10,000 Hours

WFMT Introductions!

2012-01-26T17:14:00.000-08:00

This Saturday, I am going to play on WFMT Introductions on the radio station 98.7 with my trio, the Triumvirate. WFMT Introductions is a program that has a different youth chamber group or soloist come and play in the WFMT studio once a week. A few weeks ago, the concert master of Midwest Young Artists, Jorie Butler-Geyer, played on this show.

The Triumvirate is a Piano-Viola-Clarinet trio consisting of myself, my brother Ari on viola, and Kevin Xu, a junior at Stephenson high school (My brothers high school), on piano. My brother and I found Kevin through Midwest Young Artist's (MYA) chamber program.

We are playing the Kegelstatt trio by Mozart and Fairy Tales by Schumann. The Kegelstatt trio is a piece I love and have been playing for a while. It is the first piece written for this combination of instruments and has inspired many other composers to write for a Piano-Viola-Clarinet trio. One of those composers was Schumann. When Schumann heard the Kegelstatt being performed he was inspired to write for the combination. Even though Fairy Tales was only written two years before Schumann's attempted suicide it is still very light in most places but, there are signs of agitation in some parts, especially in the second movement.

I have never played on the radio and I am nervous but, I am also very excited to have this great opportunity.

9th Annual DePaul Concerto Festival for Young Performers

2012-01-24T12:02:00.000-08:00

On Sunday (1/22/12), I got to play with the Oistrach Symphony Orchestra. Earlier this month, I competed in the DePaul Concerto Festival Auditions, and I was chosen one of 13 winners to play my concerto with the orchestra.

For the clarinets they allowed the following pieces: the Stamitz 3rd Concerto, the Weber Concertino, the 1st Weber Concerto, the 2nd Weber Concerto, and the Mozart Clarinet Concerto. Since I had been preparing the Rossini Introduction, Theme and Variations for the Walgreens Concerto competition, I chose to play the Weber Concertino for the DePaul audition, because I had learned it the year before.

My brother gave me the good news when the results were published two weeks ago. I had been in a chamber rehearsal, so he told me in between rehearsals. I was really excited, because I've never played with an orchestra before.

There was only one rehearsal with the orchestra. The conductor Mina Zikri spent a long time on my piece. I was absolutely terrified when it came time to rehearse with the orchestra. I played pretty badly the first couple of run throughs. The orchestra was playing a little fast for me, and I was having trouble keeping the technical parts in control. I was kind of afraid to tell the conductor to slow down. I was kind of afraid to say anything at all. Before the final run through, there was a break. During the break, a few other performers rehearsed, and a friend of mine from my youth orchestra, David Berghoff, arrived for his rehearsal. He had won for viola. After talking to David, I felt more comfortable and confident. They asked me if I wanted to run through the piece again, and I did. This time it went much better. I was able to relax, and play my best. It also helped that Susanne Baker, founder and director of the DePaul Community Music Division, told Mr. Zikri that I would like the Concertino taken at a slower tempo.

A few days later, it was finally time for the performance with the orchestra. I arrived an hour early, and I warmed up for a while. Right before the concert, I was called up to play one more run through of my piece with the orchestra before the concert. I did really well on the run through. Everything went well, and I thought I totally ready to perform for the audience.

About fifteen minutes later, they called me up for my performance. I was first on the program. When I walked up on the stage, I was a little nervous, but mostly I was feeling confident that I would do well. I started the piece, I hit the first note perfectly, and it is an easy note to mess up. Things were going well, and then I looked up at the audience, and I forgot what the next note was. I never ever have this problem! I'm not sure what happened. Maybe I was terrified, but I had felt so confident when I walked up on the stage. I managed to play through the rest of the piece, but it was shaky in a few sections, and I missed a few notes on the runs. I made mistakes I never make! I actually did well in the sections I was worried about, and I messed up things that I usually play extremely well. I couldn't figure out what was happening!

Finally, I finished. I was kind of glad when the performance was over, because I was afraid that I was totally going to lose it. I guess playing in front of an audience is something I need to practice at to get better at.

Still, it was a good experience. I was surprised that a couple of my friends from school, Ally and Rachel, came all the way downtown to watch me perform. It was really nice of them to come. The other soloists were amazing, and it was a privilege to perform in the same program with them. David Berghoff's performance was great, and a 6th grade pianist from my school, Eric Lin, also did a sensational job.

The violinists who played: Benjamin Ellenbogen, Hanway Wang, Jisun Lee,Serena Harnack and Hanna Bingham were absolutely stunning. Many of the performances were flawless, and I was pretty daunted. In the end, it was amazing to be there, and it was amazing to hear all of the performances. The Oistrach Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Mina Zikri, was fantastic, and it was a joy to hear them and a privilege to play with them.

New York Trip

2012-01-11T10:43:00.000-08:00

Last month, I went to New York with my teacher Dileep Gangolli. It was an amazing trip! We flew to Laguardia airport, and we stayed with Dileep's brother Ashok.

On Thursday, I saw the Metropolitan Opera play. They did Satyagraha, an opera about Gandhi's years in South Africa. The opera was very surreal. It was in Sanskrit with Gandhi's writings in English projected on the wall. There was also no recitative, which means it was all songs with no explanations or bridges. It was weird, but also really cool. I loved Gandhi's solo at the end. It was incredibly long, and every moment of it was gorgeous. Anthony McGill's part was kind of boring and supportive, unfortunately for me, because I always love to hear Mr. McGill play as much as possible. But, of course, he executed it perfectly, like the brilliant and lyrical clarinetist he is.

After the concert, my teacher and I went outside the Met opera house where we saw a bunch of occupy Wall Street protesters trying to get the musicians of the Metropolitan Opera and the audience members to join their protest. I guess this was because the opera was about Gandhi, and he was a non-violent protester, like the Occupy protesters.

On Friday morning, I went to see the New York Philharmonic play Mahler's tenth symphony. I enjoyed the experience much better than when I saw them last year. This was an acoustical issue, I think, because everyone knows how great the New York Philharmonic is. Last year, we sat in the balconies on the side of the concert hall where the sound was really inconsistent, and the solists were almost inaudible. This year, I sat on the ground level, and the acoustics were much much better. The horns were great throughout the whole piece (Mahler has the best horn parts). The violas sounded a little shaky in the second movement when they had their big soli, but again, I think this was a problem with the Avery Fischer Hall acoustics, which isn't able to project the beautiful and subtle sound of the viola section. There were a couple of parts that didn't sound right to me, but I think this is because the celli and the violas suffer most from the sound issues in that concert hall. We are lucky to have the Chicago Symphony Center here in Chicago. In the last movement there was a beautiful flute solo which was executed to perfection by the principal flutist. He was almost as good as Mathieu Dufour, but not quite, but I have to admit that I am biased, because I am from Chicago, and I support my hometown orchestra.

After seeing the orchestra play, we went to this wonderful French Bistro where I got a really great sandwich. Later that afternoon, I had a lesson with Anthony McGill, principal clarinet of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. It was an amazing experience, just like last year. Mr. McGill had some really great insights into playing Rossini, which he shared with me. He helped me balance the pressure I was placing on the reed when playing the high notes, and it helped my highest notes become more in tune. He also gave me insight into dynamics. He said to think of dynamics as a style of playing and not a volume. This is a really good way to think about it. We finished the day with dinner at a great Italian restaurant. I had the lamb.

On Saturday, I went to see Will, a friend of mine who I met at Interlochen, who lives in the New York suburbs. Will's dad took us to the natural history museum where we spent most of our time in the jungle and African Peoples section. It was really interesting tracing the African Peoples through the years and looking at their art. I spent that night at Will's house.

On Sunday, Will's dad dropped me back off at Dileep's brother's house. We went from there to the airport. When I got back to Chicago, I went straight back to my chamber rehearsal at Midwest Young Artists. It was one busy weekend!

I had an amazing time in New York. I enjoy vising New York a lot, but I think I like Chicago the best.

It's Been Too Long Since My Last Blog Post

2012-01-11T10:29:00.000-08:00

December was a really busy month! I went with my teacher to New York to have a lesson with Anthony McGill again. My youth orchestra (Midwest Young Artists) played several Christmas concerts in area malls, and I was busy preparing for the Walgreens Concerto Competition and the DePaul Concerto Festival. Plus I performed a family concert with my great aunt Corean who is a concert pianist.

I won the wind category of the junior MYA division of the Walgreens playing the Rossini Introduction, Theme and Variations for Clarinet, and I won the clarinet category at the DePaul Concerto Festival, playing the Weber Concertino. I think this means I will get to play the Weber Concertino with the Oistrach Symphony Orchestra later this month.

Also, my chamber trio auditioned for WFMT Introductions, and we were selected to play on January 28. We will be playing the Mozart Kegelstatt Trio (k. 498) and the Schumann Marchenerzahlungen for viola, clarinet and piano. I'm really excited about playing, but I'm kind of scared of the interview part.

Scheherazade with MYA's Symphony Orchestra

2011-11-19T20:29:00.000-08:00

On October 30, I played with MYA's Symphony Orchestra. We played Scheherazade, which was my favorite concert that I've ever played in. It was a busy day. I played with Concert Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, and Honors Wind Symphony as well as Symphony Orchestra. I can't think of a better way to spend a Sunday.

http://wmya.fm/2011/11/11/wmya-172-scheherazade/

Master Class with Bill Buchman, Assistant Principal Bassoon for the CSO

2011-11-19T20:19:00.000-08:00

Today I attended and played at a master class at the MYA center taught by Bill Buchman, the Assistant Principal Bassoonist for the CSO. Mr. Buchman has a physics degree from Brown and a music degree from Yale. How cool is that?

This was a very informative master class. He covered some of the most important ideas in wind playing and musicianship in general. He emphasized making the time signature more obvious and playing technical sections more smoothly.

I started the master class with Rossini's Introduction, Theme and Variations for Clarinet. I've been working on this piece for many months now. Mr. Buchman stopped me after the first half of the introduction. The first thing he talked about was making sure that all of your playing is smooth. This can be hard on the clarinet, because the resistance is very different between some of the notes. This is because some notes you play with all of the holes on the clarinet open, and some notes you play with all of the holes closed. Going between these notes is very difficult, so you need to work to make sure that the notes are smooth. You do this by pushing the air through the phrase and maintaining a steady flow of air. When you are playing these difficult intervals, and you are playing quietly, it is even more difficult to keep your sound steady and full. Mr. Buchman said it seems surprising, but you actually need to use just as much or more air on the quiet notes so they can resonate just as much as the forte sections. He had me play this section again several times with these ideas in mind, and it made a big difference.

Then Mr. Buchman had me play the Theme. This section is quicker and more technical than the Introduction. I played it, and after I finished, he had me play the very beginning again. He asked the other kids in the master class guess what the time signature was, and where the downbeat was. Only one person could tell, and I think that's because he was looking at the music. The point Mr. Buchman was making was that I wasn't making it obvious to the audience where the downbeat was. This is a problem, because it makes you sound disjoint and out of tempo, and it makes it hard for your audience to understand the music. He said it was really to establish this right at the beginning. He revisited this idea many times during the master class.

Many students played after me: Julia, Clayton and Marissa played bassoon concertos, Vince played a baroque sonata on his oboe, and Yoon and Steven played the 2nd Weber and the Rossini on clarinet. And finally Theo, Tamara and Julia played a trio. Mr. Buchman covered several ideas through the rest of the masterclass. First, he worked on how to practice a technically difficult articulated section. He suggested working on the fingering and tonguing separately. You can do this by slurring the section and slowing it down. This lets you work on your fingers without having to worry about the tonguing. He also said it was important to keep your air flowing through the articulations. You do this by not stopping the air with your tongue, but simply lightly tapping the reed with your tongue to briefly stop the reeds vibrations. Another point he made was to practice slowly. He said if you can't play it slowly, then you will sometimes crash and burn when you play it fast. That happened to me last year at the Walgreens when I was performing the Weber Concertino! My piano teacher makes this point quite often. You don't really know a piece until you can play it slow as well as fast.

When Vince played, it was clear to Mr. Buchman that Vince was quite nervous. He had some advice to help with this nervousness that everybody feels. He said to acknowledge when you're nervous. You can use the extra adrenalin pumping through your veins to help you play better. It all depends on how you think about it. You can respond to the nervousness by saying to yourself that you're terrified and you're going to fail. Or you can see it as an advantage. You can say to yourself, I'm nervous. That's good, because I have more energy, and this can help me have an exciting performance.. My concentration will be at a higher level than normal. However, when you get nervous you see time differently, you will tend to rush. You need to be aware of this and consciously hold yourself back and play slower than you feel is the tempo you normally play at. I'm going to try this when I play at the Walgreens next month.

It was a great masterclass, and I'm glad I had the opportunity to attend and play at it.

City of Tomorrow Master Class

2011-10-14T10:30:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, my piano Trio played for City of Tomorrow, last year's winner of the wind division of the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. It was a good experience. They gave us feedback about a number useful things when playing chamber music.

We played the first movement of the Mozart Kegelstatt Trio for viola, clarinet and piano, and they had a number of comments to make about how we could improve our performance. One thing was the turns that happen many times throughout the piece need to all be exactly the same no matter who is playing them. They also talked a lot about the style of playing Mozart, and how it should be very even and very lyrical. In a way Mozart can be harder than more complicated pieces, because everything has to be perfect or it really stands out.

They talked a lot about communication. They said we should look at each other more, which, of course we know, but we don't always remember to do as much as we should. They pointed out that we should look like we are enjoying each other's performance of their parts, as the audience will pick up on how we view each other. That was something I haven't heard very often and a really good point.

Playing for City of Tomorrow was a great experience. I hope shows in our performance on Sunday.

City of Tomorrow

2011-10-14T10:19:00.000-07:00

The city of tomorrow is a wonderful woodwind quintet who were awarded the first prize of the wind division for the 2011 Fischoff National Chamber Competition. The members consist of flutist Elise Blatchford, oboist Andrew Nogal, bassoonist Amanda Swain, clarinetist Camila Barientos, and hornist Leander Star.I saw them perform at MYA’s Music at the Fort Concert Series. It was an outstanding performance, one of the best chamber concerts I have ever seen.

They opened with Summer Music by Samuel Barber. They dominated the first part with their expressive playing. I especially like the runs in the flute, clarinet, and bassoon. They did not seem forced at all, just flowing out like it was the easiest thing in the world. The transitions between the different sections in the piece was flawless. It starts out very smooth and flowing. The second section is repetitive and angry. The third section is pure bliss, with hopping sixteenth notes everywhere. There are many more sections and all of them have to be very played differently. They didn’t enjoy this piece as much as they enjoyed other pieces but this was my personal favorite of all the pieces they played.

The next piece they played was wind quintet number 4 for George Perle. I didn’t like this piece as much as some of the others but the quintet did. You could see in their faces and body movement that they liked this one the best. It is an extremely modern piece with a muddle of the instruments in the first movement. The second movement starts with the French horn playing quick notes and the clarinet comes in with a few notes here, a few notes there, nothing consistent. The clarinet is soon followed by the rest of the group.

The last piece of the concert was David Maslanka’s third wind quintet. This piece is supposedly based on themes Bach. It was bewildering, how well they played together in all the pieces, but especially this one, I really noticed their communication. I loved their musicality. I couldn’t find a single thing wrong with their performance of this piece if I tried. I hope I get a group which can play this well someday. They finished the concert with this colossal performance.

This was an awe-inspiring chamber performance. I am very happy that I got a chance to see the City of Tomorrow play. I hope I get to see them again some day!

My Clarinets Were Stolen!!!

2011-08-02T19:15:00.000-07:00

Last week, my clarinets were stolen! I was on the way to vacation and my family and I stopped at a hotel in Findlay, Ohio. It was three A.M. at night and my mom said we could leave our instruments in the car just this once, because we were all so tired. I woke a few hours later to find out that someone had broken our car's window and stolen my clarinets, my sisters cello, and my friends french horn. In my clarinet case were my R13 A and Bb clarinets, a Backun bell, four barrels, a Walter Grabner custom mouthpiece, seven legere reeds, a neck strap, and a couple neck strap extenders. Some of these were very hard come by. Insurance is paying for all the losses which is good but I have my Midwest Young Artists's Symphony Orchestra seating audition coming up in a month so I need my clarinets back soon. I am trying out a Bb clarinet but I have yet to find an A clarinet. Hopefully I can find one soon so I will be prepared for the audition when it comes around. The moral of this story is to never leave valuables in the car overnight.

Making Symphony Orchestra at MYA

2011-05-29T15:14:00.001-07:00

I made the Symphony Orchestra at Midwest Young Artists!

Stanley Drucker Teaches a Master Class

2011-05-29T15:10:00.000-07:00

I got to meet the Druckers!!

Yesterday, I went to a master class that was coached by Stanley Drucker, the former principal of the New York Philharmonic. It was an amazing experience! There were four students who played, two undergrads from Northeastern Illinois University and the University of Illinois at Champaign and two graduate students from Northwestern.

Mr. Drucker was a very intense teacher. He worked the students very hard, and he wouldn’t let anything go until a student had corrected or improved the section to his satisfaction. He varied his standards from student to student according to their ability, which he was able to discern by hearing them play just a few notes. He kept coming back to a few key themes in his teaching. First, the music must sound musical, and even technical parts shouldn’t sound like a technical exercise or an etude. Soft notes need to be focused and played just as beautifully and strong as louder parts; they should never have an airy tone. He said anyone could play well loud, the challenge was to play well quietly. Another point he made on several occasions was that all the registers should sound the same, and you shouldn’t be able to hear a difference while playing over the breaks. Another important thing he said was to play your notes in groups of eight instead of groups of four so that they would flow easier. He also suggested that while you’re practicing, you should try closing your eyes, because then you would be able to hear yourself much better. I noticed that John Bruce Yeh, who was there with his wife, often his eyes closed as he listened to the students play for Mr. Drucker. Mr. Drucker said that when playing in an orchestra, you needed to understand how your part fits in with what the rest of the orchestra is playing while you are figuring out how you should make your phrases.

He ended the master class by taking questions from the audience for a half an hour. He talked about a lot of different things in his career, and it was really interesting. Mrs. Drucker also some great things to say. One of the things that really stood out was, “Life is too short for long tones, play scales and music instead.” During this time, someone asked what Mr. Drucker practiced, and he said, “I practice what I’m going to play.” There’s no point in practicing things I’m not going to play, which I thought was funny.

Miguel Hernandez Plays the Mozart Concerto

The first student, Miguel Hernandez, played the Mozart concerto. Mr. Drucker stopped Miguel soon after the exposition. Then he went through a wide variety of different things about Mozart’s music and clarinet playing in general. He told Miguel that while you are playing Mozart you have to chose some of the articulations because Mozart did not put them all in. Mr. Drucker told Miguel that he should make longer phrases, and he could do that by carefully connecting notes and tapering the end of each phrase. When Miguel played a slow lyrical part, Mr. Drucker warned him to not lose his notes in the quieter passages. He said that the you need to use as much breath when playing quieter sections as when playing louder sections, but it had to be focused in a different way so as not to lose the quality of the playing. He also told him to swell the long notes. During another difficult section, Mr. Drucker said that Miguel should play his notes in groups of eight instead of in groups of four so the music the music could keep moving. He warned Miguel not to let the Mozart sound like a technical exercise, but to play musically and to vary the dynamics. Another point Mr. Drucker made, was that Mozart put in impossible articulations that would sometimes need to be changed. To illustrate this, he had Miguel articulate a section the way Mozart wrote it instead of slurring the section. It was clear that the passage was unworkable and unmusical when articulated the way it was written without editing. While he was playing a part which included arpeggios from low notes to high notes, he told him to have the right fingerings for the high notes and worked a lot with him on that. Also during the arpeggios, he pointed out that Miguel needed to make all the registers sound the same – something that I know from experience can be quite difficult.

Amanda Eich Plays Beethoven and Brahms

The next player played excerpts from Beethoven’s fourth symphony and Brahms’ third symphony. During the Beethoven he told her that while she was playing orchestral music you always have to fit in with the orchestra. It was a very quiet section so while she was playing he told her to have longer phrases and to start phrases quietly. Mr. Drucker also told her that in Beethoven, dolce means louder. He also said never to scoop into a note and to connect the different registers. While she played the Brahms’ he reminded her to connect large intervals and not break the music up.

Rebecca Graham Plays Dances of Galanta and Pines of Romes

The next player was very confident while she played and she gave a really good impression. She played Dances of Galanta and Pines of Rome. Mr. Drucker told her to be careful not to rush. During the Dances of Galanta, he also told her that if the phrase after the phrases you are playing is soft and the one you are on is loud, end strong. During a quick section, he told her to play in eight note groups and that she needed to always make sure that she was playing in the right style for the composer. He also told her to make the long notes sing. During the Pines of Rome, he reminded her that she had to make fewer, but longer phrases and to fade out at the end of quiet ones. The last thing he told her was that when there is a sequence, make each time louder than the last.

Andrew Hudson Plays Capriccio Espanol and Rachmaninoff’s 2nd Symphony

The last person who played in the master class played Capriccio Espanol and Rachmaninoff’s second symphony. Andrew was really funny. When Mr. Drucker asked him why he was rushing the third phrase, he said that was because he was terrified. During Capriccio Espanol, Mr. Drucker told Andrew to bring out the bring out the first note but to keep all the other ones less. He also told him not to make space in between a trill and a note. While playing this piece, Andrew should think of a Spanish dance. Mr. Drucker told him to be lyric, even when playing a quickly moving section. The last thing he told him about this section was to accent the first note of the trills and to play in time. The last piece that Andrew played for Mr. Drucker was excerpts from Rachmaninoff’s second symphony. During this piece he told him to make good connections and to make faster parts more lyrical. Soft notes need to be as full as loud notes, and he should be careful not retard to much until the end of a piece.

Playing with the Chicago Clarinet Ensemble

2011-05-27T13:25:00.000-07:00

About a month ago, my teacher, Dileep, asked me if I wanted to perform with the Chicago Clarinet Ensemble. The Chicago Clarinet Ensemble was founded in 2007 by Dr. Rose Sperazza who teaches at Northeastern University. The performance contains mostly college students and adults so it is really exciting to play with them. Everyone has been really nice through the rehearsals even though I'm a lot younger than everyone there. Also, Stanley Drucker, the former principal of the New York Philharmonic, and his wife Naomi Drucker, also an accomplished clarinetist, are playing with us. Stanley Drucker was the principal clarinetist of the Philharmonic for more than 50 years and he has played in more than 10,000 concerts. He even played under Leonard Bernstein! We are performing tonight.

The concert should be a lot of fun. We are playing are Pursuits of Happiness a sextet by Eric Mandat, Hasty Fragments by Edward Yadzinski, Ruth, Rubric-Rational; Realisms-Relationals by Jeff Kowalkowski, Mendelssohn’s duo concerti for two clarinets, which will feature the Druckers, Molly on the Shore by Grainger, and Jupiter from the Planets by Holst. The Mandat, the Yadzinski, and the Kowalkowski are all premiers. I am playing on the Holst, the Grainger, and the Kowalkowski. It is a really fun selection of pieces.

The Pursuits of Happiness is a sextet by Eric Mandat. Performing this piece are Mr. and Mrs. Drucker and Rose Sperazza on Bb clarinet, John Bruce Yeh playing Eb clarinet, his wife Teresa Reilly playing basset horn, and Mr. Tuttle on bass clarinet. There are three movements. The first one is fast and happy and features the Druckers. I especially like it when the Druckers play sweeping notes up and down the clarinets' range extremely quickly while the bass clarinet plays a very low and light harmony. There is one part in the first movement when no one plays except Mr. Drucker. I love this movement. The second movement is slow and intense. This movement seems to probe your mind and look into your deepest hidden feelings. It features Mr. Yeh and his wife very prominently. I can't wait to hear it again tonight.

Yesterday I got to sit on on the Druckers rehearsing the Mendelsson and the sextet. The Mendelssohn duo concerti are being played by the Drucker being accompanied by the clarinet ensemble. The Druckers are amazing! Just listening to Mr. Drucker warm-up before the rehearsal was cool. He played five arpeggios in the time it would take me to play one. It was really inspiring to watch him and his wife working with John Bruce Yeh. I loved every movement of the Mendelssohn concerti, but I especially liked the last movement of the second concerto, the polacca. It was amazing how they moved from register to register without any change in the color of their sound. I find this really hard to do. They moved beautifully though each register of the clarinet, each dynamic and the different styles of the compositions. I cannot wait to hear him perform tonight! May I'll even get up the courage to ask Rose to introduce me to the Druckers tonight. They are legendary clarinetists after all.

Molly on Shore is a quick light piece with a repetitive Irish theme. I am playing fourth clarinet in this song and so I get mostly the beat and the harmony under the melody. This is a great piece, because there is a counter-melody always going on at the same time as the melody. The theme is always consistent but the counter-melody changes and moves in interesting ways. This piece is really good for a clarinet choir because of the beautifully light, pure sound of a a clarinet. John Bruce Yeh is conducting both Molly on the Shore, Jupiter and the Mendelssohn.

Ruth, rubric-rational; realism-relationals is an exotic piece for clarinet choir and synthesizer by Jeff Kowalkowski. It changes time signatures constantly so you always have to be on your toes while performing it. It is a very otherworldly radiant composition. I especially like that there are a couple of duets in the middle of the piece for synthesizer and contrabass clarinet without accompaniment. This makes a really fun combination. I also like the way the composer has combined the Contrabass and Eb clarinets -- not a common pairing! The stark differences in the range of these two instruments create an odd but strangely ethereal effect. At many places in the piece everyone is playing similar parts but not at the same time. That made it very difficult for me to play it yesterday at the rehearsal because I was the only second Bb clarinet there. I think it is an outstanding work.

I love how the Chicago Clarinet Ensemble can sound so much like a full orchestra, especially in a piece like Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity from the Planets. Jupiter is a grand and festive piece. I am playing second clarinet on Jupiter and I get a lot of melody which is exciting. The piece is extremely light and carefree for much of it. During a slower section, the clarinets imitate the low strings and brass very well, who play this part in the original version. I love the ending where the clarinets are like a torrent, flying up and down arpeggios. Jupiter has a great ending with a restatement of the original theme in a fast tempo which keeps crescendoing until the last note.

MYA's Spring Concert: Be Heroic

2011-05-09T16:54:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, MYA’s youth orchestras all performed at Pick-Staiger at Northwestern University. At the first concert, which took place in the afternoon, the Reading, Cadet, Concertino, Philharmonia and Concert Orchestras played. The evening concert featured the Symphony Orchestra, which played a Concerto with Mathieu Dufour, the principal flutist of the CSO, and a performance of Strauss' Ein Heldenlaben. It was the last concert of the year.

I played in the first concert, because I'm in the Concert Orchestra. During this program, the younger orchestras in MYA performed. Concert performed the entire Dvorak 8th Symphony, which they've been working on for much of the year. I really enjoyed playing with all my friends in Concert. They're a great group of kids. All of the orchestras did a fabulous job, and they all showed a lot of improvement from the fall. Concertino's winds really stood out this time and sounded really great. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see some of the performances, because I was backstage. I was especially disappointed to miss the Concerto played by Natalie Clarke with Philharmonia, but I hear it was wonderful. I was also sad to miss the chance to listen to Philharmonia's excellent brass section. All in all, this concert was a great way to end the year.

At 6:00pm, the Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Dr. Alan Dennis (aka Dr. D) took the stage. The first piece they played was a flute concerto by Jacques Ibert , a composer I really like. This concerto featured Mathieu Dufour, principal flutist of one of the best orchestras in the world. It was a marvelous performance. While Mr. Dufour was playing he had such expressive movement. Also he danced through the technical parts with apparent ease. His phrasing was phenomenal! During the fast parts, his playing was quite beautiful, but during the slow parts his expression was so emotional, it seemed to stop time. I was completely entranced. One thing that really stood out while he playing were his eyebrows. How can a person's eyebrows be expressive? It seems extraordinary, but it was almost as if he had extra muscles in his eyebrows that normal humans don't possess, and it really added to his playing. The Symphony Orchestra, played an exceptional accompaniment to Mr. Dufour. Sam Mattenson, principal clarinetist, really stood out with his many solos, and he played exceptionally well in this piece.

After Mathieu Dufour’s inspiring performance, the Symphony Orchestra played Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life). Ein Heldenleben is a tone poem, a continuous piece of music with no separate movements that illustrates a story or picture, with six parts -- at least in this case there are six parts. The first part is called Der Held (The Hero) and is a short, heroic beginning which Symphony performed with incredible grandeur.

The second part is called Der Helden Widersacher (The Heroe's Adversaries). This features the winds and brass at their most annoying as they mock the hero. The flutes really stood out in this movement, biting and harrassing the leitmotif.

The third part is Des Helden Gefahrtin (The Hero's Companion). This movement begins with the hero’s theme and then moves on to a new theme, the companion's theme. The companion's song was played by principal violinist, Amy Pikler. She navigated the many expressive and difficult sections with heart-breaking beauty. Symphony accompanied her so smoothly and sweetly that you couldn't guess what would happen next.

The fourth section, Des Helden Walstatt (The Hero at Battle) is a flurry of sounds. It is a very hard section to master because everything is wild and out of control. It really sounds like a battle! It must have taken a lot of work by symphony to conquer, but they did so heroically. It started with a trumpet call from the balcony. After the trumpet call the three trumpet players who played it hurried out of the balcony, and soon after they appeared on stage and rushed to the safety of the back of the orchestra. After the confusion cleared , the hero’s theme returned at the end of the section.

The fifth movement, Des Helden Friedenswerke (The Hero’s Works of Peace) is an emotionally beautiful section. Symphony could not have done it better with their expression and phrasing, which were right on target. They played it so angelically that I wanted to cry.

The sixth and last part, Des Helden Weltflucht and Vollendung (The Hero’s Retirement from this World and Consummation), is sublime. Near the end, Amy Pikler comes in playing the companion again and is joined by Zachery Popp, the principal horn. Together they set the stage gorgeously for the brass to finish off this grand tone poem.

Throughout the whole work of music, James was on the balcony, directly over the Symphony Orchestra, flipping the pages of a big Flip Thing. After the concert, he said that the giant pad of paper was really unstable, and he feared it would fall on the percussion. Fortunately, due to the heroic efforts of our own chamber music master, the percussion was spared a horrible fate.

This was another fabulous concert to end another fantastic year at Midwest Young Artists.

Chamber Music in the Spring

2011-04-25T11:24:00.000-07:00

Wow, it has been a long time since I have blogged!

I've been very busy this spring, especially with chamber music performances and competitions. I participated in the Discover Chamber Competition and the Rembrandt Chamber Competition with my woodwind quintet, and my trio and my quintet played in three soirees at Ravinia.

I really enjoy playing in my woodwind quintet, Calcetinos Vivos. They are very nice and very talented musicians. Here's a picture of us:

Some of the pieces we've played this year are Arnold's Three Shanties, a quintet by Klughardt, and Paquito d'Rivera's Aires Tropicales.

I also play in a piano, clarinet, and viola trio. We still haven't given our group a name yet. My brother Ari plays viola, and we play with a 7th grade pianist named Finley. We have been working on the Schumann Trio and the Bruch Eight Pieces. This is a really fun group too. Here is a link to us playing the first movement of the Schumann:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVQC1rObrwE

May is a busy month. There are of performances for my orchestra and wind symphony and my chamber groups.

Walgreens Concerto Competition

2011-02-11T09:22:00.000-08:00

In December, I competed in the Walgreens Concerto Competition. I played the Weber Concertino. This was my first competition. I was very nervous. Before I performed, Dr. Dennis, my orchestra director, told me to "play like a wild man -- in a good way." So I did. I played really well for the first two themes, but I rushed the third one and got tangled up.

Still, I got an honorable mention, and I want to do it again next year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNmq5n34GPw

Here's a video. I think I've come a long ways over the past thousand hours of practice.

MYA's Christmas Concert: Be Festive!

2010-12-22T08:30:00.000-08:00

Saturday afternoon, Midwest Young Artist’s Big Band, Choral, and Symphony Orchestra performed their annual Christmas Concert at the Harris Theater downtown. They played exceptionally! When they took the stage, the first thing you noticed was the blinking lights on the bassoons and one of the basses. It looked so cool, and it was impressive that it didn't distract them from their playing. Also, on the wall there were projections of boughs of holly and other neat holiday things.

The orchestra opened with Holiday Overture, a piece by James M. Stephenson. It was an interesting mix of Christmas and Chanukah songs and very different styles of playing from orchestral to jazz to Klezmer and back again. I especially like the Klezmer clarinet solo performed skillfully by Theodore and Andrew. Symphony played stunningly until Big Band joined in with an interesting jazz style. Symphony jumped back in with the low brass leading and lively piccolo glissandos. The composition had a grand ending with the whole orchestra gracefully ending with The First Noel.

The next composition was also by James M. Stephenson and featured the entire bassoon section. It was called BasSoon it will Christmas. While the bassoons were getting set up Dr. Allan Dennis, the head of MYA and Symphony Orchestra’s conductor said that every piece besides Cool Breeze was by Mr. Stephenson, a parent of one of the violins in the Philharmonia Orchestra who is also composer. The piece started with the orchestra and then the Bassoons joined in. It was a witty mix of Christmas songs and recognizable orchestral themes tied together in droll and interesting ways. I loved how the bassoons played together! It was a really fascinating piece with a lot of cool bassoon parts that probably would never be played by a bassoon normally.

The only piece that wasn’t by Mr. Stephenson was titled Cool Breeze. Right before the Big Band started Mr. Madison showed the audience his love of painful punning, telling us that he chose the composition because of the ‘cool breeze’ outside. I was an interesting jazz piece with lots of solos. My favorite solo was the bass plucking solo. The Big Band played the whole thing marvelously.

The next song was a lovely solo for three violins, Amy, Alan, and Emily. Dr. D said that it was instead of the three kings, it was The Three Strings and that it was a mix of different styles of playing. I loved how at the beginning Amy was playing a gorgeous melodic line and Alan and Emily were playing these really sensational harmonic lines along with her. I was enthralled by the virtuosity of these three violinists. It was really interesting how the different styles mixed together and it was amazing that the violinists could transition so smoothly from style to style.

Three of the choral members, Katey, Rebecca, and Miriam sang during this composition. They each sang a beautiful solo one at a time while the male voices among the instrumentalists were singing “Ba-Boom", "Ba-Boom” the whole time. Many people in the Symphony Orchestra were not Ba-Booming very enthusiastically, but the trumpets seemed to be very consistent in their Ba-Booms.

The Magic of Christmas, which was next, included the whole choral, directed by Gordon Krauspe. It began with a lovely harp solo by Ellie, and then Zachery played an enchanting solo. I really liked the ribbon on his French horn. The horns had a big part and they had an extremely smooth tone throughout. The choral came in and sang with an extremely pure and delightful sound.

Before Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Dr. D told the audience that they had covered just about everything so far in this concert except animals. So it’s just natural that he chose Rudolf to be the penultimate composition of the afternoon. I loved Michael’s trombone solo. There were a couple tap dancers who surprised us and made the concert even more entertaining. It got more and more exciting until the very end where everyone in the orchestra stood up for the finale.

They closed the concert with a fun sing along called A Holly and Jolly Sing-Along, again by Mr. Stephenson. The audience and the choral sang nearly every holiday piece from Deck the Halls to We Wish You a Merry Christmas. It was a great ending for a great concert.

I felt really happy as I walked out of the Harris Theater. I can’t wait for the next MYA concert in February.

Ouch! Too Much Practicing!

2010-12-19T18:33:00.000-08:00

Friday, MYA's Honors Wind Symphony played a concert with the Newington College Symphonic Winds, an Australian band on tour in the United States.

Friday morning when I pulled out my clarinet to practice, my forearm really hurt! It was hard to practice, and suddenly I found that I couldn't play the fast sections at full speed. This was bad because I was supposed to play in two concerts this weekend! I called my clarinet teacher, but he didn't answer the phone so I called my piano teacher Barbara. She said, I had probably hurt myself, because I was practicing too much this week and tensing my arm while I was playing. She told me to get Aspercreme and a heating pad and not to play my clarinet.

My teacher Dileep called my mom and told her that he would neck strap for the concert that evening. He said repetitive injuries could be really serious and I had to take it easy. I put the Aspercreme on my arm and rested with the heating pad until it was time for the concert.

When it came time for the concert, I was feeling a bit better after using the Aspercreme, heating pad, and advil. I went to the MYA building in Highwood and warmed up in a practice room. I had forgotten my mouthpiece, so I borrowed one, but it was really hard to use. The day was not going well. I was hurting a bit, but it was much better than the morning. Sandra Wu, the organizer for HWS, told me it was time to start the dress rehearsal. I went in and sat next to the principal clarinetist of the Newington College Wind Symphony. He introduced himself to me. He was really nice and he had a really nice tone on his clarinet. It was fun rehearsing with the Australian band. They were really good. The Newington Wind Symphony left the hall so our Wind Symphony could practice their chamber piece, Old Wine in New Bottles. It was hard to play with an unfamiliar mouthpiece and my arm was starting to hurt more.

After the rehearsal, we got dinner. MYA had brought in food for both ensembles. I ate some food and talked with my friends. I was a little nervous to meet the kids from the Australian group, because I'm always a little nervous about meeting new people and many of them were a lot older than me. After dinner, I went and got my tux on, which took me a long time, because it was hard to get the little metal buttons on right. I went to the concert hall, and I got warmed up. Dileep, my clarinet teacher, rescued me with a neck strap, because the neck strap would take some of the clarinet's weight off my arm. My mom came in with my normal mouthpiece, so things were better.

We started the concert. I played better than earlier in the day, but the neckstrap restricted my movement, making it harder to phrase. I didn't think I played as well as I could have played. That made me upset, because I felt like I had let my ensemble down, especially with my big solos in the third and fourth movements. The rest of Honors Wind Symphony played really well.

After we finished, the Australians took the stage. The Newington Big Band played really well. I especially liked the trumpet solos. Then the Newington Wind Ensemble played. They had a nice sound, and they performed really well.

Finally, Honors Wind Symphony and Newington Wind Ensemble joined together to finish the concert with a piece called Variations on a Korean Folk Song by Chance. I played much better in this piece than in our earlier piece, because I was getting used to the neck strap. By the time we finished the concert, I was in a lot of pain. Still, it was a fun concert, even though I had to stay until 10:30 that night because my mom was loading the MYA truck for the Symphony Orchestra Performance tomorrow. I couldn't help, because my arm hurt so much.

It was fun to meet the Australians in spite of all the problems I was having. I'm hoping it will heal soon enough that I can play in the Walgreens compeition in 9 days.

Martin Fröst Plays the Lincoln Center

2010-12-08T15:21:00.000-08:00

It’s not every day that you get to meet one of the best clarinetists in the world, but last weekend I got to do just that.

On Sunday, I went to see Martin Fröst play a solo concert with pianist Shai Wosner at the Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater. Martin Fröst is a clarinet superstar from Sweden. I had been looking forward to this concert for weeks. He launched the presentation with an amazing performance of Premiére Rapsodie by Debussy. I loved his movement while he was playing; it was like he was dancing.

Next, he played a sonata by Poulenc with such wonderful phrasing, it was like he was singing. He seemed so excited while he played, that it was fun just to watch him.

The next piece really captured the day. Fröst played the Theme with Variations by Françaix with unbelievable grace. The pianissimo notes were so astonishing that they could be heard throughout the hall. The expression of his body movement was so interwoven with the music; it was like he became the melody.

After the Françaix, the clarinet virtuoso executed the Brahms Sonata in E-flat major, No. 2 even more impressively than the piece before. His phrases were superb and his tone was just marvelous, like a flowing river. He just throws himself in the music, making every note gorgeous. He persuaded me that there was for that hour nothing else in the world besides his enthralling playing. Martin Frost has his own ostentatious style which no one could ever replicate.

Finally, he received such an ovation that he ended the morning with an encore. He played an animated klezmer-like piece called Csárdás from his album Frost and Friends which woke us up from his lulling, beautiful Brahms. He jumped right into it, and played all the technical parts with such enthusiasm. As the piece became more exciting, he played with even more eagerness. It was a grand ending and he pulled it off with virtuosity almost unknown to the clarinet.

There was a coffee reception after the concert where everyone got to meet Martin Fröst and Shai Wosner. Martin Fröst’s agent had given me and my mom his comp tickets when we found the concert had sold out, so we had to thank him, and I really wanted to meet him. I was really nervous while I was in line to meet him. When it was our turn to talk to him, I was so nervous that I couldn’t speak coherently. My mom and I thanked him for the tickets, and my mom asked him if she could take a picture of me and Martin Fröst. He said yes and my mom took a picture. She said that I looked terrified, and Martin Fröst was so nice that he said, “I looked terrified too, take another one.”

It was a spectacular performance and I hope I can watch him play his clarinet again soon even if he is Swedish and not Norwegian. (The Bakkes come from Norway.)

Seeing the New York Philharmonic

2010-12-07T09:38:00.000-08:00

I'm from Chicago. I know what a world class orchestra sounds like, because we have one right here, conducted by Maestro Muti, when he gets back from Italy that is.

I was excited to see the New York Philharmonic. I went to a concert they gave at the Lincoln Center on Saturday. The program was Beethoven's 2nd Symphony in D Major and Twelve Songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn by Mahler.

I wanted to see how the famous New York Philharmonic compared with my hometown Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Unfortunately, I couldn't really hear the New York Philharmonic, and I could really see them either. The hall they performed in was Avery Fisher Hall. First, I noticed that couldn't see anything, in spite of having reasonably close seats in the first tier. The angle of view to the stage was blocked by big black metal railings. Also, you couldn't really hear the low voices very well.

The acoustics problem was a big issue in the second piece. The Mahler piece was a collection of songs sunch by two singers. The soprano, Dorothea Roschmann, I could hear. She sang quite nicely. The Tenor, Ian Bostridge, I couldn't really hear! I could hear his high notes, but not his low notes.

When I got home, I did some research on Avery Fischer Hall. It turns out that the Hall does have acoustical problems. It wasn't Mr. Bostridge's fault that I couldn't hear him. The Hall was made too big, and the acoustics for the low voices aren't very good.

Also, the hall was ugly. It was all brown. The seats were brown. The stage was brown. The walls were brown. It was like watching a concert in a big brown box. On the walls, a bunch of brightly lit exit signs were glaring. It was unpleasant.

When the Mahler was going on, they had a projector flashing a translation of the german up. It was hard to concentrate on the orchestra, because the words were always distracting you.

On a postive note, I really liked principal clarinetist, Mark Nuccio, who had a lot of solos in the Mahler. The horns stood out too, especially in the Beethoven.

Another problem was the audience. At the end of the performance, while we were applauding, about one fourth of them got up and left. How could they do that?! The performers were trying to come back for their ovations, but it was awkward with all the people leaving at the same time. I'm glad Chicago audiences don't act like that!

I would like to see the New York Philharmonic play in Carnegie Hall or the Chicago Symphony Center so I can actually hear them perform. I'm sure they're great.

Risor Chamber Music Festival at Carnegie Hall

2010-12-06T09:20:00.000-08:00

On Friday, I went to see Martin Frost in the Risor Chamber Music Festival at Carnegie Hall. The Risor Chamber Music Festival is yearly chamber music festival in Risor, Norway.

First, they opened with a string sextet by Richard Strauss. They played very beautifully. I really liked expression of the cellist, Audun Andre Sandvik. His playing throughout the evening was really memorable.

Next, there was an amazing performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 14 in Eb Major by pianist Leif Ove Andsnes. I loved how he conducted the orchestra as he played, just like Uchida does. There was only one problem with this setup: I could only see the pianist from the back from where I was. I couldn’t see his fingers and his face while he was playing. Still, it was a sensational performance. Also, in the performance, the principal first violin, second violin, and viola played a trio together separate from the piano. It was like a piece within a piece, and they communicated so well, it was almost like they were one person.

The last piece before intermission was Gustav Mahler’s Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen, starring Measha Brueggergosman, a leading soprano. She was accompanied by an odd group of two violins, a viola, a cello, a bass, a flute, a clarinet, a piano, a harmonium, and a percussion player. It was a stunning execution of this collection of songs. Brueggergosman was very inspiring. Whenever I tried to watch Martin Frost, who was my whole reason for being in New York that weekend, she irresistibly drew my attention back to her. I felt like she was singing to me personally. She was amazing!

After intermission, Martin Frost played Aaron Copland’s Clarinet Concerto. His first, flabbergasting pianissimo blew your mind away. It was so quiet but he still got a beautiful tone and his sound filled the entire hall. His physical movement during the first section, slowly and expressively, was very interesting. It was like he was dancing, as he played. He had his own ideas about how to move while playing the clarinet that aren’t quite like anyone elses. He played the cadenza that linked the two movements marvelously, executing all the difficult turns and twists perfectly. In the last movement, rather fast, Frost became very excited, and the expression of his body became even more thrilling. I loved how he played with the cellos and basses. I enjoyed this last movement even more than the first one.

For an encore, Martin Frost played a klezmer piece called Lets Be Happy for an encore. He said it was his own brand of Scandinavian klezmer, because it was arranged by his little brother. He got so animated during this piece that I think he liked it better than the Copland. It was a fun piece with a lot of fast parts and I think he played it better here than at any other part of the concert.

They ended the night with an incredible performance of Béla Bartók’s Divertimento for Strings. I especially liked the violas and cellos. The lower sections of the Risor Festival Strings really stood out. All around, it was a great performance.

Lesson with Anthony McGill

2010-12-04T21:28:00.000-08:00

Yesterday in New York, I had a lesson with Anthony McGill. Anthony McGill, if you don't know, is the principal of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in New York City. He played at the Inauguration with Yoyo Ma and Itzhak Perlman. He is one of the best clarinetists I've ever listened to. The piece I am playing for the Walgreens Concerto Competition is the Weber Concertino. I chose it, because in the spring I heard Anthony McGill play it with the Chicago Clarinet Ensemble, and it was very inspiring, because he has a very serene, emotional and expressive tone. After hearing Mr. McGill play it, I really wanted to play it too.

I was supposed to meet Mr. McGill at the stage entrance of the Metropolitan Opera which is part of the Lincoln Center. We got there early and waited until 2:15 which was when the lesson was scheduled. Mr. McGill came out at 2:15 and told us that his rehearsal was running late and it would be 15 or 20 minutes more. I was very nervous. I had been a little nervous about playing for him for days and days, and having to wait a little longer made it even more scary. I was really worried that I would embarrass myself in front of somebody I think of so highly. I had to get up at 4:30 that morning to catch a plane to New York, and so I was also quite tired!

Finally, Mr. McGill finished his rehearsal and came out to meet me. He took me to one of the practice rooms that is under the opera house. It was a very small room with foam on the wall. There were two chairs and a music stand in the room. My chair was a spinning chair with wheels, like a computer chair. Mr. McGill was very nice and friendly and he was always smiling. That made me feel a little better. There was a trombone playing in a nearby room. Mr. McGill joked that we would have a trombone accompaniest for the lesson and he laughed.

First, he told me to take out Etude #2 from the Rose 32 Etudes for Clarinet. It's a fast technical piece in 3/8 time. I played through the piece once, and then Mr. McGill told me to play it again, but this time pay more attention to subdivision and make the phrases longer. I played about half of it through, and he stopped me and told me I needed to project more. Whenever I articulate a note, I need to sustain the breath as I am slurring, even though I am tonguing the notes. Then we started taking the piece apart and working on it section by section. After that, we moved on to the next Etude.

Mr. McGill told me to take out the next etude, which was #18 from the Rose 40 Studies for Clarinet. This is a slower, more expressive piece. I played the piece through once, and then he told me to play it again. He stopped me after the first measure and told me that if I am playing a long note, I should either swell or fade away to make the note more interesting. Then he had me play the entire phrase, and he told me to play it with more breath not to divide the phrase up the way I was doing it. He had me play it from the beginning again, and he stopped me after the second phrase. He told me to play the phrase with more expression, so I played the phrase again more expressively, and then he stopped me in the middle and said, "During the section with the triplets, you have to swell more, and fade away more." He demonstrated. I loved the way he played it. We worked on the rest of the etude taking it apart phrase by phrase. His advice was really useful. He said to focus on playing with more breath support, emphasizing the dynamics, and playing longer phrases.

Then we moved on to the Weber Concertino. First he had me play the entire piece through. I was nervous, and I messed up on the runs at the end of the piece. Mr. McGill told me to play the Adagio part at the beginning again. He stopped me after the first note, and he told me to play the first note with more breath. He said I was playing note too quietly, and not projecting enough sound when I played it.  I tried it again, and he said I had it that time. That made me feel really awesome!

We worked a little longer on the first phrase, and then we took apart the entire Adagio section and worked through it phrase by phrase. When we got to the Andante section, he told me to get a more singing tone, and tongue the notes more lightly. He worked with me on changing the air speed when I changed registers. He demostrated by blowing air. Whenever I didn't play with enough breath, he blew to let me know to use more.

After working on the first two sections, we moved on to the Poco piu vivo part of the piece. This is where the piece gets technically difficult. He told me to work on getting a more singing-like tone, even with the really fast, difficult parts. We also worked on the phrasing. When we got to the staccato runs, he showed me a way I can get a much sweeter sound on the staccato runs, and he made it much easier. He showed me that when I was playing staccatos not to tongue so heavily, but to use my lightly against the reed and play the runs as if they were slurs, but with tonguing. This helped my sound enormously. I was surprised and pleased by how much better it sounded when I played it that way.

Then we worked on the triplet section. He told me that I needed a sweeter tone on the slurred staccato parts. I think this is called portato, but I'm not sure. We worked on the phrases, and then we moved onto the next difficult passage. I played it too fast at first. He said to slow down and not to stop the phrase with my staccatos, but to keep my breath moving through each note to the next. He had me use different amounts of breath. The higher register needs more air. We worked through each phrase like that, and then we moved onto the slow part that ends this middle section of the Concertino. We worked on the phrases here, because it's a very slow and beautiful part. That makes it harder to play. Mr. McGill said to not play the sixteenth note after the dotted eigth note too fast, among many other things.

Finally, we moved onto the last section of the piece, the Allegro.  Mr. McGill demonstrated how to keep an internal beat going as I played through the passage by sniffing on the beat. He didn't mean that I should sniff while playing, of course, but he demonstrated how to feel the beat as I played to keep the notes more even. This section was a little out of control, so we worked on how to get it in control.

We reached the first of the difficult runs at the end of the piece. We worked on slowing them down so you can get all the notes in, and we practiced only one register at a time so we could practice the register alone without transitioning. I skip notes sometimes when I transition between registers on these fast runs, and doing it this way helped me be aware of each note. It's hard to get 13 notes in on one beat!

Next we worked on a slower sweeter part that divides up two fast technical sections. We worked on the expression here. He demonstrated on his clarinet, and it was amazingly beautiful. He told me to play the part where it transitions into a minor key more expressively than the part before, because this makes a very good impression.

Finally, we reached the last section. He got the music out, so it would be easier to do the twisty section. I had been playing from memory up to this part. We worked on slowing down the twisty section and getting it more in control. Then we worked on the last three big, fast runs at the end of the piece. We worked on slowing them down and dividing the parts in different registers up. We were finally done.

Before taking me back to the stage entrance where mom was waiting, he showed me the orchestra pit.  He pointed all the way to the top balcony which was really far away! Mr. McGill said that I had to project my sound all the way up there even in pianissimo sections.

Anthony McGill is a fantastic clarinetist, but I also found out this weekend that he is a wonderful teacher. He had a way of being friendly and positive even when he was correcting me. His advice was incredibly useful, and it was great to have the opportunity to play the Concerto for him before doing it for the Walgreens.

Thank you, Mr. McGill!

IMEA District VII Junior Concert

2010-11-14T18:33:00.001-08:00

Last Saturday I attended the District VII Junior IMEA concert. Early in October, my sister Eowyn, who is in 6th grade, and I tried out for IMEA and made it. I didn’t know what chair I made until the concert. When I got to Wauconda High School where the concert was being held, my school band teacher greeted me and told me I made first chair. I was so excited! I went to the band room and found my chair. It was crowded with young musicians. Leah, a clarinetist from my MYA orchestra, was second chair, and Steven who is also in my MYA orchestra was there too.

This is my sister who plays the horn.

After a few minutes our conductor got to the band room. She started us with a fifteen minute warm up. It was very interesting and I learned some things about breathing that I didn’t know. She demonstrated how to breathe efficiently. First you breathe out, and then you breathe in, and then you breathe in again a little extra in a slightly different way. It's hard to describe, but it was very helpful with breath support. We worked on Cenotaph by Jack Stamp, then Shenendoah by Frank Ticheli, and lastly the first three movements of Suite Provencale by Jan Van de Roost. After that we had a break.

During the break we had lunch. I sat at a table with a bunch of Midwest Young Artist wind players who made IMEA. Being in MYA is like being a part of a family. When we go to places outside of MYA, we are really nice to each other, and we hang out, and I like that. After I finished eating, I went to the band room ten minutes early and played my clarinet. I was having a really fun time. When the conductor got back to the band room we worked on the last movement of Suite Provencale and all of Seventy Six Trombones. The conductor kept telling the clarinets that we were playing too loud a lot, and I agreed with her.

After that we tried out the gym that we were going to perform in. We practiced for about thirty minutes in a dress rehearsal. Finally it was time for the concert. The IMEA orchestra and choral came in and found their spots in the gym. We were going first. It was really fun being first chair. After the band played, the IMEA choral and orchestra performed. They sounded great! It was a really exhausting day but also really fun. I can’t wait until next year when IMEA comes again.

MYA's Fall Concert

2010-11-05T09:48:00.000-07:00

Dr. Dennis and me.

I had a Midwest Young Artists concert at Pick-Staiger last Sunday. Midwest Young Artists or MYA is my youth orchestra. We got to dress up in our costumes during the concert. It was very fun. There were two concerts, the first one at 1:30 and the second one at 7:00. Both of my ensembles played in the second concert.

I got to Pick-Staiger at 9:30 because of my sisters, who are in Concertino Orchestra, which had its dress rehearsal then. Afterwards, I went to a restaurant with my mom, my sisters, my friend Katie, my friend Nathan’s sister, and Nathan’s mom, Ms. Goldin. We got back to Pick-Staiger at about 1:00, and I sold raffle tickets until my friend Nathan got to the theater, and I went with him to get a seat in the audience for the first concert. I like watching the younger kids. They are adorable, but they play very well.

Mr. Pearson

The order of the first concert was Cadet Orchestra, Jazz Ensemble, Concertino Orchestra, Jazz Orchestra, intermission, Philharmonia, Voices Rising, and Choral. Cadet was conducted by Patrick Pearson, who dressed up as Michael Jackson. They played The Weber Suite by Carl Maria Von Weber, Dragonhunter by Richard Meyer and Boogie Man Boogie by Patrick Pearson. Jazz Ensemble was conducted by Jarrard Harris and played Moanin’ by Bobby Timmons and Carpetbaggers by Dean Sorenson. Concertino Orchestra was conducted by Patrick Pearson and played The Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Paul Dukas and March from Carmen by Georges Bizet. Cadet and Concertino sounded great, so did the Jazz Orchestra, but I’m not so keen on jazz, so I’m never a good judge of a jazz concert.

After intermission the Philharmonia Orchestra played. Philharmonia was conducted by Patrick Pearson and played three of the four movements from Peer Gynt Suit, І. Morning Mood, П. The Death of Ase, and Ш. In the Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg. I loved the way they played it. The first movement was really nice, the second movement was heart breakingly beautiful, and the last movement was really cool.

Concertino Orchestra. The principal cellist is my sister Rowena.

The next group that performed was Voices Rising who were conducted by Benjamin Gray. They they sang Kyrie by Greg Gilpin, Song for Mira by Allister MacGillivray, and Fireflies by Adam Young. Voices rising then sang with Choral for an amazing performance of Zion’s Walls adapted by Aaron Copland. Last but not least Choral were conducted by Gordon Krauspe and sang Frobisher Bay by James Gordon, Make Them Hear You by Stephen Flaherty, and What’ll I Do By Irving Berlin. I especially loved Frobisher Bay. It was such a beautiful peace, and they sang it perfectly in tune.

At 7:00, after two dress rehearsals, it was time for my concert. Dr. Ripley directs the Honors Wind Symphony, where I’m currently principal clarinet. We played the first and fourth movements of Old Wine in New Bottles by Gordon Jacob, and we played Chester, and When Jesus Wept by William Schuman, not to be confused with Robert Schumann. It was really fun to go first, and I really enjoyed playing in this performance. I had a lot exposure with a number of solos, which was a little nerve-wracking, but very exciting. Michael Cox, the euphonium, had a big solo part and duet with Avery DeMaria who is the principal trumpet. I loved their solos, they played some of the most beautiful music brass music I’ve ever heard. Tamara Winston, our oboeist, also nailed her solos. She has such beautiful phrasing.

Big Band, which is conducted by Chris Madsen followed us with another stellar performance. They played Coda by Garling, Self Portrait of the Bean by Duke Ellington, and Stompin’at the Savoy by Edgar Sampson. They have a big sound, and they don’t sound like kids. They’re quite professional and enjoyed their performance quite a lot, in spite of my renowned lack of enthusiasm for jazz music.

Concert Orchestra

After intermission, Dr. Dennis’ orchestras performed. Concert Orchestra, where I’m 2nd clarinet went first. We played the first two movements of Dvorak’s 8th Symphony. I love this symphony. There are a lot of A clarinet parts, and I loved the sound of an A clarinet even more than a Bb clarinet. In the first movement, the piece transitions from relaxed and lyrical and beautiful, to insistent and exciting. The 2nd movement is really beautiful, and the ending is very dramatic and energetic, until the last few lines where the tempo slows down and Dvorak introduces a new theme – at least I think that’s the case. In February, we’ll play all 4 movements of the symphony. I can’t wait.

Finally, the Symphony Orchestra took the stage. This is what everyone waits for. My brother plays viola in this orchestra. They played Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra. This is really hard piece. It’s very demanding of all of the sections, and Symphony played it amazingly. I was very impressed. It seemed like the principal clarinet had solos running through the entire piece, and Sam Mattenson played them with astounding musicality. All the soloists were wonderful, but I pay close attention to the clarinets. My favorite movements were the third, which started with a bassoon part, followed by the clarinets. It was stunning. The fifth movement was real show-stopper to end the concert. The audience was on their feet.

I can’t wait to play with this orchestra!

Martin Fröst visits the United States

2010-10-11T19:38:00.000-07:00

In a month I am going to New York City to see Martin Frost perform! I have heard recordings of him and he is amazing. Martin Fröst is a Swedish clarinet virtuoso who is known around the globe.

He played violin when he was six but got tired and moved on to sports until he was nine and he started playing clarinet. I played violin and viola when I was younger, and I got bored and played travel soccer, and then started clarinet when I was 10. Also, like Martin Fröst I am Scandanavian on my dad's side -- although Norwegian and Danish, not Swedish.

In addition to being a great clarinetist, Martin Fröst is famous for being able to play clarinet while roller skating backwards. Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQJF8ed0DL4

When he was fifteen he moved to Stockholm to study clarinet and later he also studied in Hannover. He plays mostly classical music but he also plays some contemperary music. I can't wait untill I get to see him, I know he will be amazing.

One really cool thing is that I couldn't get tickets to one of the performances in New York in December. My mom wrote to Mr. Fröst's publicist to see tickets could be bought elsewhere. They weren't being sold anywhere else, but Mr. Fröst gave me the tickets they set aside for him. Now I get to see the performance, and I'm very grateful for this.

Muti Comes to Chicago

2010-09-20T10:28:00.000-07:00

The buildings were decorated with lights that spelled out
Muti and CSO.

On Sunday, I went to a free concert of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. It was free because the CSO was introducing their new conductor Riccardo Muti. Riccardo Muti is a really famous Italian Conductor. Muti was the principal conductor of La Scala, the famous Italian opera house from 1986-2005.

We got to the concert just before it started, because we came from the performance at the Spertus Museum. It very very crowded. There were 30,000 people in Millenium Park to see the concert. We didn't have a good view, because there were so many people crowded around the Pritzker Pavilian. Only my sister Rowena got a glimpse of Muti, because I put her on my shoulders so she could see. She got excited about seeing the cello section too, because she plays cello.

This was our view. We couldn't even see Muti!

They played a Verdi opera and "Les Preludes" by Liszt for the first half of the concert. I wanted to see the second half of the concert, but I couldn't, because Sam and Nathan and Ari who were with me were really hungry and needed to get dinner. So I missed the Overture to Romeo and Juliet by Tchaikovsky and Respighi's "The Pines of Rome" which featured John Bruce Yeh playing some really great clarinet solos. I was really sorry to miss that!

I was sad to miss the second half of the concert, but it was really fun to be there with so many Chicagoans who must love classical music.

Maxwell Street Junior Klezmer Band Performs at the Spertus Center

2010-09-20T09:59:00.000-07:00

http://www.chicago3media.com/videoview.html?videoviewid=494
Here is a link to the video of the klezmer performance.

Recently, I joined a youth klezmer group called Maxwell Street Junior Band. Klezmer music is very interesting. It is a traditional Jewish style of secular music that originated in Eastern Europe. It is very different from classical music. I like klezmer, because it is very free, unlike classical music which has very strict rules. You can improvise, and the music is really fun.

My group performed at the Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies downtown. The Spertus Institute is in Chicago where you can learn about Jewish culture. The concert was part of an exhibit called "Uncovered & Rediscovered," which is about Chicago Jewish culture and history.

We played many pieces during the concert. 4 of the pieces were vocalist pieces, and the others were instrumental. The performance lasted 45 minutes. At the beginning of each pieces, Lori, the director introduced the piece and gave a little of its historical background.

Lori is really nice. She is the head of the Maxwell Street Junior Band, and she directs it with the help of other members of the Maxwell Street Professional Band. My brother and I are new, and she's very enthusiastic about us being there. She makes us feel very welcome, and she's always excited about everything. I really like having her as our director.

Playing in the concert was very exciting. I've never performed klezmer music on stage before, but I really like it. Normally, I play in a bigger space with more musicians, because usually I play with my youth orchestra. But with klezmer there are fewer people, and the music is all around you.

Afterwards, Chicago 3 Media interviewed a few people. It was fun getting interviewed, but very scary too.

Watching My Teacher Perform

2010-09-20T08:40:00.000-07:00

Last monday I got to see my teacher Dileep Gangolli perform at the Chicago Cultural Center.

The Chicago Cultural Center is a really cool building. The building has a big colorful stained glass dome, and the theater inside has great acoustics.

My mom dropped me off in the morning at Dileep's house, and I went downtown with Dileep and his wife Janice who is also very cool. Dileep soloed with a piano accompaniest, and he played really well. He played a Brahms sonata, Charles Stanford's Three Intermezzi for Clarinet and Piano, and Niels Gade's Fantasy Pieces with pianist Huang Hao Hung.

I loved the concert. I really liked the selection of pieces. They were all pieces I hadn't heard before except the Brahms sonata. I like listening to new pieces, because I learn new things. Dileep played very expressively, which is one of his biggest strenths. He is passionate about the music, and it really shows when he performs. His performance was very exciting, and he seems to enjoy every minute that he was on stage. I hope I get to see more of his concerts in the future.

After the performance, Dileep took me out for sushi for lunch, and sushi is my favorite food. And then we went back to his house and I had a 2 hour lesson with him. Because my mom couldn't pick me up until the evening, I stayed at his house and read and had dinner and practiced my piano there.

Not only is Dileep a great performer, he is also a really amazing and inspiring teacher. I love his lessons and I look forward to them all week.

Ensembles Starting Up Again

2010-09-09T10:36:00.000-07:00

I'm really excited that things are starting up again! All my musical activities are begining. I have already have had one rehersal of Concert Orchestra at Midwest Young Artists, Honors Wind Symphony at Midwest Young Artists, MYA intensive chamber, and Maxwell Street Junior Klezmer Band.

I made Concert Orchestra at MYA this year. It is the second highest level orchestra at Midwest Young Artists. We are playing the first and second movements of Dvorak's 'Eighth Symphony' for a concert on Halloween. The first movement is played on A clarinet, which is exciting because I have a chance to use my A clarinet which I don't get to use normally. I hope we do well in the concert.

Another ensemble I made in MYA this year is Honors Wind Symphony. It is the only Wind Symphony at MYA. We are playing Schuman's 'When Jesus Wept', Barber's 'Intermezzo', Reed's 'La Fiesta Mexicana', and Schuman's 'Chester' (Not to be confused with Schumann). The harder pieces are 'Chester' and 'La Fiesta Mexicana' . They are harder because they are faster, have more difficult fingerings, and go higher than the other two pieces. The "La Fiesta" goes to a high A. We have a two performances the week before the Halloween concert and one at the Halloween concert.

Because I am in Concert Orchestra this year, I have a chamber music group at MYA. I am in the intensive chamber group in which we have more rehearsals and more performances than the other chamber groups. We are playing a wind quintet by Ferene. The second movement of the piece is played on A clarinet. It is cool that I get two pieces on A clarinet at the same time. We are going to get more music next week. I don't know when the first chamber performance will be.
The last ensemble that I am in this year is Maxwell Street Junior Klezmer Street Band which is a klezmer group that is run by the Maxwell Street Band. Klezmer is a really distinct style of playing. In klezmer you must have a looser embouchure. Even though the format is so different from classical music, I still really like it. It is very unlike all of my Honors Wind Symphony and Concert Orchestra music. I am so happy that my music is much more difficult this year than last year. I can't wait until my klezmer concert and my Halloween concert. I have so much new music to learn that I need to practice a lot more than I already practice to prepare everything.

Interlochen Fine Arts Camp

2010-08-16T14:05:00.000-07:00

This is the Intermediate Wind Symphony warming up.

This summer I went to Interlochen Fine Arts Camp in Michigan. Interlochen is a summer fine arts camp for grades 3-12, which takes students from all over the United States and many countries around the world. You have to audition to get in to most of the middle and high school programs. I auditioned on clarinet, and I made 3rd chair, which meant I played in both the Intermediate Wind Symphony and the Intermediate Symphony Orchestra.

I had a great time. It was my first time away from home for three weeks. There were a lot of things I really liked about Interlochen: everyone was so involved in their art, everyone was really nice, the music fun, and I really enjoyed my classes. I wish I got to stay there longer.

I was surprised that everyone was nice and there were no bullies. That's surprising, because in most gatherings of middle school boys, like school, there always seem to be some kids who want to cause pain for other kids. At school, I can't just be myself, because some kids will be mean to me, because I'm different from what they think is normal. I love playing my clarinet more than anything, I love classical music instead of pop and rock music like most people my age, I love history, and I homeschool part time. At school, I feel like I can't be open about who I am. Interlochen was different. There is was okay to be myself, and people didn't make fun of me. I felt accepted for who I am. Sometimes people did things that bothered me, but no one was trying to be mean on purpose. I wish school could be more like that.

This is Kaelen, Nick and me with my baby brother Morgan.

Another thing that was cool about Interlochen was that everyone was very involved in their art which was amazing because I've never been surrounded by so many artists before. It was inspiring and motivating. It is nice to know that there are that many people in the country who love music, and drama, and visual arts. The music was interesting, and there was a lot of it. The toughest piece we played in orchestra was Katchaturian's Saber Ballet, but I had played it before, so it wasn't too much. The band music was easier, but there were five pieces to learn and perfect ever week, as well as orchestra pieces to prepare.

I loved my classes at Interlochen. I had five or six classes a day. The first class was Intermediate Wind Symphony, which was all the intermediate winds. My second class was either Clarinet Sectionals or Woodwind Sectionals depending on the day. My third class was practice hour. For practice hour, you have a practice hut, and a practice supervisor walks around to assist and encourage you to practice.

Once a week instead of practice hour I had a clarinet lesson with Sandra Jackson, who was my teacher at
Interlochen. She is very nice and she is an exceptional clarinetist. She's even performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

This is Nicholas, who came from London, reading The Fountainhead.

My next class was Instrument Exploration where I learned about many instruments. It was fun to learn how to play new instruments, except the flute. For some reason playing the flute made me really dizzy and kind of nauseous. I must have doing it wrong. My fifth class was either Orchestra or Performance skills. Orchestra went on for two hours and was the best class of the day. We worked on the pieces we were going to play in the concert during Orchestra Class. Performance skills was basically a clarinet octet. We worked on chamber music most of the time and sometimes we talked about clarinet stuff. My sixth class was Orchestra sectionals. This was when the clarinets in orchestra worked on our orchestra parts. There were four of us, but only one girl. Her name is Julia and she was my stand partner. She comes from the Chicago area too, and she plays with the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra.

We had two free days every week. The first two days of camp were free days. I mostly was meeting new people those days, but I had my seating audition on the second day. During the third free day, I was hurrying around to concerts all day, and at night I went to the World Youth Symphony Orchestra, which is the top

orchestra of the high school program. It was amazing. I gave them a standing ovation as did everyone else. The second day of that weekend I got two board games in the mail: Small World and Stone Age. My cabin mates and I played both games many times through the rest of the time at Interlochen. The last weekend before the final concert basically all we did was play Small World and talk and play our instruments. Thomas Wolfgang, an oboe player in my cabin, especially liked the game and wanted to play it over and over again. It was a great time and I had a great cabin.

This is me with my practice hour buddies.

Hanging out with my cabin was one of my favorite things. Every night we had a bunk talk. During the bunk talk, we talked about many things. Sometimes the counselors, John and Theo, told very very scary ghost stories that gave us all nightmares. Sometimes they asked us questions about what we liked and disliked about Interlochen, what we were looking forward to doing at Interlochen and during the rest of our lives. We joked that we would all meet up again at Carnegie Hall. The last thing we did during bunk talk was listen to soothing music. I loved bunk talk, it was the most relaxing part of the day.

One of the best things about Interlochen were the performances. They were amazing. A few of the performances really stood out, like the WYSO performances, Aida, and the Parker String Quartet. The Parker Quartet played very beautifully and I loved the way they moved together while they played. They communicated very well when they played. Aida was also an amazing performance. The actress who playing as Aida was terrific. Her voice was beautiful, and I really liked how she played the character. The stage set was also very cool. The story was really interesting, it was about a Nubian princess who is captured by an Egyptian Captain. I think my favorite performances were the WYSO performances. They were just amazing. When they played I was so totally entranced that I didn't pay attention to anything but the music. All the performances were unbelievable and I wish I could see them all again at home.

Time for Interlochen Fine Arts Camp!

2010-07-18T18:22:00.000-07:00

Interlochen!

Clarinet Camp at Midwest Young Artists

2010-07-17T21:49:00.000-07:00

Last week, I attended a clarinet camp at Midwest Young Artists coached by Dileep Gangolli, my teacher. It was so much fun! Every day, we played our clarinets for five hours. Then, on Friday, we had a final concert.

On the first day, we started by introducing ourselves. There were seven other clarinetists at camp, and two of them were from other states. The oldest kid there was named Robert Orozco, and he came from California. He starts his senior year in high school next year. He was a great clarinetist and a very nice person. He always had something nice and encouraging to say about everyone. Scott Greene from MYA was also there. I think we get to be in the same orchestra next year. There was also another kid from Naperville, IL there. He was named Addison. He is going to be a sixth grader next year, and he was really good! There were other cool kids there too. We all got to know each other well by the end of the week.

On of the things that we talked about was reeds. I learned many things about breaking in reeds. You need to keep a cycle of 8 reeds going. the moment you take a reed out of the package, you want to dip it in water for a few seconds before using it. The first time you play a reed, you want to do it for a short time: like less than 5 minutes. If you feel it becoming soft and mushy, you should stop using it. Keep using it for longer periods in future days, and eventually it will get broken in.

The first actual playing we got to do was in an ensemble, in which all eight of us played together. We prepared three pieces: Joplin, Haydn, and Respighi. After that, we split off into groups of two to practice duets which Dileep had just assigned us. I got paired with a boy named Addison, who is ten years old. Addison was really fun to play with. He was really good, really nice, and he was really easy to work with. We also did master classes in which four of us got to play during the week. I did not get to play in any of the master classes. That didn't disappoint me, because playing in front of people makes me nervous, especially people who know me.

On Friday, we had a concert where we performed our duets, solos, and ensemble music. First, Dileep had a dres rehearsal with Scott (who as playing an Arabesque) with the pianist who was performing with us. Then a camera man came in and filmed our rehearsal. After that, Dileep got interviewed. I think it was for the Chicago Clarinet Ensemble. They were looking at his work as a teacher. Next, we had dress rehearsals with the pianist.

When the concert finally came, I was really nervous that I was going to mess up. We first did our duets. Addison and I did really well. Next were the solos. I did well mostly, except that I messed up in the technically difficult parts. The pianist was playing faster than I could play and I didn't know how to slow her down. Still, I feel like I played really expressively, and I finished with a feeling that I did really good.

It was a really fantastic week, and I hope I can come back next year.

Thanks, Dileep!

Quintet Attaca - Woodwind Chamber Camp

2010-06-25T20:08:00.000-07:00

This week, I went to a woodwind chamber camp directed by Quintet Attacca. Quintet Attacca is a woodwind quintet who are the 2nd woodwind quintet to ever win the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. They are incredible musicians, great teachers, and really nice people. This is my second year going to their woodwind chamber camp. Both years, I had a great time.

This year was different than last year, because there were more kids there. I played in a quintet and a large chamber group. We performed a Beethoven woodwind quintet (Op. 71) and Gopak by Mussorgsky in my quintet, and we performed 2 movements of Gounod's Petite Symphony in the larger group.

I really enjoyed being a part of this. The coaching was really good, and the other kids were very nice. I hope I can go back next year, because it was such an amazing experience -- even moreso than last year.

Thanks, Quintet Attacca!

Knee Injury and Quintet Camp

2010-06-21T19:12:00.000-07:00

Knee Injuries Make Time for Clarinet Practice

Last week, while I was playing soccer, I injured my knee. I dislocated my patella. It was the last game of the season, and my team had won ever game so far. I scored a goal and had an assist in the first half, and I was really excited about playing soccer because I had been watching World Cup.

But then it happened.

I was tackling another player, and stepped wrong and slid. My knee hurt, but I was wondering why. I just fell over! But then I looked at my knee and I panicked, because it was in totally the wrong spot! My kneecap was on the side of my leg! It looked horrible. I tried to unbend my knee, but the pain was unbearable.

They called an ambulance, and I got stretchered off the field and rushed to the hospital. I was in so much pain, they gave me morphine. I thought they would have to do surgery or something to get my knee back into place, but all they had to do was manipulate my knee, and pop! It went back into place. It still hurt a lot, but it nearly as painful once they relocated it.

Now I'm on crutches, and I won't be doing sports for 3-4 months. Oh well, at least I get to play my clarinet a lot more.

Quintet Attaca Camp

This week, I am going to Quintet Attacca Camp in Winnetka at the Music Institute of Chicago. It's a woodwind quintet camp, which means that there are oboes, clarinets, bassoons, french horns, and flutes.

I'm in a quintet with my friend Nathan, and Tom and Tom, a bassoonist and an oboeist around the same age. Our flute part is being played by Jennifer Clippert who is a member of Quintet Attaca. I'm also in a larger ensemble where we're playing Petite Symphonie by Gounod with several members of the Quintet Attacca.

I went last year and had a great time. So far this year it's a lot of fun, but the music seems a lot easier than it did last year. I think that's because I got a lot better this year, and the music isn't much harder than last year. Still it's fun.

Interview with Anthony McGill!

2010-05-30T17:50:00.000-07:00

On Friday I had the opportunity to interview my favorite clarinetist, Anthony McGill, after the dress rehearsal for his concert with the Chicago Clarinet Ensemble. I went to the dress rehearsal because my teacher, Dileep Gangoli is in the Chicago Clarinet Ensemble. I had a lesson just before the dress rehearsal, and then Dileep took me to the rehearsal. After the dress rehearsal my teacher recorded me interviewing Mr. McGill. It was really fun, but I was terrified. I didn't know how hard it was going to be to interview someone famous.

Because my piano teacher Barbara Rubenstein suggested it, I wrote the questions out ahead of time and practiced them with a glass head with a beret. Mr. McGill was really cool and really nice. And he was very patient with me stumbling over my questions.

Interview with Anthony McGill

Video Transcription

Torin: Hello, I’m Torin. What’s your name?

Anthony McGill: I’m Anthony McGill.

I have some questions for you, Anthony McGill.

Cool.

Okay, my first question is: I would like to know how you interpret a piece. I have the Weber Concerto on a recording by Martin Frost, Richard Stoltzman, and Sabine Meyer. I like the Martin Frost version the best, because it is less aggressive than the Stoltzman and it has a fuller tone than the Sabine Meyer Do you listen to other recordings before you try to interpret a piece?

Yeah, well, I actually when especially when I was younger used to listen to lots of different recordings, and it gave me an idea of what I would like to sound like and all of the different varieties of playing and phrasing and color that you can get in the clarinet, and so I think it’s actually very important to listen to other players so you can get a concept. Nowadays, I don’t listen to that that many clarinet players, but I admire lots of those people you just named. So, next question?

Is Itzak Perlman as nice as Yoyo Ma? Because my sister performed for Yoyo Ma. (And I should have said, my sister said he was very nice, but I was nervous and forgot).

Yeah, Itzak Perlman is really nice and Yoyo Ma is really nice as well, and they’re both really funny. They’re probably the funniest people I’ve ever met. And they’re also really great musicians, obviously.

Why did you choose clarinet as your instrument? Did you consider anything else? Did anyone influence your choice of the clarinet?

Well, my older brother played the flute, and so I wanted to play a wind instrument, but I wanted to play saxophone, but it was too big for me, so they told me to play the clarinet and switch to the saxophone later, but I never did.

I had the same thing with bassoon. I wanted to play bassoon, but I switched to the clarinet while I was waiting. (What I meant to say was that I was too small to play bassoon, so they told me to start on clarinet, and I’m never switching now because I love clarinet. But I forgot. Interviews are hard.)

Oh really?

What’s your least favorite part about being a clarinetist?

Oooh. Least favorite part about being a clarinetist…it’s hard sometimes , but then again, I guess every instrument is hard. You know, we have to try to find good reeds, and good instruments, and mouthpieces, and all of that stuff, but I really enjoy making music on the clarinet, that’s the really really fun part.

Oh, okay. Are you going to audition for the CSO, because I would like to see you perform some more often?

Oh, great. I have auditioned for the CSO, and I haven’t quite made it, gotten into the orchestra yet, but I, you know, I might keep trying.

That’s all the questions I have for you. Thank you.

Thanks a lot.

___________________________________________________

This is Sven. He is very helpful when preparing an interview.

Anthony McGill and the Chicago Clarinet Ensemble

2010-05-30T17:17:00.000-07:00

On Friday, I went to a concert featuring Anthony McGill and the Chicago Clarinet Ensemble. For those of you who don’t know, Anthony McGill is the principal clarinet of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in New York City. He’s won all sorts of awards, and he is a well known virtuoso in the world of classical musicians. He’s most famous for playing at Obama’s inauguration with Yoyo Ma and Itzak Perlman. He is also my favorite clarinetist. This was a great concert, and I really enjoyed myself.

When he played the Concertino by Carl Maria von Weber, Anthony McGill really showed us what virtuoso he is with an amazing performance. I loved his phrasing and emotional expression. His slow parts had a very sweet and dark tone and his fast parts were very in control. He shaped his phrases so beautifully. His movement matched his musical expression, and he was very fun to watch. After the piece was over, I wanted him to play it again – maybe ten or twenty times.

The Latin American piece Four for Four by Jorge Montilla, started the concert. The bass clarinet solo really stood out. Mr. Tuttle had enormous control, especially the high register. He had a very full and big sound, but sweet. The first movement sounded like the bass clarinet was making a very important speech and the Bb and Eb clarinets were whispering, chattering, and laughing behind his back while he made his very important speech. All four musicians worked together very well.

The second piece they played was called Paquito by Andy Scott. I love this piece! I like how the high and low parts play off of each other, like they’re bouncing. It was like many things happening at the same time in a crowded room. The piece is very busy, but in a good way. The parts split off and go in different directions and come back together again. This was my favorite piece (outside of the McGill performance).

Throughout the entire concert, Rose Sperrazza was very funny between performances. I liked the way she talked to the audience like they were a group of her very good friends. She showed great leadership for the other musicians.

The last performance before the intermission was the world premier of Tres Canciones by Leo Schwartz who was there conducting. The first pieces of the concert were very physical and grounded in reality. This piece was very eerie and otherworldly. It was like you were floating around in a dreamworld. The third movement was like you woke up and you saw things how they really were again and that the world wasn’t just a dream. I thought the counter-tenor was odd. I’m not sure if I’ve ever heard a counter-tenor before, but Lon Ellenberger's performance was very good and it helped create the floating feel of the piece.

The Merit School clarinetists played Simple Gifts arranged by Ricky Lombardo. This arrangement of this famous American folk song played by students of Merit School made me think of the Aaron Copland Appalachian Springs movement that features this theme in many variations, and the John Williams piece from the inauguration. It was a great choice because it is a great tribute to Anthony McGill who was a student of Merit when he was young.

The concert ended with First Suite in Eb by Gustav Holst. It was nice to hear a Holst piece that WASN’T the Planets. I really liked how the clarinets could cover all of the parts of an orchestral piece that was written for many different instruments. It was neat how the clarinets sounded like clarinets, but at the same time, they gave the impression of strings and brass, and filled up the auditorium with their sound. Wow!

I wish I could travel in time so I could watch the concert again.

Anthony McGill Comes to Chicago

2010-05-28T20:55:00.000-07:00

Tonight, I heard an amazing concert featuring Anthony McGill and the Chicago Clarinet Ensemble. I would write more tonight, but I am exhausted, so I think I'll start the review in the morning.

The words that come to mind initially are: amazing, outstanding, magnificent. More tomorrow.

MYA Concert Orchestra

2010-05-25T16:51:00.000-07:00

I MADE IT!!!!!!!

Hear them play.

Waiting for Audition Results from MYA

2010-05-24T06:37:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of April, I auditioned for the Concert Orchestra at Midwest Young Artists. I know that the results should be mailed out this week, and I'm really nervous about whether I'm going to make it or not. I think it may be more nerve-wracking to wait for audition results than it is to actually audition.

Lately, I'm working on the Danzi Concerto, a little on the Stamitz Concerto, and a lot on the Saint-Saens Sonata. I really like the Saint-Saens Sonata.

Oh, and I'm thinking about going to the Geneva Grandquist music competition at the end of June.

I really want school to end so I can play more music!

Three for Three Concert at Northeastern University

2010-05-05T07:38:00.000-07:00

On Monday, I went to Northeastern University to see a piano trio perform "Three for Three." The trio was made up of a great clarinetist named Rose Sperrazza, a cellist from the CSO named Gary Stucka, who was also great, and Shirley Trissell, a pianist. I'm not sure, but I think I saw her at MYA playing the piano accompaniments for a master class. She's really good.

I went to the concert with Sam Sitzmann, a fifth grader who is a friend of mine. Sam is an outstanding cellist. The group played trios by Beethoven, Muczynski, and Brahms. I am playing the Beethoven, and my friend Sam and my brother Ari are working on the cello and piano parts so hopefullly, we'll be able to play it together soon. It took a long time to get from Buffalo Grove to Northeastern, so I was glad to have Sam with us. When we finally arrived, we had to look for a little while to find the recital hall where the performance was going to take place. We also had to find the parking office to get a parking permit so that our car wouldn't get a ticket. When we finally did all those things, we went to the performance, which was going to start in another 15 minutes.

They opened with the Beethoven. The first movement was really good with some technical sections that are hard to play. They played the first movement quite beautifully, and they made it look easy. The 2nd movement was carried off with great expression, and I enjoyed that a lot as well. While I enjoyed the third movement, and the musicians communicated very well together when they played it, I didn't like one decision that they made. Instead of putting in a slight pause between each variation, like a breath mark, they played through each variation in a row without pausing. The third movement is almost like a bunch of little songs (or variations on a simple theme) stuck together all in a row. I have a version of this piece on MP3 played by Richard Stoltzmann and Yoyo Ma, and in this recording there is a little more space between each variation. I could be wrong, but I like that better, because it there is time to prepare for the next variation, since each variation has a different feel. Still, I really liked the way they played this piece.

The second piece they played was the Muczynski. I think the 3 musicians played it really well, even though I don't think I like the piece very much. I have only heard it once, and I have to hear it a few more times before I decide. It is very wild and contemporary. After a short intermission, they played the best piece of the series by Brahms. The first movement of it was really fun and expressive. The second movement was beautifully smooth. The third movement was really nice and the last movement was really exciting. The last movement sounded very much like a conversation between the instruments, and when the mood of the piece changed, the musicians changed with it very well. I really want to play the Brahms now. Sam said his favorite piece of the three was the Brahms too.

I loved this concert, and I want to see all of these musicans perform again.

New Practice Record and New Pieces

2010-05-04T10:29:00.000-07:00

Last week, I made a new practice record. 14 hours and 45 minutes in just 3 days! That made a total of 18 hours for the week. I've practiced more in a week, but that was the most I have ever practiced over 3 days.

Running track in addition to playing soccer caused me to have shin splints and Osgood Slatters, and my legs hurt too much to go to soccer practice or play outside much, so I made good use of the time.

Oh, and I'm working on some new pieces: The Saint-Saens Sonata, the Danzi Concerto, and the Beethoven clarinet, cello, and piano trio.

MYA's Last Big Concert of the Year

2010-04-29T16:55:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday I had a MYA concert at Pick Staiger Theater at Northwestern University. It went really well! We played Saber Dance and Dance of the Rose Maidens by Khachaturian, Highlights From Wicked by Schwartz and a concerto by Vivaldi.

Before the concert, in the morning my mom took me to my clarinet teacher Dileep's house where I had a lesson. Then he took me to a neighborhood brunch party where I met some people from his neighborhood. They served crepes and grapes and lots of other things, but I only ate some grapes. I met two other musicians there. Dileep introduced me as his student and a good clarinetist. One of the guests said that he was interested in playing clarinet. He asked me what what was the most important thing for a clarinetist. I told him lots and lots and lots of practice and a little talent were the best combination.

After the brunch, Dileep dropped me off at the theater for my dress rehearsal. I met my friends Anatole, Nathan, Marc the clarinetist/saxophone player, Marc the trombone player, and Natalie, the first chair violist. First we played Dance of the Rose Maidens and Saber Dance. We did very well on both of them. The concerto by vivaldi didn't have any violins or winds so I sat out of it. It was really good. The four violin soloists gave a wonderful performance. Last we played Highlights from the musical Wicked which really needed some work. After the dress rehersal I went and got lunch at the student union. I have come to know that place well. I always get sushi there.

After lunch, I went backstage and waited for the concert to start. The Reading and Cadet Orchestras did very well. Finally, it was our turn to play just before the intermission. The Vivaldi was amazing. I think we pulled off the Khatchaturian pretty well -- Marc Turenne's saxophone solo was pretty awesome, but I think Wicked really needed a lot more work. Oh well, maybe next time. Alltogether, I thought we had a good concert.

When the intermission ended, the Concert Orchestra took the stage. My brother plays 3rd chair viola in this orchestra. This orchestra was amazing. Capriccio Espagnol by Rimsky-Korsakov was so stirring that I was almost in tears when they were done. This piece has a lot of clarinet solo parts. Theo Mavrakis has a great sound, and his phrasing was stupendous. I really got the music when he played it. The first violin Rachel Stenzel had some fantastic solos as well. She was amazing. She sounds so mature when she plays, more like a professional than a student musician. It's hard to believe she's in middle school. Wow! Many times throughout the piece, it sounded like the Rachel and Theo were having a musical conversation. It was very exciting. All of the soloists did a wonderful job.

The second piece they played was movements of the Carmen ballet by Bizet. I tend to notice the clarinet soloists more than other solos for obvious reasons. Liah Watt has several solos in this piece, which she pulled off quite well. She had a beautiful tone. I was surprised that they ended with this piece, because the ending of the first piece is more of a show stopper, but every thing I have seen his orchestra do this year has been great. The concert ended with the Honors Wind Symphony which played very well.

This was the last big concert of the year. Another great year at MYA! I'm really looking forward to next year.

MYA Audition

2010-04-14T10:07:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago during spring break I auditioned for MYA's Concert Orchestra. The pieces I auditioned on were the third movement of Five Bagatellas by Finzi and the first movement of Stamitz's third clarinet concerto. When I arrived at MYA, I went into a practice room. I was nervious. When I was warming up, I played too fast, and I messed up notes that I don't normally mess up. When I found out Mr. Pearson ( my orchestra's conductor) was the one recording my audition I was relieved. I like Mr. Pearson. He is friendly and energetic, and he makes everyone feel comfortable. Still, the same group of judges would look at my audition tape, even if the person recording me was someone I didn't know or someone who made me nervous.

Three of my siblings were auditioning around the same time as I was. My sisters played first. My sister Eowyn was auditioning on horn, and afterwards Mr. Pearson told me that she had done very well.

I went back to the practice room, and I kept practicing, better than before but still not as good as I normally play. After my other sister Rowena auditioned on cello, and my older brother Ari finished auditioning on viola, it was my turn. I started to feel really nervous again. I stared at the music stand, outside of the office that listed all of the people auditioning that day and their grade in school. My grade was listed as 78. I think my mom made a mistake. I laughed about my mom, and that made some of my nevousness go away. Mr. Pearson said that it was time, and I went in and started my audition. I played my scales really well, and I was surprised because I thought I wouldn't do very well, because I didn't do well in the practice room. I've memorized all of my major scales for 2 or 3 octaves, and I play them every day. Still, auditions make easy things seem hard. Then I played my orchestral excerpts, and I played the Finzi. Finally it was time for my hardest picece the Stamitz concerto. The piece seemed to drag on and onl, but I did really well.

After the audition I went home thinking I had done my best. If I make the Concert Orchestra, that will be great. I will be very excited. But if I don't, that's okay too. I like playing in my current orchestra, and there's always next year. If I've learned anything about auditions this year, it's that you never can tell what the judges will think.

Loren Kitt and Anton Stadler Both Play the Mozart Kegelstatt

2010-03-09T07:27:00.000-08:00

The Kegelstatt Trio is a chamber piece for clarinet, piano, and viola. It was written by Mozart while he was playing Skittles, which is kind of like table bowling. I'm working on this piece with my brother Ari who plays viola and a pianist named Addison. Mozart wrote the piece for his clarinet friend Anton Stadler.

A critic from Mozart's time wrote, "I would not have thought that a clarinet could imitate the human voice so deceptively as you imitate it. Your instrument is so soft, so delicate in tone that no-one who has a heart can resist it." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Stadler).

This reminds me of a master class at MYA taught by John Bruce Yeh this past weekend. Mr. Yeh said that you should sing your song before you play it to get a good feel for the phrasing. He said that music should imitate the human voice.

When he said that, I was terrified that he might ask me to sing in front of everyone, so I was determined not to volunteer to play. I also didn't want to play, because a lot of the wind players there were older and more experienced than me. While I don't want to sing, because I don't like singing, it actually makes a lot of sense.

Here is a link to Loren Kitt, playing the third movement to the Kegelstatt. His playing is very soft and delicate, and I like it very much. http://www.acplayers.com/music/mozart-trio.mp3

Hope - A Review

2010-02-22T08:59:00.000-08:00

At the 2nd half of the concert yesterday, the Chorale, Voices Rising, and the Concert Orchestra performed Hope, a piece written by Gary Frye, who is on staff at MYA.

I loved this piece! First, there was a narration by John Hultman. The whole thing was inspired by president Obama's speech. The music was interesting. I really liked the way the word "hope" sung in 4 part harmony swelled over the orchestra. I also liked how the orchestra and the singing balanced each other out. Each part was equally important. The music filled me with joy and hope.

I'm not sure how to say how much I liked it, except to say that I loved every minute of it. I want to hear it again. They are performing it next in New York. Maybe I should go there to hear it again...

A Good February Concert

2010-02-22T08:33:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I had an MYA Concert at Pick-Staiger Theater. My group played the first movement of Beethoven's First Symphony. Before the concert, we had a dress rehearsal. The dress rehearsal didn't go so well. My orchestra had trouble keeping a stead tempo. We rushed through the easier parts, and we got lost in the faster parts. Mr. Pearson stopped conducting sometimes, and just watched us. The orchestra kept playing without a conductor, while Mr. Pearson just watched us. It was obvious that we weren't watching him. I was thinking that the concert was going to be a disaster.

An hour and a half later, it was time for the concert. I didn't get to hear the first two groups perform because I was backstage. That's too bad because I heard that the Cadet Orchestra played wonderfully. Finally, it was our turn to perform. We did much better than the dress rehearsal, but it wasn't perfect. It wasn't the best we've ever played, but it wasn't the worse. I think we can do better next concert.

Sabine Meyer

2010-02-07T20:56:00.000-08:00

Recently, I got a copy of Sabine Meyer playing the 3rd Stamitz Concerto. I really liked it. When she plays the Stamitz, she sounds so amazing. I like how cute and chirpy she plays her staccato notes. Her playing is so smooth, it's like silk.

Sabine Meyer started her career Berlin Philharmonic. The men in the orchestra resented her because she was a woman, even though the conductor von Karajan thought she was the best. She played there for a short time, and she had to leave because the orchestra, which was mostly men, voted her out. After that, she became a full time soloist, and one of the best in the world. I wonder what the men who voted her out of the Berlin Philharmonic think about her now.

It was unfair that she was voted out, but maybe it was a good experience, because I think she must like being a soloist. She might have been stuck in the Berlin Philharmonic for all of her life and not realize what a great soloist she could be.

Three Things

2010-01-25T10:50:00.000-08:00

I have three things to write about today.

Legere Reeds

Legere synthetic reeds are plastic instead of wood. I tried the Legere reed because my Vandoren reeds were warping in the cold weather. It was so bad that I could barely play a reed after using it for only one day.

I went to my lesson, and I couldn't play on my regular reed or my spare reed. I didn't know why, until Dileep (my teacher) looked at one of my reeds. He saw that it was badly warped. And this was a new reed! He gave me a Legere reed to try instead. It was clear, which was weird. I'd never played on a clear reed before, much less a plastic one.

I loved it. The tone quality was better than my old Vandoren reeds. I could immediately start playing without warming up too much. In the future, I think I'll use Legere reeds. I already had my mom order some from Woodwind & Brasswind.

2nd Seating Audition for MYA
On Saturday, I had another seating audition for my youth orchestra. I went in thinking that I was totally prepared. I had practiced the section plenty, and I could play it at a good tempo. I rarely made mistakes when practicing at home or rehearsing with the orchestra. The audition covered around 20-30 measures of the first movement of Beethoven's 1st Symphony.

Unfortunately, I went into the audition room. I picked up my clarinet, told the recorder my name, and started play. I got to this one part, and I messed up. So I started again. I messed up on the same part a second time, and this was a part that I never messed up on! I started again, and I did the part that I kept messing up and then I messed up another part 2 notes later! It was a disaster. I kept going this time, because I had started over too many times. I messed up again on another difficult section before finished, and this was a part that I had down almost perfectly the day before! I was even playing on my new Legere reed.

I felt so frustrated. Not only did I mess up on a song, but I messed up on a piece I totally knew cold! My mom said that everyone has a bad day and I would do better next time, not to worry. So I'm expecting last chair. I really wanted to make first chair. Oh well, maybe next time.

Interlochen Recording
Today, I made a test recording for my Interlochen audition. Interlochen is a summer fine arts camp in Michigan. It's supposed to be a really good experience, and I'm really looking forward to it. To get a spot in the Intermediate program, I need to record an audition and send it in by the end of this week. I've been working on two pieces: The 1st movement of the 3rd Stamitz Concerto and the 2nd movement of Finzi Five Bagatelles.

Here is a link to one of the pieces I recorded. Lots of improvement since the fall, but still a long long way to go. http://www.youtube.com/user/breuddwydiol#p/a/u/1/6Z69yGAy5DE
This is after 400 hours of practice.

The Haitian Earthquake

2010-01-14T19:59:00.000-08:00

The earthquake in Haiti is the cause of major damage. Hundreds of thousands of people are dead, missing, or injured. Many of the hospitals have collapsed so the injured can't get treated by doctors. Haiti is a poor country so many of the buildings aren't strong enough to withstand an earthquake like this one. There are so many dead bodies that most of them can't be buried. After the disaster people will face disease, thirst, and hunger and more people could die.

We should help the Haitians by donating blood and by sending them money. It would be a terrible thing to go through: family members dying all around you, the stink of rotting bodies, and the dying people's screams. I feel terrible for the Haitians. If I had to go through what they are going through, I would probably have nightmares for the rest of my life. We really should help them.

The International Band and Orchestra Midwest Clinic

2010-01-01T19:07:00.000-08:00

On Friday December 18, 2009 I went to the Midwest Clinic for Band and Orchestra at McCormick Place downtown. My friend Nathan and his mom were going, and they invited me to come. They came and picked me up at 9:30 in the morning. We got there at 10:00 and bought our tickets. First, we wandered around the vendors looking at instruments. There were many vendors. Nathan found a horn stand where he tried every horn there. He especially liked one of the Holtons which he had been wanting to get for a long time, but his mom thinks that it costs too much money. At 11:00 we went to see the Hebron High School Clarinet Choir from Carrollton, Texas. A clarinet choir is when a whole ensemble of clarinets plays together. They had Eb clarinets, a bunch of Bb clarinets, a few bass clarinets, and two contra-bass clarinets. They were amazing! We watched them for an hour. I loved how smoothly they connected their notes and their phrasing was pretty good too.

Next we went to lunch. Nathan and I had a piece of pizza. We couldn't find seats for a while, so when we finally found seats, our plastic silverware had melted on our pizza! After lunch we went and looked at sheet music. I found a song I really wanted: Mozarts clarinet concerto in A major, but it was too expensive. We went back to the vendors and I tried out some clarinets. I tried a Bliss clarinet, the wooden one, which was a lot different than the clarinet I normally use. It felt different in a good way, and it was easier to get used to than my new clarinet, which is a Buffet R13. I got the R13 for Chanukah, and I love it, but I want a Bliss clarinet now too.

After Nathan and I finished trying out instruments his mom drove us home. We wanted to stay to see another ensemble that played in the evening, but Nathan's mom didn't want to stay that long. It took us a whole hour to get home because of traffic. When we got to my house Nathans mom stayed around a talked for a bit and then left. It was a wonderful day. I hope I can go to the Midwest Clinic next year! And I'm going to remember to bring a mouthpiece so it is easier to try out new clarinets.

Practicing 5 Hours in 1 Day!

2009-11-16T19:10:00.000-08:00

Today, I started working on the first movement of Beethoven's 1st Symphony, which my youth orchestra is playing. I think Beethoven really must like oboes, because there are a lot of oboe solos in the piece.

Also, today I practiced for 5 hours for the very first time in one day.

IMEA District 7 Music Festival

2009-11-10T09:48:00.001-08:00

On Saturday I went to the IMEA All-District festival. They are the people who put on the solo and ensemble festival and the all-district and all-state band concerts in Illinois. It's for kids who play music in the public schools. Earlier in the year I tried out for it and made it.

On Saturday, I my mom woke me up to get ready for IMEA. I was tired, but excited. I went downstairs, ate breakfast, packed my clairenet, and grabbed my music. I got in the car and my mom drove me to the high school where the IMEA All-District festival was taking place. The building was big and confusing with a bunch of different wings. My mom's strategy was to follow the stream of kids dressed in black pants and white shirts. This led us to the orchestra rehearsal room, which was on the exact opposite side of the school from where the band was rehearsing. I did warn her that we were following people with violas and violins. Fortunately, the school's choral director walked us across the school to the band rehearsal room. When we got there my mom left to find my school band director. I unpacked my clarinet and went to the band room.

The band room was basically a plain room with chairs, music stands, and lots of quotations on the wall. While I waited for the conductor to show up, I got out my music and practiced the Stamitz Concerto. When he arrived he made a speech about how honored he was to direct this band. He told us to introduce ourselves to the people next to us. I was sitting 6th chair between two 8th grade girls. They were very tall, but they were very nice. There weren't very many 6th graders there, but there were several kids from MYA there.

After that rehearsal, we went to the stage where we were going to perform, and had another rehearsal. The second rehearsal was much longer than the first. We practiced Chimes of Liberty and Nettleton on the stage. Then we went back to the rehearsal room, and practiced again before lunch. We mostly worked on the third movement of the Fanfare Ode and Festival. We had already played about two and a half hours and we were only half way done! I practice a lot at home, so I wasn't tired yet.

At lunch I met my brother Ari's friend Raffi. Raffi plays trombone at MYA in the Concert Orchestra. We ate lunch together. Raffi was playing euphonium, not trombone, because he wanted to do something on his euphonium for a change. We were in the lunch room for about forty-five minutes. We had sausage pizza for lunch, and it was great. I spent the last fifteen minutes of the break practicing the Stamitz Concerto some more. While I was practicing the director, Dr. Cunningham, walked up to me and asked me if I was playing the Stamitz Clarinet Concerto. I said, "Yes!" He told me that I was playing it really well.

After the break Dr. Cunningham told us that we had some really talented players here. He said that he had heard some really great solos during the break. When he said that, he was looking at me, which made me feel really proud! We rehearsed for about an hour and forty-five minutes. That made a total four hours and fifteen minutes of rehearsing. I thought it would be more like five hours but I was fine with less.

Finally, it was time to go to the concert. I was very nervous at first, but I felt fine after a few minutes of talking with my friends. Chatting with the others made me feel more confident. After the junior chorus who performed before us went offstage, it was our turn. We came onstage and got ready to perform. The pieces went off with only a few mistakes, which were all almost unnoticable. We went offstage, turned our music in, and I went to meet my mom downstairs. It was an exciting day. I had a great time!

MYA Concert

2009-11-07T16:49:00.000-08:00

I had an MYA concert at the Pick Staiger Theater at Northwestern University on Sunday. There were five other groups performing besides the Philharmonia, which is my orchestra. Philharmonia was playing March to the Scaffold by Berlioz and The Prometheus Overture.

I arrived around 10:00 am, and I read a book called Maximum Ride till my friends got there. I arrived early because my brother, who is concert orchestra, had a dress rehearsal for his orchestra a couple of hours earlier than mine.

Nathan, the horn player, and Natalie, the principal violist, are two of my friends, and they arrived early for the rehearsal too. We talked until it was time to go to the dress rehearsal, which was on the stage. We talked about music and about the upcoming performance. Finally, it was time; I put my clarinet together and warmed up with chromatic scales and got in the line for the dress rehearsal. The rehearsal went smoothly, and we only had to play March to the Scaffold once and The Prometheus Overture twice. Mr. Pearson seemed to think that we were ready.

After the rehearsal, My brother Ari and I went to the Student Union to get lunch. We had sushi for lunch. It was okay sushi, but not great. It was fun to hang out at a college on my own with just my brother. While we were eating, I saw Anatole there, who was also getting sushi. Anatole is another of my friends in the orchestra. He plays the violin and likes to garden. After we ate, we played foosball in the Student Union until it was time to go to the concert. I dominated. We stayed at the Student Union for about an hour.

The concert was starting at 2:00 pm, but I arrived at 1:45. I went up to the balcony where all the people in MYA, who weren't performing until after the intermission, were sitting. The kids were mostly quiet but a few were talking. First, we watched the Reading orchestra play. The orchestra was tiny, but they were very cute. Then the Jazz Ensemble, the Cadet Orchestra, Voices Rising, and the Jazz orchestra performed. Nathan didn't like the two jazz groups. I didn't either. They were really good, but we're not jazz fans.

When the intermission started, it was time to go backstage. I was kind of nervous, but I was determined to stop feeling nervous before performing. The kids were very serious backstage during intermission. They weren't talking very much, and some people were practicing their parts while we waited. When the intermission ended, it was time to go on stage. Being on stage was terrifying, but it was short-lived, because we were only on the stage for eleven minutes, and I really liked the pieces we were playing. When we were finished, there was a lot of applause, and I think the applause is my favorite part of performing. After we finished, we packed up our instruments and went up to the top of the balcony, so we could watch the Concert Orchestra play. They were amazing! They played two movements of The Reformation Sympony by Mendelssohn. Listening to the Concert Orchestra perform was the best part of the day.

After the concert, my family and my grandparents went out for sushi. We ordered a little to much but we still finished it off. I was so stuffed, I didn't even want ice cream for dessert. When we finally arrived home, I thought on the events of the day. I decided then that this had been the best day I'd had since school started in August.

2009-10-28T14:48:00.000-07:00

On Sunday I'll be going to my Midwest Young Artists concert. I'm very excited about it. In the concert my orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra will be playing March to the Scaffold by Berlioz and The Prometheus Overture by Beethoven. My orchestra will be performing at Pick-Staiger at Northwestern. It's too bad that I'm not playing first part or the solo but I'll still have a great time. I can't wait!

Here's a link to the concert page.

The Third Chair Disaster

2009-10-26T16:47:00.000-07:00

I just found out on Saturday that I made third chair in my MYA seating audition. When I looked at the chair seatings, I found the clarinet section, and I looked for my name. It was the third name on the list. I felt sick to my stomach. I cared a lot about this seating audition. I practiced a lot for it. In the month leading up to the audition, I had practiced the selections for hours and hours. The day before the seating audition, I had practiced the audition selections for 3 hours total!

There are 4 chairs in the clarinet section in the Philharmonia Orchestra. So that makes me second to last, and I have the 2nd part. The 2nd part is so much easier and less interesting than the 1st part. I have a 27 measure rest in The Prometheus Overture!

When you try really hard for something, and you don't succeed, it feels terrible. You feel like you aren't very smart and you're not very good at what you are doing. It crushes your confidence.

After I found out my audition placement, I was really upset for around 15 minutes, but then I said to myself: even though I'm third chair, I can still get the solo when we have an audition for that, because there is a short clarinet solo in March to the Scaffold. I had also worked hard to learn how to play the solo well.

But then there was another disaster! When we were rehearsing March to the Scaffold with Mr. Pearson, and we got to the solo part, all of the clarinets played it. Then Mr. Pearson said that the solo was supposed to be played only by the first chair clarinet. But it wasn't even a part of the seating audition!

Before the chair seating results, I was feeling great about practicing everyday. I practiced a lot, and I practiced eagerly. But after getting third chair, I didn't really want to practice at all. I didn't practice on Saturday, and I only got to practicing on Sunday at 10:00 at night.

I found this web page that helped me think about the situation in a different way.

The article talks about 3 different ways to deal with failing at something you have worked hard for.

1. Some people give up, blame other people, and blame circumstances for failing. Don't do this.

2. Some people keep doing the same thing over and over again with more determination without changing their strategy. You can do this, but I wouldn't advise it.

3. Some people change their strategy and try again. If they fail again, they change their strategy again and try again. They do this until they succeed. This is the best idea.

Today and last night I changed my strategy and tried again. I assumed that the problem with my practicing wasn't that I didn't practice enough, but that I didn't practice deliberately enough. So last night and today, I practiced my scales and my technical exercises for a long time very very carefully. I payed attention to my tone and the connections between the notes. When I played some solos for fun after this type of practice, I played them better than I usually do. Maybe this strategy will work and I won't make 3rd chair again.

Maybe it won't. If it doesn't, I'll change my strategy and try again.

Synergy Brass Quintet

2009-10-25T12:30:00.000-07:00

Last night I went to see the Synergy Brass Quintet at MYA. It was a fun experience. Before the performance, I saw three of my friends there. I was expecting to see Nathan. Nathan is a horn player in my MYA orchestra. He's a pretty cool guy. He's a lot like me, I think. He's really good at playing his horn, he practices a lot, and he likes the same kind of music I like: classical. I was surprised and happy to see Micah there. He plays on my soccer team, and he doesn't play at MYA so I wasn't expecting him there. I was also surprised to see Matthew, a trumpet player from my school band. Matthew and Micah don't play at MYA, but they were there for similar reasons. Micah's brother and Matthew's nephew wanted to see the quintet, and so Micah and Matthew came along with their family.

Here's a youtube video of Synergy Brass Quintet.

The quintet was really good. They played mostly classical pieces for the first half, and for the second half, they played mostly contemporary music. The first half of the performance was my favorite part by far. The quintet played some fun classical pieces. They played In the Hall of the Mountain King by Grieg, a Norwegian composer. I like Grieg because I'm part Norwegian. They played a Mozart horn concerto, which was really good. The tuba player played an extremely hard violin concerto, which was really funny, because the violin concerto moves very fast, and it is much harder to play fast on tuba than it is on a violin. It was amazing that the tuba player could do it. The trombone player played Flight of the Bumblebee, which was funny, because you don't usually think about the trombone playing it.

I loved the first half of the performance, but I didn't like the second half as much. The pieces they played were more contemporary, and I don't like contemporary pieces as much. They also had movies playing during some of the pieces in the second half, but I found that kind of distracting, because I really wanted to just listen to the music. Still, even though I didn't like that type of music as much, they still played really well. For the last song they asked whether the audience wanted a jazz or a classical piece to end their performance. Nathan, my sister, and I were shouting that we wanted a classical piece, but they played a jazz piece instead, because that's what most everyone else wanted. The jazz piece was so loud that it kind of hurt my hears. I'm not much of a jazz fan. But other than that it was a fantastic performance.

In between songs, and during the intermission, Nathan and I talked about the music, how it was played, how we liked it, and about our own music. Watching a performance with a friend was so much more fun and enjoyable than watching it with my mom or by myself, because discussing the performance was as much fun as watching it.

After the quintet finished, we stayed for a bit. First my sister Eowyn went to get all of the players autographs. She especially wanted the Horn player's autograph because she plays the French Horn. They whole band was really nice about autographs and talking about their music, and they even let me take a picture of my sister and the horn player. I also met Nathan's dad and his sister who plays the flute.

All and all it was a great performance and I had a great time.

A Day at MYA

2009-10-23T10:27:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I'm going to MYA. MYA stands for Midwest Young Artists. It is a youth orchestra program that meets in Highwood, IL. I play in the Philharmonia Orchestra which is the middle level orchestra in the program. I love MYA for five main reasons:

1. Mr. Pearson is really cool. He is my orchestra conductor.

2. The music there is challenging, but fun, and I love playing orchestra music. This concert, we are playing the Beethoven Prometheus Overture, at least I think we are. And I'm sure we are playing March to the Scaffold by Berlioz. March to the Scaffold has a cool clarinet solo, which I want to try out for.

3. I like the competition for chair seating. Every concert we have a seating audition to determine ranking in each section. It's okay if you don't do well, because there is always the next seating audition to work for if you don't like where you're placed.

4. I like the music theory program, especially this year, because Mr. Kupfer is back from Europe. Mr. Kupfer always makes you do what's hard for you. For example, I am bad at remembering my flat scales, and so Mr. Kupfer always makes me work on that during my theory class each week.

5. The kids are really nice. I have made lots of friends there.

Every week, I look forward to going to MYA. Sometimes I have conflicts because I play travel soccer. Tomorrow, I have to miss a game to go to rehearsal because I've already missed two rehearsals, and if I miss 3 rehearsals, I can't play in the concert at the end of the month. I don't want to quit soccer, but I prefer rehearsals to soccer games. And that's saying a lot, because I love soccer.

Here's a link to MYA's website.

Deliberate Practice

2009-10-22T17:47:00.000-07:00

I found a website today. It talked about practice, but not quantity like I said in my earlier post, but quality of practice.

Here is the website: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/training/becoming-an-expert-deliberate-practice-part-2.html

This was relevant today to my clarinet lesson which I had in Evanston today. My teacher's name is Dileep Gangolli. He's a good teacher. He's very nice, but he is very deliberate and painstaking during my lessons. This is a good thing, because it helps me learn to be a better clarinetist.

Today we worked on E minor scales and etudes and Fergeson's Four Short Pieces. He was unhappy with my tone. He said my technical work was great, but my tone really needed some work. I think he was right, but I still sulked for a few hours. This week, I think I need to work more on listening to the sound of the music I play and improving on my tone and the quality of my sound and the connections between the notes. Dileep said that the way to do this is to slow down and play them over and over again before moving the tempo up. This called deliberate practice, which is what the website that I posted above is about.

Today, I only practiced clarinet for one hour, because I was tired. I also practiced piano for 35 minutes. The problem with one hour practices, though, is that if you play for one hour a day, five days a week, it will take 40 years to get those 10,000 hours in. In forty years, I'll be 52 years old! I want to get there LONG before then...at least 20 years before then. Probably sooner than that.

Practicing 4 Hours in 1 Day for the First Time

2009-10-21T14:23:00.000-07:00

You Tube video of me practicing.
This is the progress I've made in around 200 hours of practice from when I first started playing clarinet.

Today, I practiced my clarinet for four whole hours. I practiced for 4 hours, because it moved me closer to my goal of 10,000 hours. Some people say that you need to practice 4 hours a day, seven days per week for 10 years to become a virtuoso. That comes out to 14,600 hours of practice. But I've heard that 10,000 hours is how many hours you need to practice something before you're an expert. 10,000 hours is really around 7 years if you are practicing that much. Still, who doesn't take a day off from time to time. Maybe 10 years is more reasonable.

Here's an article about this. http://www.infoniac.com/science/it-takes-10,000-hours-of-practice-to-become-a-genius.html

Anyway, today I practiced for four hours. It was very exhausting, maybe because I played 3 1/2 hours of soccer yesterday with little to no breaks in between. I did take take 2 breaks on my clarinet. My first practice was 1.5 hours, my second practice was 1 hour, and my third practice was 1 hour, 35 minutes. By the end of my 3rd practice and now an hour later, I'm blown out. It kind of feels like someone spent several hours twisting my lips, and now they are kind of numb.

I'm not practicing my clarinet anymore today, but I think I'll practice piano.

Making I.M.E.A.

2009-10-21T09:09:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, I tried out for I.M.E.A. IMEA stands for the Illinois Music Educators Association or something like that. They are the guys who do the all-district and all-state bands and orchestras. Because I'm in sixth grade, I can only try out for the junior band. There's no all-state junior band, just all-district. It's still a big deal, because it's 6-8th graders competing for spots.

Going to the audition was very exciting and also very nerve-wracking. I like auditions, because it is a challenge to prepare and I like competition, but they make me very nervous. I try to pretend that I am totally prepared and ready for the auditions and that I'm not nervous, and it makes me a little less nervous, but really I am still am very nervous.

When I arrived, there were tons of people coming in and out of the school where the audition was, and some of them I recognized. I was the only one from my school auditioning. I walked into the school with my mom, my sister, and my baby brother. My mom asked the person at the desk where the practice room was and where we should go for the audition. She told us where both the rooms were and we went to the practice room.

The practice room was in the gym. It was very crowded, and I saw my friend Marc there. Marc was another 6th grade clarinetist who was trying out for IMEA. I know him, because he is in the same youth orchestra as me last year and this year too. Marc is a nice kid, and he is also very funny. He likes sports like me. He plays hockey, and I play soccer.

There wasn't very much time to warm up, and all I managed to do was a chromatic scale. I was too nervous and too busy chatting with Marc to focus. Were were talking about the audition and how few sixth graders were trying out. Finally, it was time to go to my audition. We left the gym and went back to the room with the information desk and then went upstairs. The room where I was doing my audition scales was a science lab with all of the tables and equipment put to the side or in the closets which were overflowing. The judge was at the teacher's desk, and there was a music stand and chair all alone in the middle of the room. It made me feel even more nervous, because there was no one in the room except for the judge and me. I played the audition scales well. I was surprised. I thought I would make more mistakes than I did.

Then I went down the hall to the room where I did my etude and some selections from the concert pieces I had to prepare. I had to wait for someone else to finish. The person after me got to go ahead of me, because I was a little late. When I listened to the other kid play, I heard that she made a lot of mistakes. It made me feel more confident that other people were making mistakes. When she was finished, it was my turn, and I went in. This room was similar to the other room with a judge and chair and a music stand in the middle of the room. First, the judge asked me to play my etude. I played it, but I made a few mistakes. At the time, I was sure I wouldn't make it because of my mistakes. Then I played a part of Canticle and a part of Chimes of Liberty. I played them both as well as I could, and I didn't make any obvious mistakes with the notes or the rhythm.

Then I left the room. I found Marc waiting outside. He said he thought I did well. Then he went in. I listened to him play through the door. He played very well, and I was sure that he was going to beat me. Marc is a very good clarinetist. He plays very differently from me. He plays short staccato parts better than I do. I like the long melodic legato parts. I hate my staccatos!

After Marc finished his audition, we took a picture together. My mom always brings her camera, and takes too many pictures. It's kind of embarrassing. It was time to go all the way to Highwood which is like an hour away from the audition school to get to MYA for pictures. I had to change clothes in the car, and put on my uncomfy jacket and white shirt and bow tie for orchestra pictures.

All of this happened on Saturday. I was sure I wouldn't make the audition, because of the mistakes I had made. But, when I went to band on Thursday, my band teacher told me I had made first chair! I felt really good about that (and surprised). The way that they tell you if you made section-leader is to put a star next to your name. There were two names among the clarinets who made it with stars by their names. One of them was me and one of them was a kid named Theodore Mavrakis. Theodore is really really good. He won the junior woodwind divisionWalgreens Concerto competition last year (I think) and he plays in the Concert Orchestra at MYA, which is the orchestra above me. My older brother plays viola in that orchestra.

Anyway, it turns out they made a mistake. The next morning, I woke up and my mom told me that Ms. Williams had emailed her and the star by my name was a mistake. I had actually made 6th chair. I felt really disappointed, but I wasn't really surprised. I thought the day before that they might have made a mistake, because Theodore is really a lot better than me right now. Besides how could they have a chair big enough for two clarinet players to sit in it at the same time?! 6th chair seems pretty good for a 6th grader. Plus, it gives me something to shoot for for my 7th and 8th grade years. I still get to play 1st clarinet at the concert on November 7.