for the String Player and Teacher

Transcription

AMERICAN STRING TEACHER
May 2006 | Volume 56 | Number 2
MAY 2006
National Conference Highlights Inside!
Plus:
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American String
Teachers Association
www.astaweb.com
AMERICAN STRING TEACHER CONTENTS
Features and Forums
38
Exploring Musical Fiction for the String
Player and Teacher
Sitting down with a good book can be a welcome retreat from
the mental and physical fatigue of teaching and performing,
and it can also be a source for continued musical growth for
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by Kellie Brown
42
Regional Outreach Tours for Your School
Orchestras: Instilling a Sense of Servanthood, Pride, and Musicianship
Regardless of the size or the venue, the chance to bring
orchestral music to schools and students that have never had
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This article provides helpful material, based on the author’s
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by Brian Cole
46
National Conference Highlights: 64
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(from top to bottom) National Orchestra
Festival participants take the stage; ASTA
staff and board members get into character for the exhibit hall grand opening;
students have fun with the Wizard of Oz
exhibit hall theme.
About the Cover
“Homage to a Great Violist,” an original painting by Emanuel Vardi, is featured on the cover
RI $67$·V ODWHVW EHQHÀW &' Ultimate Strings,
Volume 2: Classical Virtuosity (see page 20).
Licensed courtesy Emanuel Vardi.
Singing Strings: National Content Standard
No. 1 in the School Orchestra Rehearsal
This informative article considers published teaching strategies and research studies related to singing in instrumental
music education and suggests ways in which these resources
may be used to enhance beginning and advancing levels of
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by H. Christian Bernhard
51
Rally the Troops
58
Violin Forum: A Lesson from Viotti
Music education advocates mobilize to ensure that no arts are
HABP >ADEJ@ &J PDEO =NPE?HA SDE?D łNOP =LLA=NA@ EJ Symphony
magazine last year, the author explains how orchestras can
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by Karin Brookes
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EJŃQAJ?A@ PDA S=U EJ SDE?D SA LH=U PDA REKHEJ PDNKQCD PDA
example he set with his playing, his compositions, and through
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by John A. Thomson
www.astaweb.com | 5
AMERICAN STRING TEACHER CONTENTS
Special Sections
Columns
10
34
Inspirations
As the school year comes to a close, our emphasis shifts
from the classroom to the more relaxed atmosphere of
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advocacy and creating a plan for building community supLKNPBKNUKQNIQOE?LNKCN=I
Member2Member
Wood
by Dudley Laufman
Joan’s Retirement Poem
by Joan Hemmerich Lunsford
62
Teaching Tips
92
My Turn
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by David Littrell
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by Jeffrey Solow
Departments
14
Association News
Message from the President, award and grant announcements, new publications, and other association-related information
80
Notes
82
Showcase
86
Reviews
News of people, places, and events of interest to string
teachers and players
The latest news from members of the String
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Of books, music, software, and videos
In Every Issue
73
Advertisers Index
74
Membership Application
78
ASTA Publications Library
84
Leadership Directory
6 | American String Teacher | May 2006
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Strings: The Alternative
Styles Awards
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Highlights
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More 2006 Previews
83 ASTA National Solo
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Mission Statement
The American String Teachers Association
promotes excellence in string and orchestra
teaching and playing. ASTA pursues its mission through:
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to the needs of all members;
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and chapters;
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teaching and study;
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and players.
American String Teacher (ISSN: 0003-1313)
is published quarterly by the American String
Teachers Association (ASTA). American String
Teacher (AST) is available exclusively to ASTA
members; the annual subscription price is
included in membership dues ($89). Known
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the association. It is not the intention of AST to
promote or endorse any particular person or
commercial product. The ideas and opinions
expressed are those of the writers and not
necessarily those of ASTA or AST. ASTA
reserves the right to refuse advertising for
any reason. No article or editorial matter in
AST may be photocopied or reprinted without
written permission from ASTA. Visit www.
copyright.com for more information.
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American String Teachers Association.
Inspirations
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As graduation approaches and another school year comes to a
close, our emphasis shifts from the classroom to the more relaxed
atmosphere of summer. Many students and teachers take part in
summer music camps and festivals. Educators also spend time
planning for the coming school year.
This quieter period is also an ideal time to focus on advocacy
and creating a plan for building community support for your music
program. One of the best resources for advocacy is SupportMusic.com.
SupportMusic is a national public service program of the Music
Education Coalition. The time to create and nurture support for your
own music program is before you receive a call from the school board
that your program may be in jeopardy. Too many music educators
make the fatal mistake of only utilizing advocacy when they are in
trouble. In too many cases, this is simply too late.
The time to build support for your own program is when things
are going well, the students participating in strings are increasing, and
you have a cadre of committed and supportive parents to lead the way.
I have heard so many teachers say that they are too busy teaching to
spend time on community relations, partnership building, and music
advocacy. I suggest that building community support is just as vital
as time spent in the classroom teaching. There are many resources
available to help you.
Just this year, National School Board Association President Joan
Schmidt wrote a very compelling article, “Music Advocacy: Dancing
with the School Board,” which appeared in School Board News. She
talks about six basic steps that any music educator can take to help
position the arts as a key component of any school curriculum. Her
article focused on important matters, such as advocating not only
at the local level, where implementation occurs, but also at the state
level, where funding is controlled. Schmidt talked about seizing
opportunities to place your program at the forefront of your own
community, such as when new research is released or when compelling
human interest stories evolve. Survival is not the goal. The real prize is
long-term stability and growth.
Imagine a school where children only learned to read, write,
add, and subtract. Such a place would rob our children of the joys
of wonder and discovery that music and art provide. Of course, it is
important to have accountability in our schools. We certainly want
our schools to prepare children for the future workforce and to make a
living in our competitive society. However, it is equally important that
we show them how to live. To learn more about what you can do, be
sure to read the Karin Brookes article “Rally the Troops” in this issue
of AST—and visit the advocacy page at www.astaweb.com.
Make this the year that you do your part to make a difference.
President5REHUW*LOOHVSLH
School of Music, The Ohio State University
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The University of Iowa, School of Music
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Reviews Editor0DUJ6FKPLGW
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Correspondence Subscriptions, change of address
(send mailing label), individual issues, billing,
membership, and other business matters should be
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FAX 703-279-2114; Email: asta@astaweb.com.
$GYHUWLVLQJ'HDGOLQHVare: August issue—June 5;
November issue—September 5; February
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(GLWRULDOAST welcomes letters and articles from its
readers. Query letters are preferred over unsolicited
manuscripts. For a copy of the AST Author Guidelines,
visit www.astaweb.com. Inquiries and articles should
be submitted to ASTarticles@astaweb.com.
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Schmidt, School of Music, ASU, 40 Gammage
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to Marg Schmidt, tel. 480-965-8277;
Email: marg.schmidt@asu.edu.
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News sections (including Letters to the Editor), it must
be received by: February issue—November 10;
May issue—February 10; August issue—May 10;
November issue—August 10.
Dogal Strings
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AST Editorial Committee
Gregory Barnes
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Sharan Leventhal
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Sean Beavers
Huntington, West Virginia
Greg Sarchet
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Margaret Berg
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Laurie Scott
Austin, Texas
Chelcy Bowles
Madison, Wisconsin
Benjamin Whitcomb
Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin
William Dick
Austin, Texas
Members of the ASTA
National Executive Board
Emanuel Garcia, M.D.
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AST Forum Editors
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Bass Forum, Michael Fanelli
Guitar Forum, Jonathan Leathwood
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Web: www.astaweb.com
Donna Sizemore Hale, Executive Director
donna@astaweb.com
Elizabeth Bookwalter, Development Manager
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Christina Champ, State Chapter Liaison
christina@astaweb.com
Beth Danner-Knight, Deputy Director, Conferences and Member
Services
beth@astaweb.com
Leslie Koo, Membership and Marketing Manager
leslie@astaweb.com
Stephanie Lewis, Manager of Publications and Graphic Design/
Webmaster
stephanie@astaweb.com
Jody McNamara, Deputy Director, Finance and Administration
jody@astaweb.com
Bridget Murphy, Meetings and Events Manager
bridget@astaweb.com
Tami O’Brien, Director of Communications and Development
tami@astaweb.com
Deanna Tompkins, Director of Meetings and Events
deanna@astaweb.com
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jennifer@astaweb.com
from the president
ASTA Always on the Move: Serving Now and Shaping the Future!
The mission of our association is to lead string instruction in America. The key is leading. We can lead the
present by serving the needs of our members, their students, peers, and audiences, and lead the future, not by
reacting to it, but by shaping it. This is a lofty mission, but worthy of our great profession. So, what has ASTA
been doing to meet its mission the last few years?
Conferences
We have established our own independent ASTA conference, offered on an annual basis. What an undertaking!
Did you experience the 2006 conference? What an incredible collection of almost 200 clinic sessions, concerts,
award presentations, and parties! Wow! Our conferences continue to get better and better as we grow, mature,
and learn. See some snapshots of the conference in this issue of AST, and get those dates for the 2007 and 2008
conferences on your calendars now. You will not want to miss them!
Vision
We have adopted the official priorities for the association, stated in our Advancing Strings in America document
from the 2004 Summit. We have started to carry out the direction of the Summit in many ways.
For example, a Professional Development plan has been established to record the efforts of our teaching
licensed members for their documentation. Also, we have created our first-ever national Development
Campaign. Through this campaign, the long-range financial goals of the association have been identified, and
plans to achieve them have been established. One of the goals is for ASTA to own its own building, so the dayto-day operations of the association can be maintained without paying monthly rent. In January, the national
board established a building fund. We are on our way! The beginnings of financial reserves have also been set
aside, so that when future needs of our profession are identified, we will have funding available to meet them.
We have created a national standing Advocacy Committee to lead the charge to protect and defend the
string teaching profession. A software program, Capwiz, has been purchased so that all of us may contact
those in political power over our profession. Also, a paper summarizing string education values and facts has
been written that will be used for a national advocacy campaign for strings in America. We have joined other
professional associations to lead the dialogue on the effects of the No Child Left Behind Act on our string classes
and school orchestra programs. We have added a special advocacy section to our website with resources we can
all use with just a few clicks.
We created a program and campaign, funded by an NEA grant, to interest high school and middle school
students in the school string teaching profession: Imagine a Career with Strings Attached! The program includes a
publication containing strategies teachers may use in their classrooms to attract their students to teaching, along
with a colorful poster and a website designed for students: careersinstringteaching.com. Have your students
check out the website and consider trying the strategies. We need your students for the future of ASTA and
string teaching!
We have also updated our association bylaws and had the opportunity to re-examine our mission, purpose,
and organizational structure. This has been a very healthy process and better prepares us for the future.
Administration
We have gradually enlarged our national staff to help meet our leadership mission. Great ideas are worthwhile,
but if we do not have the resources to carry them out, we cannot move forward as a profession. For the first time
ever, we have a financial officer, a staff member to assist our state units, an in-house staff member to handle our
book production and sales, and someone to assist in our development efforts. These are huge steps forward for
our association. However, please remember that despite our progress, we are still understaffed, so patience and
kindness are appreciated as we continue to grow as a professional association.
For the Students
We have also established the annual National Orchestra Festival (NOF) as a part of our annual outreach to
students throughout the country. At the 2005 and 2006 conferences, we have had more than 1,000 students
participate in the festival, representing the fabulous teaching of our members. To hear the NOF performances,
observe the clinics, and feel the excitement about making music with young people gives us all hope and renewed
resolve to work for our profession.
Farewell
With this, I say farewell as your president.
It has been an honor and a privilege to serve
you and to be with you in the trenches. At
times, it can be tough in the trenches, but it
leads to the joys and forward movement of
our profession.
I look forward to the great presidency of
Mary Wagner and her valuable board. As
a board-driven association, I know they
will represent us well, serving us today and
leading us to the future.
With much love and respect for all of you,
Bob Gillespie
www.astaweb.com | 15
Association News
New Faces at AST
Over the last few months, AST has made quite a few changes. We continually strive to improve the quality of the journal, and the following
people are helping us to do just that.
Articles Editor
Kristin Mortenson is associate concertmaster of the Topeka Symphony. She teaches music theory at Kansas State
University, and taught on the violin faculty of Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan from 1986 to 2004. She also serves as
assistant editor for the International Trumpet Guild Journal. Kristin grew up in San Antonio, Texas, and attended the University
of Texas as a violin student of Leonard Posner. She received B.M. and M.M. degrees from Louisiana State University,
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her free time, she enjoys running and has completed the 2003 Chicago Marathon, as well as a number of shorter distance races.
Welcome, Kristin!
Editorial Committee
The volunteer members of the AST Editorial Committee (EC) play a key role in the journal’s peer review process, providing expert commentary
on prospective articles before they are accepted for publication. The following individuals are new to the EC, and we thank them for their
service.
Gregory Barnes has been a member of the viola section of the Atlanta, Richmond, and Virginia Symphony and Opera
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University of South Carolina, viola teacher, and guest conductor, and is the music critic for The State newspaper, as well as editor
and co-author of Playing and Teaching the Viola—A Comprehensive Guide to the Central Clef Instrument and Its Music, published
by ASTA.
Sean BeaversVHUYHVDVDVVLVWDQWSURIHVVRURIJXLWDUDQGPXVLFWKHRU\DW0DUVKDOO8QLYHUVLW\LQ+XQWLQJWRQ:HVW9LUJLQLD
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and South America.
Margaret Berg, associate professor of music education at the University of Colorado, received her B.S. in music education
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in the Cincinnati Public Schools. She currently serves on the editorial board of the Journal of String Research and is president of
Colorado ASTA. Berg has published articles in the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, Music Education Research,
Psychology of Music, Journal of Music Teacher Education, Music Educators Journal, and American String Teacher, as well as contributed
to various books, including Teaching Music Through Performance in Orchestra (volumes 1 and 2) and Applying Research to Teaching
and Playing Stringed Instruments.
Chelcy Bowles is associate professor of music and director of continuing education in music and the Madison Early Music
Festival at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and has taught music and music education at the elementary, secondary,
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has been published in American String Teacher, Journal of Research in Music Education, Journal of Music Teacher Education, Update:
Applications of Research in Music Education, and Southeastern Journal of Music Education. She has performed as principal harpist with
symphony, opera, and ballet orchestras, and has taught harp studios at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the University
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of the textbook Mastery for Strings. After teaching in the public schools in Austin, Texas, for several decades, he joined the music
faculty of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas.
Emanuel E. Garcia, M.D., served as psychiatric
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from 1998 until 2005. There, he helped to develop
programs in health education and injury prevention.
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Gramercy Trio violinist Sharan Leventhal has
premiered more than one hundred compositions and
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music programs for children.
'RXEOH EDVVLVW Greg Sarchet has had an array of
musical experiences and training, from studying with
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international exchange efforts have been recognized
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which sent him to the Czech Republic, Germany,
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master classes, and archival research for the Vienna
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of Chicago and, for more than 10 years, has served on
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Laurie Scott is assistant professor of music and
human learning at the University of Texas at Austin.
Additionally, she serves as the director of the University
of Texas String Project. She holds a master’s degree in
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bachelor’s degree in music education from the State
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American String Teacher, the American Suzuki Journal, and
the Journal of Research in Music Education.
Benjamin Whitcomb, associate professor of cello
and music theory at the University of Wisconsin–
Whitewater, performs frequently in solo and chamber
music recitals, having played more than one hundred
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Letter from the Editor
I
don’t normally include a letter from the editor in
AST; however, as this is the last issue of the journal
with ASTA Past President David Littrell serving
as interim articles editor, I felt compelled to write
a few words in an attempt to thank him for all he has
done for this association—and for me, personally.
When I came to work at ASTA in November of 2003,
David was already serving his term as president. I first
met him at the January 2004 board meeting, and I
was struck immediately by his kindness, humility, and
terrific sense of humor. I also could see right away that
he cares deeply about ASTA’s mission and its future. I
could go on and on about David’s many years of service
to ASTA as an involved member and a national officer.
I could wax poetic about his altruistic motives and his
generous contributions to the association. I could extol
his talents as musician, educator, and leader in general;
his willingness to help in whatever capacity is needed;
and his ability to pay attention to detail without losing
sight of the big picture. All of these virtues—and many
more—describe David Littrell. He is a class act—unpretentious, honest, friendly, hard-working, and completely
approachable. His intelligence, integrity, and quiet
strength have reminded me of the kind of person I aspire to be. And to top it all off, he’s one of the funniest
people I’ve ever met.
Thank you, David, for taking on
the added responsibilities of
articles editor soon after your
presidency ended and your
ASTA commitments were
almost fulfilled. True to form,
you’ve done an outstanding job for American String
Teacher, and it’s been a lot of
fun working with you!
David Littrell
New Member
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Association News
ASTA is pleased to announce that several new
insurance plans are now available to our members.
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All plans are
underwritten by
Hartford Life and
Accident Insurance
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more information
and to enroll in
one of the new
insurance plans,
please contact
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1-800-433-8369.
Ultimate Strings, Volume 2: Classical Virtuosity CD Now Available!
ASTA is pleased to announce the release of Ultimate Strings, Volume 2: Classical Virtuosity,
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Deadline October 1 for Potter’s Violins
Instrument Awards
Twice a year, the Potter Violin Company of
Bethesda, Maryland, donates three Rudolf
Doetsch instruments—violins, violas, or cellos—to students in need. Instruments may be awarded
in any size, as requested by the student. Details and
application materials are available online at www.
astaweb.com/foundation.htm.
As many of you learned at the ASTA business meeting during the national conference in Kansas City, the
ASTA National Board recently has passed a motion to
raise membership dues annually by at least the rate of
inflation in order to remain financially sound. In accordance, as July 1 begins our new fiscal year, the rates will
increase to the following amounts, which reflect the 3.5
percent inflation rate.
Professional: $93
Senior: $66
Dual: $130
Student: $42
High School Chapter: $62
Library Subscription: $78
Library Subscription (Advertising Agency): $70
Institutional: $285
String Industry Council: $166, $233, $321
Association News
National Board Election Results
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Member-at-Large: Beth Gilbert, Tempe, Arizona
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,QDGGLWLRQWRRIÀFHUHOHFWLRQVWKHUHFHQWEDOORWLQFOXGHGDYRWHWRaccept the amended bylaws, which, among other things,
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Featured Product: Fermata™
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Electric Violin Shop
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John Sipe, Professional Violin Maker
Featured Product: Marilyn Violin
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Featured Products: Signature Series
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Featured Product: “Montuno” Sheet Music
Twofold Media
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Violingifts.com
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Association News
Chapter News
Several ASTA chapters were recognized with awards at the 2006 national conference, held in Kansas City, Missouri, in March.
Congratulations, and keep up the good work!
Outstanding Chapter Award: Minnesota Chapter
Outstanding Student Chapter: Pennsylvania State University
Most Improved Chapter Award: Georgia and Oklahoma Chapters
State Chapter Leader Award: David Elder, South Dakota Chapter (posthumous)
Best Newsletter Award: New Jersey Chapter
Membership Recruitment Award: Kansas Chapter
Best Website Award: Colorado Chapter
1
2
3
6
7
5
4
8
PHOTOS: 1) ASTA President-Elect Mary Wagner presents the “Outstanding Chapter Award” to Lorie Hippen (left), president-elect of the Minnesota
Chapter. 2) State Chapter Liaison Christina Champ presents the “Outstanding Student Chapter Award” to Robert Gardner, advisor to the Pennsylvania
State University Chapter. 3) Mary Wagner (left) presents the “Most Improved Chapter Award” to Charlene Dell, president of the Oklahoma Chapter.
4) Marilyn Seelman (right), Georgia Chapter president, receives Georgia’s “Most Improved Chapter Award” from Mary Wagner. 5) Gary Fridley (right)
accepts David Elder’s “State Chapter Leader Award” from Mary Wagner. 6) Lori Lindshield McKinney (left), president of the Kansas Chapter, receives
the “Membership Recruitment Award” from Mary Wagner. 7) Nick Rzonsa (left) of New Jersey accepts the “Best Newsletter Award” from Mary Wagner.
8) Andrea Meyers (right) president-elect of the Colorado chapter, accepts the “Best Website Award.”
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ASTA Special Project Grants are designed to provide financial assistance to projects planned at the state level. Funding is available for new
projects that will advance the ASTA mission and increase the strength, visibility, and activities of your state chapter. Only one project per state
will be funded.
Grants of up to $850 are awarded to finance projects or events that are new to a state and are scheduled to take place between July 1, 2006,
and June 30, 2007. Guidelines for applying for a Special Project Grant include the following:
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1. The budget for the program (expenses and income)
2. A project description (with dates, timetable, and projected audience)
3. A description of how the program will benefit the ASTA membership in the state and carry out ASTA’s mission
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commit some funding for the project.
The postmark deadline to apply for Special Project Grants is June 1, 2006. Applications are available at www.astaweb.com/foundation.htm
under “Awards and Grants.”
ASTA Welcomes New Members
The following list reflects individuals and organizations who joined the association during the first quarter of 2006, between
January 1 and March 31. Welcome to ASTA!
Individual Members
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Alexander Travis Adams
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1-888-VIOLIN2 (846-5462)
5767 Mayfield Rd., Cleveland, OH 44124
email: pzaret@concentric.net
“The Teaching of
in String Playing”
P a u l R o l l a n d ’s l e g e n d a r y f i l m s e r i e s
video set $295 (USA/VHS postpaid) PAL/overseas add S&H
A monumental series of timeless value!!!
Every string teacher should own a set.
The series of 21 topics by one of the pre-eminent string pedagogues of
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essential to establishing good playing form. It is a wonderful teaching
tool for classroom, private studio, & individual student use. Endorsed by
Yehudi Menuhin, Eduard Melkus, Marvin Rabin, Max Rostal and others.
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Send PO a/o check or money order payable to:
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Member2Member
Wood
This is the log
that comes from a tree
that is felled to the ground
that is hauled to the mill
and sawed into boards
that makes the fiddle
that makes the music
that makes feet thump
the floor that is made of wood
This is the sheep
who gives of her wool
and this is the fleece
that lines the case
where lies the fiddle
that is made of wood
And this selfsame sheep
has the guts that cross the bridge
to bring out music
that lies in the wood
Here is the horse
who has the tail
that provides the hair
that spans the bow
that touches the gut
that makes the music
that comes from the wood
There is the tree
that secretes its sap
which then becomes rosin
to rub on the bow
which then grabs the strings
making them vibrate with music
that comes from the wood
This is the hand
that draws the bow
across the strings
that sing of maple and spruce
and these are the fingers
that press the strings
against the ebony
for a night of dancing
And all the time
the feet are tapping
feet are thumping
all the time these feet are thumping
on the floor that is made of wood
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old-time New England square dances and peddling poetry from their
Wind in the Timothy Press.
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I’ve gotten a star sticker in my hair
A splinter in my finger,
A bow up my nose,
And a thumb tack on my teacher chair
Which poked me in the derrière.
Yes, I’m really a teacher now—
Fully certified and technologically proficient . . .
But 30 years of it is more than sufficient . . .
I’ve done my duty for the kids, you see,
One boy said, “You’re retiring? How sad!!”
But I replied, “Not for me!!!”
I won’t miss the expression “I forgot my violin!”
“I don’t like to practice; it hurts my finger skin . . . ”
No, I won’t miss figuring out grades for yet another quarter,
For hundreds of kids—the parents’ sons and daughters.
Going back to 1972,
I remember ditto machines with purple ink
Cranking off letters which sure did stink!
Tooling around the county in my unairconditioned Saab—
Six schools, twice a week, what a job!!
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Jingle All the Way!
How many times have I heard these tunes
And am still somehow okay!
But I will miss the feeling of accomplishment
At the end of another concert,
The looks of gratitude from moms and dads,
And the many, many lassies and lads!
I feel I’ve touched many a life as a teacher
A feeling which cannot be beat
Teaching children is the best profession of all
It was a trying, but wonderful feat!!!
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4 through 12) and received the Outstanding Music Educator Award
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Area Alumni Association of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.
Announcing the Third Biennial
Celebrating Alternative Strings: The Alternative Styles Awards
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March 8–10, 2007
Sponsored by Yamaha Corporation of America
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What are the Alternative Styles Awards?
The event seeks to identify, celebrate, and encourage young practitioners of alternative string styles, such as (but not limited to) all folk music traditions,
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Eligibility
ASTA members, or students whose primary teacher is an ASTA member, who are players of violin, viola, cello, and bass (upright) are invited to apply.
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on the entry form. First place winners from 2003 and 2005 are not eligible unless they have moved to a new age division.
Previous ASTA conference Alternative Styles performers, clinicians, and judges include:
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Many additional performers and clinicians to be announced. Please visit www.astaweb.com regularly for updates.
Application Materials
Each participant must submit:
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to ASTA
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performance, which must contain three contrasting selections within
the chosen alternative style
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Applicants are encouraged to submit supporting materials that may
enhance the application, such as programs, reviews, announcements,
awards, etc.
Notes
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* It is permissible for applicants to enter in more than one style. Applicants who choose to do so should be sure that the three selections on the
audition recording are not only contrasting in terms of tempi, artistry, and musicianship, but that the multiple styles are also represented. All audition
recordings must contain no more than three selections. Submissions will not be returned.
Judging/Awards
Within each age division, there will be a maximum of four winners. One winner will be chosen from each of the following four categories: improvisation,
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will be $500.
Conference Performances
Winners will perform at least once for 10 to 15 minutes. There will also be master class settings for winners to work with master teachers in their genre.
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aspects of the conference. A schedule of conference participation will be provided. Winners will be responsible for paying all travel, meals, and hotel
costs associated with performing at the conference.
Deadlines
$OODSSOLFDWLRQPDWHULDOVPXVWEHSRVWPDUNHGQRODWHUWKDQPLGQLJKWOctober 1, 2006.
:LQQHUVZLOOEHGHWHUPLQHGDQGQRWLÀHGE\December 1, 2006.
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American String Teachers Association
Celebrating Alternative Strings:
The Biennial Alternative Styles Awards
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Application
Deadline
October 1, 2006
Personal Information Please print clearly or type.
Name ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Birthdate ________________________________
(Please attach proof of birthdate: copy of birth certiÀcate, driver’s license, etc.)
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Permanent Home Address ___________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Honors/Awards
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________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Recorded Selections (title and composer) submitted on VHS or DVD:
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Applicants are encouraged to attach any additional supporting materials that may enhance the application.
Additional Options
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Completed entry form, recording, supporting materials, and $40 entry fee (check payable to ASTA) must be postmarked by October 1, 2006,
and mailed as a single package to:
ASTA Alternative Styles Awards
ATTN: Martin Norgaard
4153 Chain Bridge Road
Fairfax, VA 22030
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requiredLIDSSOLFDQWLV\RXQJHUWKDQ\HDUVRIDJH
* Effective July 1, the student membership rate will increase to $42.
Exploring Musical
Fic ti on
S
itting down with a good book can be a welcome retreat from the mental and physical fatigue of
teaching and performing, and it can also be a source for continued musical growth for our students
and for ourselves, if we choose musical fiction. Books in which the main characters are musicians
or whose plots take place in a musical setting, for example, an opera house, have been an interest of
mine for many years and began when I discovered a historical fiction series about a violinist living in Nazi
Germany. Thrilled with combining my two lifelong passions, music and reading, I began to scour new and
used bookstores—and, eventually, online retailers—for more musical fiction. I was amazed at the number and
diversity of works available. I also became interested in how to use these books in my teaching, specifically as a
means for emphasizing to students the value of reading in music education.
Music and Literature
The prolific existence of musical fiction should be no great surprise to students of music history. Music and
literature have had a long and prosperous relationship. The Greek playwrights were known for combining
music with their dramas, and since that time, every musical style period has had examples of that relationship,
from early Baroque operas through such 20th century masterpieces as the Lincoln Portrait. One of the
greatest collaborations of music and literature took place in the Romantic period, a time when such themes
as nationalism, the diabolical, and social injustice found their way into musical works by such composers
as Berlioz and Mussorgsky, and into fiction by Edgar Allen Poe and Charles Dickens. It was predominately
in the 20th century, however, when authors began to produce what has become known as musical fiction.
Today, musical fiction can be found in a variety of literary genres and reading levels, including mystery, science
fiction, fantasy, horror, romance, and historical fiction. It also encompasses a diversity of musical genres and
styles, from rock to classical, and features instruments from the tuba to the viola.
Using Musical Fiction in Teaching
Fortunately for string players and teachers, the world of string music and string performers is one of the
favorite subjects of musical fiction, and there are many creative ways to use these books with your students,
such as:
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Selecting Musical Fiction
With such a variety of musical fiction available, it is not difficult to find something to satisfy all reading
interests and ages if you know where to look, but as with all writing, there is the excellent, the mediocre, and
the downright bad. As you search for quality musical fiction, look for well-known authors and publishers, and
ask for recommendations from a local librarian. Also, read plot summaries and reviews posted by an online
retailer, such as Amazon.com; these will help you get a sense of not only whether the storyline will interest
you, but also of the author’s expertise in music and, specifically, in strings. We have all seen movies in which
an instrument such as the violin is played in such an ungainly manner that we wonder whether the director
consulted a music specialist at all. The same thing can happen in musical fiction. If the instrument or music is
not treated in a knowledgeable and realistic way, it can be distracting and frustrating for the string connoisseur.
for the String Player
and Teacher
by Kellie Brown
Selected Reading List of String Fiction
The following lists are a great starting place for exploring musical
fiction. In addition to being sorted by age group, each selection is
labeled according to the instrument featured in the book. For the
adult reading list, the literary genre is also included.
The wonderful world of musical fiction is waiting on the shelves
of bookstores and libraries. So enjoy the hunt—and happy
reading!
Books for Young Readers
Adams, Ruth Joyce. Fidelia. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard,
1970. (Violin)
Aiken, Joan. The Whispering Mountain. New York: Dell, 1971.
(Harp)
Arnold, Caroline. Music Lessons for Alex. Illustrated by Richard
Hewett. New York: Clarion Books, 1985. (Violin)
Atene, Ann. The Golden Guitar. Boston: Little, Brown & Co.,
1967. (Guitar)
Black, Charles C. The Royal Nap. Illustrated by James Stevenson.
New York: Viking Press, 1995. (Guitar)
Bond, Nancy. A String in the Harp. Illustrated by Allen Davis.
New York: Atheneum, 1976. (Harp)
Brett, Jan. Berlioz the Bear. New York: Putnam, 1991. (Bass)
Campbell, Will D. Chester and Chun Ling. Illustrated by Jim
Hsieh. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1989. (Guitar, Violin)
Caseley, Judith. Ada Potato. New York: Greenwillow Books,
1989. (Violin)
Clement, Claude. Voice of the Wood. Translated by Lenny Hort.
Illustrated by Frederic Clement. New York: Dial Books,
1989. (Cello)
Curtis, Calvin. Bat Boy and His Violin. Illustrated by E.B. Lewis.
New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers,
1998. (Violin)
Cutler, Jane. The Cello of Mr. O. Illustrated by Greg Couch. New
York: Dutton Children’s Books, 1999. (Cello)
Davol, Marguerite W. The Heart of the Wood. Illustrated by Sheila
Hamanaka. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young
Readers, 1992. (Violin)
De Angeli, Marguerite. Fiddlestrings. Garden City, N.Y.:
Doubleday, 1974. (Violin)
De Cosmos, Andrea. Harp Song. Illustrated by Mavis Andrews.
Vancouver: Beach Holme, 1993. (Harp)
Deverell, Catherine. Stradivari’s Singing Violin. Illustrated by
Andrea Shine. Minneapolis: Carolrhoda Books, 1992.
(Violin)
Doucet, Sharon Arms. Fiddle Fever. New York: Clarion Books,
2000. (Violin/Fiddle)
French, Simon. Where in the World. Atlanta: Peachtree
Publishers, 2003. (Violin)
Gallaz, Christophe. The Wolf Who Loved Music. Translated by
Mary Logue. Illustrated by Marshall Arisman. Mankato,
Minn.: Creative Editions, 1999. (Violin)
Givens, Steven J. The Violin Lesson and the Cross Street Band. New
Canaan, Conn.: New Canaan Publishing, 2002. (Violin)
Hambrick, Sharon. The Year of Abi Crim. Greenville, S.C.:
Journey Books, 2000. (Violin)
Isele, Elizabeth. Pooks. Illustrated by Chris L. Demarest. New
York: Lippincott, 1983. (Cello)
Keith, Margaret. The Violin Recital. Illustrated by Albin Zotigh.
Little Rock, Ark.: Noteworthy Books, 2004.
Lebentritt, Julia, and Richard Ploetz. The Kooken. Illustrated by
Clement Oubrerie. New York: Holt, 1992. (Cello)
Levinson, Nancy Smiler. Sweet Notes, Sour Notes. Illustrated by
Beth Peck. New York: Dutton, 1993. (Violin)
MacLachlan, Patricia. The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt. New
York: Harper & Row, 1988. (Cello, Viola)
McPhail, David. Mole Music. New York: Holt, 1999. (Violin)
Namioka, Lensey. Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear.
Illustrated by Kees De Kiefte. Boston: Joy Street Books,
1992. (Violin)
Oppenheim, Shulamith Levey. Trio for Grandpapa. Illustrated by
Gioia Fiammenghi. New York: Crowell, 1974. (Cello, Viola,
Violin)
Rocklin, Joanne. Discovering Martha. New York: Macmillan,
1991. (Guitar)
Root, Phyllis. Rosie’s Fiddle. Illustrated by Kevin O’Malley. New
York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1997. (Violin/Fiddle)
Sorel, Edward, and Cheryl Carlesimo. The Saturday Kid. New
York: M.K. McElderry Books, 1999. (Violin)
Wibberley, Leonard. Guarneri: Story of a Genius. New York:
Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1974. (Violin)
Wilson, Budge. A Fiddle for Angus. Illustrated by Susan Tooke.
Plattsburgh, N.Y.: Tundra Books of Northern New York,
2001. (Violin/Fiddle)
Books for Young Adult Readers
Alexander, Lloyd. The Marvelous Misadventures of Sebastian. New
York: Dutton, 1970. (Violin)
Brooks, Bruce. Midnight Hour Encores. New York: Harper &
Row, 1986. (Cello)
Charnas, Suzy McKee. The Bronze King. Boston: Houghton
Mifflin, 1985. (Violin)
Chetwin, Grace. Out of the Dark World. New York: Lothrop, Lee
& Shepard, 1985. (Violin)
Feuer, Elizabeth. Paper Doll. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux,
1990. (Violin)
Frank, Lucy. Will You Be My Brussels Sprout? New York: Holiday
House, 1996. (Cello)
Hall, Randall L. A Shawl and a Violin. West Valley City, Utah:
Bookcraft, 1997. (Violin)
Ingold, Jeanette. Mountain Solo. Orlando, Fla.: Harcourt, 2003.
(Violin)
Keillor, Garrison, and Jenny Lind Nilsson. The Sandy Bottom
Orchestra. New York: Hyperion Books for Children, 1996.
(Cello, Violin)
McGuigan, Mary Ann. Cloud Dancer. New York: Scribner, 1994.
(Guitar)
Riordan, James. The Cello. New York: Oxford University Press,
2003. (Cello)
Rosenberg, Liz. Heart and Soul. San Diego: Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich, 1996. (Cello)
Sherman, Eileen Bluestone. The Violin Players. Philadelphia:
Jewish Publication Society, 1998. (Violin)
Tamar, Erika. Blues for Silk Garcia. New York: Crown Publishers,
1983. (Guitar)
Wolff, Virginia Euwer. The Mozart Season. New York: Holt,
1991. (Violin)
Zalben, Jane Breskin. Unfinished Dreams. New York: Simon &
Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1996. (Violin)
Books for Adult Readers
Adamson, Lydia. A Cat with a Fiddle. New York: Signet, 1993.
(Violin; Murder Mystery)
Alexander, Lynne. Resonating Bodies. New York: Atheneum,
1989. (Viola; Historical)
Banks, Iain M. Canal Dreams. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday,
1991. (Cello; Espionage Thriller)
Blechta, Rick. Lark Ascending. Scarsdale, N.Y.: Castlefield Press,
1993. (Violin; Murder Mystery)
Carroll, Steven. The Love Song of Lucy McBride. London: Allen &
Unwin, 1998. (Cello; Romance)
De Lint, Charles. The Little Country. New York: Morrow, 1991.
(Violin; Fantasy)
Edgerton, Clyde. Killer Diller: A Novel. Chapel Hill, N.C.:
Algonquin, 1991. (Guitar; General Fiction)
Frommer, Sara Hoskinson. Murder in C Major. New York: St.
Martin’s Press, 1986. (Viola; Murder Mystery)
George, Elizabeth. A Traitor to Memory. New York: Bantam,
2001. (Violin; General Fiction)
Graham, Janice. Firebird. New York: Putnam, 1998. (Violin;
Romance)
Gur, Batya. Murder Duet. Translated by Dalva Bilu. New York:
HarperCollins, 1999. (Cello; Murder Mystery)
Hackett, Joyce. Disturbance of the Inner Ear. New York: Carroll
& Graf, 2002. (Cello; Historical)
Harrod-Eagles, Cynthia. Orchestrated Death. New York: Scribner,
Hershey, John. Antonietta. New York: Knopf, 1991. (Violin;
Historical)
Jolley, Elizabeth. Milk and Honey. New York: Persea Books, 1986.
(Cello; Thriller)
Joss, Morag. Funeral Music. London: Hodder & Stoughton,
1998. (Cello; Murder Mystery)
Keenan, Brian. Turlough. London: Cape, 2000. (Harp;
Historical)
Kopec, Helen. Notes from the Pit. Atlanta: No Strings Publishing,
2003. (Cello; General Fiction)
Lackey, Mercedes. Lark and the Wren. Riverdale, N.Y.: Baen,
1991. (Violin/Fiddle; Fantasy)
Ladew, Donald P. Stradivarius: A Novel. New York: Carroll &
Graf, 1995. (Violin; Historical)
Lebrecht, Norman. The Song of Names. New York: Anchor
Books, 2004. (Violin; Historical)
Machlis, Joseph. Allegro. New York: Norton, 1997. (Violin;
General Fiction)
Maxwell, Evan. Season of the Swan. New York: HarperCollins,
Milofsky, David. Playing from Memory. New York: Simon &
Schuster, 1980. (Viola; General Fiction)
Quinton, Ann. The Ragusa Theme. London: Piatkus, 1986.
(Violin; Murder Mystery)
Robbins, David L. The End of War. New York: Bantam, 2000.
(Cello; Historical)
Salzman, Mark. The Soloist. New York: Random House, 1994.
(Cello; General Fiction)
Seth, Vikram. An Equal Music. New York: Broadway Books,
Shaham, Nathan. The Rosendorf Quartet. Translated by Dalva
Bilu. New York: Grove Weidenfeld, 1991. (Cello, Viola,
Violin; Historical)
Soares, Jo. A Samba for Sherlock. New York: Pantheon Books,
Sousa, John Philip. The Fifth String. Indianapolis: The BowenMerrill Co., 1902. (Violin; Romance)
Taylor-Hall, Mary Ann. Come and Go, Molly Snow. New York:
Norton, 1995. (Violin/Fiddle; General Fiction)
Thoene, Bodie. Vienna Prelude. Minneapolis: Bethany House,
1989. (Violin; Historical)
Weber, Janice. Frost the Fiddler. New York: St. Martin’s Press,
1992. (Violin; Espionage Thriller)
Wilcox, James. North Gladiola. New York: Harper, 1987. (Cello,
Viola, Violin; General Fiction)
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VHUYHVDVFKDLURIWKH0XVLF'HSDUWPHQWDQGGLUHFWRURIWKHVWULQJVSURJUDPDQGWKH0LOOLJDQ&ROOHJH
Orchestra. She is a frequent performer and conductor and serves as the assistant concertmaster for the
Symphony of the Mountains. In addition, she has
published many compositions, articles, and book reYLHZV ,Q KHU ÀUVW ERRN An Annotated Bibliography of Musical
Fiction, was published by Edwin Mellen Press.
Regional Outreach Tours for Your
School Orchestras:
by Brian Cole
The Beginnings
As a high school sophomore in rural southwest Minnesota, I remember the December day that our school orchestra left early one
morning and performed at three small, rural, non-orchestra districts. We played holiday music, demonstrated the members of the
orchestra family, and invited one or two of the students in the schools we were visiting to come up and conduct our final number. As
easy and inexpensive as that day was, it will always remain one of my favorite memories of our high school orchestra.
Years later, as a public school teacher in northern Minnesota, it occurred to me that in the northern third of Minnesota, there were
only seven districts that had orchestra programs and nearly one hundred that did not. I thought of the thousands of school children
who might never have the opportunity to hear a live orchestra and made a covenant with myself to do all I could to bring music to
districts without orchestras. In the winter of 1998, as our sixth grade orchestra was preparing to take part in a festival, I called a few
districts on our way to see whether we could play a free concert for them. The principals that I spoke with told me that their students
had never been exposed to orchestras; they welcomed our visit.
Since that February day in 1998, our Moorhead sixth, seventh, and eighth grade orchestras have played more than 40 concerts for
nearly 15,000 students in communities all across Minnesota. We have played for large urban schools with populations approaching a
thousand and small schools with only 58 students in grades K–12. We have played in schools with beautiful auditoriums and schools
with gyms so small we have stood to be sure there was room for the audience. Regardless of the size or the venue, the chance to bring
orchestral music to schools and students that had never had an orchestra perform has been one of my teaching life’s greatest joys.
Putting the Plan into Action
Our regional tours have greatly evolved over the years. Initially, they only occurred when we were going out of town to play at festivals
or conferences. Now, each grade at our middle school takes a day—or sometimes two, if it falls on a vacation day—to go on tour.
The following paragraphs provide helpful material, based on my experience, for directors wishing to undertake a tour. First, choose
a day for the tour—preferably springtime, as it gives your orchestra a chance to build up enough repertoire. Because your tour may
become your culminating event for the year, you may prefer to tour toward the end of the year. Choose the date at least three months
in advance to give your students adequate preparation. In Moorhead, we now give our parents the tour dates before the students leave
for summer so that parents can make vacation or travel plans. Check with your district for the statewide testing days to avoid schedule
conflicts. Not only should your orchestra students not miss testing days, but the schools where you perform will not be able to accept
your offer because they are administering tests. Your state may hold separate testing days for elementary and middle level students.
Second, decide on the area where you want to take your students. My colleague Doug Neill and I usually sit down with a map and
talk about what area we would like to use as our home base. If possible, have the orchestra travel to the area the night before and spend
the night at a fun motel with a water park or other activity center. This serves two purposes: the children have fun, and you can get
an early start on concerts the next morning. Once the home base has been established, begin calling the area principals to tell them of
your mission and that the event is free. We have been told by several principals that they often have to pay several hundred dollars for
lyceums or programs like this. After you have established contact, begin plotting the daily schedule. Two concerts in the morning and
one in the afternoon are usually sufficient. We have given as many as five in a day, but that is too taxing on the students.
Third, send information home to students. I believe a flaw that many orchestra teachers have is lack of planning and organization.
Parents and administration want to be informed. A month before the tour, send a contract home stating the itinerary and cost. Ask for
parent chaperones—one parent for every 10 students is ideal. Both student and parent should sign a statement or informal contract
stating that the child understands the code of ethics and behavior expected during the tour. Our fee in Minnesota for the tour is usually
between $60 and $70 if it is an overnight, and $25 if it is a day trip.
I used to feel guilty about asking for money for tours, so I would write grants, solicit business donations, or have our booster
group cover transportation. I finally decided I was spending too much time away from my mission, which is making music with kids;
therefore, I started charging a fee of $25. That covered the school bus and the noon meal. The kids came back, told their folks how
Instilling a Sense of
Servanthood,
and
much fun it was, and the parents have never once questioned
any fee that we impose. If you don’t place a value on your
event, whether a concert or a trip, then your students and their
parents won’t place a value on your program. We always say
that scholarships are available, and we usually have one or two
students who do apply and receive that assistance.
In addition to the contract that we send out one month in
advance that has a due date three weeks before we leave, we also
pass out a packing list two weeks out, and an assignment
make-up sheet one week out. It is really important that your
orchestra students complete or obtain their assignments ahead
of time. It sends a message not only to the students that their
classwork outside of your orchestra room is important, but
more significantly sends a message to the classroom teachers
that you are being sensitive to their curriculum. Students are
not permitted to board the bus unless they have returned their
assignment sheet.
Finally, we leave on tour. In the days leading up to the tour,
it is important to give your students a sense of history in regard
to touring. Show them where your orchestras have gone in the
past and various memories that you have. I often show them
pictures of Toscanini’s NBC Symphony getting on the train
in New York to go on its cross country tour, or the Minnesota
Orchestra packing for its most recent tour abroad. Let them
know that they are continuing a long line of musical tradition—
sharing their musical gifts with other people.
Choosing Repertoire
Choosing repertoire for the tour is very important. Keep in mind
that you are playing for young students who may never have
heard orchestral music. I try to program pieces lasting no longer
than three or four minutes. Every piece must have a purpose:
1) a piece that uses pizzicato and cool effects—Mr. Neill loves
to play “Rosin Eating Zombies”; 2) a piece that you can play
by adding layers of instruments—for example, “Here is what it
sounds like with just the basses, and now with the violas, and
now with the cellos added; 3) two pieces that they will recognize,
such as “Pirates of the Caribbean,” the William Tell Overture,
or some Disney tune; 4) a piece that you can have young
children conduct—usually a finale or any fiddle tune works,
Pride,
such as “Fiddles on Fire,” “Blue Grass Bingo,” or “Simple Square
Dance”; 5) a piece from a “dead guy,” such as Mozart, Bach, or
Beethoven.
Make your concert as memorable as possible. Some
suggestions include having the basses hold their instruments
above their heads, placing a cello on a student’s head so she
can feel the whole instrument vibrate when you pluck a string,
pulling out an end pin and placing it on a student’s dental work
so he can experience the metal on metal sensation, unscrewing
a bow so they can see the individual horse hair while explaining
to them about the “microscopic bumps” that stick out and grab
the string, bringing a 1/16 size violin, or buying a $25 pink
violin on eBay. What motivates me when choosing repertoire
and choosing the words I say during the concerts is knowing that
one week after you have played a concert at a school, very few of
the students are going to remember the exact piece you played
for them, but they are going to remember how the concert
made them feel. That may very well shape their impressions of
orchestral music for the rest of their life.
A regional tour is the year’s highlight for our Moorhead
students. Mr. Neill and I are still hearing stories from the recent
tour, receiving questions about where we are going next year, and
wondering whether we can play music from Star Wars again. In
the past few years, our students have played at state and national
conventions, including the first ASTA National Conference at
Ohio State University, at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis, and
to standing-room-only crowds for our home concerts. Without
doubt, however, it is the state tour that they are most proud of.
In our orchestra room, we have a large banner hanging above
the entrance that states a three-word mantra for our orchestra
students: Serve, Honor, and Love. It is our hope and belief that
by taking these students on tour, we are instilling these three
words into their lives.
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Moorhead (Minnesota) Public Schools. His orchestras
have appeared at state and national conventions,
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state and national conferences.
Singing
Strings:
by H. Christian Bernhard
W
hen addressing the National Standards for Music Education, string teachers often overlook the first content standard,
“singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music,” assuming that they and their students are exempt
from any type of singing activity.1 They mistakenly consider singing as a teaching technique intended solely for their
colleagues who direct choral ensembles or teach general music classes, or assume that they must search for a piece
of orchestral literature that includes choral accompaniment. Instead of using singing as an aid to teach musical skills and knowledge
related to string performance, emphasis is directed exclusively toward the development of technique and association of fingerings with
notation.2 The purpose of this article is to consider published teaching strategies and research studies related to singing in instrumental
music education and to suggest ways in which these resources may be used to enhance beginning and advancing levels of orchestra
instruction.
Beginning string classes can offer particularly fertile ground for using singing as a teaching aid. Many students come to first-year
orchestra rehearsals with substantial singing experience but are never required to vocalize by teachers who advocate a “fingerboardpushing” pedagogy. Authors of teaching strategies related to the National Standards recommend that singing be used to promote
proper phrasing, dynamics, and musical expression among beginning instrumentalists.3 Furthermore, researchers have found that
singing activities, particularly when related to tonal understanding, may improve beginning instrumentalists’ melodic abilities. Charles
Elliott investigated the effects of vocalization on the sense of pitch of beginning instrumental students.4 Following a full school year
of daily instruction, he found that students who sang method book exercises on a neutral syllable prior to instrumental performance
demonstrated significantly greater gains in sense of pitch than students who did not. Specifically, students who sang were better able to
discriminate between two aural pitches, memorize short tonal melodies, convert aurally perceived sounds into musical notation, and
convert musical notation into aural sounds.
Carol MacKnight investigated the effects of solfège and tonal pattern training on the sight-reading achievement and aural-visual
discrimination of beginning instrumentalists.5 She found that introducing pitches using tonal patterns, as presented in a researcherdesigned method book, was more effective than “finger-symbol” associations, as presented in a traditional method book. In a similar
study, Patricia Grutzmacher examined the effects of solfège and tonal pattern training on the sight reading achievement and aural
recognition of beginning instrumentalists.6 She discovered that using aural and printed tonal patterns with harmonization and singing
was more effective than instruction based exclusively on traditional method book notation. These two studies suggest that traditional
method book instruction may not be sufficient to successfully develop the aural-visual musicianship of young instrumentalists.
Nevertheless, even when using a standard method book without tonal patterns, aural activities related to singing and solfège can
foster ear playing and sight reading skills that are so crucial to the development of independent musicianship.7 Using a familiar method
book melody, such as “Merrily We Roll Along,”8 sing the tune to students on a neutral syllable and ask them to repeat before viewing
the related notation. After students are comfortable singing the three-pitch melody, introduce the concept of resting tone and add
movable Do solfège syllables. Allowing students to experience sounds prior to notation will afford them an opportunity to develop
correct intonation and tone quality, as well as instrumental technique. Students should also have opportunities to experiment aurally
with the three pitches by improvising and composing original works. While this aural process should occur first, introduction of
notation should not be delayed considerably. By teaching sight-reading as a natural extension of familiar aural melodies, students will
resist the temptation to rely on notation and associated instrumental fingerings as an alternative to correct aural development.
National Content Standard No. 1
in the School Orchestra Rehearsal
Singing can also be an effective pedagogical technique
for advancing string performers, particularly if students have
experienced singing as a regular component of general music
classes and beginning orchestra instruction. While further
research is needed to clarify the effects of singing on the musical
achievement of high school instrumentalists, Deborah Sheldon
examined the effects of contextual sight-singing training on
the error detection abilities of instrumental music education
majors.9 Subjects for her study were 30 undergraduate
students enrolled in an instrumental methods course at a large
Midwestern university. All subjects received identical training,
with the exception that students from the experimental group
participated in an additional 50 minutes of sight-singing per
week, throughout an 11-week period. These extra sessions
focused on sight-singing excerpts of ensemble literature using
movable Do solfège syllables and hand signals. Following the
treatment period, all subjects were tested for responses to errors
in one-, two-, and three-part excerpts of ensemble literature.
Sheldon found that subjects from the experimental group scored
significantly higher than those from the control group with
regard to overall error detection, and suggested that contextual
sight-singing using movable Do solfège syllables may enhance the
development of error detection skills.
Sheldon’s research suggests that, instead of occurring as
an isolated and unrelated event, singing should be used on a
consistent basis within the context of traditional instrumental
literature. Furthermore, authors of teaching strategies have
stated that high school instrumentalists should be able to sing
music written in four parts to improve traditional rehearsal
challenges, including accurate pitches and rhythms; intonation
and tone quality; articulation, bowing, and precision; phrasing
and musicality; dynamic contrast; as well as balance and blend.10
Pitches and rhythms can be learned prior to instrumental
performance by sight-singing excerpts of selected literature.
Figure 1. Implementing Standard No. 1, Beginning String Ensembles (Grades 5–8)
Achievement Standard11 Implementation
1a. Students sing accurately and with good breath control throughout
their singing ranges, alone and in small and large ensembles.
Allow students to sing tonal patterns and excerpts from method
book literature to aid development of aural-visual skills, as well as
instrumental tone quality and intonation.
1b. Students sing with expression and technical accuracy a repertoire
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including some songs performed from memory.
While the emphasis of rehearsals should remain on instrumental
performance, singing can be used to encourage transfer from
previously learned song literature to orchestral contexts.
1c. Students sing music representing diverse genres and cultures, with
expression appropriate for the work being performed.
Texts of vocal literature can provide rich opportunities for historical
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to convey meaning and expression in instrumental performance
repertoire.
1d. Students sing music written in two and three parts.
Allow students to sing two and three part excerpts of orchestra
literature without the added challenge of instrumental transpositions to
develop initial score reading skills while improving ensemble balance
and blend.
Figure 2. Implementing Standard No. 1, Advancing String Ensembles (Grades 9–12)
Achievement Standard11 Implementation
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memory.
While the emphasis of rehearsals should remain on instrumental
performance, singing can be applied to excerpts of orchestra
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dynamic contrast.
1b. Students sing music written in four parts, with and without
accompaniment.
Allow students to sing excerpts from four or more parts to improve
score reading skills while addressing ensemble balance and blend.
1e. Students sing music written in more than four parts.
1c. Students demonstrate well-developed ensemble skills.
1f. Students sing in small ensembles with one student on a part.
Singing can be particularly effective in teaching students to
internalize pitches instead of relying on fingerboard guesswork.
Singing pitches and rhythms with choral-style notation can also
aid score reading instruction without overwhelming students
with full orchestral scores.
Internalizing pitches prior to string instrument performance
will enhance intonation and tone quality by encouraging
students to develop a solid aural goal. Additionally, sight-singing
with notation for multiple parts can enable students to consider
instrumental intonation within the context of a given key or
cadential sequence. For example, tuning the pitch “E” as the
tonic of E major will be much different than tuning the pitch as
the leading tone of F major. Bowing and ensemble precision can
be improved by encouraging students to sing or chant musical
excerpts with unified syllables such as “ta,” “doh,” or “loo.” This
activity works particularly well if only the onset of each pitch is
sounded, creating a crisp, staccato precision.
More subjective performance issues—such as phrasing and
musicality, dynamic contrast, as well as balance and blend—can
be improved by encouraging students to sing melodies and
harmonies in contrasting styles. Phrasing decisions may be
enhanced by considering whether vocal text was originally composed
for a given instrumental piece or by creating novel texts to suggest
musical direction. Using singing to explore dynamic contrast can
provide an initial step before adding the challenges of individual
instrument intonation tendencies. Balance and blend, too, can be
improved with the extra attention to listening and score reading
provided by singing. By combining the visual process of reading
notation from a score and the aural process of listening to
fellow members of an ensemble, students can be encouraged to
assess and evaluate independently instead of receiving direction
exclusively from a conductor.
Regardless of instrument type, ensemble size, skill level,
age, or literature, singing can and should be a valuable aid
to string music education. Students should be introduced to
singing as early as possible, and efforts should be made to unify
'LYLGHVWXGHQWVLQWRKHWHURJHQHRXVJURXSLQJVZLWKPHPEHUVRIRWKHU
sections of an orchestra and sing excerpts of performance literature to
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curricular scope and sequence among all members of a school’s
music faculty. Current and aspiring string music teachers can
gain experiences with proper singing techniques and additional
teaching strategies by attending pre-conference and in-service
workshops and by reading literature related to vocal pedagogy.
While instrumental performance should remain the focus of
classroom instruction, exploring the benefits of singing will likely
enhance performance skills and encourage students to develop
acute levels of musicianship to last a lifetime.
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where he teachers courses in instrumental methods and
conducting, as well as history and philosophy of music
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WKH8QLYHUVLW\RI1RUWK&DUROLQD²*UHHQVERURDQGWDXJKW
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Notes
1
Consortium of National Arts Education Associations, National Standards for Arts
Education (Reston, Va.: MENC, 1994).
2
Stanley Schleuter, A Sound Approach to Teaching Instrumentalists (New York: Schirmer
Books, 1997), 41.
3
Dorothy A. Straub, Louis S. Bergonzi, and Anne C. Witt, Strategies for Teaching Strings
and Orchestra (Reston, Va.: MENC, 1996), 9.
4
Charles A. Elliott, “Effect of Vocalization on the Sense of Pitch of Beginning Band
Class Students,” Journal of Research in Music Education 22 (1974): 120-128.
5
Carol B. MacKnight, “Music Reading Ability of Beginning Wind Instrumentalists
After Melodic Instruction,” Journal of Research in Music Education 23 (1975): 23-34.
6
Patricia A. Grutzmacher, “The Effect of Tonal Pattern Training on the Aural Perception,
Reading Recognition, and Melodic Sight-Reading Achievement of First-Year Instrumental Music Students,” Journal of Research in Music Education 35 (1987): 171-181.
7
H. Christian Bernhard II, “The Effects of Tonal Training on the Melodic Ear Playing
and Sight Reading Achievement of Beginning Wind Instrumentalists,” Contributions to
Music Education 31, No. 1 (2004): 91-107.
8
Bruce Pearson, Standard of Excellence (San Diego, CA: Kjos Publications, 1993).
9
Deborah A. Sheldon, “Effects of Contextual Sight-Singing and Aural Skills Training on
Error-Detection Abilities,” Journal of Research in Music Education 46 (1998): 384-395.
10 Edward J. Kvet and John E. Williamson, Strategies for Teaching High School Band (Reston, Va.: MENC, 1998), 5.
11 MENC: The National Association for Music Education, The School Music Program: A
New Vision (Reston, Va.: MENC, 1994).
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Symphony Orchestra League, and is
reprinted here with permission.
TROOPS
BY KARIN BROOKES
A mere 2,500 or so years ago, music was an exalted part of the school curriculum—right
up there with gymnastics. Both were considered essential to a full education, and no less an
authority than Plato said so. But no longer. Music education has slipped to the periphery
in many schools, and has all but disappeared in others. Since the 1970s, when thousands
of music programs disappeared virtually overnight from public schools nationwide, many
communities have seen some restoration of school music education. But that progress has
come piecemeal. There is little consistency from one district to another, from one state to
another, and from one year to another. A district that funds music relatively generously
one year may cut it severely the next. Orchestras have responded to the fluctuations with
expanded education programs. But even as their offerings have grown by more than tenfold
in the last 25 years, it has become obvious that orchestras and other music groups cannot
replace whole curricula; their programs are most effective when pursued in tandem with
an ongoing course of music instruction run by the local school district. Today, as more
orchestras undergo long-term and strategic planning, concern over the fragile state of music
education is growing. Its implications for the present and future health of orchestras have
sent a new priority from the wings to center stage: education advocacy.
Advocacy
Resources
Online Toolkits
American Symphony Orchestra League
Music Education Advocacy Tools 2006 includes
links to virtually every useful resource.
www.symphony.org/govaff/what/090204
advocacy_tools.shtml
Music Education Coalition
SupportMusic is a step-by-step guide to
education advocacy and includes mechanisms
to help you track your progress.
www.supportmusic.com
Arts Education Partnership
&OHDQDQGFOHDUO\RUJDQL]HGVRXUFHRIPXVLF
education research and reports—and more
helpful links!
www.aep-arts.org
Understanding State and Local
Education Funding
No Subject Left Behind: A Guide to Arts
Education Opportunities in the 2001 NCLB Act
(2004)
www.symphony.org/govaff/what/090204
advocacy_tools.shtml
Education Commission of the States
www.ecs.org
2004–2005 State Arts Education
PolicyDatabase
www.aep-arts.org/policysearch/searchengine/
National Assembly of State Arts Agencies
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www.nasaa-arts.org/nasaanews/index_anl.htm
Kennedy Center Community Audit
Learn how to audit the state of arts education
in your local school district
www.kennedy-center.org/education/kcaaen/
specialinitiatives/ComAudit01Sept.pdf
Why should orchestras take on this
responsibility? As Charlotte Symphony
Education Director Susan Miville says,
“I want art for art’s sake, but without kids
in the hall, everything is lost.” Children,
whether or not they receive grounding in
music at school, eventually grow up to be
community citizens and leaders; and the
local orchestra will quickly cease to be a
point of civic pride if a dwindling sector
of the community appreciates its efforts.
Audience motivation research
conducted by the American Symphony
Orchestra League in 2001 found that
the average concertgoer had significant
experience with music before age
fourteen, and that 75 percent of the
current audience had an opportunity
makers about the orchestra and its
mission. Mark Slavkin, vice president
for education at the Los Angeles Music
Center, says that orchestras now have to
see school boards as an audience for their
advocacy.
It’s a new concept to many. Most
orchestras have activated themselves
around a crisis at the NEA- or statefunding level. But they need to
understand, Slavkin says, that their
school-based education programs
effectively make them partners in a
school district that is governed by an
elected school board. However small
that district (and New Jersey alone has
more than 600 districts), public influence
can make a huge difference in what is
Concern over the fragile state of music education has sent a
new priority from the wings to center stage: education advocacy.
to study an instrument—even if it was
just a few months on the trombone in
sixth grade. Unlike reading, playing
soccer, or eating fine food, an interest in
classical music seems to go into a long
period of latency in early adulthood,
before emerging once again after years of
breadwinning and child-rearing. But this
generally happens only if the spark was
kindled during the school-age years.
And the payoffs aren’t immediate,
either; the National Endowment for the
Arts 2002 Survey of Public Participation
in the Arts found that the average age of
classical concertgoers has held steady in
the mid-50s for many years. The logical
hypothesis that more music teachers in
the schools will produce more people in
the concert hall, unfortunately, would
require decades of research to prove.
Without decades to wait, orchestras have
little choice but to advocate.
Demanding Accountability
Exactly what is music education
advocacy? It’s educating all the
constituents of your orchestra—
musicians, staff, board, volunteers,
audience—about policies or legislation
that may negatively impact their children
and the orchestra. It’s informing local,
state, and national decision makers about
the importance of music education. It
also involves educating local policy
provided in those schools. So advocacy
for music education also means taking
the orchestra’s message to the general
public—your potential audience—and
asking them to advocate on your behalf.
Orchestras can’t get off the hook here,
because advocacy in the local community
is what changes music education funding
and priorities.
Consider the climate in which
orchestras find themselves advocating
for the importance of music instruction:
Even where school music programs have
come roaring back since the budget cuts
of yore—in cities like New York, Dallas,
and Los Angeles—music classes no
longer resemble those of 30 years ago,
just as the curriculum for social studies
looks quite different. Our nation has
grown increasingly diverse, and classical
music represents just one slice of the
huge musical and cultural pie available to
students today. Classical music is no longer
prominent in mass media, as it was when
Leonard Bernstein enchanted so many
television viewers or when Beverly Sills was
enough of a household name to credibly
host The Tonight Show. Many of today’s
corporate and media moguls have little
background in music and the arts; they,
as children, lost out when the swinging
budget axe sliced through arts programs in
public schools, just around the time Sills
was on TV.
There’s a brand-new concern, too.
All schools, including the suburban school
districts that managed to avoid many of
the cuts that hit urban districts and were
able to develop excellent music programs,
are now likely to be affected by an Act
of Congress that is changing the face of
public education across the fifty states.
The “No Child Left Behind Act” (NCLB)
was passed by Congress in 2001 and
dictates national policy for elementary and
secondary schools. Because the Act is the
basis for most federal funding to schools,
its potential impact is huge. NCLB’s
definition of core academic subjects
includes the arts—but does not mandate
standardized testing in areas other than
literacy, math, and science.
Therein lies the problem for music
education and, by extension, for orchestras.
In March of this year, the Center on
Education Policy released what is probably
the most comprehensive national study on
the impact of NCLB to date. One of the
four key challenges identified by the 49
states and 314 school districts in the study
was a narrowing of the curriculum in
order to increase the amount of mandatory
time spent on reading and math. In New
Jersey’s Bayonne School District, for
example, the number and availability of art
and music programs has been cut back and
field trips put on hold for many months.
Academic Atrophy, a report released in 2004
by the Council on Basic Education, shows
significant decreases in instructional time
for the arts, especially in schools serving
primarily minorities. And The Sound of
Silence, a 2004 statistical review from the
Music for All Foundation, showed that
reductions in music education programs
in California have been disproportionate
when compared to all other subjects.
NCLB comes up for reconsideration
in 2007. In the meantime, there’s still
a “golden opportunity” for individual
states in the No Child Left Behind
Act, according to Heather Watts, the
American Symphony Orchestra League’s
director of government affairs and
education advocacy. By including the
arts as a core subject, NCLB gives states
the freedom to alter their accountability
structure to mandate an arts education
curriculum. In fact, virtually every state
has introduced its own set of standards
that demonstrate what students
should know and be able to do in the
arts; examples include Texas Essential
Knowledge and Skills, introduced in
1999, and The Visual and Performing
Arts Framework and Standards for arts
education adopted by the California
Department of Education in 2001.
Around half the states mandate the use
of standards, to be implemented at the
district level; the remainder make them
voluntary. To date, only a handful of
states have incorporated them into their
accountability systems.
How to influence the others in
the same direction? You guessed it:
“Advocacy,” says Watts.
Art of Persuasion
Watts is a co-author of No Subject
Left Behind, a resource guide for
education advocates that is the
result of a collaborative effort among
several national arts and education
organizations. One of them, the Arts
Education Partnership, has been helping
to steer local, state, and federal policy
around to arts education. It’s a national
forum representing more than 100
educational, philanthropic, business,
arts, and government entities.* By
facilitating a dialogue at the national
level and identifying best practices in
arts education reform, it represents a
wonderful, if elevated, model for the
kind of grassroots advocacy coalition that,
according to Watts, holds the greatest
promise for improving music education
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at the local level. This, she says, is the
kind of coalition in which orchestras can
play an important part. (See “On the
Front Lines,” page 56.)
The AEP has also been instrumental
in assembling a body of research that
local advocates can use to persuade
policy makers of the importance of arts
education. Champions of Change: The
Political advocates like Huckabee are
valuable—and rare, especially at the local
level. But orchestras don’t have to do it
all, says Watts. In fact, they may be most
effective in music education advocacy
when they work in collaboration with
school teachers, parents, and other
arts groups. Take inspiration from the
stories of collaborative advocacy in these
concerned community citizens. They are
all affected when children don’t get enough
music exposure in school. When they
successfully advocate for more, they will
feel the benefits.
At the Pittsburgh Symphony,
musicians have bought into advocacy
completely, according to Suzanne
Perrino, vice-president of education and
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community engagement. “They come to
us with concerns about music at their own
children’s schools,” she says. “They speak
at school board meetings.” A lack of arts
education, she adds, is “frustrating to those
of them who graduated from area schools.”
Impact of the Arts on Learning (1999)
summarizes seven major studies that
provide evidence of enhanced learning
and achievement when students are
involved in a variety of arts experiences.
Critical Links (2002) discusses 61
different research projects in the arts,
including fifteen in music. (Both reports
are available at www.aep-arts.org.)
Some of the most heartening
support to education advocacy comes
from what AEP Director Dick Deasy
calls “that unexpected voice”: Arkansas
Governor Mike Huckabee, a conservative
Republican, who gave arts education a
huge boost when he made it the platform
for his two-year term as chairman of the
Education Commission of the States,
which aims to improve state policy in
all areas of education. Huckabee is the
policy group’s 40th chair (his term began
in July 2004), but the first to propose arts
education as the focus. He’s already set an
example in Arkansas by revising state law
to ensure that elementary schools offer a
minimum of 40 minutes’ instruction in
music and another 40 minutes of visual
art each week—to every student.
pages, and peruse these ten pointers for
launching your own music education
advocacy effort:
1. Recognize that the most effective
education advocacy is local, not
national. While national service organizations like the American Symphony
Orchestra League can make waves in
Washington, education is a local issue,
not a global one.
Advocacy is about local politics. Your
school board was elected by people like
you and the members of your audience.
As elected officials, they should want to
hear from their very own community
citizens—including their orchestra—and
they won’t change education policy
based on outside recommendations. Use
League resources and advice to build your
case—and then go make it.
2. Engage your musicians, staff, and
board in your education advocacy
efforts. Advocacy should be an integral
part of the organization, not a machine
you crank up only when there is a
funding crunch. The members of the
orchestra family are also, presumably,
3. Start an advocacy coalition now.
Partner with other arts organizations, local
funders, arts agencies, and, most important,
school districts. You need have in common
only one thing: that you want better music
education in your schools.
Where to begin? Almost all orchestras
are already involved to some extent in their
communities. So use the relationships you
already have to build a coalition. Existing
program partnerships provide a great
basis for advocacy, because they cement
relationships, extend your network, and
show results that you can use in persuading
policy makers.
See “On the Front Lines,” page 56,
for examples of advocacy partnerships
in New York and Dallas, both involving
orchestras from the beginning. Although
these are large urban environments,
education advocacy is just as important in
smaller communities, if not more so. Their
orchestras may have some of the strongest
local connections, and comparatively
greater influence on school district policy
than orchestras in large cities.
4. Recognize that the orchestra is only
part of the puzzle. Discipline-based
factions break down advocacy efforts very
quickly. Policy makers and the general
public are less likely than arts insiders to see
the differences among music, art, drama,
and dance. What does make a difference is
when arts educators and arts presenters—
including orchestras—work together. So
keep it cordial and convivial. Be sensitive
to the needs of others in your coalition,
especially the schools.
5. Make new friends. Get to know your
policy makers. Really get to know them,
including their personal interests. You
might be surprised to find enthusiasms
that haven’t been tapped for advocacy.
That superintendent that you saw as a
bureaucrat may sing with great gusto in a
community chorus. The chairman of the
school board, who may seem distant and
unapproachable, may have played the
piano since kindergarten. Find out. Then
work from that knowledge.
6. Use online resources. SupportMusic.
com is one of several web resources
available to advocates. (See “Advocacy
Resources,” page xx.) It simplifies the
advocacy process by helping the user
to build a customized case for music
education, step by step—starting with
the suggestion that you “Set up a small
and enthusiastic team, and ask each team
member to develop a network of helpers.”
Check the Government Affairs pages
of the American Symphony Orchestra
League’s web site often (www.symphony.
org/govaff/what/index.shtml). You’ll find
regular alerts and news on legislation
affecting orchestras and arts funding, as
well as a section on Music Education
Advocacy.
7. Use current research to build your
case. Research that demonstrates the
positive influence of the arts on academic
performance can get you the ear of a
policymaker, even if the point you want
to make about the benefits of music is
much more complex. Get a foot in the
door with facts gleaned from the online
and published literature. (See “Advocacy
Resources,” page xx.)
8. Advocate for better data on student
participation in music. Although there
is research to support your case that
music education improves learning in
general, there is little information about
how much music education is provided
locally, statewide, or nationally. These
facts will help you establish a baseline
for improvement. So encourage your
school board to provide accurate student
participation data for music courses at
individual schools and at the district level.
The National Assessment of
Educational Progress Arts Report Card,
which assesses the arts knowledge
and skills of eighth graders, was last
undertaken in 1997 and the next is
not due until 2008. The most recent
information on the provision of music
teachers in schools is the 1999-2000
report, Arts Education in the Public
Elementary and Secondary Schools, by the
National Center for Education Statistics
(www.nces.ed.gov). The American
Symphony Orchestra League has been
advocating for another report of this
kind, so that orchestras can have some
comparative data.
9. When there is a crisis, seize the
moment. Jumpstart your network and
get advocacy moving. And don’t be afraid
to use technology to make your case.
When the California State Arts Council
was slated for elimination two years ago,
arts advocates immediately set up a web
site allowing concerned citizens to e-mail
messages and letters directly to their
representatives in the state legislature, as
well as the pertinent committee chairman,
ranking members, and the governor.
Concerned arts groups, including the
Los Angeles Philharmonic, forwarded
the site’s URL to their databases of
supporters. The strategy was quick and
effective. Although its budget was slashed,
the Arts Council was saved.
10. Hang in there. All successful
coalitions need a period of incubation.
Longevity and consistency of leadership
will make a big difference. Most
successful coalitions include members of
a decade’s standing or more. Above all,
don’t become discouraged or apathetic if
you’re not successful the first time around.
And when you do meet with success,
don’t become complacent! Keep on
making that case.
After many years as a writer and editor in
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Glasgow, Scotland. At the time of this article’s
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Orchestras may be most effective in music education advocacy
when they work in collaboration with school teachers, parents, and
other arts groups.
On the Front
Education advocacy is a complicated and continuous job that
works best when orchestras join with educators and other arts
groups to accomplish their aims, as these stories from New York
City and Dallas demonstrate. They tell of success and frustration,
a tremendous commitment of goodwill and resources, and a sense
of community connection that pays intangible dividends.
NewYork:
.
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colleagues at other state
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Photo: Chris Lee
Blueprint for Learning
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schools, cultural institutions,
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arts education in public
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New York’s Arts in Education Roundtable worked consistently
to improve arts education. The Blueprint is the ultimate fruit
of those efforts.
Lines
COLLABORATIONS MOVE ARTS
EDUCATION ADVOCACY FORWARD.
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Courtesy: Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Dallas:
.
ArtsPartners’ support means that every teacher who walks into
Meyerson Symphony Center has embedded the day’s Dallas
Symphony youth concert into the class curriculum.
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different nations that helped
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–Karin Brookes
A Lesson from
Viotti
by John A. Thomson
Violin Forum
T
he year 2005 marked the 250th anniversary of the birth of one of the world’s greatest violinists, Giovanni
Battista Viotti (1755–1824). Today, if you mention the name of Viotti, many violinists find you have
evoked unpleasant childhood memories—memories similar to those of having to take unpleasant-tasting
medicine that is, nonetheless, good for you! Nowadays, Viotti’s music is, unfortunately, used mainly
for teaching purposes, and we have become accustomed to associating his music with the defects of the student
performers. The successful performance of his music requires the exact qualities that Viotti’s contemporaries found
so engaging in his own performances: beautiful tone production, accurate intonation, and musical imagination—the
very qualities most students are only just developing at the time they are assigned his works!
Yet in several ways, Viotti has dramatically influenced the way in which we play the violin through the example
he set with his playing, his compositions, and through his teaching passed on through his students and followers. It
is also interesting to learn that Viotti even started work on a treatise concerning violin playing. Had he been able to
complete it, it would have undoubtedly provided us with much greater insight into the man who has been called the
“Father of Modern Violin Playing.”
Viotti’s name is also linked with the emergence of a newer tonal ideal illustrated by his favoring Stradivari violins
and Tourte bows. Many of our modern bow strokes are associated with the development of the Tourte bow and
the bowing style employed by Viotti. These bowing techniques often have French names (détaché, martelé, sautillé)
because these strokes were named by Viotti’s Parisian disciples.
We can gather from the accounts of Viotti’s time that he was most
highly regarded as a performer, composer, teacher, and as a gentle human
being. The attitude of Viotti’s acquaintances and disciples amounted to
actual reverence. When the Paris Conservatoire was established in 1795,
one of its stated aims was to preserve the style of Viotti’s playing. Indeed,
Carl Flesch writing of his studies at the Paris Conservatoire in the 1890s
regarded this continued reverence of the older professors for Viotti’s music
and performing style, combined with their lack of openness to newer
trends, as a trait holding the French school back at this time.
Viotti composed 29 concertos that enjoyed tremendous popularity at
the time of composition and well into the 19th century. One can read of
Brahms’s great enthusiasm for the Concerto No. 22 in A Minor, a piece
performed by many of great virtuosi until the middle of the 20th century.
Mozart was so taken with Viotti’s Concerto No. 16 in E Minor that he
planned a performance of it at one of his subscription concerts in Vienna
around 1786. Although this projected performance never materialized,
Mozart did compose additional parts for trumpet and timpani (now
catalogued as K. 470a). Surely he would not have done this had he
Viotti’s music was immensely popular during his
considered the music unworthy.
lifetime. Pictured is a piano arrangement of his
Violin Concerto No. 23, signed by Viotti in 1810.
Violin Forum
The influence of the technical innovations found in
Viotti’s concertos may be seen in the great music of his time,
notably the Beethoven Violin Concerto. His final concerto,
No. 29 in E Minor, shows several features that surely
influenced the compositional form of Mendelssohn’s concerto.
Besides the key of E minor, the second movement (just as in
Mendelssohn’s concerto) is in C major and is connected to
the finale by a brief connecting recitative-like section. It is
very likely that Mendelssohn was familiar with this concerto,
as his friend and the dedicatee of his concerto, the violinist
Ferdinand David, played this final concerto of Viotti.
Viotti made his sensational debut in Paris in 1782, where
he resided happily for 10 years, performing, composing, and
gathering around him an admiring group of students and
disciples. He also gained the patronage of many aristocratic
figures, and it was probably because of this patronage that
Viotti thought it wise to leave Paris and reestablish himself in
London in 1792 following the French Revolution.
The influence Viotti exerted during his Paris years was
enormous. Looking at this, one can view Paris as a Garden
of Eden, where the creation of the modern world of violin
playing was taking place. Certainly, this was the beginning
of the modern French school of playing, and considering the
influence of Viotti’s students and followers, it was arguably
the beginning of all modern schools of violin playing. One of
Viotti’s students was Pierre Rode, who, along with Rodolphe
Kreutzer and Pierre Baillot, became a professor at the Paris
Conservatoire. While it is not recorded that Kreutzer and
Baillot took many lessons with Viotti, they both spent much
time with him, playing under his direction, and absorbing his
style. The touching respect and, indeed, the love they all felt
for Viotti are most evident in their writings and compositions.
Viotti’s style was quickly promoted throughout all of
Europe through his students and compositions. Rode spent
the years 1804 through 1808 attached to the Czar’s court in
Saint Petersburg. When Rode left Russia, his countryman
Charles Phillipe Lafont, who was a student of Kreutzer, took
his place and remained from 1808 until 1815. The violinist
André Robberechts (1797–1860) studied with Viotti and
Baillot before returning to Brussels, where he taught and
laid the foundations for the Belgian school of playing. Viotti
lived in Germany between 1798 and 1801, where one of
his students was Wilhelm Friedrich Pixis (1786–1842), a
brilliant violinist from Mannheim who was to go on to teach
at the Prague Conservatoire when it opened in 1811, and
help to establish the Bohemian school of playing. Ludwig
Spohr (1784–1859) regretted that he was unable to study
with Viotti, but modeled his own style on that of Rode and
maintained that there was no greater repertoire for cultivating
good technique and fine taste than the concertos of Viotti.
Even Paganini, who must have represented a vastly
different approach to playing, clearly held his compatriot in
high esteem, as he occasionally performed Viotti’s music. His
Second Concerto in B Minor, La Campanella, contains what
must be a salute to Viotti with two clear thematic quotes from
Viotti’s Concerto No. 24 in the same key. The second themes
of the first movements in both works are strikingly similar,
and the openings to the second movements are identical.
Yet another direct quotation appears in the second movement
of Paganini’s Sonata No. 4, Opus 3 in A Minor, which uses the
opening theme of the finale to Viotti’s Concerto No. 25. That he
was clearly impressed by the orchestra of the Paris Conservatoire
is evident from a quote in a letter dated April 28, 1831: “Only in
Paris did I find the best orchestra in Europe—one that presented
my music in the way I imagined it should sound—an orchestra
that knew how to accompany me perfectly.” This letter was
addressed to the conductor of the orchestra, Francois Antoine
Habeneck (1781–1849). Habeneck had been a violin student of
Baillot and was very much a follower of Viotti’s musical values.
Around 1840 Habeneck published a treatise: Méthode
théorique et pratique de violon. Before the 19th century, there
had not been many such works, but several valuable treatises
appeared around this time by such violinists as Spohr, Mazas,
and Baillot. In Habeneck’s Méthode, there are many references
indicating his admiration and reverence for Viotti, but most
touching is the inclusion in facsimile of Viotti’s attempt at a
treatise. Evidently Viotti’s followers had urged him to write
a treatise. Viotti had mentioned the work to Baillot during
their final meeting in 1823, but he was to abandon writing
after completing only four pages. One suspects that after
beginning work on this treatise, the aging master realized it
was simply beyond his powers. It is likely he did not have a
literary background, and his use of French suggests he was
not completely comfortable with the language. The fact that
Habeneck included the treatise in facsimile indicates the
reverential attitude toward Viotti that is born out by so many
charming anecdotes. Evidently, the manuscript of Viotti was
esteemed as a precious relic from the master himself.
Today, Viotti’s treatise is little known, and I have been
unable to find a complete English translation of the work. I
have tried to approximate the style of Viotti’s language. Some
sentences are a little awkward, but this is how they appear in
his original French. One must remember that this is merely
a fragment. Viotti refers to sections of the treatise that were
never written, and the layout and order of the sections had not
been established. The treatise is not particularly valuable as a
comprehensive pedagogical work, but it is a fascinating glimpse
of Viotti the teacher, and of his priorities in the teaching of
beginners. Teachers will be gratified to know that he obviously
considered the teaching of beginners to be a serious and
important art that not every violinist is competent to undertake.
His recommendation to practice long, sustained bow strokes is
something advanced artists still use to improve bowing. There is a
legend that Viotti could hold a single stroke for 15 minutes. This
is surely unbelievable, but the fact that his bowing could inspire
such a legend tells of a remarkable technique. And every advocate
of scales will love his sentence: “I will only add, that I who have
hardly ever practiced a passage have never ceased practicing scales
in order to make my playing the least disagreeable possible; and
that if I could arrive at the point of playing the perfect scale, as
perfect as I envisage it, I would believe myself to be the greatest
violinist in the world.” Surely this sentence reveals not only
the extent to which the maestro valued scales, but also gives us
something of a taste of the modest charm that so enchanted his
acquaintances.
Treatise
Viotti’s
Viotti’s
Translation of
by John A. Thomson
T
o do well, I ought to make myself appear learned, and give a long dissertation on the probable and
improbable concerning the time when the violin was invented, saying we owe this marvelous instrument
to the romantic Sappho or Apollo himself. Some learned people would deign to read my work, but what
purpose would all this serve? Firstly, good people, because the books that I have read have not helped me
learn, and secondly, that certitude would be rather pointless for my aim. We have the instrument, we do our best, it
enchants sometimes, although often it sets our nerves on edge what more do we need? What does it matter whether it
is to a woman or to a man, to one person or to several, that we owe our gratitude?
Violin Forum
My Views on the Method of Teaching and Learning Violin Playing
In my opinion, the best age to begin violin playing is seven. Earlier, the faculties are not sufficiently developed, and the
result can only be these so-called prodigies, who die almost as soon as they appear. Later the muscles acquire a degree
of strength that would be harmful to the suppleness and delicacy of movement, so I set the age at seven for starting
this important study, and this is how I believe it should be taken up.
1. After the student has learned the theoretical principles well, which I believe have been sufficiently discussed in
the first section, and after he has gained a clear idea of notation—pitch and time values, he can pick up the violin.
I will not dwell upon how to handle the instrument or the bow here. These two subjects will be thoroughly
discussed in two separate chapters, which the reader should find satisfactory.
2. Before beginning the scale, the teacher should train the student to put the bow in the middle between the
bridge and the fingerboard, and to draw it down and up its entire length on all four open strings. First on one string,
then another, never on two at a time, and always slowly. Care should be taken that each bow stroke should be lifted
off the string. This should be continued until the student’s arm begins to loosen up and gets used to this sort of
movement, which should take place after a few lessons, more or less depending on the natural ability. After completing
this exercise, we move to the scale, which for the reasons to be stated should be G and not C.1
3. The teacher and student should play this scale together, two, three, four times, more or less, until the pupil
understands it well enough. After this the teacher lets him play it alone, in order: 1) not to confuse his still untrained
ear, as two sounds at once are almost never in tune at this first stage; 2) to assist him to sustain and draw his bow
steadily on the strings and point out to him the graduation of pressure required; and 3) finally, to guide his fingers to
the correct place.
4. After a few lessons, the teacher can play with the student again, making sure however never to play the slightest
embellishment, or the smallest ornament, because then you can say goodbye to accuracy, intonation, and goodbye to
success! In addition he should observe that the bowing is done according to the rules (see No. 2), that the hand and
fingers are in the correct place (see . . . )2 and finally that the student doesn’t acquire any faults. It would also be good at
these earliest stages if the latter never practices alone, and that he be allowed this favor only when the teacher is certain
that he will practice systematically and attentively.
5. For a good student this simple scale should probably be studied for a week3 or two, especially if one continues
to combine it with that of theoretical principles. What do we give him to do after this? I should like him to be given
short exercises that are easier than the scale, so that, not being obliged to concentrate on the notes, he can increasingly
master the handling of the instrument, and of accuracy.
These exercises must be short, made up of similar notes, in the same pattern, moving stepwise with very few leaps.
Each bar is made up of an even number of notes, so that we always begin with the bow at the frog, and finally it will be
plain, as in the following example:
(Translator’s note: The example is missing, but the first exercises in Schradieck’s School of Violin Technics, Volume 1, is
probably similar to what Viotti had in mind. From the next sentence, it seems likely that Viotti would have written each
note as a quarter note.)
6. After the preceding, the teacher should write more exercises in the same key, including in them some eighth
notes and then some dotted notes, thus increasing the difficulty little by little, yet without ever abandoning the scale
at each lesson, which must always be the touchstone of intonation and the main study. And consequently the key of
G must not be left until the intonation is perfect. There is no hurry: three, four months if necessary, the scales in the
other keys will only proceed faster.
Violin Forum
Everyone knows that certain teachers, owing to being
in too much of a hurry, have allowed faults that are never
corrected to set in which it has never been possible to
eradicate—and that is why I condemn those who think
that any mediocre musician will be suitable as a teacher of
beginners.
On Scales
How much there is to say about this first step! . . . It is
demanding, and tiring, but it brings success.
Everyone knows that the scale is a natural series of sounds,
ascending or descending. But not everyone, perhaps, has
sufficiently reflected upon how difficult they are to perform
and what benefits they afford if, in spite of the accompanying
tediousness, they are studied regularly.
It is the scale that creates good intonation, a beautiful
tone quality that gives the voice or the fingers suppleness that
strengthens the bow on the string that accustoms the nerves or
the organs to thousands of movements, to an infinite number
of inflections and nuances. Finally it is the scale that sets our
unsteady steps on the pathway to a professional career that sets
our minds at rest, gradually gives us confidence, and takes us
surely on our way past great difficulties.
There is no need for me to say anything more to make
it clear how important I believe them to be. I will only add,
that I who have hardly ever practiced a passage have never
ceased practicing scales in order to make my playing the least
disagreeable possible; and that if I could arrive at the point
of playing the perfect scale, as perfect as I envisage it, I would
believe myself to be the greatest violinist in the world.
There are different ways of practicing scales.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Without inflections, which I indicate with two parallel
lines = to signify that the sound of each note should be
begun, continued, and concluded with the same degree of
strength.
Starting forte and concluding piano >
Starting piano, crescendo and diminuendo < >
A scale in the same key but practiced in all possible
positions.
In half steps, or semitones, observing the same preceding
inflections.
With a trill on every note, same inflections.
Finally, practice all scales in different keys, in different
positions, and in varying speeds, slow and fast.
It should be mentioned nevertheless, that the exercise that
consolidates the most and does the most good is the practicing
of extremely long and sustained notes. It is this last exercise
that sometimes drives me crazy.
All this must seem almost impossible to a complete
beginner; as the simple task of holding the instrument, placing
the fingers, and drawing the bow must make him think of the
labors of Hercules! . . . Therefore, it is only to those people who
already have some experience that I address my remarks in this
article.
In beginning to learn any instrument, the principle objective
must be accuracy, or to put it more precisely, intonation. The
scale that most easily helps to reach this goal, that will hold
the student’s attention and settle his fingers, at the same time
giving him the least amount of trouble, is that which must be
chosen in the first lessons, and it is the G scale on the violin
that fulfils this purpose better than any other. It does so better
than the C scale, as many believe. This is why: In G, the first
and third fingers are kept at the same distance (from one
another) to play the notes on the all four strings; whereas in
C, the first finger must be moved backwards on the E-string to
play F-natural. Moreover, in G, once the fingers are arranged
on the fourth string, they are kept at the same distance (from
one another) to play the notes on the third string. Next, with
a simple movement of the second finger, repositioned on the
A-string, the fingers stay the same on the E-string also. In this
way the one changes the order or grouping only once, instead
of twice as with C scale, as can be seen in Figure 1.
John Thomson teaches violin and viola at the UniYHUVLW\RI6RXWK'DNRWDDQGLVWKHPXVLFGLUHFWRU
RIWKH6LRX[(PSLUH<RXWK2UFKHVWUDV+HKDVSHUformed in the United States, Europe, Asia, and
1HZ =HDODQG KLV KRPH FRXQWU\ DQG KDV EHHQ
IHDWXUHGRQVHYHUDO&'UHFRUGLQJVZLWKWKH5DZOLQV3LDQR7ULR&ULWLFVKDYHSUDLVHGKLVÉULOOLDQWWHFKQLTXHDQGDSpealing cantabile” and described his playing as “a rare treat.”
Notes
1
Viotti uses the past tense. Considering what he later writes, the future tense seems
more appropriate. He refers to the scales as “sol” and “ut”—it later becomes
evident that he means G major and C major.
2
It seems likely that Viotti intended to refer at this point to another section concerning the left hand that, unfortunately, was never written.
3
This word is illegible in Viotti’s manuscript. Possibly, he meant “week,” but any
period of time, e.g., “day,” “month,” could be what he intended.
Figure 1
Teaching Tips
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The following is reprinted with permission
from the Minnesota ASTA state chapter
newsletter. Minor revisions have been made
by the author since its original publication.
According to a legend among my students,
I wrote this list of ideas at midnight in
the depths of my lair. Forthwith, each
student received a copy on yellow paper
to help him or her retain key principles of
cello playing and intelligent practice. The
students and I fondly (!) refer to this list
as “the yellow sheet.” Eventually, they can
easily recount what this ray of sunshine
in their lives tells them about specific
technical problems or practice habits they
should follow. I hope that the aphorisms
below are but a small portion of my
knowledge base, but these concise sayings
are the ones I use most frequently.
Many of the ideas I have used
routinely in my cello teaching come from
teachers with whom I never studied on
a regular basis. I derived many of these
ideas from Phyllis Young at the University
of Texas at Austin String Project and
from reading her books. A wealth of
knowledge came from Margaret Rowell
and Irene Sharp, teachers at a weeklong
seminar at the University of North
Carolina–Greensboro in 1983; from Rick
Mooney during my Suzuki training; and
from numerous articles in American String
Teacher and the Suzuki Journal. When
we teach, we inevitably bring our own
teaching style and personality into the
studio. I can no longer make a distinction
between what I learned from the sources
mentioned above and which of these ideas
are my own.
The text after the aphorism
in boldface is a brief explanation found
on the yellow sheet to jog the student’s
memory during home practice. Usually,
one explanation will suffice for a student
to understand these principles, but
remembering to put them into action is
another story. These ideas are parceled out
over time as they become appropriate to
the age and readiness of the student.
Slow is good. Practice new, difficult
material slowly enough to have a high
success rate. Your muscles need “time to
think.” Stumbling because of a fast tempo
simply reinforces your mistakes; you’ll
learn how to play poorly very well! Slow
Down and Live! (Highway Department
slogan) Speeding up to a tempo is the
relatively easy part. Playing the correct
notes, fingerings, rhythms, and bowings
at a slow tempo is imperative in the
beginning stages. Play only as fast as you
can (are able to!).
A metronome is good. Increase the tempo
one notch at a time to learn to play a
passage, going from a slow tempo to a
tempo.
Stop. Think. Play. Get it right the first
time.
The chickens have come home to roost.
If you don’t learn the correct notes,
fingerings, rhythms, and bowings at a slow
tempo in the early stages of practicing
a piece or étude, your problems will
continue and will especially haunt you
during a performance.
Go from the known to the unknown.
When you have trouble playing or hearing
notes in any position (usually thumb or
fifth through seventh positions), play the
pitches or series of pitches in first or fourth
positions only (the “known”), where
you know how to locate them. Transfer
the series of pitches you hear to the
“unknown” higher positions.
Cello playing is just one note after
another. Any piece is really a long series of
pairs of notes linked together in a chain.
If the chain is broken—incorrect pitch,
rhythm, etc., between the pairs or other
small groups of notes—the section or piece
doesn’t hold together.
Printed bowings and fingerings are
the law until 1) your teacher provides
alternatives, or 2) you are advanced
enough to make these decisions.
Following fingerings and bowings is part
of your training and is essential when you
play in an orchestra or chamber music
ensemble. There is certainly more than
one way to finger and bow any passage,
but using an expert’s suggestions helps you
to learn the logic behind fingering and
bowing.
A pencil is your friend in the practice
room. Mark fingerings and bowings as
needed.
Fingerboard geography: 1) “Where is
Texas? Where is Kansas?” = Where is first
position? Where is third position with
the hand in extension? Play the notes in
one position, lower your left arm down
to your side, and then raise your arm
and land in the target position. Land on
the fingerboard with the proper finger
spacing, including landing in a closed or
open (extended) position. This procedure
helps you understand intellectually and
physically (kinesthetically) the location of
the two positions, including finger spacing
and closed/extended hand posture, before
and after a shift. 2) “How do you travel
from Texas to Kansas?” After you have
intellectually and physically determined
the hand positions before and after a
shift, then you practice the shift from one
group of notes to the next group without
lowering the arm.
Grapefruit hand. Porcupine under the
left arm. The left hand holds a grapefruit
for good finger spacing. The left arm and
elbow should not sag.
On the C string, your finger is a living
C-clamp. The fingers sink into the “foam
rubber fingerboard” on all four strings, but
it’s more difficult on the thicker G and C
strings. You need to put in extra effort to
hold down the G and C strings, especially
with forte triple and quadruple stops, so
that the pitches are discernible and the
tone quality is acceptable.
Pay attention to both thumbs:
t 4MJHIUMZDVSWFESJHIUUIVNC
touches bow on side of tip (not
the fleshy pad)
t -FGUUIVNCSBUIFSTUSBJHIUCVU
loose
t -FGUUIVNCCFIJOETFDPOEmOHFS
even in extensions
When shifting, don’t be a jerk. Shift as
slowly as possible, but still be on time.
Freeze frame. Hit the Pause button
between shifts in fast runs, think, and then
hit Play.
Half-note system. New, difficult
passage—eliminate printed rhythm and
bowings but never fingerings. Get the
series of pitches and their fingerboard
locations firmly in your ear and muscles.
Then add the bowings and rhythms. Fivenote window. Play notes 1–5, 2–6, 3–7,
etc., in a difficult passage with correct bow
direction. Add-a-note. Play first note,
notes 1–2, notes 1–2–3, etc., and continue
throughout the difficult passage.
“Windows”—the portion to practice
can be any length. (Similar to five-note
window.) The window can be any size as
to number of notes/measures/lines. Move
“window” to next difficult section. (I fold
a paper in half and cut a rectangular hole
to demonstrate. After using the cut-out
window once, the student simply imagines
a window of varying sizes.)
a.
b.
c.
a.
b.
c.
window that is two notes wide
for practicing a shift
window that is perhaps a halfmeasure or a complete measure
window that is perhaps a halfline, complete line, or several
lines in length
|: Low High High Low :| Good for any
problematic shift, no matter how narrow
or wide the interval. Repeat the shift
between the two pitches many times with
various bowings and rhythms.
To increase tone production and
emotional content:
t 1MBZBQBTTBHFBUBOmp level.
Repeat it at an mf level, then f,
then ff.
t 4VCTUJUVUFOVNCFSTGPSEZOBNJD
levels (2,5,7,9). Play the passage
at level 3, now at 8, now at 6,
etc. What do you need to alter
with your bow and right arm to
produce these changes?
There is no such thing as being “a little
out of tune.” You must hit the bull’seye. Being “a little out of tune” and “a lot
out of tune” is the same thing. Especially
when you shift and extend, you must
practice hitting the center of the pitch(es).
It’s a bad habit to wiggle and slide the
finger around to find the pitch—and very
annoying to the listener.
Right arm—truck test, dogleg, armchair.
Basic posture at the frog on the D string:
A toy truck travels on a flat highway
(your forearm) and then curves and goes
downhill at your wrist. A dogleg (bend)
is formed at the wrist. When you sit in
an armchair, your hand hangs naturally
from the wrist and the fingers are spaced
in a relaxed manner. This is also the
basic position of your hand in relation to
the wrist and your finger spacing when
holding the bow.
Left arm and hand—elephant “ploppy”
fingers cling to the fingerboard; play on
fingertips with curved fingers in order
to play fast. Fingers that feel as heavy as
an elephant, caused by the back and arm
pulling back, provide the weight needed to
hold down the strings on a cello and bass.
This feeling is desirable especially when
using vibrato. Collapsed joints are like
a collapsed arch: the weight is lost, and
you can’t play fast passages with speed or
clarity.
Bow track—no gutter balls; stay in your
lane; narrow mountain path = a direct
result of a bow that is at a right angle
to the string. A bow at a right angle has a
much better chance of staying in the same
path (bowling lane, highway lane, narrow
path with a cliff on both sides) than if it
is not at a 90 degree angle. Achieving this
requires a long, deliberate process. Wipe
off the strings and then strive ultimately
to leave no more than a quarter-inch rosin
track when your eyes are closed.
Don’t practice stopping. Stopping every
time you make a mistake, even for a
moment, is a bad habit. Of course, you
need to stop and fix mistakes, but you also
need to practice without allowing yourself
the luxury of stopping. Stopping is a habit
that creeps up on you until you no longer
realize that you’re doing it. It is annoying
to the listener, who is usually the teacher!
Strength through flexibility. An airplane
wing and a tree branch are designed to
bend, yet they are strong. Our joints and
limbs will have strength only if they are
loose and flexible, not if they are stiff from
cramped muscles and postures.
Piano ≠ puny.
'DYLG /LWWUHOO SDVW SUHVLdent of ASTA, is a UniversiW\ 'LVWLQJXLVKHG 3URIHVVRU
at Kansas State University,
where he teaches cello and
double bass, as well as conducts the orchestra. He edited the two volumes of
ASTA’s 1997 String Syllabus and currently is compiling and editing Volume 3 of Teaching Music through Performance
in Orchestra for GIA Publications.
2006 National Conference Exhibitors
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Conference, held March 8 through 11 in Kansas City, Missouri. Each one of you played a key role in the
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ASTA National Conference
March 8–11, 2006
Kansas City, Missouri
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The 2006 ASTA national conference was even better than expected! Almost two thousand ASTA members and string
enthusiasts met in Kansas City to enjoy the many facets of the conference, including nearly 200 informative sessions, the
National Orchestra Festival, a variety of outstanding performances, and much more! The sold-out exhibit hall was also a
fun focal point, giving members the chance to experience the music industry’s latest and greatest products and services.
As always, the conference offered a perfect setting to bring together ASTA’s diverse membership—to learn about and
appreciate the many different facets of string education and performance, as well as to help shape the future of the association. From Peter Boonshaft’s keynote speech at the Opening Ceremony to the Gala Benefit Concert featuring Mark
O’Connor and the Appalachia Waltz Trio, the 2006 national conference was packed with educational opportunities and
fun! Many thanks to all who attended. We hope to see you in Detroit next year!
Foll
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r
the Yellow B
Nicholas Villalobos, the 18-year-old winner of
the ASTA/Auday-Giormenti Double Bass
Competition (immediate left), treats attendees
to a solo performance on his new AudayGiormenti Viennese model double bass during
the Opening Ceremony. Special thanks go to
competition sponsor Auday-Giormenti, as well
as the Super-Sensitive Musical String Company
for providing the instrument’s strings.
Dalton Potter
Bob Gillespie
Peter Boonshaft
Opening Ceremony
A “yellow brick road” led to the sold-out
ASTA exhibit hall, which featured the
latest offerings and product favorites from
members of the String Industry Council,
institutional members, and other valued
exhibitors—plus a Wizard of Oz theme!
The exhibit hall grand opening and
reception was sponsored by Merz-Huber
Company, while Hal Leonard Corporation
sponsored a coffee break and String Letter
Publishing/Strings Magazine sponsored a
dessert break.
Exhibit
Hall
“This conference has truly change
The first-ever ASTA Follies provided an opportunity for ASTA members to demonstrate their hidden talents!
ed my life—and love of strings!”
A
Award
Winners
Winn
ners
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(right,
right,
ght, from top to bottom)
Marvin
Mar
arvin
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Community
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Award: Mary Drane West,
Miinneapolis,
Minneapolis,
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Minn
Minnesota
Sponso
Sponsored
onsoredd bby H
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Leonard Corporation
Isaac Stern
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International Award: François Rabbath, Paris, France
Sponsored by J. D’Addario & Company, Inc
Traugott Rohner Leadership in the Music Industry Award: Charles
Avsharian, Shar Products Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Artist-Teacher Award: Helen Kwalwasser, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Sponsored by Kay H. Logan
Elizabeth A.H. Green School Educator Award: Jan Garverick, San
Antonio, Texas
Sponsored by Hal Leonard Corporation
CodaBow Drawing: Carrie Ann Carlson, New Carlisle, Indiana
Sponsored by CodaBow International, Ltd.
Sessions and
Receptions
At the heart of the conference were nearly 200 sessions, which were presented by leading string pedagogues and performers and which offered the opportunity to
share ideas and network with peers. A wide variety of panel discussions, workshops, and performances ensured that there was something for everyone. In addition,
attendees enjoyed elegant evening receptions hosted by IAJE and ASTA’s National Foundation to Promote String Teaching and Playing.
“This was my first ASTA conference, and many of my career questions have been answered.
Performances
Kansas City Symphony
Conference attendees were treated to a number of outstanding performances in Kansas City. Featured performers included the Kansas City Symphony, under the direction of Timothy Hankewich, as well as Mark O’Connor
and his Appalachia Waltz Trio, with guest violinist Rachel Barton Pine and
the Kansas University Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Nicholas Ul
Uljanov. In addition, several invited student groups gave memorable performances,
including the Ferguson-Florissant Honors Orchestra from Hazelwood, Missouri,
under the direction of Jan Davis; the Norman North High School Symphonic
Orchestra from Norman, Oklahoma, under the direction of Brenda Wagner; the
Strawberry Hill Fiddlers from Poughkeepsie, New York, under the direction of
Emily Schaad and Carole Schaad; and the Shawnee Mission East High School
Symphony Orchestra from Kansas City, Kansas, under the direction of Jonathan
Lane.
Appalachia Waltz Trio
Rachel Barton Pine
“This was my first conference, and it was AWESOME!”
National Orchestra Festival
®
The third annual National Orchestra Festival (NOF) was a huge success. The NOF featured 17 ensembles from middle/junior high
schools, high schools, and youth orchestras from all over the country. The young musicians had a great time getting to know each
other and exploring area sites. Highlights included participation in master classes and an awards dinner and dance.
Competitive orchestras were separated into three divisions: Middle School Orchestra, Youth Orchestra, and High School String
Orchestra. Several groups also performed to receive ratings and comments from adjudicators Gerald Doan, Gerald Fischbach, and
Carol Smith. They were adjudicated based on technique, tone quality, intonation, rhythm, and interpretation. The Grand Champions were chosen by adjudicators from the first place winners of these categories. Groups also received a one-on-one clinic with one
of ASTA’s clinicians: Joanne Erwin or Mark Russell Smith.
Sponsored by Yamaha Corporation of America
I feel my confidence as a conductor, teacher, and musician has grown further.”
Special thanks to the Shar Products Company for donating the concert music stands
and to Alfred Publishing for sponsoring the master class clinicians.
South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts Concertato
String Orchestra
National Orchestra Festival Grand Champions
South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts Concertato String Orchestra
Greenville, South Carolina
Kathryn Dey, Director
First Place
New World Chamber Orchestra
Indianapolis, Indiana
Susan Kitterman, Director
New World Chamber Orchestra
Other winners by division were:
Middle School Orchestra
1st place, Tenafly Middle School, Tenafly, N.J.; 2nd place, Horace Mann Middle
School, Charleston, W.Va.; 3rd place, John Lux Middle School, Lincoln, Nebr.
Youth Orchestra
1st place, New World Chamber Orchestra, Indianapolis, Ind.
High School String Orchestra
1st place, Norcross Philharmonic Orchestra, Norcross, Ga.; 2nd place [tie], Brainerd Chamber Orchestra, Brainerd, Minn., and Centerville High School Symphonic
Orchestra, Dayton, Ohio
Resident Art School
1st place, South Carolina Governors School for the Arts Concertato String Orchestra,
Greenville, S.C.
Follow the Yellow Brick Road
Silent Auction
More than 175 items were donated to ASTA’s third Silent Auction to benefit the National Foundation to Promote
String Teaching and Playing, part of the conference’s Gala Benefit Evening, which also included the Saturday concert
with Mark O’Connor, the Appalachia Waltz Trio, Rachel Barton Pine, and the Kansas University Symphony Orchestra. Auction attendees bid on fabulous items that were generously donated by individuals, state chapters, String
Industry Council members, and other friends of ASTA. Thanks to the generosity of both the bidders and the donors,
ASTA raised thousands of dollars to support the programs, grants, and outreach initiatives of the Foundation. Auction
items included everything from musical instruments and accessories to gift and goody baskets to weeklong stays at
vacation properties.
“I’m hooked!
I’ll be back!!!”
70 | American
er ca
can String Teacher | May 2006
can
“Best conference I
have be en to . . . ”
Sponsors
Special thanks go to our conference sponsors, who played a huge
role in the success of the event. We appreciate your support!
Silver Sponsors
Merz-Huber Company
The Potter Violin Company
Shar Products Company
Yamaha Corporation of America
Bronze Sponsors
Alfred Publishing Company, Inc.
Clemens Violins, Violas, & Violoncellos, Inc.
Connolly & Company
Hal Leonard Corporation
Howard Core Company, LLC
International Society of Bassists
J. D’Addario & Company, Inc.
Lyon & Healy Harps
String Letter Publishing/Strings Magazine
William Harris Lee & Company, Inc.
Session Sponsors
Iowa Chapter of ASTA
Virginia Chapter of ASTA
Weber State University
Silent Auction Donors
Acadiana Symphony and
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ASTA
Membership Application
Your Personal Information
Please complete all of the sections below. To help reduce errors, please print clearly.
New Member
5HQHZLQJ0HPEHU$67$,' ___________ 5HIHUUDO6RXUFH _____________________________
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_______________________________
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0HPEHUVKLS&DWHJRU\ .......................................... $ ____________
Professional............................................................................ $89
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birth and anticipated graduation date must be completed above.)
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For information on institutional membership, call 703-279-2113, ext.
'XHVDUHIRULQGLYLGXDOPHPEHUVKLSRQO\'XHVDUHQRQWUDQVIHUable and nonrefundable. There is a $27 charge on items returned
from the bank.
*Membership rates will increase July 1. See page 20 for details.
Foreign Postage ..................................................... $ ____________
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Or use your credit card to join online at www.astaweb.com.
$67$6WXGHQW&KDSWHUV
Abilene Christian and Hardin Simmons Universities: Advisor
– Tido Janssen; 1301 Grand Ave, Abilene, TX 79605-4226;
Email: tjanssen@hsutx.edu.
Appalachian State University: President – Amanda Roberts;
Advisor – Nancy E. Bargerstock; 813 Rivers St, Boone, NC 28608;
Email: bargrstockne@appstate.edu.
Augustana College: President – Jennifer O’Donnell; Advisor
– Janina Ehrlich; Euvliga Stangar Chapter, 639 38th St, Rock
Island, IL 61201; Email: jennifer-odonnell@augustana.edu or
muehrlich@augustana.edu.
Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory: President – Michael Winer;
Advisor – Julian Ross; 275 Eastland Rd, Berea, OH 44017;
Email: jross@bw.edu or mwiner@bw.edu.
Ball State University: President – Colleen Ryan Patrick; Advisor
– Kristin Turner; 2000 University Ave, Muncie, IN 47306;
Email: crpatrick@bsu.edu or kturner@bsu.edu.
Baylor University: Advisor – Julia Hardie; School of Music,
Waco, TX 76798.
Boise State University: President – Stephanie Beebe; Advisor
– Craig Purdy; Dept of Music, 1910 University Dr, Boise, ID 83725;
Email: stephiefayebb@hotmail.com or cpurdy@boisestate.edu.
Brigham Young University: President – Sara Witbeck; Advisor
– Andrew Dabczynski; School of Music, HFAC – E550, Provo, UT
84602; Email: sarastasia@hotmail.com or
andrew_dabczynski@byu.edu.
Brooklyn College: Advisor – Jane Palmquist; Conservatory of
Music, 2900 Bedford Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11210.
Central Michigan University: President – Jennifer Watkins;
Advisor – James Fiste; School of Music, 162 Music Bldg, Mt
3OHDVDQW0,(PDLOÀVWHMD#FPLFKHGXRU
watki1ja@cmich.edu.
Central Washington University: President – David Drassal;
Advisor – Carrie Rehkopf Michel; Dept of Music, 400 E University
Way, Ellensburg, WA 98926; Email: Drassald@cwu.edu or
rehkopfc@cwu.edu.
The College of New Jersey: President – Craig Stanton;
Advisor – Philip Tate; Music Dept, Ewing, NJ 08628;
Email: ptate@tcnj.edu.
Concordia College: President – Brittany Okins; Advisor – Jane
Linde Capistran; Dept of Music, 901 8th Street South, Moorhead,
MN 56562; Email: brittanyokins@sio.midco.net or
capistra@cord.edu.
Duquesne University: Advisor – Stephen Benham; 600 Forbes
Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15282; Email: benham@duq.edu.
East Carolina University: President – Crystal Peebles; Advisor
– Greg Hurley; AJ Fletcher Music Ctr, 307B, Greenville, NC
27858; Email: caplozl@ecu.edu or hurleyc@mail.edu.edu.
Eastern Michigan University: President – Allison Viens; Advisor
– Kevin Miller; Dept of Music, Ypsilanti, MI 48197;
Email: aviens@emich.edu or kmiller@emich.edu.
Eastman School of Music: Advisor – Louis Bergonzi; University of
Rochester, Eastman School of Music, 26 Gibbs St, Rochester, NY
14604; Email: lbergonzi@esm.rochester.edu.
Florida State University: President – Rebecca Bowman; Advisor
– Michael Allen; School of Music, Tallahassee, FL 32308;
Email: bowm3@yahoo.com or michael.allen@music.fsu.edu.
George Mason University–Patriot Chapter: President – Rachel
Cohen; Advisor – F. Wayne Taylor; 4400 University Dr, MS 3E3,
Fairfax, VA 22030; Email: rcohen@gmu.edu or
GMUstrings@aol.com.
The Hartt School–University of Hartford: President – Katie
Frampton; Advisors – Kathlene Goodrich and Katie Lansdale;
%ORRPÀHOG$YH:HVW+DUWIRUG&7
Email: frampton@hartford.com or goodrich@hartford.edu.
Hope College: President – Sara Bolkema; Nykerk Hall of Music,
127 E 12th St, Holland, MI 49423;
Email: sara.bolkema@hope.edu or craioveanu@hope.edu.
Ithaca College: President – Jennifer Stepien; Advisor – Debra
Moree; James Whalen Ctr for Music, #2321, Ithaca, NY 14850;
Email: littlestrp@juno.com or moree@ithaca.edu.
Jacksonville State University: President – Melissa Reaves; Advisor
– Michael Gagliardo; 700 Pelham Rd North, Jacksonville, AL
36265; Email: princesscurls82@aol.com or
mikegagliardo@culturalarts.org.
James Madison University: President – Megan Miller; Advisor
– Robert McCashin; School of Music, Harrisonburg, VA 22807;
Email: millerml@jmu.edu or mccashrd@jmu.edu.
Kansas State University: President – Bridget Butkievich; Advisor –
Cora Cooper; Dept of Music, 109 McCain Auditorium, Manhattan,
KS 66506. Email: bpony@ksu.edu or corac@ksu.edu.
Lebanon Valley College: Advisor – Hannes Dietrich; Dept of
Music, Annville, PA 17005.
0DQVÀHOG8QLYHUVLW\President – Christina Attanasio; Advisor
².HQQHWK6DUFK0DQVÀHOG8QLYHUVLW\%XWOHU0XVLF&HQWHU
0DQVÀHOG3$(PDLONVDUFK#PDQVÀHOGHGX
Michigan State University: President – Jennifer Coalson; Advisor
– Judy Palac; School of Music, Room 102, East Lansing, MI 48824;
Email: coalsonj@msu.edu or palac@msu.edu.
Minnesota State University, Moorhead: President – Katelin Stanek;
Advisor – Kirk Moss; 1104 Seventh Ave South, Moorhead, MN
56563; Email: petersku@mnstate.edu or mosskirk@mustate.edu.
Minot State University: Advisor – Jon Rumney; Music Division,
500 University Ave W, Minot, ND 58707.
New Jersey City University: Advisor – Louis Kosma; Liberty
Chapter, Jersey City, NJ 07305; Email: loukos@erols.com.
Northern Illinois University: President – Paula Colletti; Advisor
– Ann Montzka-Smelser; School of Music, DeKalb, IL 60115;
Email: pcolletti@niu.edu or violann@aol.com.
Northwestern State University of Louisiana: Advisor – Darilyn
Manring; Creative & Performing Arts Ctr, Fine Arts Bldg, Room
110, Natchitoches, LA 71497.
Northwestern University: President – Tristan Arnold; Advisor
– James Kjelland; 60 Arts Circle Dr, Evanston, IL 60208; Email:
tristanarnold@northwestern.edu or
kjelland@northwestern.edu.
The Ohio State University: Advisor – Laurel Butler; School of
Music, 110 Weigel Hall, 1866 College Rd, Columbus, OH 43210;
Email: butler.245@osu.edu.
Ohio University: President – Morissa Freiberg; Advisor – Marjorie
Bagley; Music Dept, Robert Glidden Hall, Athens, OH 45701;
Email: mr245504@ohio.edu or bagleym@ohio.edu.
Old Dominion University: President – Jennifer Collins; Advisor
– Leslie Stewart; Dept of Music, Diehn Ctr, Norfolk, VA 23529;
Email: jcoll018@odu.edu.
Olupemi String School: President – Olupemi Oludare; Advisor
– Theophilus Oilang; 11 Modupe St off Pela-Agorn, Shomolu,
Lagos 01234; Email: olupemi@yahoo.com or
eko_orchestra@yahoo.com.
Pennsylvania State University: President – Valerie Zimmerman;
Advisor – Robert Gardner; 210 Music Bldg I, University Park, PA
16802; Email: rdg13@psu.edu.
6HDWWOH3DFLÀF8QLYHUVLW\ Advisor – Ramona Holmes; SPU Music
Dept, 3307 3rd Ave W, Seattle, WA 98119-1997;
Email: ramonaho@spu.edu.
Southern Missouri State University: President – Suzannah Dolan;
$GYLVRU²'DYLG+D\HV61DWLRQDO6SULQJÀHOG02
Email: sld6565@smsu.edu or drh822f@smsu.edu.
SUNY College of Fredonia: President – Patricia Kay Grasso;
Advisor – Harry Jacobson; School of Music, Mason Hall, Fredonia,
NY 14063; Email: gras8377@fredonia.edu or
jacobson@fredonia.edu.
SUNY Potsdam–The Crane School of Music: President – Desiree
Burke; Advisor – Sarah Hersh; 44 Pierrepont Ave, Potsdam, NY
13676.
Towson University: Advisor – Cecylia Barczyk; Music Dept, 8000
York Rd, Towson, MD 21252-0001.
University of Arizona: President – Lindsey Robb; Advisor
– Donald Hamann; PO Box 210004, Tucson, AZ 85721; Email:
pinkviolin84@msn.com or dhamann@u.arizona.edu.
University of Colorado: Advisor – Margaret Berg; College of
Music, 301 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309.
University of Connecticut: President – Amanda LaManna; Advisor
– Peter Sacco; 103 Colonial Rd, Madison, CT 06443; Email: peter.
sacco@uconn.edu.
University of Delaware: President – Heather Daniels; Advisor
– Xiang Gao; Dept of Music, Amy DuPont Music Bldg, Newark, DE
19716; Email: violin@udel.edu or xiangg@udel.edu.
University of Evansville–Paul Rolland Memorial Chapter:
Co-Presidents – Angela Paolettie and Amy Lawson; Advisor
– Carol Dallinger; Music Dept, 1800 Lincoln Ave, Evansville, IN
47722; Email: ap59@evansville.edu, al58@evansville.edu, or
cd23@evansville.edu.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: President – Brandon
Correa; Advisor – Jack Ranney; UIUC School of Music, 2134 Music
Bldg, 1114 W Nevada St, Urbana, IL 61801;
Email: bcorrea2@uiuc.edu or jranney@uiuc.edu.
University of Kansas: President – Myra Valdez; Advisor
– Laurence Rice; Murphy Hall, Room 448, 1530 Naismith Dr,
Lawrence, KS 66045; Email: myvaldez@ku.edu or lrice@ku.edu.
University of Louisville: Advisor – Katherine Lloyd; School of
Music, Belknap Campus, Louisville, KY 40292.
University of Maryland: Advisor – Bret Smith; 2110 Clarice Smith
Performing Arts Ctr, College Park, MD 20742-1620.
University of Michigan: President - Diane Strasser; Advisor
– Robert Culver; School of Music, 1100 Baits Dr, Ann Arbor, MI
48109; Email: dmstrass@umich.edu or rlculver@umich.edu.
University of Missouri–Columbia: Advisor – John McLeod; School
of Music, 138 Fine Arts, Columbia, MO 65211;
Email: professorjm@yahoo.com.
University of Nebraska–Lincoln: President – Muriel Huckins;
Advisor – David Neely; 120 Westbrook Music Bldg, UNL, Lincoln,
NE 68588-0100; Email: dneely1@unl.edu.
University of North Carolina at Greensboro: Advisor – Scott
Rawls; Gate City ASTA with NSOA, PO Box 26167, School of
Music, Greensboro, NC 27402-6167; Email: srawlsuncg@aol.com.
University of Northern Iowa–Bruce Eilers Memorial Chapter:
President – Rebekah Cannon; Advisor – Julia Trahan; UNI School
of Music–Russell Hall, Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0246; Email:
gomusic@uni.edu or trahanj@uni.edu.
University of Oklahoma: Advisor – Gregory Sauer; 500 West
Boyd, Norman, OK 73019; Email: gdsauer@ou.edu.
University of South Carolina: Advisor – William Terwilliger;
School of Music, 813 Assembly St, Columbia, SC 29208;
Email: wterwilliger@mozart.sc.edu.
University of Texas at Austin: President – Tammy Lin; Advisor
– Laurie Scott; School of Music, University Station E3100, Austin, TX
78712-1208; Email: tlinn99@yahoo.com or
lascott@mail.utexas.edu.
University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire: Advisor – Nobuyoshi
<DVXGD*DUÀHOG$YH32%R[(DX&ODLUH:,
Email: yasudan@uwec.edu.
University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee: Advisor – Stefan Kartman;
Union Box 3, PO Box 413, Milwaukee, WI 53201;
Email: skartman@uwm.edu.
University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point: President – Lindsay
Demske; Advisor – Steven Bjella; UWSP Music Dept, Nelson Hall,
1209 Fremont St, Stevens Point, WI 54481;
Email: ldems046@uwsp.edu or sbjella@uwsp.edu.
University of Wisconsin–Whitewater: President – Megan Rhea;
Advisor – Carmen Wiest; 800 W Main St, Whitewater, WI 53190;
Email: wiestc@uww.edu.
Vander Cook College of Music: President – Vanessa Nettle;
Advisor – Charles Emmons, Jr.; 195 N Harbor Dr #1908,
Chicago, IL 60601; Email: cemmons@vandercook.edu.
Weber State University: President – Daniel Sanchez; Advisor
– Shi-Hwa Wang; Dept of Performing Arts, 1905 University
Circle, Ogden, UT 84408-1905; Email: lunarviola@yahoo.com or
swang@weber.edu.
West Virginia University: President – Alyson Ciufo; Advisor
–Laura Kobayashi; 682-B Killarney Dr #1, Morgantown, WV
26505; Email: laura.kobayashi@mail.wvu.edu.
Western Michigan University: President – Leslie Ziegler; Advisor
– Annette Montgomery; 1903 W Michigan Ave, School of Music,
Kalamazoo, MI 49008; Email: annette.montgomery@umich.edu.
William Jewell College: Advisor – Lawrence Brandolino; Pillsbury
Music Ctr, 500 College Hall, Liberty, MO 64068;
Email: brandolino@william.jewell.edu.
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culturalarts.org.
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James River High School:$GYLVRU²%HWK$OPRUH-DPHV
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Ridgewood High School: Advisor – Francesca P. Kubian; 627 E
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In addition to the many summer conferences and workshops listed in the February issue of American String Teacher,
the following conferences are available. For a comprehensive listing of summer events, visit www.astaweb.com.
ASU String Teachers Workshop
ASU Fiddling Workshop
June 18–21
Arizona State University School of
Music
Tempe, Arizona
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ASU School of Music
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Phone: 480-965-8277
FAX: 480-965-2659
Email: marg.schmidt@asu.edu
Website:
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Faculty
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Fiddling; Margaret Schmidt, Violin
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See our ad on page 77 for more
information.
OSU String Teacher Workshop
July 9–15
The Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio
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Phone: 614-292-2336
FAX: 614-292-1102
Email: gillespie.5@osu.edu
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Faculty
Ed Adelson, Michael Alexander, Michael
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information.
A Symposium on the Lifework of
Marvin Rabin
July 20–22
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Madison, Wisconsin
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National String Workshop
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Madison, WI 53703
Phone: 608-265-5629
FAX: 608-262-1694
Email: cbowles@dcs.wisc.edu
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Panelists and Presenters
Keynote: Gerald Fischbach, Gary Karr
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Smith
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information.
July 22–27
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Madison, Wisconsin
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Madison, WI 53703
Phone: 608-265-5629
FAX: 608-262-1694
Email: cbowles@dcs.wisc.edu
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Faculty
Violin: Sharan Leventhal, Judy Palac,
Laurie Scott
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Walter
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information.
Upper Midwest String and Chamber Music Conference
July 23–28
Minnesota State University, Mankato
Mankatao, Minnesota
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Mankato, MN 56001
Phone: 507-389-1924
FAX: 507-389-2922
Email: harry.dunscombe@mnsu.edu
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Faculty
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Publications Order Form
Pedagogy
GENERAL
The Teaching of Action in String Playing
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$37.50 member, $48.75 non-member
Manual of Orchestral Bowing
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Orchestral Bowings and Routines
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VIOLIN
Basic Principles of Violin Playing
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A Comparison of Violin Playing Techniques: Kato Havas, Paul Rolland, and
Shinichi Suzuki
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A Violinist’s Guide for Exquisite
Intonation
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The Violin Guide
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VIOLA
A Violist’s Guide for Exquisite
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Playing and Teaching the Viola
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CELLO
Cellist’s Guide to the Core Technique
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The Art of Cello Teaching
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Classroom and
Orchestra
Getting It Right from the Start: A Guide
to Beginning and Enriching a Successful
String Orchestra Program
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$19.95
The School Symphony Orchestra
Experience: A Guide to Establishing
a Full Orchestra in the Schools
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Teaching Stringed Instruments
in Classes
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Improvise!
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Jazz Improvisation Made Easy
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Private Studio
The Complete Guide to Running a
Private Music Studio
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The Complete Guide to Making More
Money in the Private Music Studio
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Resource
Basic String Maintenance:
A Teacher’s Guide
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Dictionary of Bowing and
Pizzicato Terms
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Research
Applying Research to the Teaching and
Playing of Stringed Instruments
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The Bach Chaconne for Solo Violin
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The Ten Beethoven Sonatas
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Compendiums
String Syllabus Volume One,
2003 Edition for Violin, Viola, Cello,
Bass, and Ensembles
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String Syllabus Volume Two for Harp
and Guitar
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Music Medicine
Sforzando! Music Medicine for
String Players
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Stretching for Strings
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Miscellaneous
Ultimate Strings, Volume 1:
Alternative Styles (various artists)
Ultimate Strings, Volume 2:
Classical Virtuosity
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(per pack of 25)
Please specify which award you want
when ordering.
Achievement Award, Director Award,
Most Improved, Spirit Award, Student
Leadership Award
Order online at www.astaweb.com.
Miscellaneous
(cont.)
Director’s Awards Pack
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Director’s PLATINUM Awards Pack
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ASTA Membership Pin
$7.00 each *Shipping included in price.
Cello Drones CD
ASTA Keychain
$4.75 each *Shipping included in price.
*Shipping is only included on individual
purchase of keychain and/or membership
pin. If ordering books along with either
of these, you MUST add shipping according to the chart below.
I Ɔ Strings Bumper Sticker (10 pack)
$12.00 each *Shipping included in
price.
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Send order to:
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or fax to 703-279-2114
Order online at www.astaweb.com.
Notes
Events and Competitions
In collaboration with MENC, MTNA,
ASTA, Smart Music, and Alfred Music,
the International Association for Jazz Education
(IAJE) will produce two Teacher Training Institutes
(TTI) this June. The TTI features a two-and-a-half-day, trackbased format in which participants attend up to three contentspecific sessions and two general sessions each day. Each TTI
contains an instrumental track geared for band directors, a vocal
track aimed at choral directors, and a general music track for
elementary music teachers. In efforts to broaden the reach of jazz
education, each TTI features one specialized track, such as strings,
piano, or technology, to meet the specific needs of the host
location. Aside from the track sessions, all participants attend the
general sessions, which cover such areas of universal interest as
improvisation and jazz history. Because many educators teach
multiple grade levels or ensemble types, participants are
encouraged to “track hop” by attending whichever sessions they
feel will meet their specific needs. What makes the TTI unique
however, is its focus. Aimed at educators with minimal exposure
or background in jazz, the goal is to provide information and
techniques that are accessible and applicable to the classroom or
private lesson setting. The atmosphere is one of collegiality and
sharing, where jazz learning is made “user friendly.” There is a
sincere desire to equip those who are interested with a newfound
understanding of jazz and basic tools to share this music through
education.
The 2006 TTI String Track will take place June 15 through
17 in Park City, Utah, and will feature clinician and ASTA
member Martin Norgaard. Tentative sessions include: 1) Beginning Improvisation: Rhythm, Articulation, Bowing, and Easy Scale
Improvising; 2) “How Was My Solo?”—Methods for Evaluating
Improvisation; 3) The Essence of Jazz—Improvising on Chord
Changes; 4) Borrowing from the Greats; 5) How to Turn Your
Orchestra into a Jazz String Big Band; and 6) Integrating Jazz
into the String Program: Practical Issues and Concerns.
For more information regarding the TTI, visit www.iaje.org
or call 785-776-8744.
The Mexican Council for Culture and Arts and the government
of the state of Michoacan, through the Conservatorio de las
Rosas, announce the fifth Carlos Prieto International Cello
Competition, to be held August 24 through 29 in the city of
Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico. The competition is organized every
three years with the purpose of stimulating cello activity and
attracting the world’s attention toward the cello in Ibero-America
(Latin America, Spain, and Portugal). The singularity of this
competition is to promote the enrichment of the cello repertoire
and to attract the attention of cellists to Ibero-American
compositions by including works freely chosen by contestants
from such repertoire, plus a required work now being composed
for the competition by an important Mexican composer, in
addition to the standard cello repertoire.
The Carlos Prieto International Cello Competition is open
to all cellists age 34 or younger at the time of the competition.
Complete details, including application forms and requirements,
can be found at www.conservatoriodelasrosas.edu.mx or by
sending a request to concursocello@conservatoriodelasrosas.edu.
mx. The deadline for application is July 28.
In Memoriam
Longtime ASTA member Robert
Gerle, 81, a concert violinist
acclaimed for his technique who also
had a long career as conductor and
teacher, died October 29, 2005, at
his home in Hyattsville, Maryland.
He had Parkinson’s disease.
After training in Hungary,
Gerle was warmly received for
his diverse and expertly handled
repertoire at concert engagements
from New York to London in the
late 1950s and early 1960s. New York Times classical music critic
Harold C. Schonberg admired his 1958 concert at New York’s
Town Hall on a program ranging from Bach to Stravinsky: “As a
violinist pure and simple, Mr. Gerle has all the answers. He had
some of the steadiest bow arms this listener has heard, and his
intonation is flawless.”
In 1970, Gerle and concert pianist Marilyn Neeley, his wife,
recorded the complete Beethoven violin and piano sonatas for the
Westminster label. They shared an Emmy Award for the video
presentation of the recording.
After holding teaching assignments at the Peabody Institute
in Baltimore and the Mannes College of Music in New York,
Gerle accepted an offer in 1972 to start the orchestra program
at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC). He
spent two decades at UMBC while also teaching at Catholic
University in Washington, D.C., conducting the Friday Morning
Music Club Orchestra, and serving as musical director of the
Washington Sinfonia.
Gerle was born April 1, 1924, to Hungarian parents in
Abbazia, Italy, which is now Opatija, Croatia. He was raised in
Budapest, where he was a graduate of the Franz Liszt Academy
of Music and studied at the National Conservatory of Music. In
1942, he won the Hubay Prize for violin performance.
He spent much of World War II in a labor camp in
Budapest, but toward the end of the war, with the Soviet
advance, he escaped and hid in a crawl space for weeks at a music
professor’s apartment. In January 1945, Soviet soldiers found
him and 26 other Hungarian Jews in the apartment. They took
them before a firing squad as suspected snipers. As Gerle walked
to his death with his instrument in hand, the Russian in charge
ordered him to play a piece by Tchaikovsky. When he finished the
selection, the officer was convinced that he was a musician and
not a sniper and let all the men go.
Gerle’s latest book, an autobiography titled Playing It by
Heart: Wonderful Things Can Happen Any Day (2005), tells of the
above encounter, as well as other exciting adventures in his life
and musical studies. It is also a tribute to the Hungarian school of
violin playing. He also wrote two books on violin technique, The
Art of Practising the Violin (1983) and The Art of Bowing Practice
(1991).
Everett Gates, longtime ASTA member and professor emeritus
of music education at the Eastman School
of Music, died March 6. Gates graduated
from Eastman with a bachelor’s degree
and performer’s certificate in 1948. He
returned to his alma mater as professor
of music education in 1958 and was
promoted to chair of the department eight
years later. Throughout his distinguished
tenure, Gates served on several important
Eastman and University of Rochester committees, and earned an
Alumni Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1968.
Before his appointment to the Eastman faculty, Gates was a
member of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra from 1937 to
1948. For the next 10 years, he was principal violist and assistant
conductor of the Oklahoma City Symphony and a member of
the faculty of Oklahoma City University. He also had many
compositions published by Boosey & Hawkes throughout his
career. After his retirement in 1979, Gates remained in close
contact with many of his former students and continued to be an
active member of Rochester’s music scene.
People
The Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM)
has appointed ASTA member Jeff
Bradetich to its double bass faculty
beginning in the 2006–2007 academic
year. He will serve as visiting professor at
CIM and will remain in his full-time
position at the University of North Texas,
where he has directed the double bass
program since 1994. Bradetich was a
member of the Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra for four
seasons. He has given more than a thousand master classes
worldwide and has transcribed more than a hundred solo works
for the double bass. Bradetich served as executive director of the
International Society of Bassists from 1982 to 1990 and edited
that organization’s magazine for nine years. He earned bachelor’s
and master’s degrees in double bass from Northwestern University
and received further training with Gary Karr and other leading
bass pedagogues.
Showcase
Instruments and Accessories
Viola players stepping up from their first student instrument
will find extraordinary value in the H.P. Hoyer viola outfit from
Glaesel. This rich, full-sounding instrument (model VA036EC)
is fully carved by a master luthier and features highly flamed
maple back and ribs supporting a fine seasoned spruce top. Highquality ebony trim is featured throughout, and the corpus
is finished in a carefully applied oil varnish.
The instrument is fully shop-adjusted at the
Glaesel shop in Cleveland, Ohio, with Thomastik
Dominant perlon core strings. The outfit
includes a Brazilwood bow and a unique
oval case with cover and music pocket.
Suggested retail is $2,725.
Glaesel string instruments are
available from Conn-Selmer, Inc.,
the largest manufacturer of band and
orchestral instruments and accessories
in the United States. Conn-Selmer is a
subsidiary of Steinway Musical Instruments, Inc. For more
information, visit www.conn-selmer.com.
Connolly & Co., the exclusive U.S. importer of ThomastikInfeld products, is pleased to announced that Thomastik-Infeld
has created a new vision for viola: Vision Viola strings. These
well-balanced strings are designed to bring brilliance and warmth
to your viola while providing key benefits already known to
violinists using Vision strings. The strings have been tested
extensively by violists throughout the United States—and the
feedback was influential in the final design of each string in the
set.
The sound of the Vision Viola string is bright and
powerful. Players who have tried the new strings have noted
their “immediate response,” “unparalleled tuning stability,” and
“excellent string-to-string balance.” Vision Viola strings can
stabilize in as few as 10 minutes and last longer than most similar
synthetic core strings. The list price of the Vision Viola set is
$132.30. For more information, visit www.connollyandco.com.
Meisel Stringed Instruments has added the highly compact
and accurate MCT-7L to its popular line of digital tuners. The
ultra-slim MCT-7L chromatic tuner works by picking up an
instrument’s physical vibrations rather than the audible sound
it creates. That way, tuning is not affected by ambient noise, no
matter how loud or distracting your
surroundings may be.
A convenient clip-on feature lets
musicians securely attach the tiny
MCT-7L to any instrument—even a
piano—so you don’t have to place it on
a flat surface or worry about accidentally
knocking it to the floor.
With an incredibly wide tuning
range, the MCT-7L can be used to
tweak the intonation of almost any
musical instrument—from the highest
notes on a piccolo to the lowest string
on a double bass—with ease and precision. In addition, the nonvolatile memory keeps all settings.
The MCT-7L includes a user-friendly back light that makes
the unit’s LCD readout clearly visible in all types of lighting
situations. It carries a very affordable suggested retail price of
$48.95.
Also from Meisel comes the lightweight and affordable
fiberglass 101B Cello Case. Designed to withstand all traveling
conditions, the 101B is made of rugged and durable fiberglass. Its
hard outer shell protects the cello against scratches, scrapes, and
dents, while its seven draw-bolts guarantee a tight seal to make
the case completely weather-resistant.
Aside from providing exterior protection, the 101B Cello
Case features a thickly padded, plush interior and a suspended
support system that maintains the instrument
in place.
Lightweight and versatile, the 101B makes
the perfect companion for student cellists. It
weighs just under 15 pounds and is equipped
with wheels to make transport easier. The
two straps and outer rings make the case
equally convenient to carry on the back
or over the shoulder, and three wellplaced handles make it easy to lift, too.
The 101B Cello Case
comes with two bow holders and
a removable accessory bag. It can
accommodate cellos in three sizes:
4/4, 3/4, and 1/2. Its suggested
retail price is $399.
For more details on the MCT-7L
tuner and the 101B Cello Case, visit www.meiselmusic.
com or call 1-800-634-7356.
The ASTA National Solo Competition
March 7–10, 2007
Detroit, Michigan
The National Solo Competition will occur March 7 through 10, 2007, in conjunction with the ASTA National Conference in Detroit.
The competition is open to ASTA members or current students of ASTA members. Instrumental categories are Violin, Viola, Cello,
Double Bass, Classical Guitar, and Harp. Prizes for winners of the National Solo Competition will be announced in the August 2006
issue of American String Teacher (AST) and online at www.astaweb.com.
Eligibility
There are two levels: the Junior Division and the Senior Division.
7KH-XQLRU'LYLVLRQLVRSHQWRPXVLFLDQVXQGHUWKHDJHRIDVRI
0DUFKERUQDIWHU0DUFK7KH6HQLRU'LYLVLRQ
is open to musicians ages 19 to 25 as of March 10, 2007 (born on
or after March 10, 1981, and before March 11, 1987).
All eligible previous entrants may enter the competition again,
LQFOXGLQJSUHYLRXVQDWLRQDOÀQDOLVWVDQGVHFRQGSUL]HZLQQHUV
3UHYLRXVJUDQGSUL]HDQGÀUVWSUL]HZLQQHUVLQWKH-XQLRU'LYLVLRQ
may not compete again in that division; however, they may enter
WKH6HQLRU'LYLVLRQLIWKH\ZLOOKDYHDWWDLQHGWKHLUWKELUWKGD\E\
0DUFK3UHYLRXVJUDQGSUL]HDQGÀUVWSUL]HZLQQHUVLQ
WKH6HQLRU'LYLVLRQDUHQRWHOLJLEOHWRFRPSHWHIXUWKHU
How to Apply at the State Level:
7RDSSO\PXVLFLDQVPXVWÀUVWFRPSHWHLQWKHLUVWDWHOHYHO
competitions. Participants may enter in their state of residency
RUWKHVWDWHLQZKLFKWKH\DUHVWXG\LQJ6HPLÀQDOLVWVZLOOVXEPLW
DQDSSOLFDWLRQDQGUHFRUGLQJWRWKH$67$QDWLRQDORIÀFHWKURXJK
the state competition chair. A national committee judges all semiÀQDOLVWHQWULHVDQGVHOHFWVDSSOLFDQWVWREH´ÀQDOLVWVµZKRZLOO
compete and perform at the national conference.
If you are selected by your state for the national competition, you
must meet the following requirements:
1. &RPSOHWHDQDWLRQDOFRPSHWLWLRQDSSOLFDWLRQIRXQGLQWKH
August AST or online at www.astaweb.com).
2. 6XEPLWWKHDSSOLFDWLRQIHHRI&KHFNVVKRXOGEHPDGH
payable to ASTA.
3. Make a recording of the national competition repertoire
(found online at www.astaweb.com).
4. Send all of the above items to your state competition chair no
later than November 16, 2006WREHYHULÀHGDQGVHQWRQWR
WKH$67$QDWLRQDORIÀFH6WDWHFRPSHWLWLRQFKDLUVZLOOIRUZDUG
DOODSSOLFDWLRQVWRWKHQDWLRQDORIÀFHE\'HFHPEHU
7KH QDWLRQDO VHPLÀQDOV DUH UHFRUGLQJV RQO\ (QWUDQWV PXVW EH
recommended by the state competition chair. Applications MUST
LQFOXGHD1DWLRQDO6ROR&RPSHWLWLRQ2IÀFLDO(QWU\)RUPIRXQGLQWKH
August AST journal and on the ASTA website at www.astweb.com),
SURRIRIGDWHRIELUWKVWXGHQWDQGRUWHDFKHU$67$PHPEHUVKLS
,'QXPEHUDQGWKH1DWLRQDOHQWUDQFHIHH$OOFKHFNVVKRXOGEH
made payable to ASTA.
)LQDOLVWVZLOOEHVHOHFWHGDQGQRWLÀHGE\)HEUXDU\
1DWLRQDOÀQDOVRFFXUDWWKH$67$1DWLRQDO&RQIHUHQFHLQ
'HWURLW$OOÀQDOLVWVPXVWEHSUHVHQWWREHHOLJLEOH
Dates to Remember
Fall 2005:6RPHVWDWHVKROGFRPSHWLWLRQVLQWKH´RII\HDUµ&KHFN
with your local chapter to see if your state is holding a solo
competition. Participants in 2005 and 2006 state solo competitions
are eligible for the 2007 national competition.
Fall 2006:6WDWHOHYHOFRPSHWLWLRQV&KHFNZLWK\RXUORFDO
ASTA chapter to see if your state is holding a solo competition.
Participants in 2005 and 2006 state solo competitions are eligible
for the 2007 national competition.
November 16, 2006:'HDGOLQHIRUDOOVWDWHFRPSHWLWLRQVWREH
completed.
December 1, 2006: State chairpersons submit applications for
QDWLRQDOFRPSHWLWLRQWRWKHQDWLRQDORIÀFHSRVWPDUNHGE\WKLV
date.
February 1, 2007: )LQDOLVWVZLOOEHVHOHFWHGDQGQRWLÀHGE\WKLV
date.
March 7–10, 2007: Finalists compete at the ASTA National
&RQIHUHQFHLQ'HWURLW
March 7, 2007: -XQLRU'LYLVLRQUHKHDUVDOSHULRG
March 8, 2007: -XQLRU'LYLVLRQFRPSHWLWLRQDQG6HQLRU'LYLVLRQ
rehearsal period*
March 9–10, 2007: 6HQLRU'LYLVLRQFRPSHWLWLRQ
March 10, 2007: :LQQHUV·5HFLWDO
6FKHGXOHVXEMHFWWRFKDQJH$OO1DWLRQDO6ROR&RPSHWLWLRQHYHQWV
will take place March 7–10, 2007.
Any inquiries or questions should be addressed to your state
competition chair (list found at www.astaweb.com) or to:
$67$1DWLRQDO2IÀFH&RQWDFW
%ULGJHW0XUSK\
703-279-2113, ext. 24
bridget@astaweb.com
National Solo Competition
Chair/U.S. Contact:
0LFKDHO&DUUHUD
carrera@ohio.edu
Canadian Contact:
Simon Fryer
FR3HQGHUHFNL6WULQJ4XDUWHW
Faculty of Music
Wilfrid Laurier University
75 University Avenue West
:DWHUORR211/&
&$1$'$
tel 519-884-1970, ext. 3325
fax 519-747-9129
For a list of state competition information and contacts, as
well as national competition guidelines, repertoire, and past
national competition winners, visit www.astaweb.com.
www.astaweb.com
.as
astaweb.co
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com | 83
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Volunteer Leadership Directory
State Presidents
$VZLWKWKH1DWLRQDO%RDUGWKHIROORZLQJVWDWHFKDSWHUSUHVLGHQWVKDYHEHHQHOHFWHGWRVHUYHDWZR\HDUWHUP²
Alabama:0LFKDHO*DJOLDUGR7KH&HQWHUIRU
&XOWXUDO$UWV%URDG6W*DGVGHQ$/
35901; h (256) 494-2999; w (256) 543-2787
x32; mikegagliardo@culturalarts.org.
Alaska: Michele Jeglum; 1119 Kodiak St,
Fairbanks, AK 99709-4835;
h (907) 479-9221; w (907) 456-1119;
mjeglum@northstar.k12.ak.us.
Arizona:'RQDOG+DPDQQ16XPPHUVHW
/RRS7XFVRQ$=
h (520) 290-8544; w (520) 621-3231;
GKDPDQQ#XDUL]RQDHGX
Arkansas:/LQGD+VX6)$&'HSWRI0XVLF
8QLYHUVLW\RI&HQWUDO$UNDQVDV&RQZD\$5
72034; h (501) 450-7379; w (501) 4505765; lindah@mail.uca.edu.
California:9LFWRU6D]HU*OHQFRH$YH
9HQLFH&$K
YVD]HU#HDUWKOLQNQHW
Colorado:0DUJDUHW%HUJ&ROOHJHRI0XVLF
8&%8QLYHUVLW\RI&RORUDGR%RXOGHU&2
80309; h (303) 463-9549; w (303) 7355301; berg@stripe.colorado.edu.
Connecticut:-XOLH5LEFKLQVN\)DLUYLHZ6W,YRU\WRQ&7KZ
832-2910; ribchinskyj@ccsu.edu.
Florida:&DPLOOH6PLWK6:UG$YH
Newberry, FL 32669; h (352) 331-5137;
ZFVVWULQJ#XÁHGX
Georgia: Marilyn Seelman; Georgia State
8QLYHUVLW\32%R[$WODQWD*$
4097; w (404) 651-1722;
musmms@langate.gsu.edu.
Hawaii: Elton Masaki; 45-312 Lolopoa St,
Kaneohe, HI 96744; h (808) 235-6241;
w (808) 842-8629; emasaki@gmail.com.
Idaho:/LQGD.OLQH/DPDU1RUWK&KXUFK3O
%RLVH,'K
w (208) 426-1596; lkline@boisestate.edu.
Illinois:-DPHV%ODFN7ZLOLJKW/Q:KHHOLQJ
IL 60090; h (847) 537-2946;
w (847) 718-4160; jblack@d214.org.
Indiana:.ULVWLQ7XUQHU10RUULVRQ5G
Muncie, IN 47304; h (765) 282-7640; w (765)
285-5493; kristi259@earthlink.net.
Iowa:0DUWLQ&ODQFH\($YH1:&HGDU
5DSLGV,$KZ
398-2435; mclancey@cr.k12.ia.us.
Kansas: Lori Lindshield; 218 S 2nd St, Lindsborg,
KS 67456-2608; h (785) 594-0590;
c (785) 227-5684; llindshield@cox.net.
Kentucky:.DUHQ+LJGRQ5RJHUV&W
2ZHQVERUR.<
h (270) 686-8321; w (270) 852-7300;
kehigdon@mindspring.com.
Louisiana: &KULVWRSKHU7KRPSVRQ+LJKZD\
546, West Monroe, LA 71292;
h (318) 235-3309; w (318) 342-1590;
thompson@ulm.edu.
Maine:/DXUHQ5LRX[F
cooperviolins@mac.com.
Maryland:$QQH0DULH3DWWHUVRQ5RFN
%HDXW\&W:DOGRUI0'K
374-6845; annempatterson@aol.com.
Massachusetts:&KULVWRSKHU0HPROL+ROLGD\
5G:D\ODQG0$K
memolic@comcast.net.
Michigan:9DOHULH3DOPLHUL)RUHVW%D\&W
Wixom, MI 48393; h (248) 668-9945;
w (248) 956-4592; palmiev@comcast.net.
Minnesota: &RQQLH$LNHQ+ROO\ZRRG&W
Falcon Heights, MN 55108-2130;
h (651) 644-8318; w (651) 636-3656 x2856;
connie.aiken@moundsviewschools.org.
Mississippi:6XVDQ/DQGU\3DUNHU'U&OLQton, MS 39056; h (601) 924-6866;
w (601) 960-1565; smlandry@juno.com.
Missouri: Karen Person; 1136 Sagebrush Trail,
Ellisville, MO 63011; h (636) 256-0438;
w (636) 458-7200 x2229;
person.melchior@sbcglobal.net.
Montana:0DUJDUHW1LFKROV%DOGULGJH
Woodworth Ave, Missoula, MT 59801;
h (406) 721-9836; w (406) 243-6112;
margaret.baldridge@umontana.edu.
Nebraska:'RURWK\/DGPDQ3DFH%OYG
Lincoln, NE 68502-5750; h (402) 423-1760;
w (402) 436-1632; dladman@lps.org.
Nevada:*HRIIUH\1HXPDQ&DVDG\+ROlow Ave, Henderson, NV 89012-2494;
h (702) 564-5716; w (702) 799-0950 x225;
neumang@cox.net.
New Hampshire: Laurie Meeder; 104 Green
0RXQWDLQ5G&HQWHU2VVLSHH1+
h (603) 539-5654; lmeeder@worldpath.net.
New Jersey:0DUJDUHW5REHUWV%R[
Trinity Park, Mount Tabor, NJ 07878; h (973)
625-9552; w (973) 625-9552;
SHJ]U#YHUL]RQQHW
New Mexico:$UW6KHLQEHUJ5RPD1(
Albuquerque, NM 87106; h (505) 842-9613;
w (505) 345-9021; artsheinberg@comcast.net.
New York:5REHUWD:DUÀHOG32%R[
6DOLVEXU\0LOOV1<K
ZÀGGOHGG#KYFUUFRP
North Carolina:*UHJ+XUOH\*DWHV'U
:LQWHUYLOOH1&K
w (252) 328-1245; hurleyc@mail.ecu.edu.
North Dakota: Heather Klundt; 2816 Edgewood
'U)DUJR1'K
w (701) 356-2050;
klundt@west-fargo.k12.nd.us.
Ohio:0DUN6KROO/RQJPHDGRZ&W3RZHOO
OH 43065-6639; h (614) 467-4132;
w (614) 563-4852; hdhsod@aol.com.
Oklahoma:&KDUOHQH'HOO*ODVJRZ'U
Norman, OK 73072; h (405) 573-2951;
w (405) 325-0168; cdell@ou.edu.
Oregon: Marshall Tuttle; inotmark@aol.com.
Pennsylvania:6XVDQ%DVDOLN&RORQLDO$YH
&ROOHJHYLOOH3$K
w (610) 489-5000; sbasalik@chrsinc.com.
Rhode Island:.ULVWHQ3HOOHJULQR6FHQLF'U
:HVW:DUZLFN5,K
w (401) 734-3300 x252; krispell@aol.com.
South Carolina:$QGUHZ/HYLQ'HSWRI3HUIRUPLQJ$UWV%URRNV&HQWHU&OHPVRQ8QLYHUVLW\
&OHPVRQ6&K
w (864) 656-3043; alevin@clemson.edu.
South Dakota: Tammy Schnittgrund; 330 44th
6W'5DSLG&LW\6'K
8714; w (605) 394-4033;
tammyschnitt@yahoo.com.
Tennessee:-HQQLIHU9DQ7RO*XOIZRRG5G
Knoxville, TN 37923; h (865) 690-4937;
w (865) 425-9540; jvantol@ortn.edu.
Texas:.DWK\)LVKEXUQ<DOH$PDULOOR7;
79109-5826; h (806) 468-9442; w (806)
NDWK\ÀVKEXUQ#DPDLVGRUJ
Utah: Janice McAllister; 1461 East 1220 North,
Logan, UT 84341; h (435) 753-3830;
w (435) 755-2070; jmcallister@musician.org.
Vermont:7UR\3HWHUV*UDQLWH&UHHN5G
&ROFKHVWHU97K
w (802) 655-5030 x102; troy@vyo.org.
Virginia:/\QQH'HQLJ%H[OH\/Q)DLUID[
VA 22032; h (703) 425-1234;
violynne@cox.net.
Washington:3KLOLS%DOGZLQ16WHYHQV&W
Spokane, WA 99218; h (509) 489-2942;
w (509) 777-3268; pbaldwin@whitworth.edu.
West Virginia:%DUEDUD*UHHQ(DVWULGJH'U
Elkins, WV 26241; h (304) 636-4531;
srg@citynet.net.
Wisconsin:%HQMDPLQ:KLWFRPE6WDF\/Q
Fort Atkinson, WI 53538-2819;
h (920) 563-7175; w (262) 472-5573;
whitcomb@ticon.net.
Wyoming:-HQQLIHU&RZHOO&DVSHU&ROOHJH
&ROOHJH'U&DVSHU:<
h (307) 237-0885; w (307) 268-2531;
jcowell@caspercollege.edu.
AST Instrument Forum Editors
9LROLQ)RUXP-DPHV3U]\JRFNL
9LROD)RUXP+HOHQ&DOOXV
&HOOR)RUXP%HQMDPLQ:KLWFRPE
%DVV)RUXP0LFKDHO)DQHOOL
Guitar Forum, Jonathan Leathwood
+DUS)RUXP6DXO'DYLV=ODWNRYVN\
2007 National Conference Alternative
Styles Committee
Renata Bratt, Chair, renatabratt@earthlink.net
Robert Gardner
Tanya Kalmanovitch
Daryl Silberman
David Wallace
Beth Danner-Knight, Staff Associate
2007 National Conference Planning
Committee
3DP3KLOOLSVSKLOOLSVÀGGOHUV#DROFRP
Karen Higdon
Kristin Turner
Cornelia Watkins
Deanna Tompkins, Staff Associate
2007 National Orchestra Festival®
Committee
James Palmer, Chair, palmerj@fulton.k12.ga.us
Mary Wagner
Bridget Murphy, Staff Associate
National Development Committee
Leslie Wimsatt, Chair, lwimsatt@umich.edu
Barbara Eads
&HUWLÀFDWH3URJUDP
Mimi Butler, Chair, mimibutler@aol.com
Lynne Denig
Lya Stern
Leslie Webster
Collegiate String Education Roundtable
Gail Barnes, Chair, gbarnes@mozart.sc.edu
Committee on School Orchestras and
Strings (CSOS)
Denese Odegaard, Chair, Denese@cableone.net
Jan Garverick
Jim Palmer
Karen Person
Committee on Studio Instruction (COSI)
Jeffrey Solow, Chair, SolowCello@aol.com
Lynne Beiler
Jeff Bradetich
Victoria Chiang
Ronda Cole
Michael Newman
Council of Past Presidents
Louis Bergonzi, Chair, bergonzi@esm.rochester.edu
National Foundation to Promote String
Teaching and Playing Committees
Auday-Giormenti Double Bass Competition
Katharine (Kip) Mason, Chair, kipmason89@aol.com
Brian Knott
William LaRue Jones
Andrew Palmer
CodaBows for America Community Outreach Program
Anne Guevara, Chair, okstring@theshop.net
John Reed
Jeff Van Fossen
Merle J. Isaac Composition Contest
James Nacy, Chair, iamacellist@sbcglobal.net
National High School Honors Orchestra
Brian Cole, Chair, bcole@moorhead.k12.mn.us
Gwen Armwood
Clark Sheldon
Bridget Murphy, Staff Associate
National Solo Competition
Michael Carrera, Chair, carrera@ohio.edu
Potter’s Violins Instrument Outreach Initiative
Michael Harbaugh, Chair
mharbaugh@usd273.k12.ks.us
David Neubert
Terri Neubert
Special Projects Grants
Mary Wagner, Chair, mscello@cox.net
Nathan Davis
Martha Barnhill
Urban Outreach Grants
Darcy Drexler, Chair, ddrexler@csd.uwm.edu
'XIÀH$GHOVRQ
Sherry Sinift
New Music Reading Folders
Amy Fear-Bishop, Coordinator
musicreadingfolders@astaweb.com
Professional Development Committee
Irene Guerrero, Chair, igvlnlady@aol.com
Nancy Cross
Sondra Mosley
Research Committee
Elaine Colprit, Chair, colprit@bgnet.bgsu.edu
Jane Palmquist
David Sogin
Student Chapters
Marjorie Bagley, Chair, bagleym@ohio.edu
Brandon Correa
Michael Palumbo
ASTA Past Presidents
David Littrell
Robert Jesselson
Louis Bergonzi
Edward H. Adelson
Jacquelyn Dillon-Krass
Anne Witt
Robert Culver
Gerald Doan
Anne Mischakoff
Gerald Fischbach
Lucas Drew
LeRoy Bauer
Phyllis Young
Jery Kupchynsky
Richard Sieber
Robert Oppelt
Ralph Matesky
Harry Lantz
Howard Van Sickle
Paul Rolland
Robert Klotman
Gerald Doty
Frank Hill
Ernest Harris
Rex Underwood
Duane Haskell
2002-2004
2000-2002
1998-2000
1996-1998
1994-1996
1992-1994
1990-1992
1988-1990
1986-1988
1984-1986
1982-1984
1980-1982
1978-1980
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NSOA Past Presidents
Doris Gazda
Peter A. Miller
Robert J. Greenwood
Arlene G. Witte
Pamela Tellejohn (Hayes)
Robert S. Frost
Jerry N. Kupchynsky
James H. Godfrey
G. Jean Smith
C. Gary Iams
James H. Godfrey
John R. Bright
Robert A. Ritsema
Lois Hobbs
James H. Godfrey
Malvin N. Artley
H. Wayne Pyle
Orville “Cy” Dally
Forest A. Etling
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1997-1998
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String Industry Council Executive
Committee
John Reed, President
Mona Lisa Sound, Inc.
Neil Lilien, President-Elect
David Luce, Secretary
J. D’Addario & Company, Inc.
Bob Gillespie
Donna Hale
Mary Wagner
Reviews
String Orchestra
$&+5,670$66<03+21<
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FJH Music, 2005, $45.
A Christmas Symphony includes
“Angels We Have Heard on
High,” “Hark! the Herald Angels
Sing,” “God Rest Ye Merry,
Gentlemen,” and “O Come,
All Ye Faithful.” The piece
starts in D, but is mostly in G,
with both high and low second
fingers. Second violin and viola
parts double, as do cello and
bass (except for one measure), a
nice feature for this level. Bass
includes high C-natural and
D. The melody mostly features
first violins and sometimes the
cello/bass. This would be a great
piece to work on extending
and controlling the bow. Most
of it is to be played with broad
bows or in cantabile style,
with some hooked bowings,
a wide range of dynamics
(mp to ff) and a few dottedquarter–eighth patterns. S.P.W.
*2%/,1)($67(Gr. 2). Keith
Sharp. FJH Music, 2005, $40.
Sharp, from Australia, brings
interesting, flexible, and highly
playable musical works for
young string orchestras. This
work can be played either on
or off the string, depending on
the group’s technical ability and
chosen tempo. Scored simply,
there are no complex rhythms.
The A minor tonality offers a
dark and resonant sound. This
is an excellent piece to teach
accents, dynamic contrast,
and various bowings. The
driving ostinati with accents
on weak beats give energy for
both audience and performers.
Tambourine and tom-tom
add to the flavor but are not
mandatory. The scoring is
flexible with optional violin
parts that offer a counter melody
and some third position work
for more advanced students;
optional third violin doubles
viola. Cello/bass parts are
scored with both melody
and harmony parts, allowing
you a variety of ways to
perform the work depending
on your needs. R.L.C.
*22'.,1*:(1&(6/$6
*U$UU(OOLRW'HO%RUJR
FJH Music, 2004, $35.
Del Borgo again provides string
teachers with playable material
for performance with this fairly
straightforward arrangement of
an old English Christmas tune
for beginning string orchestra.
Here we find standard string
scoring with rehearsal piano
included. Viola doubles second
violin, while cellos and basses
double each other to provide
an interesting bass line. A
repeated section in the middle
of the piece provides the open
fifth harmonic structures
for the upper voices that are
characteristic of Del Borgo’s
writings, while cellos and basses
play the melody in augmentation
for a few measures. A brief
fugal-like setting follows for
eight measures and the section is
repeated. Quarter notes and half
notes are used throughout, with
two measures of repeated eighth
notes leading to a fortissimo
ending. This is a good piece for a
winter holiday concert. Directors
should be mindful of a printer’s
mistake (wrong fingering) in
measure 4 of the score, second
violin and viola parts. M.D.
/()52,''(/·+,9(5 (The
&ROGRIWKH:LQWHU*U
2). Soon Hee Newbold.
FJH Music, 2005, $40.
A graceful melody that flows
over a simple pizzicato figure
gives this beautiful piece an
impressionistic atmosphere.
The arpeggiated piano part
complements the string texture,
completing the quiet mood.
Students are required to perform
slurs and smooth bow changes.
The rhythms are simple. Dotted
quarters are reinforced with
even eighth notes, which help
keep the rhythmic integrity and
aid the students in rhythmic
accuracy. The modality is minor,
but peaceful repose, rather than
sadness, comes to my mind. The
orchestra has the opportunity to
explore long, beautiful phrases
that lead to musical maturity.
Newbold offers young players a
work with musical integrity—
always a fine target. R.L.C.
Chamber Orchestra
TANGO (harp, chamber
RUFKHVWUD&DUORV6DO]HGR
RUFKHVWUDDUU0XUUD\%RUHQ/\RQ+HDO\3XEOLcations, 2004, full score,
SLDQRKDUSDFFRPSDQG
orchestra parts, $25.
Originally from Salzedo’s Suite
of Eight Dances for solo harp,
Boren has arranged the wellknown Tango for harp, flute,
oboe, B-flat clarinet, bassoon,
percussion (finger cymbal,
tambourine), and string
orchestra. Just more than two
minutes in length, Tango can be
a rewarding work to perform for
a young harpist (or harpists) and
a student orchestra, and offers
invaluable experience toward
developing the young harpist’s
musicianship. There is very little
repertoire at the intermediate
level for solo harp with an
ensemble. By arranging wellknown solo repertoire for harp
with chamber orchestra, Boren
has expanded the possibilities
so a student harpist may be
featured with an ensemble
with repertoire that is well
written yet not overwhelming.
Please note that the solo harp
part is not included, and that
there are details in Salzedo’s
original version that are not
included in this arrangement,
such as the change of Salzedo’s
expressive marks to tenutos
and the omission of Salzedo’s
performance note that the
sixteenth notes in the bass
rhythm should be quite short.
There are very few dynamics
indicated in the arrangement,
perhaps to be left to the
discretion of the ensemble
director. Of minor note,
perhaps to be changed in future
editions, Salzedo’s name has
been omitted from the harp
and piano reduction, and the
double bass part is published
as “DB.” Boren’s Tango is one
of several arrangements of
popular intermediate repertoire
for young players that are
gaining popularity and can
be quite satisfying to perform
and hear. This version has
been recorded by Elizabeth
Hainen, principal harp of
the Philadelphia Orchestra,
for Egan Records. A.Y.
Violin
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This is part of a series, with
separate books available for
bass, banjo, mandolin, and
guitar. While most of the tunes
are for intermediate to expert
players, there are three tunes
in the appendix for beginners.
The organization is useful, with
tunes arranged in alphabetical
order, then numbered as to
difficulty (1 being easiest,
2 intermediate, and 3 more
difficult). Three accompaniment
CDs are included, recorded at
performance speed, with tempo
markings and suggestions for
practice found in the preface.
Fiddle tracks have many
ornamental nuances that are not
notated, but can be learned by
listening to the recordings. All
accompaniments are performed
by professionals (champions
included!) and are clean,
uncluttered, and pleasant to
hear. Progressions are written
above the tunes—and again in
the appendix as simple letters
without notation. Several
helpful chord charts and fiddle
fingerboard chord diagrams are
included. The appendix includes
a suggested listening list of
modern fiddlers, and a short
explanation of using triads to
play “rhythm” on fiddle. A brief
explanation of fiddle contests
includes a list of the book’s
tunes in the typical contest
categories: Hoedown, Waltz,
and Tune of Choice. This would
be a good addition to your
fiddle music library, particularly
if you are seeking chordal
accompaniments. M.A.G.
sight-reading, improvisation,
rhythm, and intonation in a
fun and challenging way. In
addition, violin teachers can
reinforce the importance of
classical studies by referring to
Ponty’s own background: in
1960, he graduated from the
Paris Conservatory with the
institution’s highest award. M.N.
-($1/8&3217<&2//(&7,21/($'6+((76)25
&20326,7,216YQ
Hal Leonard, $14.95.
Anyone interested in jazz
violin or jazz history should
own this book. British violinist
Massey has carefully transcribed
seven solos by Venuti from an
impromptu 1954 duo recording
with guitarist Joe Romano.
Included is a CD of the original
album, plus an additional track
with Romano’s reminiscences
of the 40 years he played with
Venuti (including the story
about nailing the drummer’s
shoe to the floor). Venuti, a
brilliant improviser and one
of the first great jazz violinists,
became famous in the 1920s
through his performances
with the equally innovative
guitarist Eddie Lang. Their duo
recordings are highly regarded
as “classics of chamber jazz.”
After Lang’s untimely death in
1933, Venuti did not record
again in the violin-guitar format
until after 1937, when he began
playing with Romano. As a sign
of his regard, Venuti gave Lang’s
Gibson L5 guitar to Romano,
who plays it on this recording.
The transcriptions and recording
illuminate Venuti’s spectacular
technique and musical
inventiveness at the height of
his playing. Although the book
is geared toward classically
trained violinists at an advanced
level, there is a great deal
here for anyone interested in
understanding Venuti’s unique
This collection provides a door
into the rich world of jazz-fusion
violin that will delight and
inspire any adventurous teenage
violinist. The compositions were
selected from the full 30-year
span of Ponty’s pioneering
violin jazz-fusion recordings.
Six compositions are available
on The Very Best of Jean-Luc
Ponty, and I found all the others,
except one, in online music
delivery services, such as iTunes
and Rhapsody. Following and
playing along with the classic
tracks is thrilling. The notation
is accurate and easy to read,
though only the recording
will reveal what instrument
plays what part. Most high
school level violinists will be
able to play and improvise to
the recordings following the
notation in the book. Many of
the tunes’ chord progressions
are easy to improvise over, such
as the vamp in Bowing Bowing,
where one scale can be used
on all chords. Many lessons
can be derived from playing
and studying Ponty’s music.
Students will be excited to
discover the prominent role of
the violin in the development
of jazz-fusion. Playing with
the recordings will teach
JOE VENUTI—µ1(9(5%()25(1(9(5$*$,1µvn,
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style. Massey has included useful
performance advice, fingerings
and bowings, and a complete
description of how to execute
Venuti’s famous “four string
bowing technique.” Just as
important, Massey indicates the
chords that Romano is playing
(often the exact voicings) as
well as the guitar’s single-line
accompaniments. Although
the arrangements follow a
predictable form—a cadenzalike introduction, a rubato
exploration of the melody
followed by a fast “hot” chorus,
and ending with another
cadenza—the music itself is
anything but predictable. A
version of “Summertime,” as
Massey points out, involves
flamenco, Rimsky-Korsakov,
and wandering off into an A
minor invention. Venuti and
Romano’s joyful collaboration
is a tremendous legacy to all
musicians, everywhere. P.Z.
9,2/,1&21&(572,1(
0,12523YQSQR
)HOL[0HQGHOVVRKQ%DUWKROG\
Henle Ürtext, 2003, $30.95.
This edition is of significant
interest because, while it is not
a pure ürtext, the fingerings and
bowings are from the renowned
violinist and pedagogue Igor
Ozim, a particularly refined
and elegant player. There is also
the beautiful printing quality
and readability that we have
come to expect from Henle.
Moreover, the piano reduction
is prefaced by a detailed account
of the genesis and development
of the concerto, including
information from Mendelssohn’s
correspondence with his
“consultant” Ferdinand David,
who premiered the work and
made numerous suggestions and
revisions, mainly concerning
articulation, fingerings, and
bowings. The piano reduction
includes a detailed list of
sources, an evaluation of those
sources, and Igor Ozim’s article
“Mendelssohn or David?”
This fascinating examination
of discrepancies between
Mendelssohn’s autograph score
and the first published edition
leads us to rethink some of
the conventional bowings and
articulations we have become
accustomed to, but that may not
actually best serve Mendelssohn’s
intentions. I highly recommend
this edition to anyone
seeking a fresh approach
to an old favorite. G.H.
9,2/,1&21&(572,1
*0,12523YQ
SQR0D[%UXFK+HQOH
Ürtext, 2003, $26.95.
This is another beautiful
Henle edition with valuable
historical commentary on the
evolution of the work, and
a detailed explanation of the
sources. The version we know
and love does not represent
this concerto’s 1866 premiere.
It was thoroughly revised after
its initial “outing” with the
help of Joseph Joachim, who
later played a similar role in
the final revision of Brahms’s
concerto. It was Joachim who
suggested the elision of the first
two movements, among other
significant changes in the solo
part. The revised version received
its “premiere” in 1868, with
Joachim as soloist, and embarked
upon a “quite fabulous career.”
The editor chose not to use
bowings and fingerings from
sources for the solo part, but
provides a completely new set
of markings by Kurt Guntner.
However, markings deemed
necessary by the editor that do
not appear in the sources are
in parentheses. It would have
been interesting to see Joachim’s
bowings and fingerings. There
is a blank page between the
first and second movements
to facilitate page turns, which
is most helpful during the
learning process. G.H.
Reviews
Assorted pieces for cello and
piano. Arr. and ed. Werner Thomas-Mifune. Edition
.XQ]HOPDQQ&)3HWHUV
(,1%$<(5,15,2:(,66%,(56$0%$
If you are searching for a fun and
flashy encore or showpiece, this
is the piece for you, full of dance
rhythms and syncopations. I
recommend this to your more
advanced students, since thumb
position and treble clef reading
are required. It is less than
three minutes long and would
make a delightful addition
to a Latin cello program.
There is also a string quartet
arrangement of the piece.
:2'.$:$/=(5(GXard Lalo. 2002, $11.95.
This is another fun and accessible
little ditty from Thomas-Mifune.
It is a graceful and humorous
piece, occasionally using
treble clef, thirds, and sixths.
I encourage you to imbibe
in this pleasurable morsel.
&(//2%5$6,/
This collection of Brasilian
tunes includes three pieces
by Villa-Lobos, as well as a
beautiful “Sweet Sleeping
Song” by Lorenzo Fernandez
and contemplative “Ponteio
Nr. 7” by Carmargo Mozart
Guanieri. All the pieces are
very lyrical, with the exception
of the energetic, rollicking “A
Canoa Virou” (The Capsized
Canoe). Many of the pieces use
treble clef, and the rhythms are
very syncopated, with many
ties, and subdivisions between
sixteenths and triplets. The
music is clearly printed and the
arrangements are very good. I
recommend this collection to
all those looking to add some
spice to their repertoire. A.C.F.
7+(&203/(7(:25.6)25
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This exemplary ürtext/critical
edition presents all Gabrielli’s
surviving chamber music for
cello: seven Ricercares for solo
cello, a Canon for two cellos,
and two Sonatas for cello and
continuo (G major, in two
versions, and A major). In her
Introduction (in German and
English), the editor provides
historical setting, a brief
biography of the composer,
description of the sources, and
an explanation of her editorial
practice, concluding with a
Critical Commentary. Besides
the solo cello part, the edition
contains a realized keyboard
score for the sonatas, an
unrealized basso continuo score
for a second cello, and a separate
part for the Canon. There are
no fingerings, and editorial
additions are in brackets. An
appendix in the solo part has
scordatura versions of Ricercares
6 and 7 and the G major
Sonata (C-G-d-g—like Bach’s
5th Suite—seems to have been
Gabrielli’s preferred tuning). The
Ricercares are perfect precursors
to studying the Bach Suites:
less challenging technically,
they provide an introduction to
early baroque style with genuine
musical worth. Single-movement
works ranging in length from
two to six pages, they keep to the
neck positions (Ricercar 6 has
some tenor clef with harmonic
A being the highest note), are
mostly in eighth and sixteenth
notes, and avoid complicated
keys. The Canon and the Sonatas
are of a similar technical level
(for the keyboard, as well). In the
works intended for scordatura
tuning, the more awkward
double-stops (when played in
normal tuning) could easily
be eliminated, and Hoffmann
provides guidance along these
lines in her Performance
Suggestions at the end of the
solo part. These works that figure
so significantly in the history
of the cello were most likely
intended for home use. Today,
aside from baroque specialists,
few professional performers
will likely choose to program
them. However, creativity and
the right context could expand
the Sonatas’ performance
possibilities. As the editor notes,
“Players in Gabrielli’s day were
granted maximum license in the
choice of continuo instruments
. . . Today’s performers, too,
are warmly encouraged to
make timbral experiments with
harpsichord, organ, theorbo,
baroque guitar, cello, and other
instruments in a very wide
range of combinations.” J.S.
'e3/25$7,21. Annick
&KDUWUHX[(GLWLRQV+HQU\
Lemoine, 2003, $14.95.
French composer Chartreux
has written many solo piano,
chamber, vocal, and orchestral
works to complement her
teaching activity, including
jazzy ensemble and piano pieces
intended for young players.
Déploration comes from the
more serious and somber side
of her creative world. Written
for the prize-winning young
cellist Christian-Pierre Lamarca
to be premiered at a festival in
Bourgogne, it is mostly slow,
free, and declamatory with a
somewhat jazzy, ostinato-like
middle section that provides
variety. While there are no
rhythmic difficulties, much of
the writing is quite high (ranging
up to d´´´), and some passages
will require a bit of time to
figure out good fingerings. The
music is conveniently laid out
with rests allowing for page
turns, so memorization is not
a necessity. Most American
players would probably wish
for the inclusion of a short
Composer’s Note and some
performance directions. I had to
research the meaning of the title
(lamentation in the fashion of
an ancient Greek threnody) as
well as Chartreux’s initial French
instruction (the beat remains
the same throughout all metric
alterations), and in one spot, it
is unclear whether a glissando
coming out of a separately
bowed run is to continue
the bowed sixteenths or slide
smoothly up to the concluding
e´´. However, the 10-minute
piece is expressive, moody, and
evocative and would go over
well for the right audience. J.S.
FANTASIA (vc, pno). SamXHO=\PDQ0HULRQ0XVLF3UHVVHU
Mexican-born Zyman teaches
at his alma mater, the Juilliard
School. I became acquainted
with his Fantasia when one
of my students performed it
from a private copy she had
obtained from its dedicatee, the
distinguished Mexican cellist
Carlos Prieto. I am delighted
to see it published. Fantasia
begins and concludes with Lento
sections that frame a central
Allegro con brio, somewhat
reminiscent of Hindemith
in its rhythmic energy and
drive. Of only moderate
technical difficulty, Fantasia’s
harmonic language is accessibly
traditional, and its length is a
very programmable seven and a
half minutes. I recommend this
effective and appealing work. J.S.
-8'$,&&21&(5768,7(YF
Aaron Minsky. Oxford University Press, 2004, $10.95.
Probably best known for his Ten
American Cello Etudes, Minsky
has another musical offering
for the cello world in this suite.
Clearly inspired by spiritual
pieces by Ernest Bloch, this
piece is in three movements.
The first, “The Entrance of
the Bride and Groom,” begins
in a moderate dance feel but
accelerates into a wild hora. It
is meant to portray a traditional
Jewish wedding. “Spiritually,
the bride and groom united
are symbolic of the unification
of God and mankind, so the
dancing is almost a form of
prayer, demonstrating the hope
that one day God and man will
be as one.” It is classical Jewish
music at its best, and Minsky has
created a lively, wonderful piece
with this movement alone. The
second movement, Variations
on “Adon Olam”, is a set of six
variations to one of the most
famous sung prayers in Jewish
liturgy. The words of the prayer
speak of God as the creator,
the eternal Awesome one, King
of the Universe, and God of
all mankind. This movement
can’t help but have roots in
Bruch’s Kol Nidrei and Bloch’s
Prayer, but the variation form
really makes this movement
work as part of a concert piece.
The final movement is titled
“Sound the Shofar.” Indeed, the
cellist imitates the ascending
fifth of the ram’s horn call in
the beginning. The ram’s horn
is played during Jewish High
Holidays, and its sound is
supposed to bring the listener
closer to the divine. In the
middle of this movement, a
chorale based on another Jewish
prayer, the Sh’ma is heard. Then
the ram’s horn sounds again
and the A section returns.
The composer wrote that his
intention was to “express this
largely unknown, yet wonderful,
aspect of Judaism: this concept
of oneness, and the belief in the
ultimate unfolding of a world of
peace and love for all peoples of
all nations. Yet there was also the
motivation from my childhood
to create music to help young
Jews who may be confused about
their faith, to see the beauty
of their tradition; a tradition
as beautiful as Bach’s tradition
and Beethoven’s tradition.” I
feel that the composer fulfilled
these intentions beautifully. This
is a well-crafted piece that is
very enjoyable to play. A.C.F.
3($&()8/-2851(< (vc, pno).
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American composer Dorff’s
works have been performed
by many of America’s most
distinguished orchestras,
including those of Philadelphia,
Baltimore, Detroit, Minnesota,
and Indianapolis. In his
introductory notes, the
composer explains that this
bittersweet work was inspired
by a PBS documentary about
Soviet Jews emigrating to New
York in the 1890s. Composed in
1987 and revised in 1990, Dorff
changed its original title, Hebrew
Elegy, to the current, more
universal one after a cellist friend
dying of AIDS incorporated it
into his own funeral. Beautiful
and poignant, Peaceful Journey,
“a lyrical poetic plaint without
much cellist flash,” lasts
about eight minutes. J.S.
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Originally written for viola
and piano, this is the first
transcription of the Russian
composer Glinka’s unfinished
work. The only movement
offered here is the Allegro
moderato, about 300 measures in
length. I find the piece to fit the
cello beautifully, and the piano
part is extremely well written yet
not over powering. It is about
the same difficulty as Franck,
Strauss, and Prokofiev sonatas.
A bit pricey, it is nevertheless
a good addition to the existing
repertoire of the same genre. S.L.
68,7()2581$&&203$1,('
&(//25LFKDUG:HUQLFN7KHodore Presser, 2004, $8.95.
Pulitzer Prize-winning composer
Wernick usually writes difficult
and rather esoteric works
intended for professional
performers and sophisticated
audiences. This 10-minute Suite,
written for the talented young
cellist Gwendolyn Krosnick,
is somewhat of a departure in
that it is accessible for player
and audience alike (don’t
expect melodies, however).
While not precisely easy, the
four movements—1. Grandly
majestical, 2. played With pluck,
3. muscular: Energetic, 4. a little
taste of Night music (acronym
for Gwen)—generally confine
themselves to the lower registers
and avoid complicated rhythms.
The direction “turn quietly”
at the single point requiring
a page-turn in the middle of
a movement indicates that
memorization is not mandatory.
The greatest technical challenges
are rapid pizzicati in the second
movement, barriolage bowing in
the third and, in the atmospheric
fourth movement, the many
artificial harmonics—some
with glissandi—and a few high
notes (F´´, F-sharp´) that need
to be picked out of the air.
Gwen Krosnick told me how it
came to be written: “My father
[cellist Joel Krosnick] gave two
concerts at Juilliard, one of
which was a memorial to Ralph
Shapey [a close family friend
who had recently written a piece
for Gwen]. At the reception,
I jokingly suggested that Dick
write me a piece ‘like Ralph
did,’ not anticipating that
anything would come of this.
But I got home one day to find
a package with the Suite inside
and a note that read, ‘Ralph
started a tradition that I would
very much like to continue.’
I ended up premiering both
pieces on my senior recital at
Juilliard Pre-College and the way
in which the audience reacted
to the Wernick, especially,
was incredibly moving.” J.S.
Harp
&(/7,&781(692/6,$1'
II: Scottish and Irish songs and
dances for beginning to intermediate players of lap, lever,
and pedal harps. Jeannie
.HUQ&KHQHWWH3UDLULH+DUS
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Recently discovered, this
collection of Celtic tunes is
a welcome treat to add to
Chenette’s book, Progressive
Solos for the Harp. The 11 tunes
in each volume are from the
Gow Collection and O’Carolan
selections. Placings and
fingerings are clearly marked and
quite excellent. Keys include C,
F, G, and B-flat major, and G
and C minor. Carolan’s Quarrel
is the most challenging, with
a melody that features almost
continuous sixteenth notes. The
longest tune is two pages, lever
changes are clearly marked, and
there are also a few grace notes.
Chord symbols are not included.
These books are excellent for
an early intermediate player, as
well as for the gig book. D.G.V.
&21&(5767h&.)25+$53
$1'25&+(675$23
(harp, string quartet). Gabriel Pierné, quartet reducWLRQ%RE'/LWWHUHOO/\RQ
Healy Publications, 2004,
score and parts $39.
A romantic single-movement
work written in 1901,
Concertstück has become a
favorite showcase for the pedal
harp. Litterell’s ambitious
arrangement creates a more
intimate impression of the
work, providing harpists with
an accompaniment close to
the timbre of the original
instrumentation for full
orchestra. Litterell has helpfully
compiled a long list of omissions
and errors that are also noted
within the score. Some of the
corrections are dynamics that
have been printed once and
then omitted for related musical
material, or incorrect octave
placement of material that can
be musically inferred; however,
he also has found several notes
from the full score that have
been omitted in the solo harp
part (errata nos. 12 and 21) that
enhance the harmonies notated.
I was unable to find other errata
(4, 11, 15, 16, 18, 20, citing
Reviews
dynamics and some additional
notes to fill out harmonies) when
referring to a Kalmus reprint
(1980) of the Hamelle edition
(n.d.) of the orchestral score. In
future editions, it would be good
to have more information on the
full score provided, for example,
whether these particular errata
are performance practices that
have been codified. Overall,
the reduction is laid out clearly
with careful attention to page
turns in the individual string
parts and with reference to the
solo harp part as published by
J. Hamelle & Cie. Please note
that the solo harp part published
is not included and must be
purchased separately. Hopefully,
more audiences and performers
will be exposed to this gem in
the harp’s repertoire through
Litterell’s meticulous efforts. This
version has been recorded by
Elizabeth Hainen, principal harp
of the Philadelphia Orchestra,
for Egan Records. A.Y.
0,'6800(50($'2:
OHYHUKDUS3DPHOD%UXQHU
Afghan Press, 2004, $20.
Bruner’s new collection
of original tunes provides
three arrangements of each
composition. The most advanced
is for 36 string harp, second is
for a harp of 26 or 27 strings,
and the simplest one is for
lap harp (although any of the
three could be played on 36
string harp and the lap harp
arrangements could certainly
be played on a 26- or 27-string
harp). The three individual
arrangements can be combined
for harp ensemble. In these
dozen descriptive tunes (e.g.,
Dragonfly Waltz, Forest Stroll),
lever changes and helpful
fingerings are clearly marked
(it would be easy to add pedal
changes, if needed). Keys used
include C, F, G, and D major, as
well as E and D minor. Chord
symbols are provided (thank
you). Rolled chords, glisses,
grace notes, and syncopated
rhythms add color. Bruner’s
arrangements lie comfortably
in the hand and are pleasant for
playing and listening. D.G.V.
675$,*+7)5207+(
+$5392/6
lever harps). &RPSRVHG
DUU%DUEUD%DLOH\%UDGOH\
HG0LPL0F1HHO0F%UDG
Publishing, beebeebee@
erols.com, 2005, each $15.
The arrangements are very
accessible to intermediate
players. Helpful fingerings are
provided, and lever changes
are clearly indicated. Volume
1 includes an original tune
by Bailey Bradley, samplers
from four Bach inventions,
the traditional Lakes of
Pontchartrain, a Clementi
sonatina, and Shaker Tune/
EnRoulant (solo version or
harp trio). Volume 2 includes
two sonatinas (Beethoven
and Attwood), Three Baroque
Dances (Anna Magdalena),
American hymns Chester and
Slane/Nettleton, and Huron
Carol (solo or three harps). Both
volumes include solo and duet
arrangements of She’s Like the
Swallow/I’se the Bye. D.G.V.
Guitar
3,21((568,7($0(5,&$1&/$66,&6)2562/2
*8,7$5, VOL. 1. Arr. James
(GZDUGV0HO%D\
This publication offers a set
of 10 arrangements of works
such as “Beautiful Dreamer,”
“The Water is Wide,” and
“Jeanie with the Light Brown
Hair.” I personally liked the
arrangements, but I was bogged
down by obvious and numerous
errors in fingering, especially in
the first medley. The enclosed
CD was unplayable on the two
systems I tried. However, if
one is willing to get past these
problems, the arrangements
are musical and would be well
suited for performance in an
acoustic café environment. M.C.
5$*7,0(*8,7$5 Arr.
Allan Jaffe. Hal Leonard, 2004, $19.95.
This set of 14 works includes
fully notated arrangements with
tablature, and a CD recording
by the arranger performed on a
steel string guitar. Biographical
information and performance
suggestions are included, as
well. The primary technical
challenges include extensive
barring and maintaining the
clarity of the bass part. This
collection is a good value for
anyone interested in exploring
this rich musical heritage. M.C.
Chamber Music
0,&+(//(*5$1'$/%80
)25675,1*48$57(7
0LFKHO/HJUDQGDUU%HUW
Ligon. Latham Music, 2005,
parts $21.95, score $8.95.
Legrand, who began writing
film scores in the 1950s, is also
well known as a singer, jazz and
classical pianist, songwriter, and
conductor, and his compositions
have become pop and jazz
standards. Ligon, who writes
interesting parts for everyone,
has taken seven of Legrand’s
most beloved songs and created
a set of beautiful arrangements
for string quartet. The first two
pieces, “The Windmills of Your
Mind” (in G) and “How Do
You Keep the Music Playing”
(in E-flat) are well within the
reach of intermediate players
(few syncopated rhythms, all
in first position). Most of the
other arrangements (“A Piece
of Sky,” “What Are You Doing
the Rest of Your Life,” “Little
Boy Lost,” “The Way He Makes
Me Feel,” “You Must Believe
in Spring,” and “The Summer
Knows”) include frequent
key and meter changes, more
challenging rhythms, and up
to sixth position, so they are
better suited for advanced and
professional players. All will
enjoy the gorgeous harmonies
and rhythmic surprises so
characteristic of Ligon’s
arrangements for strings. P.Z.
CDs
(51g'2+1É1<,&21&(57,12)25+$53
$1'&+$0%(525&+(675$23%ULGJH5Hcords., 2004, $16.99.
Sarah Cutler performs the
Concertino for Harp and
Chamber Orchestra by Ernö von
Dohnanyi, with the American
Symphony Orchestra, conducted
by Leon Botstein. This is
an authentic performance,
capturing vividly the piece’s
ever-changing moods. Cutler’s
tone is by turns voluptuous,
silken, soaring, scintillating,
and dynamic. This is the finest
recording of any harp concerto
I have ever heard, except for
Ed Druzinsky’s recording of
Ravel’s Introduction and Allegro
with the Chicago Symphony
Orchestra under Jean Martinon.
The harp is in a true relationship
with the orchestra, leading with
melody, passion, and color.
An outstanding piece in our
sometimes frustrating repertoire,
Concertino is sweeping, lyrical,
and romantic in style, yet
modern in conception and use
of the harp. Continuous in form,
with its three interconnected
movements, it does not always
feature strong melody, or any of
the other trappings of romantic
concerti. It does feature unique
passagework, sweeping arpeggios
of dramatic and melodic
character, rhythmically charged
allegro, idiomatic effects, and
largeness of scale within its
modest scope of length (15
minutes) and instrumentation.
In many ways, this makes
the Concertino an ideal harp
concerto. It is playable by a
very advanced college-level
student and fosters clarity,
expression, and singing tone.
It is rhythmically challenging
and needs nimble facility
but rich tone in large chords.
This recording will make
it much easier to learn the
piece, as hearing the orchestral
accompaniment makes it easier
to conceive. (Editor’s Note: This
CD also features Sextet in C
Major, Op. 37, and Six Pieces
for Piano, Op. 41.) S.D.Z.
Books
'$1*(5286+$5021,(6
7+(0(02,52)+$52/'
&2/(77$. Martin Goldman.
0DUWLQ*ROGPDQ%RRNVXUJH
&'LQFOXGHG
I continually search for
autobiographies of musicians
who were successful professionals
but not major historical figures.
Born in the Bronx in 1917 into
an Italian immigrant family,
Coletta seemed headed downhill
toward juvenile delinquency
when his kindergarten teacher’s
gift of her own child-sized violin
and lessons changed his life. He
switched to viola while playing
with the Bridgeport Symphony
during the depression, won
a place in Stokowski’s All
American Youth Symphony,
then—after aborted studies
at Juilliard—played with the
New York Philharmonic and
the NBC Symphony under
Toscanini. Coletta also toured
as a soloist, played in the Casals
Festival Orchestra, toured with
the American String Quartet,
and played other chamber
music (including the Heifetz-
Piatigorsky Concerts), but most
of his career was spent gigging
as a commercial musician to
support his real love—teaching.
Goldman, Coletta’s friend and
student, explains that “the
book was taken from hours
of taped interviews . . . and
pretty much reads as if you
are having a conversation with
[him].” This strength also proves
to be the book’s weakness, as
Coletta’s recollections jump
from one subject to another
and back and forth in time.
Self-publishing would have been
more successful had Goldman
both hired a professional editor
and had a knowledgeable
musician proofread (in spite of
Coletta’s approval of the text).
Misspelled names abound:
Fracton and Fructon (Fred
Fradkin); Dipasquale (Joe De
Pasquale); Czell (George Szell);
Symon (Szymon Goldberg);
Carl Flesh (Flesch); Isadore
Baker (Isidore Cohen merged
with Israel Baker); Theronen
(Theremin). Coletta’s slips also
remain uncorrected: “bass-bar
crack in the back” (soundpost
crack); Casals performing scales
in a Brahms Quintet (Sextet);
his failure to recall the names
of violinist Pina Carmirelli and
pianist Vladimir de Pachman.
Finally, the relevance of the title
eludes me! But there is much
to recommend this book—not
the least being Coletta’s terrific
playing on the CD, most of
which is from live performances
(including the complete Bartok
Concerto). Coletta’s anecdotes
and comments are fascinating,
and remembrances by violinist
Elmar Oliviera, violist Jesse
Levine, cellists Gabriel Morales
and Avron Coleman, and many
New York musical personalities
add additional perspectives
to Coletta’s life and the East
Coast professional world. One
important caution to potential
buyers and readers: if Dangerous
Harmonies were a movie, it
would be R-rated for language
and sexual content. J.S.
3/$<,1*,7%<+($57
:21'(5)8/7+,1*6
&$1+$33(1$1<'$<.
5REHUW*HUOH;OLEULV&RUporation, 2005, $22.50.
This autobiography of the
remarkable Hungarian violinist
and teacher Robert Gerle traces
his life from his 1924 birth in
Abbazia, Italy, to his eventual
death in Maryland in 2005. It
is an incredible journey filled
with adventure and music.
Gerle had the privilege of
knowing and working with such
musical giants as Zoltan Kodály,
Ernst von Dohnanyi, Aaron
Copland, Samuel Barber, Serge
Reviewers
Koussevitsky, Leonard Bernstein,
Herbert von Karajan, Hermann
Scherchen, Jan Kubelik, George
Enesco, Jacques Thibaud, Carl
Flesch, Gregor Piatigorsky,
Robert Shaw, Dame Eva Turner,
Lotte Lenya, and many others.
His studies at the Franz Liszt
Academy of Music are described
in detail, as is his association
with fellow student cellist Janos
Starker. Gerle compares life
to a sight-reading test where
“one has to keep going without
stopping or looking back to
dwell on a mistake.” His own
life was filled with suspense as
a result of World War II and
living under communism.
He takes his reader with him
into the inner workings of
the schools where he worked
(University of Oklahoma,
Peabody, Catholic University,
Mannes College of Music, and
UMBC in Maryland). Insights
are given into the teachings of
the great Hungarian teachers in
the art of violin playing, as well
as the life of a traveling concert
artist and the violin world of
performing, auditioning, and
being a student. Gerle wrote two
other books worth noting for all
violinists, The Art of Practising
the Violin and The Art of Bowing
Practice. Playing it by Heart is a
very warm book, written from
the soul of this great teacher,
conductor, and violinist. P.M.H.
0LFKDHO&DUHQEDXHU0&LVSURIHVVRURIJXLWDUDQGGLUHFWRURI
*XLWDU6WXGLHVDWWKH8QLYHUVLW\RI$UNDQVDVDW/LWWOH5RFN+HLVWKH
recipient of numerous awards for performance, teaching, and comSRVLWLRQDQGKDVUHFHQWO\UHOHDVHGD&'RIZRUNVIRUJXLWDUVWULQJ
TXDUWHWDQGWKH&KLQHVH]KHQJWLWOHGMusic for Guitar and Strings.
Georgia Hornbacker (G.H.) is associate professor of violin at MilOLNLQ 8QLYHUVLW\ LQ 'HFDWXU ,OOLQRLV DVVRFLDWH FRQFHUWPDVWHU RI WKH
,OOLQRLV6\PSKRQ\&KDPEHU2UFKHVWUDVDQGYLROLQLVWRIWKH.LUNODQG
Trio. She maintains a private studio in her home and, in 2001, was
named Outstanding Studio Teacher by Illinois ASTA.
Susan P. Wilson (S.P.W.), a graduate of Indiana University, was a
violist in the New Jersey Symphony and then, for many years, in the
3KRHQL[6\PSKRQ\2UFKHVWUD6KHFXUUHQWO\WHDFKHVÀIWKDQGVL[WK
JUDGHVWULQJVDWWKUHHHOHPHQWDU\VFKRROVLQWKH*LOEHUW$UL]RQD
8QLÀHG6FKRRO'LVWULFW
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VWULQJVVSHFLDOLVWIRU0HVD3XEOLF6FKRROVLQ0HVD$UL]RQD+HKDV
taught orchestra at all levels and is active as a violinist.
Priscilla Howard (P.M.H.) is an instrumental music teacher, with
D VSHFLDOW\ LQ VWULQJV DQG RUFKHVWUD LQ WKH 0RQWJRPHU\ &RXQW\
(Maryland) Schools. She is a violinist with the Harrisburg (Pennsylvania) Symphony.
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,OOLQRLVDW8UEDQD²&KDPSDLJQ$FWLYHDVSHUIRUPHUWHDFKHUDQG
author throughout the United States and abroad, she is editor of
the World Harp Congress Review and serves as second vice president of the American Harp Society.
0DULO\Q3'DJJHWW0'DYLROLVWKDVUHFHQWO\UHWLUHGIURPWHDFKLQJVWULQJRUFKHVWUDVLQWKH)DLUID[&RXQW\9LUJLQLD3XEOLF6FKRROV
DQGWKH&KDQGOHU$UL]RQD8QLÀHG6FKRRO'LVWULFW
$P\&DWURQ)ORUHV$&)LVFRSULQFLSDOFHOOLVWZLWKWKH,OOLQRLV6\PSKRQ\DQGSULQFLSDOFHOORLQ0LOOLNLQ'HFDWXU6\PSKRQ\2UFKHVWUD
as well as other local orchestras. She is the cellist for the Kirkland
Piano Trio in residence at Millikin University.
Mary A. Glen (M.A.G.) is a career string specialist, currently in her
QG\HDURIWHDFKLQJHOHPHQWDU\RUFKHVWUDLQWKH%RLVH,GDKR
3XEOLF6FKRROV6KHHDUQHGD%0(GIURPWKH8QLYHUVLW\RI'HQYHU
DQGDQ0(GIURP&DPEULGJH&ROOHJH6KHKDVSHUIRUPHGSURIHVVLRQDOO\IRUGHFDGHVDQGKDVVWXGLHGLQWHUQDWLRQDOÀGGOHPXVLFIRU
several years. In 2004, she wrote Fiddle-in-Class, a book of interQDWLRQDOÀGGOHPXVLFIRUÀUVWDQGVHFRQG\HDUSOD\HUV
'HQLVH*UXSS9HUERQ'*9LVDQDFWLYHSURIHVVLRQDOSHUIRUPHU
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6KHZDVIRUPHUO\DPHPEHURIWKH&LYLF2UFKHVWUDRI&KLFDJRDQG
has a master of music degree in harp performance from Northwestern University.
Sylvia Liu (S.L.) is an active chamber musician and cello teacher
LQ FHQWUDO ,OOLQRLV 6KH LV WKH FHOOLVW RI $UFDGLD &KDPEHU 3OD\HUV
principal cellist of Prairie Ensemble, and acting principal cellist of
various regional orchestras. She has taught at the Millikin University
and Eastern Illinois University. Presently, she maintains an active
FHOORVWXGLRLQ&KDPSDLJQ,OOLQRLV
Martin Norgaard (M.N.) is the author of the groundbreaking method books Jazz Fiddle Wizard and Jazz Fiddle/Viola/Cello Wizard
Junior. He is currently a doctoral fellow in music and human learning at the University of Texas at Austin. Norgaard is a frequent
clinician at state and national conventions of ASTA, TMEA, OMEA,
,0($ *0($ 0(1& ,$-( DQG RWKHUV &KHFN RXW KLV ZHEVLWH DW
-D]])LGGOH:L]DUGFRP
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WHDFKHV LPSURYLVDWLRQ DQG FRDFKHV MD]] VWULQJ HQVHPEOHV DW WKH
5LYHUV0XVLF6FKRRODQG:HOOHVOH\&ROOHJH6KHKDVJLYHQSUHVHQtations at national and regional conferences, and performs with her
MD]]TXLQWHWDQGMD]]VWULQJTXDUWHW
6DXO'DYLV=ODWNRYVN\6'=LVD3KLODGHOSKLDKDUSLVWDQGFRPSRVHUUHFHQWO\KRQRUHGE\$6&$3ZLWKSHUIRUPDQFHVDWWKH&XUWLV
Institute of Music and the national harp conference of the American
Harp Society. He was recently presented in recital by the PhilaGHOSKLD &KDSWHU RI WKH $PHULFDQ +DUS 6RFLHW\ +H LV KDUS HGLtor of 6WULQJ 1RWHV and American String Teacher, and contributes
regularly to the American Harp Journal. He teaches privately and
coaches.
Jeffrey Solow (J.S.), cellist, maintains a busy schedule traveling
WKURXJKRXWWKH8QLWHG6WDWHVDQG&DQDGD(XURSH/DWLQ$PHULFD
and the Orient as recitalist, soloist, chamber musician, and teacher.
He has been guest artist at many national and international chamber music festivals and has toured as a member of The Amadeus
Trio. Solow is professor of cello and chair of Instrumental Studies
DW 7HPSOH 8QLYHUVLW\·V (VWKHU %R\HU &ROOHJH RI 0XVLF DQG 'DQFH
in Philadelphia.
My Turn
by Jeffrey Solow
3HUIRUPLQJ%DFK·V6ROR&HOOR6XLWHV
T
oday’s cellists face demands different
from those of the past. Players used
to specialize: it was acceptable to perform
only a certain kind of music or to play
only one’s own compositions and arrangements. The modern cellist is expected to
play everything—an increasingly daunting
assignment as the repertoire grows—and
to interpret each composition in its appropriate style—a concept that hardly existed
before the 20th century.
In Bach’s Suites for Solo Cello, bowing and articulation (both slurs and
non-slurs) form the essence of style and
are, consequently, the most contentious
interpretive elements. Indeed, controversy
over the choice of bowings, and hence
over what is deemed “appropriate style,”
at times approaches religious warfare.
Hard-line devotees of authenticity decry
modern-style performances as misunderstanding Bach’s musical rhetoric, while
adamant modernists accuse authentic performers of sacrificing music on the altar of
style. No wonder that some cello teachers
advise their students to avoid playing solo
Bach in competitive situations if at all possible—however you play it, you are bound
to offend someone. What is a cellist to do?
Here is how I see it.
Although they intertwine to a certain
extent, I identify three questions that vex
today’s interpreters of the suites: 1) What
is the accurate text? 2) How were they
played in Bach’s time? 3) How should they
be performed now on a modern cello?
(Playing them on a baroque cello affects
this question only slightly, and the first
two not at all.)
First, let me briefly address question two. No matter how much was
written during the 18th century about
performance style or how many scholarly
studies and opinions have been presented
since, words are not sounds. There are no
recordings, so unless someone invents a
time machine, we will never know how the
suites were played in Bach’s time.
Now for question one: the text—
notes, rhythms, articulations—is the
starting point for all interpretations of
the suites. To review the situation, Bach
probably wrote the cello suites in 1720 as a
companion set to the Sonatas and Partitas
for violin. Bach’s original manuscript has
disappeared, although that of his lute version of the fifth suite (c. 1737) survives.
Four 18th century copies exist, but from
exactly what exemplars, no one knows:
Johann Peter Kellner (1726); Anna Magdalena Bach (c. 1730); anonymous, also
known as “Westphal” (after 1750); and
anonymous (c. 1790). From these sources,
musicological and forensic research coupled with logical analysis and reflection,
allow us to reconstruct a reasonably accurate text, but without Bach’s manuscript,
we cannot know for sure. Again, we need
that time machine! (Since an urtext edition—meaning “original text”—requires
the existence of the composer’s manuscript
or other reliable sources, in the absence of
Bach’s holograph and given the questionable provenance of the copies, no edition
can properly be called urtext.)
Returning to my second question, as
I alluded to above, textual issues may also
be performance issues and vice versa. Not
only would we like to know precisely over
which notes Bach placed his slurs, but we
also need to know how strictly he intended
they be followed. Unfortunately, we aren’t
sure of either, so even if there were no
doubt about the articulations that Bach
wrote, how he intended them to be played
would remain unresolved. (The currently
popular notion that the bow must change
direction with every written slur is odd
and limiting. What a bowing sounds like is
significant, not what it looks like.)
Complicating this issue still further, it
is very possible—even likely—that cellists
in Bach’s day and locale played with an
underhand gamba-like bow-grip. If so,
this would give many of today’s overhand
baroque-bowing ideas limited relevance.
Virtually all musicologists and baroque
cellists seem to ignore the fact that Bernard
Christian Linike, the cellist for whom
Bach probably wrote the suites, was born
in 1673. Given the evidence of cellists
pictured in paintings from the period, I
would say that a nearly 50-year-old German cellist would almost certainly have
held his bow underhand. (Where is that
time machine?)
So the real debate centers on question
three: how should we play the suites in our
own time? My own view is that, performed
on a modern cello, the suites must be
considered to be transcriptions, similar to
harpsichord music played on a modern
piano—a singularly ineffective exercise if
the pianist merely imitates a harpsichord.
And regarding bowing and slurs, many
18th century bowings, however the bow
was held, don’t work with a modern bow
on a modern cello.
I am not advocating disregarding
historical research or ignoring the information that we can gain from studying the
original sources that we have: the choice
of bowings can shape the character of an
entire movement. But I have difficulty
believing that J.S. Bach, the great improviser and virtuoso performer, would
expect cellists to follow slavishly his every
slur (or non-slur)—let alone hypothetical
slurs played on an instrument substantially
different than that for which he composed
the suites. The music is the important
thing. Bach’s own transcription of the fifth
suite for the lute, an instrument played
without a bow, proves this point.
Ultimately, any interpretation of the
Bach Suites will not succeed or fail because
of a cellist’s choice of edition, ornaments,
style, or bowings.
Character, energy, tempo, rhythm,
phrasing, timing, and flow—these are the
critical elements of a performance. Musicality should prevail over ideology.
&HOOLVW -HIIUH\ 6RORZ PDLQWDLQV
a busy schedule traveling
throughout the United States
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America, and the Orient as recitalist, soloist, chamber musician, and teacher. He has been guest artist at
many national and international chamber music festivals and has toured as a member of
7KH$PDGHXV7ULR&XUUHQWO\KHLVSURIHVVRURI
cello and chair of Instrumental Studies at TemSOH8QLYHUVLW\·V(VWKHU%R\HU&ROOHJHRI0XVLF
DQG 'DQFH LQ 3KLODGHOSKLD 2Q 0D\ KH
begins his two-year term as president-elect
of ASTA.