Good things — Jennifer Turbes

From one of my Eastman students, Jennifer

Turbes, a violist. Like

href="http://www.artsjournal.com/sandow/2007/03/good_things_erika_lange.html">Erika

Lange (whose comments I posted earlier), she wrote this in response to some

questions I asked on a take-home exam. I’m posting it with her permission:

I was recently detained in New York

City in the midst of my DMA audition tour.

A fine city to spend a few extra days but my experience was stressful

rather than invigorating and relaxing.

The one satisfying thing I did with my time was attend a symphony

orchestra concert–the Minnesota Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I’m a Minnesotan by birth and heart so

nostalgia and pride would have satisfied my urges perhaps, but this was a

fantastic concert. The orchestra and

their leader, Osmo Vanska,

played the famous Pastoral Symphony by Beethoven and two lesser-known works by

Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The

performances were spectacular, most notably for some amazing pianissimo

passages–the Sibelius overture ended with barely audible timpani notes–and the

enthusiasm of the musicians. Moral is, I

was stressed to the max–I even broke out with shingles at the end of my

trip!–but for two hours in a concert hall I was relaxed, at home, and able to

process my emotions.

Because I can’t possibly believe

I’m the only one who feels this way about such concerts, I don’t believe we

will have to do away with the concert hall presentations of works from long

ago. There are still plenty of people

willing and excited to attend them and I’m not ready to give up on the

recruitment process to grow that group.

Take the couple I attended the Minnesota Orchestra concert with.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> They’re 25 years old, newly married, and

truly excited to attend classical music events.

They’re not musicians, and they’re not rich.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> They are elementary school teachers who deem

classical music a worthy recipient of their earnings and free time.

Things are going to need to get

wilder and friendlier, however, if we’re going to attract the size of audience

that we need to support the growing numbers of aspiring musicians.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I think programming is going to continue to

go in new directions and not one singular direction for that matter.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Pieces will get newer, programs will get more

exploratory, ensembles will be more flexible in size and shape, concert

locations will move into more venues. In

short, things are going to diversify. This

is an age of independence. Not the

leaving-home-and-having-a-go-of-it-independence but rather

all-the-technology-one-can-dream-of-independence, allowing each of us to create

a sound and visual world of our own choosing.

In order to attract these connoisseurs of self-created aesthetics,

concert offerings will have to be in more places, doing more things, and

advertising hard core.

***

Classical music should be performed

personally, with integrity, and genuine interest in both the music and the

audience. If a person or group cannot do

that then they should not be in the business.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> That said, it really

doesn’t matter how music is presented as long as it conveys those key

aspects. The easiest way to do so, I

think, is by talking to your audience during a performance.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> A genuinely delivered verbal introduction to

a peace can do wonders for a listener’s level of experience.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> First, it shows them that you care about the

piece and their experience of it. A few

words about why you choose the work, what you’ve learned about it along the

way, or perhaps a short demo of something cool in it gives the listener an

insider view and a reason beyond mere formality to pay attention.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Second, talking breaks down the barrier

between stage and house, giving the feeling that instead standing on a pedestal

for worship you’re simply standing in front of the audience with something to

share. This assumes, of course, that the

words will give a feeling of community and not be something like, “watch as I

do something none of you could possibly understand!”

style='mso-spacerun:yes'>

As far as dress, wear whatever you

want! I don’t think something radical

like performance in the nude is necessary, or appropriate unless it is really

informed by the sounds and concepts of a piece.

Nor do I want concert black to go by the wayside.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Music is sound, and especially with a large

orchestra it’s sound over individual virtuosity.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I don’t want to see one second violinist

wearing a bright pink cocktail dress.

class=GramE>Attitude, yes.

class=GramE>Distraction, that too.

There’s something to be said about the visual unity lent by a prescribed

wardrobe. BUT, the musicians should be

allowed to play in individual ways. That

way, audience members who thrive off visual stimulation can enjoy picking out

orchestra members for the way they physically make music not because they’re

wearing an outlandish costume. And if

the concert is on a Saturday afternoon, dress down a little.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> If it’s a Hawaiian theme, wear those awful

floral shirts. If it’s a small chamber

group, choose something fun–rainbow colors, all pastels, jeans and t-shirts,

whatever! Most importantly, let the dress

compliment the music not distract from it.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'>

Location,

location, location. I think

musicians are all too concerned about this one and for all the wrong

reasons. Yes, it’s thrilling to play in

a hall with great acoustics and beautiful decorations.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> But this isn’t where the newest recruits to

the music scene are found nor is it the most practical place

to play nor the place where we often encounter our most appreciative

audiences. There are only so many great

halls in this world and even fewer people who understand how to make them.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Therefore, we should consider ourselves lucky

when presented with one but learn not to let acoustics dictate the success of a

performance. I’ll take an enthusiastic

audience and orchestra in a conference room over a boring performance and

audience in a great hall any day.

class=GramE>Or a boomy church sanctuary for that

matter. I had the opportunity to

tour with the St. Olaf College Orchestra for four years.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> No matter how small the town, we had great

audiences; I honestly can’t remember a scantily populated audience space.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> And we played everywhere!

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Auditoriums, churches, gymnasiums, and even

one venue that could best be described as an airline

hanger where we performed from a shabby platform while sitting on ancient

folding chairs. That audience, however,

was amazing! I remember an old woman in

one of the front rows who just wouldn’t stop smiling.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Cheesy as ever, but that one person made the

entire tour worthwhile for me. Another

concert brought us to a church in Lincoln, NE where our wind section was joined

(read: interrupted) by a stationary, marble alter and the sound was so live

that we had to shorten every note to miniscule lengths and watch like mad to

maintain any semblance of ensemble. The

show was sold out. The tuba concerto a

hit, and the church members banded together to host all 89 of us in their

homes. I venture to say that the

experiences we had on tour brought music beyond its meaning as mere art and

into a much bigger, societal view.

As far as what should be played,

everything! I talked about this [earlier]–we’re

going to need to diversify to maintain audiences.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Spread out, satisfy

all the self-created aesthetics out there.

Musicians themselves, in fact, will need diversification as we are not

exempt from the effects of technology and the accompanying ease of access to

any thing we could dream of. Interests

within our own community are ever expanding with those of society at

large.

I don’t have a problem with

musicians taking more freedoms in their performances.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> In fact, I believe the average faithful

concert-goer would be glad to hear such risks taken.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> If they are going more for image than

enjoyment as many argue, hearing a concerto played slightly differently or a

Beethoven symphony with more extreme dynamics should make them shift in their

seats because they will know, at least unconsciously, that they have heard

something new or somehow exciting. Also,

musicians should have fun with their reproitoire.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> As a classical girl, I often feel a bit jealous

and even incompetent when listening to jazz or folk performers who are familiar

enough with the language of their craft to improvise on the spot.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I’d love to be able to jam on Beethoven

quartet in C with a group of musicians but it’s simply not a skill I’ve

developed or been encouraged to develop.

In sum, we classical musicians need

to lighten up. We’re musicians first and

superstars only if we’re lucky. The

point should be to bring music to the world not fame to ourselves or to garner

a complimentary review from one of the handful of critics out there.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> We should use our incredible luck to be doing

something others consider fun for a living to read society, find the holes and

to learn which ones our individual talents can fill.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Personality, integrity and genuine interest

are the keys.