Posts Tagged ‘chamber music’

Who Should Write Program Notes?

Thursday, October 4th, 2012

By: Edna Landau

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

Congratulations to Mollie Alred of Sciolino Artist Management who won a $25 gift card for submitting the following question

Dear Edna:

As a manager of classical musicians, I have the opportunity to work with many different presenters. No matter the type of presenter, size of the hall, the budget or the number of staff members, one question frequently pops up: Who is writing the program notes? Some organizations hire a professional writer, others handle the task on site, and still others have generous (and well informed, very skilled) volunteers. Yet, there are others who expectantly ask me for this material. This has led to the very last thing I want to have: an uncomfortable exchange with a presenter. As a concert goer, I love program notes and read them carefully. I think they go a long way in engaging our audiences. I also see the presenter’s point of view that the notes should be included as part of the “whole package”. Nevertheless, as an artist manager, writing program notes on Beethoven string quartets falls outside of the duties I can realistically handle. Please help me solve this. What is the industry norm? — Mollie Alred, Associate, Sciolino Artist Management

Dear Mollie:

Thanks for sending in your excellent question. I understand that this was a hot topic at a recent Major University Presenters meeting so it is clearly on many people’s minds. As I usually do in a situation like this, I surveyed a number of manager and presenter colleagues from various parts of the country. What emerged is that there is no industry norm but that most presenters view it as their responsibility to produce program notes. They usually hire someone to do this or resort to one of the solutions you mentioned in your question. The one exception mentioned by everyone I spoke to is new music. It is common for composers to write notes for their works and I would go so far as to say that it is even expected. There are some instances where artists who write well like to submit their own notes. This lends a special personal touch to the program and is gratefully received by the presenter, especially when the works on the program are rather unusual. In the case of vocal recitals, presenters will not necessarily expect to receive program notes but they will expect to receive song texts and translations from foreign languages into English. Most managements keep a data base of such texts and will also refer to the REC Music Foundation’s website, www.recmusic.org.

You might be interested to know that some managements put in their contracts that they don’t provide program notes. I haven’t seen the exact language but I’m sure there is a way to state this which acknowledges that you wish it could be otherwise. In cases where this doesn’t go down well, it should be possible to explain over the phone that it is becoming harder and harder to provide top level service in every aspect of artist booking and servicing in these difficult economic times and that you must concentrate on the essentials. You might also want to add that it is not in your management’s budget to commission program notes for presenters and that you are keenly aware that it is illegal to reproduce and provide notes that have been written and copyrighted by others. One manager told me that since she knows where each artist is playing each program, she sometimes puts one presenter in touch with another to see if they might be able to share the cost of commissioning the notes. Another knew of situations where exceptional students received credit for writing program notes. Bert Harclerode, Executive Director of Chamber Music Sedona, told me that they are fortunate to have Northern Arizona University nearby, where often the Chair of the School of Music has provided informative and witty notes. There may be other presenters who haven’t thought of these possible solutions and who would be grateful to learn of them from you.

I hope that the above suggestions and feedback from both presenters and managers will reduce, or even eliminate, the possibility of you having any further uncomfortable exchanges on this subject in the future.

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

© Edna Landau 2012

 

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Finding the Right Gimmick

Wednesday, March 14th, 2012

by Sedgwick Clark

Shaham’s 1939 Dark Horse

Gil Shaham had an epiphany. After years of recognition as one of the brightest young lights of the concert circuit, the Israeli-American violinist conjured one of the most imaginative programming concepts in years. He had been struck by how many violin concertos written in the 1930s had entered the basic repertoire: Stravinsky (1931), Berg and Prokofiev Second (1935); then, in 1939 alone, the same year that Hollywood produced perhaps its greatest year ever, the Bartók, Hindemith, Walton, Britten, and Barber concertos. Since 2009 he has performed all of these but the Hindemith and Britten, and in December, when he received Musical America’s Instrumentalist of the Year award for 2012, he promised that he would get to those too.

But there are many other concertos on the periphery waiting to be discovered—as Dennis D. Rooney mentioned in his tribute to Shaham in the Musical America Directory—waiting for the right performer to bring them alive to a public that loves the tried and true but welcomes a little spice too. The Szymanowski Second (1932) is one; Henryk Szeryng introduced it to me at a New York Philharmonic concert nearly 40 years ago. And after four decades of over a hundred concerts a season, countless radio broadcasts, and the collection and partial deaccession of over 20,000 LPs and 10,000 CDs, I’m about to be introduced to another ’30s violin concerto at a Philharmonic concert—this time courtesy of Gil Shaham, who gave the Walton concerto such a virtuoso turn with this orchestra last spring. The work is Karl Amadeus Hartmann’s Concerto funebre (1939). Astonishingly (to me, anyway), I don’t know if I’ve ever heard a note of Hartmann’s music. Shaham will perform this concerto with the New York Philharmonic and David Zinman on March 15, 16, 17, and 20. Who knows? As with Szymanowski it may be a new love affair. I’ll let you know.

As a warmup to hearing Gil again in concert, I listened this past weekend to two Shaham CDs on his own Canary Classics label, which he founded several years ago when his previous label, Deutsche Grammophon, didn’t want to record a disc of Fauré chamber music. An all-Prokofiev disc (ATM CD 1555) includes the two violin sonatas, Opp. 80 and 94, the Five Melodies, Op. 35, and three Heifetz transcriptions sandwiched between the larger works. It’s a great CD, with the violinist contributing subtleties of dynamic shading and phrasing that elevated these works far beyond my previous estimation; he is ideally partnered by his sister, Orli Shaham. The sound, superbly produced by Eric Wen, matches the performers in its breathtaking realism. My preferred recording of the sonatas was previously the ’70s Perlman-Ashkenazy (most recently paired on an RCA CD with Perlman’s peerless recording of the Second Concerto with Leinsdorf and Boston). Henceforth, I’ll reach for the Shahams. Another superior Shaham CD on Canary is called “Virtuoso Violin Works” by Sarasate (CC07). This time Gil shares violin duties with his wife, Adele Anthony, and the pianist is Akira Eguchi. The four tracks requiring orchestral accompaniment feature the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León conducted by Alejandro Posada.

The Rest Is Noise in London

Another brilliant programming connection will dominate London’s Southbank Centre next season. It takes the subject of American music critic Alex Ross’s award-winning book The Rest Is Noise as a stepping-off point, and I quote:

“In 2007 Alex Ross wrote the seminal book The Rest Is Noise – listening to the Twentieth Century. Throughout 2013 we bring the book alive, with nearly 100 concerts, performances, films, talks and debates. We will take you on a chronological journey through the most important music of the 20th century to dramatise the massive political and social upheavals. The London Philharmonic Orchestra, with over 30 concerts, is the backbone of the festival that reveals the stories behind the rich, exhilarating and sometimes controversial compositions that have changed the way we listen forever.”

BBC Four is also involved in the project, assuring that the Foggy City will be awash in 20th-century music next season (see link).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2012/bbc-four-southbank-partnership.html

NOW, I ask you, my good friends at Lincoln Center: Here’s a concept inspired by an internationally acclaimed book by an American author, published in America (Farrar, Straus, Giroux). With all your resources and a campus made for a project of such scope, why . . . ? But that’s a hopeless query. The Brits beat us to it, and no arts org on this coast is likely to jump off the 20th-century music cliff in today’s economic climate.

A New Carlos Kleiber Bio—in ENGLISH!

Alison Ames informs me that Corresponding with Carlos: A biography of Carlos Kleiber by Charles Barber has been published by Kindle, available through Amazon for $52.69. The reader reviews, which seem astute, are raves, and two of the reviewers find the price well worth it. Here’s the link:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=Carlos+Kleiber&x=0&y=0

American readers frustrated by the existence of three bios in German may click on this link for info (they’ll still be frustrated, of course, but at least the info will be available to them):

http://www.amazon.de/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?__mk_de_DE=%C5M%C5Z%D5%D1&url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Kleiber%2C+Carlos&x=0&y=0

Looking Forward

My week’s scheduled concerts:

3/15 Metropolitan Opera. Verdi: Macbeth. Gianandrea Noseda (cond.). Thomas Hampson, baritone; Nadja Michael, soprano; Dimitri Pittas, tenor ; Günther Groissböck, bass.

3/16 Avery Fisher Hall. New York Philharmonic/David Zinman; Gil Shaham, violin. Hartmann: Concerto funebre. Beethoven: Symphony Nos. 1 and 3.

3/17 Walter Reade Theater.1:30 The Callas Effect. 3:00 Callas on Film.

3/17 Alice Tully Hall. Vadim Repin, violin; Itamar Golan, piano. Janácek: Violin Sonata. Ravel: Violin Sonata. Violin Sonata No. 2. Chausson: Poème. Ravel: Tzigane.

3/18 Carnegie Hall. American Symphony Orchestra/Leon Botstein; Stephen Powell, Lori Guilbeau, Robert Chafin, Burak Bilgili, Corey Bix, soloists; Collegiate Chorale Singers. Schmidt: The Hunchback of Notre Dame (in concert).

3/21 Rockefeller University. Rachel Barton Pine, violin. Paganini: Caprices (24).

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Ten Do’s and Dont’s of Career Building

Thursday, March 1st, 2012

By: Edna Landau

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

Dear Edna:

In this fast paced changeable world we live in, we artists feel like a little boat in a vast ocean, many times lost and orphans of good guidance. A wonderful legacy, and a practical one from an accomplished pro like you, would be for us new artists to have a list of ten things to focus on and a list of 10 don’ts. Would you be so generous to share that with us? —Susana Galli

Dear Ms. Galli:

It is a weighty task to come up with ten do’s and don’ts and hope that they comprise some sort of legacy! However, I have done so below, and perhaps I will follow up at a future time with a second installment.

DO’S

Spend considerable time identifying your particular strengths, soliciting input from teachers and others who know you well, in order to plan your career and performance repertoire in a way that emphasizes them.

Make sure that you have good quality, attractive photographs and that your promotional materials are well-written and always up to date. In addition, take care that any video samples you post on YouTube show you off to best advantage. Having a fine quality performance dvd, or at least a demo cd, is definitely an advantage.

Go to a healthy number of concerts, especially if you will hear music with which you are unfamiliar or performances by artists you admire who are likely to inspire you. Go backstage to meet them after the concert. It is an added plus if some of these concerts take place in untraditional venues.

Look for opportunities to perform for audiences who may not go to concert halls, and identify performance spaces that might allow you to engage with new audiences in a more informal setting. If you are aware of series, for example at a library, which present artists at your level of career development, write to them directly, proposing an attractive program that you are prepared to perform. It might be helpful to go to one of their concerts and to try to meet the director of the series in person. You can also write to institutions with whom you have been associated in the past, who might be interested in presenting you in concert (e.g., a school, competition or youth symphony).

Consider forming a chamber ensemble, especially as performance opportunities may be more numerous and competitions and residency opportunities might afford avenues for exposure.

Begin to build a list of people who might be interested in supporting special projects you plan to undertake and also identify individuals whom you would like to meet through others. Whenever you succeed in getting such meetings, be sure to read up on the person in advance so that you can ask intelligent questions and evidence your awareness of their considerable accomplishments. Be sure to let these people know of your ongoing career successes.

Look for opportunities to attend training workshops that will expand your horizons, such as those offered by Carnegie Hall. Even if you are unable to attend in person, bear in mind that some, such as Chamber Music America’s “First Tuesdays”, are archived online.

Plan to spend your summers in places where you might be noticed by established artists and industry leaders who regularly visit.

Try to meet composers, especially those of your own generation, who might welcome the opportunity to write something for you that they know will be performed.

Go the extra mile and be nice to everyone. Write a handwritten thank you note to anyone who does something nice for you. So many of the significant things that happen for artists evolve from the good relationships they have established over the years.

Dont’s

Don’t use superlatives about yourself in your bio, on your website, or in written communications with presenters.

Don’t perform a concerto or other substantial work in an important place for the first time.

Don’t enter a competition seeking greater exposure unless you feel comfortable with the process and motivated by the potential for artistic growth, and for gaining valuable performing experience, regardless of the outcome.

Don’t push too hard too soon. For example, you should only seek out management when your artistry comes across as distinctive and personal.

Don’t think of being on a management’s roster as prestigious unless the management is recognized as being effective on behalf of its artists and has earned respect and recognition in the industry.

If you have management, don’t arrange concerts on your own, thinking that the management won’t find out and you won’t have to pay commission.

Don’t record music that is not in the public domain without first exploring rights payments.

Don’t grant any rights to another party unless you understand everything about how those rights will be used and are comfortable with the terms.

Don’t let your concert attire divert the audience’s attention from the impact of your performance and affect the memory of it that they carry away with them.

Don’t address someone you don’t know by their first name, unless it’s me in my Ask Edna column!

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

© Edna Landau 2012

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Masterly Mann at Manhattan

Wednesday, January 11th, 2012

by Sedgwick Clark

In their wildest dreams, the six string quartets couldn’t have asked for more. Nor could music lovers, as the Manhattan School of Music rang in the New Year with what it called the “Inaugural Robert Mann String Quartet Institute.” Yes, this is why I left Muncie, but this time my hometown friends could share the event, for the Thursday and Friday master classes were streamed worldwide. Those who couldn’t attend could watch the great man inspire several gifted young musicians in works by Brahms, Bartók, and Beethoven, among others. And now they can see both classes by going to www.dl.msmnyc.edu/archive. Which I highly recommend!

For those not into chamber music, Robert Mann is renowned as the founding first violinist of the Juilliard String Quartet (in 1946) and, moreover, probably the postwar era’s foremost influence on the “American” style of chamber-music playing. Since retiring from the Quartet in 1997, he has continued to perform chamber music, conduct, give master classes, and teach on the faculty of the Manhattan School. The passion and personality of the many JSQ performances I’ve heard over the years in concert and on record were fully evident in his comments at Friday’s session. Indeed, his many expressive tips to the PUBLIQuartet in the Poco allegretto of Brahms’s Third Quartet gave me an appreciation of the music I’d never had before.

As usual, however, it was the Bartók performances that grabbed me. The Juilliard recorded the six quartets three times since 1950. It was the second cycle—recorded in 1963, released in 1965, and honored with a Grammy the next year—that introduced me to the works and which I still prefer above all others. (The CD reissue, now on Sony Classical/ArchivMusic 77119, sounds excellent. Mann is on all three cycles; be sure you get the one with Cohen, Hillyer, and Adam.) A complete Juilliard Bartók cycle at Alice Tully Hall, 43 years ago this month, is no less vivid in my early New York memory bank than my first Bernstein/Philharmonic concert, or Colin Davis leading Peter Grimes with Jon Vickers and Wozzeck with Geraint Evans at the Met. In the mid 1980s, the JSQ’s long-time press rep, Alix Williamson, presented the group in the complete Brahms and Bartók quartets at Tully, and I complained that she was devaluing Bartók. Alix, who loved Brahms and detested Bartók, barked endearingly that if she listened to the likes of me, no one would come. I miss her.

Mann’s insightful blend of performance comments, anecdotes, and cheerleading at Manhattan—filmed admirably, by the way, with none of the herky-jerky camera cross-cutting that can compromise one’s attention—revealed a master of persuasion. When the Ars Nova Quartet plays the Allegro molto capriccioso second movement of Bartók’s Second Quartet, Mann initially has nothing but praise, telling of the time a group played the Third Quartet for the composer and was disappointed when Bartók simply stood up and said, “Good, let’s have lunch.” Mann continues, “The great composers are less critical than you might think.” He suggests that the young players should worry less about wrong notes and dig in more. “You know, Bartók as a performer played very cool, but he liked performers to play wildly.” The violist demurs, “But we’re on the Internet.” Still, the Ars Nova foursome plays part of the movement again, digging in as prescribed, and the results are markedly superior—as in every case of following Mann’s masterly advice.

Next, the Old City Quartet plays the Mesto-Burletta movement of Bartók’s Sixth Quartet. Mann asks for more march character (“It lacks rhythmic swing”) and evokes the opening of Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du soldat as a guide. Later he remarks about a precipitous speedup, laughing robustly, “Your accelerando is too fast: You’re very exciting, but it’s too fast.” After a slower runthrough he says, with a huge grin, “Terrific!  I’d like you in my quartet,” and the four players break into smiles. A final comment: “Can you make a bigger bite on that C?” he asks the first violinist, and when he does Mann shouts, “Ah-h-h-h, wonderful!”

Now 91, Robert Mann seems the youngest man in the room. I can’t wait for next year’s master classes.

Looking Forward

Concerts I would attend next week were I not on vacation:

1/14 Galapagos Art Space, 16 Main Street, DUMBO, Brooklyn. 4:30-9:00 p.m. Brooklyn Art Song Society. Complete Songs of Charles Ives (114).

1/18-21 Avery Fisher Hall. New York Philharmonic/Alan Gilbert; Lang Lang, piano. Lindberg: Feria. Bartók: Piano Concerto No. 2. Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5.

1/20 Carnegie Hall. American Symphony Orchestra/Leon Botstein. Stravinsky: The King of the Stars; Mavra; Requiem Canticles; Canticum Sacrum; Babel; Symphony of Psalms.

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Pursuing Two Careers Simultaneously

Wednesday, January 4th, 2012

 

 by Edna Landau

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

Dear Edna:

I am a composer, recently graduated with two Masters degrees, and I have chosen the administrative route for a small and ambitious organization. In your earlier column entitled “Overqualified and Underemployed”, you rightly wrote that many connections can be made working in an administrative position in the field of music. The downside is that (especially in this economy) many administrative jobs are 50+ hours a week, plus additional hours for commuting. The result is little time and energy for pursuing one’s musical craft during the week (and family members have their own ideas about your weekend time). Here’s my question: One disconcerting thing I have heard from multiple sources is that an administrator (I’m an executive director) is not taken seriously as a “real” musician; the implication being that if one is REALLY talented, one wouldn’t need to take a day job. Is this a reality? Not counting academia, are there musicians/composers with good reputations as both? –CS Rusnak

Dear CS Rusnak:

While I am not totally surprised to hear that numerous people have questioned the seriousness of a musician’s commitment and level of accomplishment if they hold a day job, it does seem peculiar both from the point of view of today’s economy and the number of established and renowned musicians who do both, with great distinction. In the case of younger musicians, it should come as no surprise that opportunities don’t always present themselves right out of school and that composers, in particular, who rely on commissions, might need to supplement their income in other ways. My colleague, Kristin Lancino, who is Vice President at G. Schirmer Inc. in New York, tells me that there are four people in her office who work full-time and who are active composers or performers/conductors. If one looks at higher profile administrative positions, one finds Ed Harsh, President and CEO of New Music, USA, himself a composer, and Laura Kaminsky, Artistic Director of Symphony Space in New York, who received a prestigious Koussevitzky Music Foundation-Library of Congress award to write her recently premiered piano concerto for Ursula Oppens. Undoubtedly, these arts administrators find that their day jobs lend an extra dimension to their creative lives, removing them from the potential isolation of a composer’s daily existence and immersing them in the heart of the performing world. Their interaction with music industry colleagues on a daily basis also serves to increase awareness of their creative output. More importantly, their administrative positions afford them opportunities to build new audiences and to mentor and assist young musicians, while possibly giving them exposure. Composer Missy Mazzoli was Executive Director of MATA, an organization committed to helping young composers. Some of today’s most beloved artists have managed to assume leadership roles in arts administration, achieving all of these goals and more, while maintaining a rigorous performing schedule. A towering example is Placido Domingo, founder of the Operalia Competition, who concurrently juggled General Director positions with both the Kennedy Center and the Los Angeles Opera. Musical America’s 2012 Musicians of the Year, David Finckel and Wu Han, show no sign of reducing their busy solo, duo or chamber music performance schedules, while simultaneously lending their brilliant vision and artistic direction to the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, as well as Music@Menlo, which they founded. Hopefully, these examples prove that if one is a REALLY talented musician, one might still want to take a day job (or two), for the sheer joy of sharing one’s experience with others, expanding opportunities for the next generation of performers, and ensuring that the venues in which they will perform will be run with the vision and openness needed to promote those performers’ increasingly innovative and groundbreaking ideas.

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

© Edna Landau 2012  

 

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Is There a Network of House Concerts?

Thursday, December 15th, 2011

By: Edna Landau

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

Dear Edna:

I have been told by many of my musician friends that it is very gratifying and helpful to perform in house concerts because they allow for direct communication with a small and appreciative audience and an opportunity to play through repertoire in an unpressured environment. In some instances, they might even put a little money in your pocket. Can you tell me how I might go about identifying such opportunities? Is there any central house concert website? —Andrew K., violinist

Dear Andrew:

While it is true that house concerts take place all over the world, I am not aware of any directory that lists them. This may well be because of the need to maintain privacy and ensure security when opening one’s home to the public. There is an informative website, ConcertsinYourHome.com, which does provide its members with information about hosts of house concerts, enabling them to get in touch directly, but it is my impression that the opportunities are for singer-songwriters and folk music performers, not classical. They do offer a free and helpful “House Concerts Guide”, written by their founder, Fran Snyder, which walks the reader through all aspects of performing in or presenting a house concert. Most of what they cover is universal to any genre of music.

A good place for you to start would be to ask your musician friends whether they can introduce you to the individuals who have hosted their concerts. Perhaps you can also encourage them to program a work in their upcoming concerts that might include you. If you are still a student, you should visit your school’s concert office to see if they have a list of hosts. You could also check with the Development office, as they often coordinate private concerts for current or potential donors. Let them know of your interest in participating in them. Set aside some time to think about possible concert hosts among family friends, fans, or people you may have met in a variety of professional or social situations. Violinist Hilary Hahn was able to secure a substantial amount of the funding for her commissioning project that is generating twenty-seven new encore pieces via a house concert hosted by someone she happened upon by chance.

In New York, where I live, there are a wide variety of house concerts taking place regularly.  Some of them, such as the series at the home of Shirley and Sid Singer, have been going on for as long as twenty years and generally feature up and coming soloists and chamber ensembles who are recommended by managers or returning by popular demand. Others, such as chamber music concerts hosted by Dr. Daniel Kuhn, a cellist and psychiatrist by profession, are motivated by the host’s desire to play great music with artists they admire. A third category would be concerts for the benefit of a designated charity, such as Classical Action’s Michael Palm Series, which typically feature artists of some renown. None of these would be easy for you to penetrate. However, Michael Reingold, Producer of NYC House Concerts for the past six years, works with a variety of hosts in presenting 25-30 concerts per year. Some of the artists are his own choices outright but others approach him by e-mail, and he tries to introduce new faces into the mix. His particular motivation is to introduce his friends and their friends to the beauties of classical music. He also is happy to afford artists the opportunity to try out a new program and to gain experience in communicating verbally and socially with audiences that are new to this music.  Neither he nor the artist(s) receive any financial gain but if the host is in agreement, the artists can put a basket at the door for voluntary donations, and they can always feel comfortable selling cd’s. If you live in New York, you should definitely acquaint yourself with this organization.

Perhaps the most entrepreneurial individual I have met in regard to pursuing house concerts (and more) is pianist and composer, Kimball Gallagher. A graduate of Rice University and Juilliard, he is the founder of PIANOKEY, “a salon concert company that is dedicated to the revival of the romantic salon culture”. He is currently in the midst of “The 88 Concert Tour”, which he organized totally on his own and which has recently included performances throughout the U.S., as well as in Shanghai, Taipei, Mongolia, Hanoi, Bangkok, Tunisia, Turkey and Afghanistan. Each concert host receives a short personalized piano work that he writes for them, using a compositional system to spell out musical notes to match their names, and which is included as part of the program.  Mr. Gallagher receives a fee for these concerts which, added to income from private teaching, allows him to make a reasonable living. He does not conceive of the concerts as preparation for more significant events but rather as events in themselves. He connects with his audiences in interesting and innovative ways that wouldn’t be possible in a larger venue; for example, playing a virtuosic Chopin etude at a slower tempo before performing it as it was intended to be heard. His success at international networking is quite spectacular, and yet it breaks down into small, logical steps that follow from one another. He keeps track of every new contact he meets and has the charm and confidence to ask them to help, If he believes they can. When he has needed to fill out a tour in Asia, he has contacted Juilliard to see which alumni might be residing there. There is much to learn from Mr. Gallagher’s intrepid approach to organizing his own concert life. The fundamental answer to your question is: Don’t look for a network of house concerts. Research them as best you can but in the end, don’t hesitate to create one!

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

© Edna Landau 2011

This is the final “Ask Edna” column of 2011. I wish all our readers a very happy holiday season and look forward to reconnecting with you on January 5, 2012!

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When a Quartet Becomes a Trio (temporarily)

Thursday, September 15th, 2011

by Edna Landau

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

Dear Edna:

I am a member of a string quartet. We are all just out of college and trying to get our individual careers going, as well as dedicating a lot of our time to establishing our quartet. We were recently in a situation where we were offered several dates but our second violinist was not available during the proposed dates. We had to turn the work down. I had suggested to the rest of the group that maybe we should have taken the dates and found another violinist. Then we could have done the tour and gotten those performances under our belts, which we all know we need to do. My question is, I know it’s tradition that either it’s all or nothing when accepting dates as an existing quartet, but would we be breaking any “laws” or doing the quartet more harm than good by finding a replacement to make a particular tour happen, even if one of our members is not available? It’s tough getting concert dates these days and we all need to work when we can. Please help! Thank you. —L.H.

Dear L.H.:

Your excellent question is not a simple one to answer. My first reaction was to say that getting the performances under your belt with a substitute violinist will have limited value since the quartet’s collective artistry will only grow when all of the regular members are playing together.  When I thought about it more, I realized that each of the three remaining regular quartet members would undoubtedly learn something  from every performance and that those realizations could be shared with the second violinist upon his or her return.  I then turned my attention to the financial aspect of your question.  Concerts are hard to come by and all young musicians struggle in the beginning.  There is certainly a reason for wanting to salvage dates, if at all possible, and you would not be breaking any “laws” or doing the quartet any harm if you tried to find a replacement to make the tour happen. You turned the dates down, which leads me to believe that your group understands the expectation of audiences and presenters that quartet members will remain constant, as that is the only way that they can hope to develop the unanimity of playing and interpretation that distinguishes the very finest chamber ensembles. You mention that you second guessed your decision, wondering if you should have taken the dates and found another violinist. That might have been an option this one time but certainly you would have needed to reverse the order of that process, checking first to see if the presenters would accept a substitute and then finding another violinist.

To get a broader perspective on this,  I chose to consult with a few presenter colleagues: Jenny Bilfield, Artistic and Executive Director of Stanford Lively Arts; Samuel Dixon, Executive and Artistic Director of Spivey Hall at Clayton State University, and Bert Harclerode, Executive Director of Chamber Music Sedona. I found all of them to be quite open-minded about this situation. My colleagues pointed out that, in general, it is harder for a well-known established quartet to use a substitute on a tour because they become known for a sound and a collective excellence in all facets of their playing that has been built up over many years. Furthermore, audiences become familiar with individual members of the quartet and anticipate the specific contribution that each of them brings to the performance. Since your quartet is just starting out, the audience will be coming more out of their interest in discovering a new young ensemble than out of devotion to individual members of your group. Nevertheless, offering a substitute for a member of the quartet should be a rare occurrence . A quartet that seeks a lasting career must make a serious commitment up front to make the ensemble one of the most important priorities in their lives and to make sacrifices when necessary, for the benefit of the group. Once you start making exceptions and accepting substitutes for less than urgent reasons, the fabric of the quartet is weakened and the quality of the performances will undoubtedly suffer. Sometimes the need for a substitute may come very close to the performance date. Audiences and presenters will generally be very understanding if it is due to illness, a newborn child or a family emergency.  It is important that whoever you use as a substitute be someone whom you know well and with whom you have had some sort of performance experience in the past, even if in other chamber music configurations.  This will help to ease any concerns that the presenter may have. Also, be sure to alert the presenter as soon as you know about the need for a change and ask for their approval. They will be very appreciative if you send a bio and picture of the substitute as quickly as possible.

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

© Edna Landau 2011

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Making a Name for Yourself

Thursday, July 14th, 2011

By Edna Landau

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

Dear Edna:

I am a student at a music conservatory in the U.S. with a strong interest in chamber music. This coming year will be my last one at the conservatory. Several friends of mine and I formed a string quartet this past February and we would like to devote serious time to it this coming year, in hopes of maybe entering some competitions. We have yet to choose a name for our quartet. Do you have any advice for us?  —Alison

Dear Alison:

Thank you for submitting this question, which has given me an opportunity to do a little research that I found both fascinating and entertaining.  Hopefully, my explorations will fill your quartet’s minds with many great ideas.

Let’s start close to home (for me) with the Calidore Quartet, which formed at the Colburn Conservatory and a few months ago won the Grand Prize and Gold Medal in the Senior String Division at the Fischoff Competition. One of their violinists, Pasha Tseitlin, told me that he started out by going through a complete list of artists and poets on Wikipedia but any interesting name was already taken. When the group was exhausted from rejecting a massive number of ideas, their cellist, Estelle Choi, came up with Calidore, after reading a poem by that name by John Keats. The group admired the poem and particularly loved the idea that Cali could also be a reference to California,  where they are based, and d’or in French means of gold. (The choice of name seems to have been prescient in light of the recent competition.)

It seems that some groups arrive at a name for themselves rather easily and others agonize over it. If they studied or formed their ensemble in a location that lends itself to an ensemble name, that may provide a simple solution. Examples would be the Juilliard Quartet, the Tokyo String Quartet, the Shanghai Quartet, the Colorado Quartet, and the Borromeo Quartet, who played their first concerts together in northern Italy (lucky them!), where the Borromeo islands emerge from Lago Maggiore. The Jasper Quartet did some brainstorming about things they mutually enjoyed, which led them to the outdoors. Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada, brought to mind extraordinarily beautiful vistas. The decision was clinched upon the realization that Jasper contained the first initial of the first names of all of the quartet members!

Sometimes an ensemble has chosen a particularly memorable landmark associated with the city in which they studied, such as the Parker String Quartet, who studied at New England Conservatory and named themselves after the famous Parker House Hotel in Boston. The Pacifica Quartet’s members all hail from the West Coast of the U. S. and explain that they take their name from “the awe-inspiring Pacific Ocean.”  The Amstel Saxophone Quartet met while touring with the Dutch National Youth Orchestra. According to their website, they chose to name themselves after Holland’s Amstel River (not after Amstel beer!) because “it is not only the historical birthplace of the city of Amsterdam, but also an ever-changing waterscape, reflecting the changes in life along its shores. It was an obvious choice for a quartet grounded in the traditions of chamber music but ready to meet new and ever-changing creative challenges.”

Another popular choice for ensemble names has been composers, writers and artists who proved a source of inspiration.  Among such groups are the Borodin Quartet, the Emerson String Quartet, and the Vermeer, Miró, Calder and Rossetti quartets. Often, the work of the artist or writer has particularly resonated with the ethos of the ensemble. The Escher String Quartet’s bio states that they chose to name themselves after the Dutch artist, M.C. Escher, because they “drew inspiration from the artist’s method of interplay between individual components working together as a whole.” Things become a little less obvious when it comes to groups such as the Afiara Quartet, the Chiara Quartet and Imani Winds. The Afiara takes its name from the Spanish fiar, meaning to trust, which they feel “is a basic element that is vital to the depth and joy of their musicmaking.” Chiara is an Italian word meaning clear, pure or light—all adjectives that typify the finest quartet playing. In the case of Imani Winds, their founder, flutist Valerie Coleman, had the name in mind even before the group was formed. Imani  in Swahili means faith. It characterizes the spirit in which Ms. Coleman set about forming the group and the strength of purpose that has guided them throughout the years. Mariam Adam, clarinetist of Imani Winds, told me that “even though people sometimes want to call us ‘Armani Winds’ (keep dreaming!), the fact that the name is slightly unorthodox seems to have been an advantage in reaffirming the group’s slightly off-the-beaten-path angle.”

When a group’s name does not bring to mind any obvious association, it can work to their advantage since they stand out from the pack and may thereby gain a slight marketing edge. Take, for example, the quartet Brooklyn Rider, who explain that “their name is inspired in part by the creators, interests and cross-disciplinary visions of the Blue Rider group, an artistic association comprised of artists and composers including Vassily Kandinsky, Arnold Schoenberg and Alexander Scriabin. The quartet also draws additional inspiration from the exploding array of cultures and artistic energy found in the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, a place the quartet calls home”. The JACK Quartet, who first played together as students at the Eastman School of Music, chose a name that is an acronym for the first letters of their first names. Their violist, John Richards, has said: “There is something so American about it. Four American guys named JACK.”  The name of another individualistic string quartet, ETHEL, was elucidated as follows by one of its violinists, Cornelius Dufallo: “ We call ourselves ETHEL because it’s just a name. When the group started, they wanted to have a name that didn’t put them in a box. They wanted to name it like you name a rock group.”

So, Alison, the totality of names from which to choose is unlimited and ranges from the artistic, to the philosophical, to the whimsical. (Fortunate is violinist Philippe Quint who was able to call his group the Quint Quintet!). In the end, I think it is important to choose a name that is meaningful to your group. It will enhance the quartet’s profile by giving you a story to tell and it might help to distinguish you from other ensembles. Having said that, the most memorable ensembles are the ones who distinguish themselves time and again through their superb playing. The much admired new music ensemble, eighth blackbird, is known for having derived their name from the Wallace Stevens poem “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” which had personal meaning for them, but their true originality and artistic identity have been defined through consistently impressive performances over many years.

If at any point in your quest for a name you still feel you need even more ideas than have been provided above, take a look at Alarm Will Sound’s Facebook post entitled

We Were This Close to Being Called Ear Chow, where you will find a fascinating and even hilarious list of 147 possibiities from which they chose their current name.

Good luck!

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

© Edna Landau 2011

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