April 2009 Blog Posts (20)

Hi Everyone! We will be posting to our blog at the below website (just copy and paste it into your web browser's address bar): http://stringsinternationalmusicfestival.blogspot.com/ You should chec…

Hi Everyone! We will be posting to our blog at the below website (just copy and paste it into your web browser's address bar):

http://stringsinternationalmusicfestival.blogspot.com/

You should check it out! Continue

Added by Sandy Marcucci on April 30, 2009 at 1:00pm — No Comments

Go Solo

I love the Robert Downey Jr. renaissance and you should, too. If you don’t, then you haven’t seen his comeback blockbusters from last year, Iron Man, which grossed $98,618,668 during its opening weekend according to an IMDB.com affiliate, and Tropic Thunder, which earned him a 2009 Academy Award nomination. As advocates for the man who has risen from “less than zero” and aficionados of high art, we should then make it our duty to see his latest effort, The Soloist. But I… Continue

Added by Rory Williams on April 30, 2009 at 9:53am — 2 Comments

knowing the signs

Does this sound like you or anyone you know? Calloused hands, a closet full of full skirts and/or 'comfy' black pants, referring to people in strange code languages ("I was just thinking about GGP" "I can't believe how long it's been since I saw something new on CelloDonna's page") or long discussions about disarming the little voice inside your head?

You may have Dementia… Continue

Added by Emily Wright on April 28, 2009 at 1:56pm — 5 Comments

Making a new cello Pt 10: From the top.

So the rib structure is all done, and it’s time to trace the final outline on the top. I clamp the ribs in place, using the metal pins to hold the upper and lower blocks in place, and then use the locating pencil marks I made at the end of the corners and the outer bouts as a guide to where they should go:

And now it’s time to get to work. Before I start the arching I have to scribe a line that I can use as a guide for the edge… Continue

Added by Jim McKean on April 27, 2009 at 4:00pm — No Comments

Violin Books

Has anyone heard about the new Stradivarius books at www.violin-books.com?

Added by Wayne Beckett on April 27, 2009 at 9:01am — No Comments

School Daze: A short reflection on my musical path

It’s hard to stay focused when the sun is shining and it’s 90 degrees outside. But I’ve been forcing myself to spend my free time inside to work on a presentation I have to give this weekend—the last requirement before receiving my undergraduate degree from Bennington College in Vermont.

Instead of writing essays or taking final exams, I’m giving a talk about Yiddish-American theater music (what it is, where it came from, where it went) and presenting a fakebook/beginner’s tutorial… Continue

Added by Lyzy Lusterman on April 23, 2009 at 10:15am — 1 Comment

Any Suggestions?

I am always lookingfor music to play, dink around with,or performe. I LOVE the romantic era composers especially... any suggestions ? I am always curious on editors too... who are some of the best?

Added by Jennolin on April 20, 2009 at 10:10am — No Comments

Making a New Cello pt. 9: Seeing is Believing

Now that the rib structure is all done, I can trace the outline onto the top. But with the form out, it’s as flexible as a rubber band – so how do I know it’s going to line up the way it was? That’s what those locating pins were for – and the small marks I made at the corners and the bouts earlier. I use the pins to locate the ends, and then move the corners until they correspond as closely as possible to where they were when the form was in:…

Continue

Added by Jim McKean on April 20, 2009 at 9:30am — No Comments

Becoming a violin soloist

Hi guys, I just joined the community, and i feel that it is great, where i can spend my time when there is no school homework. Unfortunately, I have no interest in Math, Science, Home Econs, literature, History and other school subjects. instead, I want to play the violin to my pleasure. i want to draw and play the violin until i am in another world. I wish to be a professional violin soloist, with violin as my passion and my life. Does anyone know any ways to start becoming a violinist at the… Continue

Added by Nicholas Lam on April 19, 2009 at 5:34am — 3 Comments

Blatant, hopefully not annoying plea for the Little Guy

Continue

Added by Emily Wright on April 18, 2009 at 5:49pm — No Comments

Broadening traditionally-trained classical players into newer and non-classical music

In the recent National Conference of the American String Teachers Association (ASTA) in March, which I attended,

one of the very interesting things to me was a real focus on the diversity of playing environments for string players that were touched on as part of the overall string pedagogy. This ranges from classical to all kinds of "Alternative" Styles like Jazz, folk, Gypsy, Rock and improvisation among others. And while I found this diversity of session subjects at ASTA to be very… Continue

Added by Bill Somach on April 16, 2009 at 8:00pm — No Comments

How Does One Successfully Program Contemporary Music?

These days, one of the biggest challenges facing the classical music industry is figuring out how to successfully program new music. It is no secret that concerts that only feature contemporary composers’ works and none of the traditional favorites—like Mozart and Beethoven—have a hard time filling the seats. So how do performing ensembles draw an audience to hear new music?

To find the answer, one needs to look no further than the Cypress String Quartet. Having the pleasure of… Continue

Added by Graham Pellettieri on April 16, 2009 at 10:10am — 2 Comments

senior recital, fast approaching

i am going to play my first full solo program in about a month.

i am pooping my pants, it is so scary.

(i have an incredibly filfthy sailor mouth. i am watching it so much on this. why? i don't know. i feel like y'alls are colleagues, so i'm keeping it remotely professional.)

Sonata in G- Willem de Fesch (1687 – 1761)

1- Prelude

2- Allemande

3- Sarabande

4- Minuet

Harlequin Concerto- Armand Russell (1932)

2-… Continue

Added by Ethan Alexander on April 14, 2009 at 4:36pm — No Comments

Making a New cello, Pt. 8: finishing the ribs.

It’s time to pull out the form and finish the ribs. Before I knock the blocks free from the form, though, I want to be perfectly sure that the ribs haven’t accidentally gotten glued to the form from excess glue. It might be from when the ribs were first glued, or a drip from when the linings were glued; in any case, just a little might be enough to stick, even though I varnished the form and rubbed wax on the edge adjacent to the blocks. I use a palette knife that I’ve ground extra thin to work… Continue

Added by Jim McKean on April 14, 2009 at 8:00am — 1 Comment

"First time at ASTA ?"

After my fourth ASTA conference I have decided this may be my favorite week of the year, period. Now that I have made so many friends and established working relationships with so many talented teachers and performers it gets better every time. It was my second year in Detroit when I looked around the room at a panel discussion and saw Darol Anger, Mark O'Connor, Mark Wood, Christian Howes, Dean Marshall from Barrage, Martin Norgaard, Julie Lyonn Lieberman, and many more luminaries and thought… Continue

Added by Steven Vance on April 11, 2009 at 4:36am — No Comments

Have You Hugged a Music Teacher Today?

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending my very first American String Teachers Association conference, which took place in Atlanta, Georgia. I was like a kid in a candy store. Everywhere I turned, educators, students, and exhibitors were engaging in lively conversations about teaching and playing string music. I was surrounded by fabulous acoustic and electric instruments, bows, sheet music, strings, rosin, shoulder rests, cases, and much more. As the conference wore on, the Marriott… Continue

Added by Cindi Kazarian on April 8, 2009 at 11:00am — 3 Comments

Making a new cello, Pt 7: just about done with the ribs.

The rib structure is pretty much all assembled now (with one significant addition left to go – but I’m not going to ruin the suspense by going into that now). But before the final leveling and trimming, I have to get to work on the top, so that it will be ready when the ribs are done. That means picking one out, joining it up, and then flattening it. Tops are always spruce (although as with any such unilateral statements, there is some disagreement on this one. It has been suggested that the… Continue

Added by Jim McKean on April 8, 2009 at 10:00am — 2 Comments

Community Event with Jeremy Cohen (April 4, 1-2 PM PST) - Blues Etude

In the April 2009 issue of Strings magazine, Jeremy Cohen contributed an article about his "Blues Etude." In this community event, you will have the opportunity to ask questions and share comments with Jeremy about this piece and about playing blues on the violin. Please join us for this exciting conversation!

This conversation will take place in the CHAT ROOM. To access the chat room, make sure you are signed in, and then use the chat functions in the LOWER RIGHT SIDE OF YOUR… Continue

Added by Strings on April 3, 2009 at 4:30pm — 8 Comments

Instruments for Sale

I'm getting the feeling that patently commercial messages are OK on this site. That's fine with me, as I've entered a few websites of for-profit, business-related things myself, and they never got nixed.
There are so many "compartments" on this All Things Strings site that I don't know where to put this request, so PLEASE SOMEONE SET ME STRAIGHT!!!! I want to know if we can start a column called:

INSTRUMENTS FOR SALE

... simple as that.

Jim Bump

Added by Jim Bump on April 3, 2009 at 9:31am — 1 Comment

Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, 1953

I’m listening to Nathan Milstein playing Bach’s Partita in D minor. The Library of Congress Recital, 1953. Last night I turned the house upside down to find it, and the glove box of the car, too. Nothing else would do. Not a different recording, not even a YouTube of the man himself playing it—too distracting. Having just spent the better part of three months fussing over the minute details of a recording of my Irish trio, I need to hear this recording—the one that leaped out of the speakers,… Continue

Added by Erin Shrader on April 2, 2009 at 3:12pm — 1 Comment

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