Conversation with Glenn Garlick (September, 1995)
Interview by Tim Janof Glenn Garlick is the Assistant Principal Cellist of the National Symphony in Washington, DC. TJ: Looking over your bio, I see you studied at Eastman with Ron Leonard, who is now principal cellist of the LA Philharmonic. Did he have any principal themes in his teaching? GG: Time and time again I give thanks to Ron Leonard for the work he did with my bow arm. The thing that Ron did the most was to clean up my approach to the bow. He had excellent training himself, being a disciple of Leonard Rose and the legendary violinist, Ivan Galamian, who taught at Juilliard and ran the Meadowmount Music Camp during the summers. Ron also played for Casals and was the principal cellist of the Casals Festival [...]
Conversation with Lynn Harrell (June, 1996)
Interview by Tim Janof Lynn Harrell is known throughout the world as a cellist, chamber musician, recitalist, conductor, teacher, and recording artist. Mr. Harrell is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the Piatigorsky Award, the Ford Foundation Concert Artists' Award, and the first Avery Fisher Prize (jointly with Murray Perahia). TJ: As a teenager you lost both your parents. This kind of trauma would emotionally cripple most people for years. How did you manage to overcome this tragedy and become one of the world's most acclaimed cellists? LH: It took me a long time to come to terms with it. It's an experience that I wouldn't wish on anyone. But I have found the resilience of the human spirit to be extraordinary. Look at what is going on in Bosnia [...]
Conversation with Ron Leonard (February, 1996)
Interview by Tim Janof Ronald Leonard is well known as a soloist, chamber musician, and teacher. He has been Principal Cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since 1975, and is the Gregor Piatigorsky Professor of Cello at the University of Southern California. He has performed concertos with Zubin Mehta, Michael Tilson-Thomas, Carlo Maria Giulini, Andre Previn, Simon Rattle, and Esa-Pekka Salonen. He has appeared as guest artist with the Juilliard, Guarneri, Angeles, Mendelssohn, Borremeo, Chilingarian, and American Quartets. TJ: You studied with Orlando Cole and Leonard Rose at the Curtis Institute. How did their teaching methods compare? RL: I studied with them at the same time, believe it or not. They were two very different musical personalities. They approached the instrument, both technically and musically, from quite different viewpoints, [...]
Empowering Community & Creativity – Part II of a conversation with Elizabeth Rowe
Reprinted with permission from Audition Cafe. The completion of a two-part interview with principal flutist of the Boston Symphony Elizabeth Rowe, well known as a performer, mentor, and advocate for equal pay in the orchestral world. I greatly enjoyed connecting with Elizabeth earlier this fall and sharing her inspiring thoughts regarding her approach to the pandemic, as a performer and a human being, and for advice to others on healthily managing their own reactions to it. If you missed it, be sure to check out Part I of her interview! In this second part of a condensed version of our conversation, Elizabeth discusses how her desire to support musicians early in their careers and creative people of all fields and stages of life has driven her to explore some new outlets. [...]
Conversation with David Tonkonogui (May, 1993)
Interview by Tim Janof For those of you who haven't heard of David Tonkonogui, he is the most recent addition to the Seattle Symphony cello section. He is also an active chamber musician in Seattle and has won the hearts of all who have heard him. For those of you who have not heard him play, I highly recommend you go to any chamber concert in which he plays. TJ: First of all, please pronounce your last name. DT: Tonkonogui (Tawn-ko-no-gee) TJ: Where does your name come from? DT: It's derived from Russian. I admit that it's an unusual Russian name. I've never met anybody in Russia with the same last name. But I have met several people in Seattle who trace the origin of their names back to my [...]
A conversation with Elizabeth Rowe – principal flutist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra
Reprinted with permission from Audition Cafe. A two-part interview with Elizabeth Rowe discussing various aspects of her creative life during the pandemic. Aside from her acclaim as a performer, teacher, and mentor to creatives of all ages, you may recognize her from international headlines in 2018 when she shed light on pay practices in the classical music industry by filing an equal pay lawsuit against the BSO. I had the pleasure of speaking with Elizabeth earlier in October, and I am thrilled to share a condensed version of our conversation, which left me optimistic and inspired. In this first part of the interview, we discuss the ways that the pandemic has impacted her attitude towards playing the flute and reaffirmed her belief in the importance of living a balanced life. [...]
Conversation with Frances Walton (June, 1999)
Interview by Tim Janof Sitting third chair in Philharmonia Northwest, one of the best community orchestras in the Seattle area, is 71 year old cellist Frances Walton, one of the most radiant musical souls I have ever met. "I'm 71 and I love it. As long as I can move without arthritis, the world is good." One wouldn't necessarily expect to find such a powerful musical force in a place like Shorecrest High School auditorium, the orchestra's concert venue, but there she enthusiastically plays. As I watch her, I can't help but wonder if anybody realizes just what she has done for classical music -- formed and conducted two orchestras, conducted a third, founded a music camp, co-founded a music library, formed a statewide concert tour, and inspired countless musicians [...]
Conversation with Laszlo Varga (November, 2002)
Interview by Tim Janof Hungarian-American cellist Laszlo Varga has an international reputation as soloist, recording artist, and master teacher. He served as the Principal Cellist of the New York Philharmonic for 11 years under Dimitri Mitropoulos and Leonard Bernstein. Mr. Varga has appeared as soloist with orchestras across the USA, Europe, Japan, Australia, South America, and the former Soviet Union. He has been the featured soloist, chamber musician, and master teacher at the Aspen, Chautauqua, and Shreveport festivals, among others for over 40 years. He is highly praised for his numerous recordings on the Vox, RCA, Columbia, Decca, CRI, Period, and MusiCelli labels. Mr. Varga has premiered numerous pieces for solo cello and is eagerly sought after by composers to present their works. As cellist with the Borodin Piano Trio [...]
Meet the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s New Principal Cellist, Blaise Déjardin
It’s rare that at CelloBello we have contributors undergoing major professional shifts, so we wanted to take this opportunity to highlight the recent Boston Symphony Orchestra Principal audition that was won by Blaise Déjardin, a long-time CB blogger. For our readers, we wanted to bring light to Blaise’s motivations, aspirations, and perceptions of the audition process, directly from him to you. Thank you for your candidness, Blaise! Blogmaster: Why did you decide to audition for the principal chair? Blaise: There are many reasons, but I think the biggest is that I saw it as an opportunity for growth. After 10 years in the section, of exploring and trying to improve, this seemed like a great chance to keep doing that and to keep challenging myself. So, I thought it [...]
Practicing, Some Practice Advice (Part 2) — by Michael Haber
Frustration and Discouragement, Orchestra Auditions, Some Final Thoughts, a Final Comment FRUSTRATION AND DISCOURAGEMENT: Now is the time to talk about our number one enemy. When I look back over all my teaching, one observation stands out above all others. It has not been a lack of talent or intelligence which stood in the way of progress for most students. It has rather been the fact that many people become both frustrated and discouraged by the amount of work and the unwavering discipline and persistence it usually takes to become an excellent musician. I have something simple to say on this subject: frustration and discouragement have been the common lot of most of the musicians I've known, born of the eternal gap between our dreams of how we want [...]
What if We All Did That? — by Martha Baldwin
OK, not to blog-rant (is that a thing?) but I’m often surprised by basic behaviors I see in music students (and professionals) and it reminds me of a saying we have in our cello section: “What if we all did that?” Here are my top 3: 1. STAY!!!!!! seriously, just stay to the end people. I realize that many student recitals seem endless but leaving as soon as you’re done playing is, simply put, rude. I’ve seen entire rows of extended family get up and leave noisily after the first performer (their kid) is finished and I’m shocked. Really? No one else matters? Your child is so special that this entire recital is there just for his/her 4 minutes of glory? People notice these things. As a side benefit - [...]
Beneath the Surface of Brahms — by Brant Taylor
Brahms' 3rd Symphony Cello Excerpt A successful audition performance involves showing many different sides of yourself, musically, in a condensed period of time. Therefore, it is useful if not imperative to conceive each excerpt on a list in its own distinct world of character and color. Despite being works from the same composer, the well-known cello audition excerpt from Brahms’ Second Symphony, which we previously discussed, and the cello audition excerpt from Brahms’ Third Symphony, which is the subject of this post, present quite different opportunities. While these suggestions are not the only solutions to the challenges presented by this excerpt, they are a starting point for practice and discussion and illustrate some of the details that must be carefully considered in any successful performance. Sound Production In thinking about [...]
Laszlo Varga, Cellist for the New York Philharmonic, is Dead at 89
Laszlo Varga, Cellist for the New York Philharmonic, is Dead at 89 by Bruce Weber and Jacob Burg Reposted from the Herald-Tribune Laszlo Varga, a Hungarian-born musician and teacher who escaped a Nazi work camp to become principal cellist for the New York Philharmonic under the batons of Dimitri Mitropoulos and Leonard Bernstein, died on Dec. 11 at his home in Sarasota, Fla. He was 89. He died several days after a fall had precipitated a stroke, his son Michael said. In a long career, Mr. Varga applied his virtuosic skills to solo performances, orchestral playing and ensemble work. As a young man he lost his position as first-chair cellist of the Budapest Symphony in a purge of Jews. He came to the United States after World War II as a member [...]
Rambling About Tanglewood: Tales of a BSO Survivor
Reposted from The Berkshire Eagle. LENOX—It's been two times 50 for Jules Eskin this summer: the conclusion of 50 years as the Boston Symphony Orchestra's principal cellist, coinciding with the conclusion of the Boston Symphony Chamber Players' 50th anniversary season. That automatically identifies him as a founding member of the chamber ensemble. He's the only founding member still in it, in fact. Eskin, 82, is a survivor. After five months out for cancer treatments, he came back to active duty at Tanglewood on July 6 to play one of his trademark solos, the big, lyrical one in Brahms' Second Piano Concerto. He's also back to doing his pull-ups and sit-ups and hikes up Lenox Mountain to the fire tower, he says. He's tough even when it comes to producing a [...]
Orchestra: A Love Story — by Martha Baldwin
Solo playing, chamber music, orchestra, teaching—I loved them all in college but at some point, we all must start to narrow our focus and work to establish a career that is dominated by one or two of these. I think the most often over-looked aspect of choosing what direction to take your musical talents (insert LeBron goes to Miami joke here), is thoughtful consideration of the daily life. Happiness in life and career is so often not determined by money or status but by how closely our lives conform to our personal ideals and individual quirks. Young cellists often ask me “Why did you choose to play in an orchestra?” This is my answer. I’m a planner. I am happiest with a stable structured day with a decent amount of routine [...]