challenges Archives

Enharmonically Equivalent: Greetings from Kingston! — by Avery Waite

What a month is has been! It has been an absolute whirlwind of teaching, cultural discoveries, new friends, new landscapes and rainy October downpours. Despite the consuming teaching schedule, I've been able to absorb different aspects of Jamaica bit by bit. From the breathtaking views of mountainous junglescapes, to stunning sunsets, to torrential thunderstorms, the natural beauty is both staggeringly vivid and refreshingly wild. But, it's a place of extremes and contradictions. The downtown area in which I teach five days a week is definitely tough and worlds away from the well-guarded mansions that dot the mountain-sides above the city. One of the schools, St. Andrews Technical High School, is bordered by a maximum security prison and several violent ghettos. There is a constant turf war in these neighborhoods as rival gang-lords called "dons" [...]

By Avery Waite|2017-09-21T04:25:35-04:00October 22nd, 2013|Categories: Artistic Vision, Interpersonal Relationships, Performance, Self Discovery, Teaching|Tags: Community, contradictions, cello, culture, El Sistema, music, Enharmonically Equivalent, students, balance, fruit, beauty, activities, gangs, safety, passion, healing, Travel, exploration, Jamaica, Kingston, challenges, Avery, neighborhoods, energy, Waite, violence, after-school music, Teaching|

THINKING IN A NEW WAY—Overcoming Habits (Part 4 of 6): The Arm Becomes the Bow — by Selma Gokcen

The whole organism is responsible for specific trouble. Proof of this is that we eradicate specific defects in process. —F.M. Alexander To a mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders. —Lao Tzu We now come to the bow, the most challenging aspect of cello playing by far. There are so many fantasies and fallacies surrounding the technique of the bow, as well as profound differences of opinion regarding sound production and articulation. Rather than address these directly, I would like to introduce another way of thinking about the bow: as an 'instrument' whose function exists in relationship to the whole body. By starting from the general (the whole of ourselves) and eventually arriving at the specific (the 'bowing instrument'), we might view the process in the right perspective, rather [...]

By Selma Gokcen|2023-10-30T13:36:03-04:00February 25th, 2013|Categories: Alexander Technique for Cellists, Beyond the Traditional, Playing Healthy|Tags: body at ease, flexible, principle of opposition, Selma, cello playing muscles, neck, pull and push, sensory awareness, importance of quietness, challenges, repeated sensory stimulation, function, increased resistance, energy, sensitive gesture, bow strokes, Casals, inner pitch, simple gesture, arms, fingers, misguided effort and unease, Habits, teaching table, collapse, wrist, nasal sound, perspective, unwanted sound, Six Part Series, cello, partnership, dynamics, volume, contraction, cellobello, powerful accents, Alexander Technique, thinking in new ways, beauty, powerful arms, Gokcen, bend and extend, process, pressured sound|

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 [...]

By Martha Baldwin|2017-10-03T02:47:39-04:00January 27th, 2013|Categories: Orchestra, Self Discovery|Tags: cellobello, soloist, concerts, establish a career, stability, colleagues, family time, orchestra, status, chamber music, lifestyle, Travel, working full time, personal ideas, mom-friendly schedule, routine, money, challenges, Baldwin, musical talents, focus, happiness, inspiration, orchestral jobs, Martha, choices, Teaching, predictability, rehearsals, Cleveland Institute of Music, variety, short attention span, concert halls, Cleveland Orchestra, cello, social outlets, Touring, direction|

Bach Suites and You – by Robert Battey

“In a work of art the intellect asks questions; it does not answer them” -Friedrich Hebbel Few tasks are more daunting than attempting to discern and convey J.S. Bach’s precise intentions for his Cello Suites. Just playing them is hard enough, but a true and meaningful interpretation of the Suites requires an entirely different heuristic model than that of our other repertoire. This is because the autograph of the Suites has been lost, and we are left only with several flawed and inconsistent copies. Since there is no original source, everything, from notes to rhythms to phrasings, must be questioned. With many pieces, one can rely on the fidelity and accuracy of a high-quality edition, prepared either from autographs or composer-supervised prints. There, you have the simple choice of either [...]

By Robert Battey|2021-07-26T15:08:34-04:00January 16th, 2013|Categories: Artistic Vision, In the Practice Room, Performance, Repertoire, Self Discovery|Tags: repertoire, inconsistent copies, robert, painting, Teaching, Bach’s precise intentions, study, colors, instrument control, Editions, parameters, Janos Starker, Barenreiter, text booklet, interpretive creativity, experimentation, paris, Rhythm, careless, textual, personality, interpretive ideas, accuracy, personal research, cello, conclusions, The Fencing Master, judgment, ambiguity, Pierre Fournier, cellobello, curiosity, transcribing, Instruments, liberation, Anna Magdalena, printing, Bach Suites, dilemma, uncertainties, virtuosity, lute, Anner Bylsma, publications, editors, enjoyment, lute arrangement, artistic, rainbows, flawed, recordings, meaningful interpretations, autograph, response, phrasing, genius, complexities, monochromatic, Pablo Casals, Bach Cello Suites, sloppy, challenges, historical, Battey, normal teaching model, Bach, Bach's original intentions, slurs|

A Cellist in Kabul (Part 2) — by Avery Waite

After three months in Kabul I feel ready to write honestly about the challenges of teaching here. The thing is it’s almost impossible to separate everything about Afghanistan from my experience as a music teacher; it’s just such a complicated and bewildering place. And the weirdest thing is that the longer I’m here, the harder it is to write about my life. I suppose the overall experience itself is so consuming that I can’t properly distance myself enough to document it. But I will try my best to cover the challenges that I face on a daily basis. The most daunting challenge is teaching in a difficult foreign language. What I didn’t realize at first is that the language of music pedagogy is tremendously complex. It can be very simple [...]

By Avery Waite|2017-10-30T05:17:27-04:00November 24th, 2012|Categories: Beyond the Traditional, Interpersonal Relationships, Self Discovery, Teaching|Tags: music, language, students, Experience, radio, discipline, imagination, Afghanistan, challenges, Avery, motivation, Kabul, Waite, talent, Teaching, culture|

Tour of Duty, Tour of Pleasure — by Aron Zelkowicz

A postcard from Vienna: By the time the Danube winds into concrete beds through Stadtpark, the water is just a trickle. Children in their parkas swing on the playground, the U-bahn train pulls into its station, and people stroll or bike over the canal’s bridges, all within a stone’s throw of the surface. This view from our hotel is lovely and quaint, for those of us on tour with the Pittsburgh Symphony that have north-facing rooms (those with opposite views can peer down on the bustling skating rink next door). Pittsburghers, no strangers to rivers and bridges, hardly needed reminders of the horrible flooding that occurred this week. The tame canal is at odds with what we’ve seen on the front page of local papers and all over TV. I [...]

By Aron Zelkowicz|2017-10-30T05:18:40-04:00November 9th, 2012|Categories: Cello Travel, Orchestra|Tags: cellobello, orchestras, gestures, struggle, musicians, Aron, challenges, Zelkowicz, endpin, live performances, stage, audience, perspective, Dvorak, themes, illness, acoustics, cello, tour|

The Force of Habit — by Selma Gokcen

“You translate everything, whether physical, mental or spiritual, into muscular tension.” “We can throw away the habit of a lifetime in a few minutes if we use our brains.” —F.M. Alexander My Alexander teacher is always speaking about the force of habit and the difficulty of keeping the mind on a new track, when, for example, a simple decision is made not to lift an arm or get out of the chair in the usual way. Our kinaesthetic sense, the sense of our muscles in movement, is of little help here. We measure effort by how something feels, and that feeling is our habit. To give up wanting to feel our way forward in the early stages of Alexander Technique lessons comes down to a battle with habit, which is [...]

By Selma Gokcen|2021-10-18T12:14:27-04:00October 2nd, 2012|Categories: Alexander Technique for Cellists, Beyond the Traditional, Playing Healthy, Self Discovery|Tags: movement, musicians, Selma, challenges, Mind, effort, Habits, Force of Habit, adventure, expectation, lessons, muscular tension, cello, exhilarating, transitions, Experience, Alexander Technique, Preparation, Gokcen, safety|

New and Old — by Yeesun Kim

This summer I had two very different experiences performing contemporary pieces. The first piece, as it turned out, had several performances spread over two months. Two concerts included working with the composer prior to the concert. The second piece was set up to be only performed once, without the composer's presence and with only two days of rehearsing. Both pieces were quite difficult in their own ways. The first piece called for virtuosity, stamina and the ability to clearly outline the structure and narrative in order to hold the piece together. The second piece was almost the exact opposite. Short and obsessively detailed in its use of sound effects, it abounded in the use of extended techniques. It employed extremely soft dynamics and seemed to purposefully obscure perceptible structure in [...]

By Yeesun Kim|2022-04-04T13:55:15-04:00October 7th, 2011|Categories: Chamber Music, Performance, Repertoire|Tags: dynamics, challenges, virtuosity, confidence, structure, Kim, ability, rehearsals, articulations, Yeesun, familiar, creativity, character, soundscapes, Rhythm, cello, composers, cellobello, music, unique|

Behind the Scenes of a Music Festival (Part 2): The Devil in the Details — by Aron Zelkowicz

According to their blog, Audio-Technica’s acclaimed Artist Elite 5000 Series UHF Wireless System with an AEW-T4100 Cardioid Dynamic Handheld Transmitter was the microphone of choice for Taylor Swift’s “Fearless” concert tour (“It really sounds like her!”). Of course, all systems use the AEW-R5200 True Diversity Frequency-Agile Dual Receiver. Thank goodness all we have to do is walk on stage with our cello, find a hole in the floor, and play. When compared with such high-tech riders, organizing an acoustic recital is low maintenance, right? Right?! Sure—although maybe you should have had that dress rehearsal where someone could have spiked the chairs’ locations on the floor with masking tape because once you start the Brahms Piano Quartet you realize you are blocking the violist’s sight-line to the pianist (causing some uneasy [...]

By Aron Zelkowicz|2017-11-01T00:47:39-04:00September 23rd, 2011|Categories: Repertoire, Technology|Tags: challenges, Aron, rehearsals, Zelkowicz, distractions, live performances, passion, music festivals, organization, enjoyment, cello, Production, cellobello, festivals, music, details, Preparation, small details|

Marlboro: Then and Now (in the Experience of One Participant) — by Bonnie Hampton

It has been a pleasure to have the opportunity to return to Marlboro as a participant after a period of forty five years. It is that much more meaningful since it is the Sixtieth Anniversary and the evidence of the content of those years is very present. My participation as a young cellist in the sixties was filled with inspiration and challenges. In 1962, I came first for the Casals Master Classes and then returned from 1963 until 1966 as a full participant. Those years gave us Casals’ Magic with music. That heightened exaltation in his musical involvement which carried over into everything we did. Serkin’s giving of 200% in everything he did and willing us to stretch our own boundaries. Felix Galimir’s insisting on our getting inside the understanding [...]

By Bonnie Hampton|2023-01-22T18:44:32-05:00September 20th, 2011|Categories: Chamber Music, Interpersonal Relationships|Tags: opportunity, Bonnie, Hampton, administration, cello, intensity, cellobello, participants, performance, challenges, talent|

Self-Motivation and Summer Vacation — by Brandon Vamos

As I helped my students over the last few weeks in preparation for their juries and looked through my calendar to discover how many recitals I will be attending before the middle of May, it suddenly hit me. The end of the school year is upon us once again. That time when there’s one final burst of juries and lessons, tests and papers before summer vacation hits. And after a long academic year, summer vacation can offer a welcome change. I remember those summers I was attending summer programs, and had three or four weeks off, or those students who sometimes have the entire summer devoted to working or relaxation. But regardless of what your summer plans may look like this year, I’d encourage you to remember one very important [...]

By Brandon Vamos|2018-03-14T04:34:06-04:00May 5th, 2011|Categories: In the Practice Room, Self Discovery|Tags: arpeggios, scheduling, student, school, career, success, Summer, Growth, challenges, Performing, focus, cello, motivation, cellobello, practicing, Experience, scales, Practice, improvement, Brandon, recording|

Tour Musings — by Alisa Weilerstein

I'm now a few days removed from one of the most exhilarating—and definitely the longest—tours of my life. I've grown accustomed to playing a different concerto every week, sometimes with a recital thrown in here and there. But I can't remember the last time I actually played only one piece for three weeks straight. However, that's exactly what I did in the last week of March and first two weeks of April; I played Shostakovich 1st Concerto fifteen times across the US with the St Petersburg Philharmonic and Yuri Temirkanov. I've had so many thoughts about this tour and am struggling to consolidate them into a coherent blog entry. I have to start by saying what an incredible musical and educational experience it was for me. There are players in [...]

By Alisa Weilerstein|2018-03-15T04:14:38-04:00April 22nd, 2011|Categories: Artistic Vision, Cello Travel, Performance, Self Discovery|Tags: recital, cellobello, Alisa, Rostropovich, orchestra, tour, Weilerstein, Travel, concert halls, experiences, Sound, Shostakovich, emotion, unique, performance, musicianship, Concerto, challenges, Cello Travel, inspiration, rehearsals, exhilarating, cello, Airplanes|

Practicing What You Preach: Some Thoughts on Balancing Performing and Teaching — by Natasha Brofsky

During my preparation for playing a faculty recital at NEC’s Jordan Hall at the end of March, I found myself thinking a lot about the challenges of maintaining a teaching and performing career. I always find it the most challenging to play for the “home crowd,” especially students and colleagues, because I hope that I will in some way be able to “practice what I preach.” As a cello teacher my listening is focused on how a phrase could be played in a different, more compelling way, and how technique can serve the music. I find that turning my critical teaching ear on myself can inspire me but also paralyze me, because while I am playing I am hearing all the possibilities for doing it better: all the ways I have taught [...]

By Natasha Brofsky|2018-11-19T02:48:09-05:00April 11th, 2011|Categories: Artistic Vision, Performance, Teaching|Tags: perspective, expression, emotion, balance, inspiration, Natasha, possibilities, bow speed, performance, Listening, vibrato, challenges, quality, cello, focus, colleagues, cellobello, practice habits, solutions, NEC, practicing, New England Conservatory, students, Habits, Preparation, Brofsky|

Thirds, Thirds, Thirds… — by Lev Mamuya

Practice your thirds. As well as improving your technique, it can be…sigh…well, even a little bit fun. Many people give thirds an unfair label: they’re boring, they’re tedious, and they’re hard… Thirds are hard at first, and require daily repetition to maintain to the fullest, but never fear! A good daily method can change you from someone who hates thirds, to someone who can look forward to practicing thirds every day. Scales are always good. Thirds scales are even better. Practicing thirds scales slowly and repetitively is an important way to improve technique such as left hand finger rounding and intonation. Plus, a slow tempo can give you more time to focus on right hand/arm technique. This may not be the most fun part of practicing thirds, but JUST DO [...]

By Lev Mamuya|2017-06-24T03:42:45-04:00December 14th, 2010|Categories: High School Blogs, In the Practice Room|Tags: Mamuya, control, Martha, Awareness, motivation, practice habits, intonation, practicing, success, repertoire, challenges, scales, consistency, Technique, focus, thumb position, Lev|

To Mic, or Not to Mic — by Jeffrey Zeigler

I must admit that I myself am relatively new to the use of sound design. Previous to joining Kronos I had only dabbled here and there, and even then only in small amounts. Like so many cellists that graduate from conservatory, it really wasn’t something that I encountered very much except in specific 20th century works that required its use. In fact, I would say that, like so many, I viewed the use of amplification as a form of cheating. To some degree, I do not completely disagree with this notion. Like all tools, it isn’t the tool itself that is the problem, but what one chooses to use it for. If one uses amplification simply in order to play louder, then you are in fact cheating. However, like any [...]

By Jeffrey Zeigler|2019-07-02T23:30:56-04:00December 1st, 2010|Categories: Beyond the Traditional, Chamber Music, Technology|Tags: concert halls, Kronos Quartet, acoustics, Quartet, Adjustments, Zeigler, balance, Sound, collaboration, sound production, concerts, challenges, equipment, options, reality, possibilities, sound design, Technology, Jeffrey|