1/3 of the Way There!!!

As of February 16, 2013, I have practiced over 3,333 hours.  That means I am 1/3 of the way to my goal!

Here are some videos that document my progress.

3,000+ Hours, Mozart Clarinet Concerto I. Allegro

9th grade, age 15 (2013)

2,000 Hours, Rossini's Introduction, Theme and Variations

8th grade, age 14 (2012)

1,000+ Hours, Weber Concertino

7th grade, age 13 (2011)

200+ Hours, Finzi's Five Bagatelles III. Carol

5th grade, age 11 (2009)

Chicago Youth in Music Festival

Monday night I had the opportunity to rehearse under the baton of Miguel Harth-Bedoya with the Chicago Youth in Music Festival Orchestra at Symphony Center.  The Chicago Youth in Music Festival is celebration of the achievements of young musicians across the Chicago area.  Local high school students are selected in an audition process to play with mentors from the Chicago Civic Orchestra in a collaboration.  We auditioned in the fall, and we rehearsed through December and January with Cliff Colnot, a conductor, educator and musician and the Principal Conductor of the Civic Orchestra since 1994.

The experience was supposed to culminate in an open rehearsal with Maestro Riccardo Muti, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's conductor and music director.  We were all pretty excited about getting to play with Maestro Muti.  He is an amazing conductor and one of the best known known musicians in the world.  Unfortunately, Maestro Muti came down with the flu and had to cancel all of his appearances this week.  We were all really disappointed.  But, Maestro Miguel Harth-Bedoya agreed to substitute for Muti at the last minute.  He is a Grammy-nominated and Emmy Award-winning conductor who will soon be the Chief Conductor of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra in Oslo.  Now he is the Music Director of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and the Founder and Artistic Director of Caminos del Inka, a non-profit dedicated to performing and promoting the music of the Americas.  Maestro Harth-Bedoya was an amazing conductor.

I was playing 2nd clarinet with Joe Sanchez, who is a member of the Chicago Civic and a graduate of DePaul's School of Music.  Joe is a really talented clarinetist!  The two pieces we played were the first two movements of Tchaikovsky's 5th symphony and the overture to Verdi's Sicilian Vespers.   Both pieces have an important second clarinet part which was really cool.  We started with the Tchaikovsky.  The Tchaikovsky starts with a first and second clarinet unison soli that lasts a whole 2 minute.  The first time we played through it during the open rehearsal, Joe and I were not at all together at the beginning   We quickly got back together and play the rest of the piece extremely well.  After he orchestra played through the first movement, maestro Harth-Bedoya worked with Joe and I on playing louder when playing the piano at the beginning, and quieter when playing the pianissimo.  I think this really helped us make the beginning more dramatic while still following the dynamics.  He spent most the time working with the other people, getting them to accompany us better. 

Throughout the rehearsal, the thing I noticed most about maestro Harth-Bedoya was that he did everything with a lot of emotion.  You could tell he was immersed in the music, and that helped me get immersed in the music too.  During the rehearsal, you could tell that the orchestra was befitting significantly from his advice.  Another great part of the experience of playing in the festival orchestra was the advice Joe gave me on playing second clarinet.  For example, he told me I had to play louder than the first clarinet whenever I was playing the lower octave in a section.  This allows his high notes to have a solid base to float over.  I always thought that 2nd clarinet would play quieter than 1st clarinet, but Maestro Harth-Bedoya made a very good point, because the lower register doesn't project like the upper register.

The best part of the experience was probably getting to play in an orchestra of that level and getting to play in an orchestra that has a reasonable amount of people.  My orchestra is huge!  For example, it has 6 clarinets, 7 flutes, 6/7 oboes, and 4 bassoons.  In an orchestra of that size, you aren't anywhere near as exposed as you are in an orchestra with two winds on a part.  Also, you don't have to play as loud when you have solos because there are less strings to play over.  I loved playing in the orchestra, and I hope I'll have another chance to play in the festival orchestra in two years when it meets again. 

Broken Clavicle!

I haven't written since November, but here's what has been happening with me.  

Making pizza in my clavicle brace.

A few weeks ago I broke my clavicle playing volleyball!  This made practicing over winter break very difficult.  

The worst thing was that I had the Walgreens concerto competition at the end of the month.  After breaking my clavicle, I took about a week off of practicing to rest.  The next week, I could practice a little without too much pain, and so I spent the next week gaining back everything I had lost during my break.  This caused me to lose an effective two weeks of practice right before a competition!

 Even after I started practicing again, it still hurt and so I couldn't practice as much as I would have liked the week before the competition when I was back at back level I was playing before my injury.  After my performance at the competition, I felt that I did the best I could do in the situation.  I got honorable mention, so I can't complain. but I wish I hadn't injured myself so I would have had more time to prepare for the competition.  Maybe next time, I'll listen to my doctor when he says not to play any sports.

Private Lesson with Burt Hara

Burt Hara, and me, and Mr. Hara's Dog

Last week, I was in Minnesota with my brother Ari who was visiting Carleton College, because that's where he wants to go next year.  While I was there, I had the opportunity to have a lesson with Burt Hara, principal clarinetist of the Minnesota Symphony Orchestra.  It was the lesson of my life!

He was very energetic and enthusiastic, in spite of the fact that he with the rest of the Minnesota Orchestra is locked out.  This is very sad, because the Minnesota Orchestra is a really great orchestra.  I was disappointed that I couldn't see them play while I was in Minnesota.  I think the administration of the Minnesota Orchestra should resign, because they aren't doing the one important job that they are supposed to do, which is to provide the musicians with the opportunity to share their beautiful music with the people of Minnesota, the Midwest, and the world.  For more about this depressing situation, you can check out the Musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra website.  http://www.minnesotaorchestramusicians.org/

Back to the lesson.  Mr. Hara didn't work on technique of any kind.  Instead we worked on the style of the piece and how to tell a story with my music.  I started the lesson by playing the second movement of Finzi's Five Bagatelles.  After I finished, Mr. Hara asked me what I was thinking while I played. I didn't know exactly.  His response was amazing.  He said that he thought I was thinking like this:  "My tone is amazing!  I am playing beautiful dynamics.  Oh look!  A crescendo, I will increase the level of my sound by this many decibels." Mr. Hara said I was thinking things like "Isn't my playing just wonderful.  Listen to my beautiful clarinet playing!"

This made me laugh.  But he was very serious, and he was right!

Mr. Hara said, "What you need is a good director of your movie."  Then he asked me what story I wanted to tell when I played the Finzi Romanze movement.  The only answer I could give him is that the movement seemed sad.  Mr. Hara said that when he listened to this piece or when he plays it, he sees an old man.  This old man is on the brink of death and wistfully remembering the life that he has lived.  Mr. Hara then proceeded to start acting like an old man as he sat in the chair next to me.  He put his head in his hands and wept dramatically, and he acted out his role as I played the piece.  His dramatic enactment of the story helped me imagine the story as I played.

We worked through almost every measure in the piece, trying to get that feeling of reminiscence.  After we worked on the piece, my playing became twice as good on the Finzi as it had been.  Suddenly, I knew where I wanted each phrase to go, and I had an idea of what I wanted to express when I played it.

I loved Mr. Hara's teaching and was excited when he asked to hear another piece.  So I played Rossini's Introduction, Theme and Variations.  Again, we didn't work on technique of any kind.  Instead, we talked about the music.  First he had me play through the introduction, theme, and first variation.  Then we went back to the beginning and he asked me what story I was trying to tell.  The only answer I could give was that the piece was happy.  Mr Hara said that I should know before I begin what kind of story I am trying to tell.  I should have a character in mind, and everyone should know from the first note of the piece who I am.  Mr. Hara said that he thought this piece was about a young girl who is extremely cute, innocent, not very smart, and quite a bit flirtatious.  He told me to start playing, and while I was playing, he started flitting around the room, acting like a young girl, flipping his hair and twittering about.

Mr. Hara's acting really helped me get the feel of the piece, and we worked though the entire introduction, trying to tell the story of this young flirtatious girl.  Every part of my playing was better when I focused on trying to tell a story.  My technique even improved!  My high notes sounded less squeaky, my articulation better matched the piece, and the phrasing had a reason behind it.  During the only hour and a half I spent learning from Mr. Hara, my playing really took off.  I took home many new ideas about the pieces that I played.  And best of all, practicing like this is so much fun!  The lesson with Burt Hara was probably the best lesson I have ever had on clarinet  And that is saying a lot, because I have had the chance to work with some pretty amazing teachers!

Performance Last Spring at the Chicago Cultural Center

Music is extremely important to me, because with music I can express my thoughts and emotions in a way that everyone will understand, regardless of language or culture.  Music is a language that everyone speaks.  I love playing the clarinet, because it just makes me feel happy to do so.  It is as if I am transported to another world where I don’t have to worry about anything, and I can just enjoy the wonder of living.  Without music, my life would be a wasteland.  Music is the most important thing in the world to me, because it makes me feel what nothing else can make me feel, and it allows me to tell the world what I think in a very personal way.

Making music with others is an amazing way to learn about people.  In a chamber ensemble, for example, it is enjoyable to see how different people interpret the music in an intimate setting.  Everyone has different ideas about the music and different ways of carrying their ideas out.  It is really interesting to listen to the outcome of a chamber piece, when each voice sounds together in performance.  Playing with an orchestra is a similar, but grander experience.   When I am playing in an orchestra, the sounds of the orchestra pours into me and give me incredibly real thoughts of anger, bliss, depression, depending upon the composer and work of music.  I love playing music with other people.

Anthony McGill and Pacifica String Quartet

Saturday night, I got to see Anthony McGill perform with the Pacifica String Quartet.  Anthony McGill is the principal clarinet of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and he performed "Air and Simple Gifts" by John Williams with Yoyo Ma and Itzak Perlman in Obama's 2008 Inauguration.  The Pacifica String Quartet is one of the finest string quartets peforming today.  They were performing in the Music in the Loft Series.  It was a outstanding peformance!

The concert was at the Fine Arts Building in Chicago.  The performance took place in an extremely intimate setting.  I think it was a luthier, because there cellos of various sizes lined up on a rack on the wall.  The seats were packed extremely close together, and the room packed with people.  It was chamber music in a real chamber!

During the first half of the concert, the Pacifica Quartet played without Anthony McGill.  They performed the Beethoven String Quartet No. 13, Op. 130.  They were phenomenal.  I have never heard a chamber group play so completely together.  It was like they were one instrument, one person.  Simin Ganatra led the group with perfect confidence, and the men followed her perfectly, while 2nd violinist Sibbi Bernardsson, cellist Brandon Vamos, and violist Masumi Per Rostad followed her lead flawlessly.  The performance was smooth, confident and exquisite.  I loved it!

The second half of the concert was the Mozart Clarinet Quintet.  Anthony McGill was awesome!  I really loved the way he communicated with Pacifica.  The members of Pacifica have a clear and obvious connection with each other, which really comes through in their playing.  McGill slipped right into this relationship with an easy confidence.

The clarinet has a very different color than the string quartet and it is easy to stick out and overpower them, making the piece more like a clarinet concerto than a chamber piece.  But Anthony McGill achieved a perfect balance with Pacifica. His tone was dark, inviting and yet at the same time playful, very distinctly Mozart.  It was wonderful!  I loved every minute.

After the concert there was a reception.  I wanted to talk to Anthony, and tell him what a wonderful job he did.  He was talking to his parents, and I didn't want to disturb him, but he saw me and called me over and introduced me to his parents.  When his Dad, Demarre McGill, Sr. met me, he said, "You look familiar.  Are you the blogger?"  Mr. McGill, Sr. was very warm and enthusiastic.  It is easy to see why Anthony McGill is such a great guy when you meet his parents.  I talked a little with Anthony and his parents, and they were all so nice!  Plus, it is really cool that Anthony McGill's dad follows my blog!

Amazing Chicago native Chicago Clarinetist and great guy, Anthony McGill!

All in all, it was a wonderful evening, and I am so happy that I had the chance to see and hear such wonderful musicians.

Julian Bliss in Chicago!

Yesterday, I saw Julian Bliss perform live for the first time!  He was appearing at the International Beethoven Project.  Julian Bliss is a 23 year old clarinet prodigy from the United Kingdom.  He began playing the clarinet at age 4, and since then he has built an amazing career.  He is a world class soloist, and he has collaborated with some of the greatest musicians in the world in chamber music projects.  He is also famous for designing a clarinet for LeBlanc which has become quite popular.

Julian Bliss (and me).  Great clarinetist, really cool guy.

It was a wonderful concert!  Bliss played the Mihaud Sonata, Penderecki's Three Miniatures, and the Brahms Sonata (#1) in the first half.  After Intermission, he played Piazolla's Oblivion, Debussy's Premiere Rhapsodie and the Prokofiev flute sonata which he had arranged for clarinet.  Throughout the concert Mr. Bliss joked and commented about the music he was playing.  He had a really warm stage presence and a lot of confidence.  At one point, he said that he had worked on a piece with a composer a long long time ago.  This made me laugh, because at 23, it can't have been that long ago.  Maybe long long ago doesn't mean what Mr. Bliss thinks it means!

I was really surprised at the beginning of the concert.  Mr. Bliss came out, and he played the Milhaud and the Penderecki quite well technically and musically, but he didn't grab me the way that I expected him to.  Then he played the Brahms, and something about it wasn't quite right.  He was kind of careless with the Brahms Sonata and he didn't play with the emotional depth that the Brahms demands.  I didn't dislike his playing, of course, he was very proficient, but I didn't hear the virtuoso sound that I have come to expect from a performer as renowned as Julian Bliss.  I thought to myself, why do people find Julian Bliss so amazing?

A cool mobile at the National Pastime Theater.

After the intermission, my question was answered with an exclamation point.  Bliss came back on stage and played Oblivion by Piazolla.  His performance was hauntingly beautiful, and I loved his tone and his expression throughout the performance.  He commanded the rapt attention of every person in the room at that moment.  He connected with the music and he connected with the audience perfectly.  I think the best part of his playing the Piazolla was his vibrato.  Vibrato on the clarinet is a tricky prospect.  Bliss used it sparingly, but when he used it it was flawless, and made his sound take flight.  Mozart is famous for comparing the clarinet to the human voice.  Bliss showed us just what Mozart must have been talking about.  His vibrato was smooth and silky, and put in the mind the picture of a cat purring lazily on a warm summer's day.

Then, he played the Debussy Premiere Rhapsodie.  Before this night, I had come to the conclusion that this was not the greatest piece of clarinet literature, and I kind of dreaded when I would have to learn it -- which will be soon.  This is a song I have heard played many times by many people, famous and not so famous, and, while I have like many of them,  none of the performances have truly impressed me.  Bliss's performance completely blew me away!  I loved everything he did.  He brought the music to life.  His tone was clean and clear.  His phrasing was phenomenal.  His articulations were different than anyone I've ever heard before him, and I found his performance stronger and more vibrant than any I've heard.   I thought to myself as I listened, "THIS is why Julian Bliss is a world class performer!  I get it."  After he finished, I was sad that the music had stopped, as I wanted it to go on and on for hours.

The theater space at the National Pastime Theater in Chicago

Then, he began to play the final piece of his program.  The closing number was the Prokofiev Flute Sonata, Opus 94.  Julian Bliss had arranged it himself for clarinet.  It was a very interesting piece!  It didn't have the dissonance that I have come to expect from Prokofiev, and yet the feel was very distinctly Prokofiev.  I loved the way it sounded on clarinet.  This should never have been a flute or a violin sonata.  I think Prokofiev made a mistake by scoring it for the wrong instrument.  A mistake that Mr. Bliss fixed in one beautiful performance.  His interpretation and playing was simply fantastic!

After the concert, I hung around to see if I could meet Julian Bliss.  He was very willing to hang around and chat with anyone who came up to him after the concert, and he greeted everyone like they were old friends.  What a great guy!  He even let my mom take a picture of the two of us.  You know, Julian Bliss is quite short!  It seems that many famous clarinetists tend to be on the small side:  Wenzel Fuchs, Anthony McGill and now Julian Bliss are all around my height.  And I'm only 5'5" (and probably almost done growing).  I have a theory:  maybe playing the clarinet stunts your growth.

In any case, the concert was a GREAT experience, and I was very happy to have finally heard an interpretation of the Premiere Rhapsodie that was truly amazing.  I hope that I will get to hear Mr. Bliss again.