been to a classical music concert and I’d feel out of place, don’t let that dissuade you!  This is a very accessible and pleasant concert, plus it takes place at a BREWERY so you know it’ll be a fun night, perhaps a great date night, or a fun night out with a friend. I think if you give us a chance, you’ll really enjoy yourself—we try to bring ourselves to the level of the audience and to let you know WHY we love playing music and particularly why we love playing the music we chose to perform, with the hopes that you will enjoy the concert as much as we enjoy playing it.  Plus: you don’t have to dress up fancy or anything like that and you can drink a beer while we play too!

(Though I should probably buy a new dress:  as awesome as the blue polka dot dress is, I can’t really wear it at EVERY concert, can I?)

IMG_1937

Okay:  so how do you win free tickets?  EASY.

1. Leave a comment on this blog post:  What is your favorite kind of music?

2. For an additional entry, visit the Chamber Project St Louis website, click on “Join our Mailing List”, join the list (also you can get a BOGO coupon this way if you like) and leave another comment about that.

I’ll choose a winner randomly at the end of the contest.

If you win the contest, you’ll be notified by email, and I’ll leave your name (or another person’s name if you want) on the guest list for tickets at the concert.  I can answer any questions you might have at that point as well, so no worries.  If you want to try to win for somebody else, that’s great, or encourage them to enter as well!

(The tickets are a $20 value and the winner must provide his or her own transportation to the event.  Only the tickets for admission to the concert are included in the giveaway, not food or beverage. The tickets are being provided as a donation from Chamber Project St Louis and cannot be exchanged for another date.)

(If you don’t win, tickets are only $10 each and I would love for you to attend anyway.  If you come, please introduce yourself as a blog reader if I don’t already know you!)

The contest will be closed Monday evening, November 12, and the winner contacted by email that night.  Good luck!

The contest is closed, and randomly JIM was selected as the winner!  Thanks to all for entering!

 

Performing, Random thoughts

SLSO performs Mahler 3

What do you think of when you think of Mahler?  Horns?  Lots of people on stage?  Chorus?  Really long symphonies? That guy who sat near you at the concert texting the libretto to Mahler 2 to someone as it appeared on the screen…even though it is available online and in the score and the light from his phone was incredibly annoying, leading my friend to exclaim "that’s the last time I’m ever going to be friendly to anyone!"?

brokenneck

Violins?

(I really just wanted to post this picture because it’s funny how much taller I am than everybody else…including the other teacher in the picture with me.  Also my neck looks broken.)

But.  Mahler.  The greatest of all composers.  Except maybe Beethoven.  Okay, don’t make me decide, that’s just not fair. I’ll take late Beethoven quartets and my Mahler symphonies and die a happy woman.

This weekend the Symphony is playing Mahler’s Symphony no. 3.  I’m going Friday night, but the performance repeats on Saturday night if you are busy watching baseball or something on Friday.  (I don’t watch my team, that just ruins things.)

I recommend you listen to (well, at least the beginning of) Mahler 3.  It’s the longest symphony by Mahler, and is just wonderful and intense and covers all the emotions.  As always for Mahler, I’d rather play than listen, but I’m happy to do both.  I can’t wait.

Here’s the Wikipedia article about the piece: Mahler’s Third Symphony.

And the music itself.  That one starts right away.

And this one is of Leonard Bernstein and has the entire symphony, so if you have an hour and a half to listen, go for it!  I’m bothered by the fact that the first 45 seconds or so are silence, but be patient.

I’m listening to it right now!

I can only think of two times I’ve played Mahler 3…I might be forgetting something, but I think it’s just twice.  Once with National Repertory Orchestra and once with the Charlotte Symphony.  I’ve definitely heard the Cleveland Orchestra play it, and I feel like there is probably another performance in there somewhere, but I can’t remember everything!

Since I’m talking about orchestras and music, now is a good time to share some links I’ve read recently.  You may be aware that various orchestras are running into financial difficulties and many players are being asked to make concessions.  Classical music, and indeed, the arts, are so often the first thing cut when people have money issues.  I’m lucky that my parents considered music lessons to be of the utmost important when we were growing up—even though money was tight, there was always room for lessons.  Without them, where would I be today?  I can attribute most of my success and happiness in life to my music lessons.  Sadly most people do not feel this way.

A friend quoted the National Endowment for the Arts’ motto recently:  "A great  nation deserves great art."  I guess it depends on whether or not you consider the US to be a great nation.  I certainly do. 

It’s important to remember that for the vast majority of American orchestral players, a spot in an orchestra does not bring a six-figure salary, or even, in many cases, a living wage. (from the Philadelphia Inquirer)

How to turn things around (one man’s opinion)

Does skill justify their pay? (From Minnesota Public Radio)

The MLB sides with the Atlanta Symphony Musicians– "the Players ARE the Game" (sadly the orchestra had to take a crappy settlement, cut their salaries, cut their weeks and their players, while the management remains bloated and overpaid…)

Many boards seem to think that musicians are easily replaceable… if this is the case why do so many positions go unfilled?

Oh, and to make things end on a happy note (though with Mahler looming that hardly seems necessary!)–

The St Louis Symphony just had its best year in a decade (from the Riverfront Times)

We classical musicians are constantly reinventing ourselves and battling against people who don’t see the difference between a teacher or performer with advanced degrees and a high school student…I could go on for days on a soapbox about that…the best way to teach people to tell the difference is to just continue to perform and teach at a very high level.  The further along my students get the more they stop simply impressed by someone playing the violin and start being impressed by HOW someone plays the violin…the difference between a beginner and Itzhak Perlman for instance.

Oh and here’s Perlman on the Colbert Report, speaking of ;)  This delighted me to no end—a famous classical musician on a popular show.  FANTASTIC!  And great news for violin, right?  At least for every few steps back we take a few steps forward.