David Kosolov and I delivered to viewers throughout the nation what it was like to experience Beijing through the eyes of a foreigner. In this episode, we talked about the music from ancient China in the Imperial Court and its associated rituals & traditions, capped by a trip to a well-known restaurant which was owned by the brother of the Last Emperor of China!
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNDQxNDcxOTg4.html
Rehearsing P.I. Tchaikovsky’s Overture Solemnelle “1812” with the violas
My fellow teaching friend, Ellen Douglas, kindly reached out to me asking if I was willing to coach the senior viola section of the annual Seylynn Strings Festival today, where students from all of the high schools in the North Vancouver School Board converged at Windsor Secondary School (where my other teaching friend, Marissa Heaven, teaches) got together and we had this piece running right off the ground as soon as we all got the music.
Posted in Reflections
Susan Ankenman of the Language & Literacy Education department led a wonderful weekend workshop which I was proud to be a part of, especially with the outpouring of support she and her team gave me (I was the only participant with no French teaching qualifications, on paper, at least) while I was there. Needless to say, the weekend was real intense (Dec. 8-10, 2017) and I was able to get much out of it. A convoy of students from the WKTEP made the long drive out and we all had a blast!
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One Wednesday morning, back in September of 2009, I was given the opportunity to rehearse the symphony orchestra out at the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver in beautiful Colorado. I am glad I memorized (most of the) score, for I brought a tiny, pocket-sized Edwin F. Kalmus edition. Without further adieu, I present to you, Vintage Chow. https://youtu.be/BYVsysAz_Xo
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This is a clip from my graduate studies out in Carbondale, IL at Southern Illinois University as part of the Southern Illinois Chamber Music Series. This was performed at the ’16-’17 season finale, featuring the Southern Illinois String Quartet performing Antonín Dvořák’s String Quartet No. 13 in G major, Op. 106, (B. 192). In this clip, you can see and listen to us performing 3 movements:
I. Allegro moderato
II. Adagio ma non troppo
IV. Finale. Andante sostenuto – Allegro con fuoco
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Rehearsing the West Vancouver Youth Band Strings Ensemble
After an afternoon of working as a clinician for the younger division of the WVYB Strings Ensemble, I had the opportunity to rehearse the entire group in a couple of pieces.
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I attended the 2nd Atlantic Coast Orchestra conducting masterclass out in Esposende, in northeast Portugal, led by an old friend colleague of mine (we were both conducting students at PRISMA out in Powell River, located on the Sunshine Coast, back in the summer of 2014) named Luis Clemente and the venerable conducting pedagogue, Colin Metters, where he served more than 3 decades as a highly respected professor at the Royal Academy Music of London, U.K. (he also was the mentor of my friend and fellow conductor, Michael Hall, music director of the Prince George Symphony Orchestra, where I play as principal violist). What you see me wearing is as “professional” as my attire got during that trip, for I had to pack light (I actually had to “donate” my dress shoes and quite a number of other personal belongings at the time) as a highly-anticipated pilgrim on the Camino de Santiago, by bicycle. This trip I did in between said masterclass and another one out in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland. More on that later. Anyways, here’s a bit of me feeling the heat in small-town Portugal.
Posted in Reflections