My name is Amanda Ameer, and I don’t really like jazz.<\/p>\n
I’m OK This, At Potsdam, the Cassatt Quartet performed alongside Stefon Harris and Blackout, who Richard writes about here<\/a>. “Alongside” meaning “just before and in the same space<\/a>“, not together or at the same time. Do classical musicians have to opportunity to change concerts based on 1. their mood 2. the mood of the audience 3. the mood of the orchestra 4. the mood of the venue? Not…really? Cadenzas and encores are the only opportunities I can think of. There was a great Cincinnati Post <\/i>story about Hahn Solo from October 10, 2006 – it’s not online anymore (??), but lucky for you, I have her press kit on hand:<\/p>\n The Grammy-winning violinist, 26, who performs Benjamin Britten’s Violin Concerto Friday and Saturday with the CSO under guest conductor Andrey Boreyko, was getting ready for a performance of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with the DK in Yokohama.<\/p>\n “I was warming up backstage with this tune called ‘Down in the Swamp.’ It’s by Bela Fleck. He heard me, and he’s like, ‘You should do that onstage while you’re tuning.’<\/p>\n “I said, ‘I’m not going to go onstage and play that’ and he said, ‘You’re chicken.'”<\/p>\n Hahn, who doesn’t shrink from challenges, even when couched as a casual remark, decided to accept Jarvi’s dare. “I thought, ‘How can I work this in?'”<\/p>\n Like many soloists who do it to insert their own compositional touches, she put it in the cadenza, the portion of a concerto where the orchestra stops and the soloist continues in improvisatory-style.<\/p>\n “I didn’t tell anyone I was doing it. When I got into it, I could tell that he recognized it. The audience thought it was a traditional Japanese tune. The orchestra couldn’t figure out where I came up with it. He (J\u00e4rvi) loved it. The next night I came up with another one. It was fun because it was like a thematic improvisational exercise.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Classical music concerts are so rigid that not only is there a predetermined set list, but that set list has been printed in season brochures and posted online for the preceding nine months in addition<\/i> to being right in front of the audience throughout the performance! Classical audiences – myself included, embarrassingly enough – get annoyed when the order of a concert changes, not to mention the pieces themselves. We all want to know what we’re about to see, but then, if you think about it, does it even matter that we’re there? [I could write something hilarious here about how “sometimes, there isn’t actually anyone there!”, but I won’t.]<\/p>\n Would you go see The King’s Singers if you didn’t know what they were going to perform? What about The Emerson String Quartet, or Hilary in recital? Would you click “Buy Tickets” if a concert was billed as, “An Evening with The King’s Singers”, x date, no program? Presumably, they would have their first piece picked out – or would hang out in the lobby before a concert and decide after that – and then the concert would just unfold naturally from there. The King’s Singers – along with every chamber music group and soloist you can think of – have enough repertoire in their stable to pull this off without too much extra preparation, and wouldn’t it be exciting? The audience would have a sense that they were involved in the concert beyond buying a ticket and sitting quietly; their vibe would determine the program. <\/p>\n Stefon’s drummer Alvester Garnett said something in passing at the session today that he may not have meant to: “When we’re playing with an audience…”<\/p>\n Playing with<\/i> an audience, not playing for<\/i> an audience. Intentional or Freudian, what a lovely way to think about performing.<\/p>\n My name is Amanda Ameer, and I don’t really like jazz. I’m OK admitting this for two reasons: 1.The three people whose opinions on music matter to me most feel the same way, and 2. It gives me perspective on why, despite all the good marketing and publicity in the world, some folks may just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-105","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-main","7":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/lifesapitch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nadmitting this for two reasons: 1.The three people whose opinions on
\nmusic matter to me most feel the same way, and 2. It gives me
\nperspective on why, despite all the good marketing and publicity in the
\nworld, some folks may just never like classical music. Wait, three
\nreasons: we learned on Thursday night that Stephen Colbert doesn’t like it either<\/a> (at ~12 minutes). “GOD that’s unbearable<\/i>!” he explodes, “Ergo, it must be good!”<\/p>\n
\nof course, does not mean there’s not lots to learn from our friends across the genre
\npond. Along with fellow ArtsJournal blogger Richard Kessler<\/a> and Kevin Stalheim from Present Music<\/a> in Milwaukee, I’ve been involved with Chamber Music America’s New Music Institutes<\/a>:
\nshockingly rare opportunities to hash out the challenges of
\nperforming\/presenting\/publicizing new chamber music in America in person. Last week, we road-tripped it up to SUNY Potsdam (leaf-peeping!!),
\nand this weekend, we’re at the University of Buffalo<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nAt one point, Stefon – self-described “emotion-engineer” – talked about going to clubs before his sets to get a sense of the audience. He went
\non to say that his band laughs at him whenever he writes out a set
\nlist; it’s never going to happen, because Stefon programs (” “) his
\nconcerts based on the energy of his audience. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"