Cornell Orchestra life

announcements for week of sept 8

2008-09-06T18:28:00.001-04:00

1. CSO rehearsal times on Mondays are 640-825 pm.

2. You have two options to register for CSO. You can take it for 1 credit and receive a letter grade or take it for 0 credit and receive a pass/fail grade.
You can register on your own.

3. elections and activity fee. Monday will be the orchestra board elections. If you are running for a position please email me by noon tomorrow. We will collect activity fee of $5 from each orchestra member this coming week.
This activity fee will cover three events; the orchestra picnic, skate night and post concert/recording session reception.

4. locker/storage space. Nicole will clear some locker space on Monday. Your name must be on the waiting list. Please see Nicole in 101 of Lincoln for locker/storage.

5. orchestra picnic - Saturday 9/13 4-6 pm Location TBA Save the time and date. We need volunteers to organize this event.

6. concert pick of the week.
There are two (one paid, one free).
Friday 9/12 Ithaca College Piano series Stewart Goodyear
815 pm Ford Hall at Ithaca college $

Sunday 9/14
Xak Bjerken's recital
8 pm in Barnes Hall (Free) Features solo works by Bartok, Debussy, John Adams' American Berserk and Enescu's violin sonata with violinist Joseph Lin

7. lessons and scholarship. Did you know by being a member of CSO you are eligible for scholarships for lessons? Forms and info are available in 101.

announcements and picks of the week

2008-09-03T09:53:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone,

Top ten announcements;

1. Rehearsal schedule for tonight;

9.3 Wed
CSO Reh#2
7-8 pm Jupiter, Uranus, Mercury, Saturn
810-9 pm String sectional, Mars sectional(winds and brass)

2. Monday rehearsal times will change slightly to 6:40 - 8:25 pm.

3. 1 credit or 0 credit for orchestra.
If I do not hear from you I will assume that you want to take orchestra for 1 credit. I will submit the list to Nicole tomorrow.
If you wish to take orchestra for 0 credit please indicate on the sign in sheet tonight.

4. Make sure your name, major and year information is correct in the sign in sheet. This info is how your name will appear on the concert program.

5. Principals get your bowings done as quickly as possible.

6. orchestra board positions are open and elections will be held on Monday. If you have a question talk to one of the board members;

7. We are looking for writers for the orchestra newsletter if you would like to contribute an article for the next issue please let me know.

8. Program notes and poster for the October concert is already done or being worked on. But if you would like to design a concert poster or write program notes for one of the pieces we are performing do let me know.

9. Pick of the week; (actually 2 this week)

Ithaca Premiere
The Silence Before Bach
Thursday, September 4 7:15 WSH
Saturday, September 6 7:15 WSH
Tuesday, September 9 7:15 WSH
directed by Pere Portabella
This highly unusual film by legendary Spanish Surrealist Portabella "brings Bach's music to life with a mysterious, magnificent blend of drama, documentary, and quasi-surrealist whimsy. Beginning with a scene of a player piano rattling off the Goldberg Variations while rolling through a bright, bare loft, Portabella tickles the senses with a series of skits... From puckish humor and borderline kitsch, a great and serious notion emerges: the construction of modern Europe on the basis of classical music." (Richard Brody, The New Yorker) This film is will not be available on DVD and is only in the country for a limited period of time -- don't miss the rare opportunity to see it! In Spanish, Catalan and German with English subtitles. 35mm
2008>color>1 hr 42 mins>Spain

and

8 pm Cayuga Chamber Orchestra at Ford Hall
I. Saturday, September 6, 2008 / 8:00
Ford Hall, Ithaca College
Mendelssohn: The Hebrides, Op. 26 (Fingal’s Cave)
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4, Op. 58 in G Major
Jennifer Hayghe, piano
Bartok: Rumanian Folk Dances
Kodaly: Galanta Dances
http://www.cayugachamberorchestra.org/

10. extra musical opportunity;

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ashley Biria
Date: Tue, Sep 2, 2008 at 6:27 PM
Subject: Recruiting Musicians for Persian Music Ensemble
To: cyk8@cornell.edu

Dear Prof. Kim,

I am a senior in mechanical engineering, trying to form a sort of esoteric music ensemble focused on traditional Persian music, so I wanted to ask if you could forward an email to the orchestra to gauge interest among members. I'm especially interested in violinists and cellists. If you can, please send them the following blurb:

"Attention Orchestra Members!

In an effort to form a small ensemble (~5 musicians) that studies and plays Persian music, I am asking anyone in orchestra if they are at all interested in exploring and learning about this style. Classical Persian poets were deeply spiritual thinkers and their poetry was the vehicle through which they expressed their philosophy and approach to life. Inevitably, the music that has evolved based on this poetry is also deeply spiritual, inspired by the profound and mystical aspects of the poetry. The purpose of this ensemble is to learn something new and to have fun doing it; don't be mistaken, this is not going to be demanding or a huge time commitment.

If any of you are interested in joining in your free time, please contact me.

Thanks,

Ashley Biria
adb48@cornell.edu
206-228-8420"

Prof. Kim, I appreciate your help.

- Ashley Biria

Audition results for CCO

2008-08-30T21:22:00.005-04:00

Here is the audition results for the Cornell Chamber Orchestra.

CCO roster fall 2008 - Cornell Chamber Orchestra
In alphabetical order
* denotes principal

Violins
Sumona Bhattacharya, Anthropology, '11*
Angela Chiang, Math, '11
Kevin Eckes, Biology, '09
Alex Gribizis, Biology, '12
Elaine Higashi, Biological Engineering, '12*
Kasia Hozer, Psychology, '11
Jonathan Yicon Hsieh, Hotel Management, '12
Charlene Kluegel, Biology/Music, '10*
Benjamin Ou-yang, Astronomy, '10
Tia Plautz, Physics, '11
Victor Tzen, Architecture, Grad
Auriel Washburn, Biology, '11
Aaron Wexler, Biology, '10*

Viola
Elbert Chang, Chemical Engineering, '11
Gregory Farber, Biology, '12
Rachel Ann Hatch, Animal Science, '11
Christina Hung, Psychology/Economics, '09 *
Ruth Hannah de Kleer, Linguistics/Music, '11 *

Cello
Sharon Driscoll, Biology and Society, '12
Ellen Haynes, Animal Science, '09
Hainlee Hsueh, Electrical Engineering, '09
Brian Lee, Chemical Engineering, '10
Theresa Tan, Psychology, '09
Lawren Wooten, Undecided, '12

Bass
TBA

Keyboard
Dorian Bandy

Audition results for CSO

2008-08-30T21:20:00.006-04:00

Here is the auditions results for the Cornell Symphony Orchestra for Fall 2008.
Congratulations.

CSO Fall 08 roster - Cornell Symphony Orchestra
In alphabetical order
* denotes principal

Violin
Barabra Bai Undecided, '12
Sejin Bai ILR, '11
Elizabeth N Baker ILR, '10
Kirby Black Biological Sciences, '10
Katherine Bobroske Undecided, '12
Wonhee Cha Veterinary Medicine
Andrew Chen Biological Engineering, '11
Sixing Chen Undecided, '12
Marcus Cerroni PAM '11
Joanne Chua Asian Studies, '11
Thomas Collum, Undecided, '12
Christina Fiorenza Human Biology/Health and Society, '09
Eugena Fung Economics, '09
Tina Hang Economics, '09
Seok Hyun Jin Chemistry, '12
*Julian Kang Chemistry/Biochemistry, '10
Yoon Hyung Kim Mathematics/Economics, '09
Yoonjee Koh Architecture, '12
Hoon Kyo Lee Econ/Info Sci, '11
Sue Hyun Lee Engineering, '11
Kevin Lin Biology, '09
Harrison Lu Chemistry, '11
Joseph Mansky Physics, '12
Mallory Matsumoto Undecided, '12
Ciara McAfee Music
Will Moseson Undecided, '12
Usha Rao Biological Sciences '11
Daniel Rothenberg Atmospheric Science, '11
Katy Sadowski Animal Science, '09
Laura Schwartz Undecided, '12
Alisa Timashpolsky Biology, '11
Carol Tsang Undecided, '12
Yvette Wong Math/Biology, '09
Elaine Zhong Biological Sciences, '12

Viola
Eli Bogart Physics, Grad
Andrea Bowring Materials Science Engineering, '11
Wesley Chao Undecided, '12
Ellen Cheong Chemical Engineering, '12
Mikhail T. Grinwald Architecture, '12
Shivani Hajela Computer Science, '12
Jialin Jia Economics, '12
Nick McAfee Music
Mickey McDonald Physics, '10
Kim Mezger Mechanical Engineering, '09
Yoriko Nakamura Biology and Society, '11
*Joel Ong Computer Science, '09
Lora Ulmer Materials Science Engineering, '12

Cello
Ryan Allen-Parrot Science of Natural and Environmental Systems '12
Jonathan Auerbach Economics, '10
Isabelle P. Cutting Government, '10
Steven Gu Biology, '12
Liz Hartman Public Admin/Environmental Policy, Grad
Kerwell Liao Biological Engineering, '12
Alexander Mora Engineering, '10
Abigail Needles Hotel, '12
Adrianne Ngam Architecture, '12
Adrian Radocea Material Science Engineering, '11
Eddie Reynolds Engineering, '12
Alexander Sahn Music
Sarah Smith Physics/Music, '10
*Hilary Wattenberger Hotel, '09

Bass
Chris Gerig Engineering Physics, '11
Alex Gonzales Grad
David Halpern Music
Sam Shuhan Music
*Laura Spitler Astronomy, Grad
Mackenzie Wallace '12

Flute
Rebecca Morrow Communication, '09
*Miriam Nussbaum Linguistics, '11

Oboe
Shanon Sim Chemical Engineering, '08
*Kit Stone, Science of Natural and Environmental Systems '11
Greg Weisbrod '11

Clarinet
*Jonathan Felbinger Electrical Engineering, Grad
Vance Gao Biology, '10

Bassoon
*Melanie Adamsky Biological Sciences, '09
Jessica Zhao '12

Horn
Arthur Barnard Grad
Sarah Edythe Dimiduk Biological Engineering, '11
Amanda Esposito '12
*Kira Gridley Biology, '11
William Violette '12

Trumpet
Anthony Clark Music, '09
*Eric Nathan Composition, Grad

Trombone
Velthur Franklin '11
*Carl Sieber Chemical Engineering, '11
Sam Worby '12

Tuba
Alec Story '12

Percussion
Risa Naka Animal Science, '11
*Adrienne Rosenblatt '12
Thomas Weber Mechanical Engineering, '09
*Matthew Whaley '09

Piano
Jake Jungbin Lee Engineering/Physics, ‘09

Celesta
Stephanie Yoshiko Quach '12

2008 Orchestra auditions will begin in 13 hours.

2008-08-24T21:18:00.003-04:00

Here are the stats for this year's auditions;

2008-2009 Fall auditions stats (updated)
flutes 9 for 2 spots
oboes 3 for 3 spots
clarinet 8 for 2 spots
bassoons 4 for 2 spots
horns 4 for 4 spots
trumpets 5 for 2 spots
trombones 4 for 3 spots
tuba 2 for 1 spot
percussion 4 for 4 spots
piano 4 for 1 spot
violins 67 for 16, 16 in CSO and 6, 6 in CCO
violas 23 for 14 in CSO and 6 in CCO
celli 22 for 12 in CSO and 5 in CCO
basses 9 for 8 in CSO and 1 in CCO

Good luck with auditions.

Poster of for the October concert ready

2008-08-20T16:46:00.002-04:00

Here is the poster Alex has been working on for the Planets concert in October.
It looks fabulous!
Great work Alex.

New date for December concert

2008-08-14T20:18:00.002-04:00

An important date change.
December 5th, Friday will be the final concert of the Fall semester for CSO.

Please make changes in your calendars.

bass/cello room is now on the third floor of Lincoln Hall

2008-08-14T20:13:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone,

Thank you to Laura, Shanon, Nick, Damien and Jane for helping us move the bass/cello storage room to the third floor. This will solve two major problems we have had in the past years. First it will solve the humidity/temperature problem we have had in the bass storage room. I have had to repair the seams of three basses due to the climate in the old bass storage room. The new bass/cello storage room is in the climate controlled part of Lincoln Hall. The new room is also much bigger. It currently is able to hold two bass racks and a cello rack. This will go a long way in helping solve the cello storage shortage problem in Lincoln Hall.

New Orchestra board positions

2008-08-14T20:12:00.000-04:00

* Operations
o Presidents (2) (Social)
o Secretary
o Librarian
* Outreach
o Community Outreach Chair
o Alumni Liason Chair
o Newsletter Editor
* Development
o Fundraising Chair
* Finance
o Finance Chair
* Marketing
o Poster Designer
o Webmaster
o Photographer
* Tour Committee (vary year by year)

2008-2009 brochure draft

2008-08-10T13:43:00.002-04:00

Here are the drafts for the 2008-2009 orchestra brochure.
Please scan them for spelling errors and feedback to make them better before we send them to the printers.

We will have these ready for open house on August 24, Sunday from 7-9 pm in Lincoln Hall.

Revised fall orchestra schedule

2008-07-16T13:30:00.002-04:00

Here is the revised fall 2008 concert schedule for both CSO and CCO.
(as of July 16, 2008)

CCO concert #1
10/5 Sun 8 pm in Barnes Hall
Anton Webern Langsamersatz (conducted by Damien Mahiet, assistant conductor)
Evan Chambers Concerto for Fiddle, Violin and orchestra with Susan Waterbury (violin) and Evan Chambers (fiddle)
Samuel Barber Summer of Knoxville 1915 with Judith Kellock

CCO concert #2
11/22 Sat 8 pm Off campus performance at Catholic Church in Elmira, NY
11/23 Sun 3 pm in Bailey Hall Joint concert with chorale
Hyekyung Lee Gust of Embers
Tom Schnauber In Memoriam Henri Tamianka
W.A. Mozart/R.Levin Requiem

CSO concert #1
10/11/08 Sat 8 pm CSO + ICSO Performance in Bailey Hall
Roberto Sierra World Premiere Commissioned by the Astronomy conference
Gustav Holst The Planets
10/13/08 Sun 12-4 pm Recording session in Bailey Hall

CSO concert #2
12/6/2008 Sat 8 pm in Bailey Hall
Dmitri Shostakovich Symphony No. 10

Special event
Concerto Competition
12/14/2008 Sun 1-5 pm in Barnes Hall preliminary round
8 pm Final round concert

Poster for Summer Symphony Concert

2008-07-16T13:13:00.001-04:00

The Cornell Summer Symphony will give its inaugural concert on August 2 in Barnes Hall.
Hope to see you there.

Summer Symphony starts today

2008-06-25T11:49:00.002-04:00

Here is information about Summer Symphony.
Damien Mahiet will be the conductor for Summer Symphony.
Summer Symphony will meet in Lincoln Hall, B20, 7pm, tonight (6/25). Enter the building on the side of the street. If you have difficulties coming in, call Damien(cell 607-342-4654). Please be on time!

Wednesday's schedule:
7pm-8pm, All (Sight-reading)
8pm-9pm, Strings (rehearsal)

Here is a first draft of our program:
Haydn, Symphony No. 6
Gluck, Overture to Alceste
Fauré, Sicilienne, from Pelleas et Mélisande
Tchaikovsky, Mozartiana

Haydn and Tchaikovsky will present some challenges, and include short solos for several instruments, in particular flute and bassoon. To be fully comfortable with this repertoire, we could welcome a few more violins, a second bassoon, and horns (Tchaikovsky). Below, a temporary roster. Don't hesitate to let your friends know about the ensemble! We'll read Fauré and Tchaikovsky this week, and Haydn and Gluck next week.

Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions. I look forward to working with you in the coming weeks!

Best,
Damien

Orchestra Tour survey

2008-06-07T11:39:00.001-04:00

Here is a three question survey regarding the orchestra tour to Ireland.
This survey is for current and future orchestra members only.
Please fill out the survey by June 15.

2007-2008 Cornell Orchestra season at a glance

2008-06-07T05:30:00.003-04:00

These are the events of the 2007-2008 season.
I am deeply indebted to my wonderful colleagues Scott Tucker and Cynthia Johnston Turner who conducted the orchestras in the Spring semester, during my study leave.
They have brought their incredible musicianship and hard work to take care of the orchestras. I would also like to thank Spencer Topel, Norbert Palej, Damien Mahiet, Dorian Bandy and John Rowhel for their work as assistant conductors of the orchestras and sharing their passion for music with the orchestra. Also a big thank you goes out to the orchestra board and Alex Tsiatas our graduating orchestra librarian who served the orchestras for the last four years. Every concert would not have happened without the unseen but vital work by Dane Marion, Bill Esty, Andy Page and the Bailey Hall staff and finally Loralyn Light.

May 3, 2008
Cornell Symphony Orchestra
Cynthia Johnston Turner, guest conductor
Norbert Palej, assistant conductor
Rimsky Korsakov Capriccio Espagnol
Norbert Palej Berceuse : 1940 (world premiere of the orchestra version)
Vassily Kalinnikov Symphony No. 1

April 13, 2008
Cornell Chamber Orchestra
Scott Tucker, guest conductor
Damien Mahiet, assistant conductor
Alexander Borodin Nocturne
Antonin Dvorak Nocturne
P.I. Tchaikovsky Serenade for Strings

April 2-4, 2008
Sponsored by Cornell Orchestras, Mellon Corridor Initiative, CCA and Music dept.
Brave New Works
Barnes Hall at Cornell University
Chris Gendall Wax Lyrical (World Premiere)
new works by Cornell University and Syracuse University composers
Christopher Rouse Compline

March 8, 2008
Cornell Symphony Orchestra
Cindi Johnston Turner, guest conductor
Sergei Prokofiev Violin concerto No.1 with Cornell Concerto Competition winner Jian Liu
George Gershwin Porgy and Bess Suite (Arranged by R. Bennett)

March 1, 2008
Cornell Chamber Orchestra
Scott Tucker, guest conductor
Joseph Lin, guest conuctor/soloist
J.S. Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 4
Benjamin Britten Simple Symphony

February 26, 2008
University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra
with Kenneth Kiesler, director of orchestras at University of Michigan
in Bailey Hall
Evan Chambers Old Burying Ground
Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 5 in c minor
Cornell Alma Mater (conducted by CK)
Michigan Fight song

2008
December 9, 2007
Fourth Annual Cornell Concerto Competition
in Barnes Hall
Finalists
* Andrew Yeo, violin
* Jian Liu, violin (winner)
* Chris Gerig, bass
* Adam Neumann, piano
* Jennifer Huang, piano

December 2, 2007
Cornell Symphony Orchestra and Cornell Chamber Orchestra
Joint concert in Bailey Hall, Ithaca, NY
J.S. Bach Double Concerto for two keyboards with Mike Lee an Chi-Chen Wu (CCO)
Paul Leary Do We See the Trends of Our Times! with Adam Matta, Beat Boxer (CCO) (world premiere)
Chris Gendall Holy Roller for Turntable and Orchestra with DJDouble8 Erik Spangler (CSO) (world premiere)
Bela Bartok Concerto for Orchesra (CSO)

November 11, 2007
Cornell Chamber Orchestra Hall
Cornell Composer concert
Barnes Hall, Ithaca, NY
J.S. Bach Double Concerto with Anna Herforth (oboe), Daniel Kim(violin)
Steven Stucky Colburn Variations
Roberto Sierra Viola Concerto with Wendy Richman (viola)

November 9, 10, 11, 2007
Joint Production with Theater Dept and Cornell Orchestras
Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts
Black Box Theater
Carlisle Floyd Slow Dusk
Jennifer Williams Director
John Rowehl, Vocal coach, assistant conductor
Dorian Bandy Orchestral parts arranger, assistant conductor
Members of Cornell Chamber Orchestra, Ithaca, NY

October 31, 2007
Cornell Symphony Orchestra & Ithaca College Symphony Orchestra
Halloween Concert
Bailey Hall, Ithaca, NY
Adam Glaser March of the Little Goblins (CSO and ISO)
Mussorgsky/Rimsky Korsakov Night on Bald Mountain (CSO)
Camille Saint-Saëns Danse macabre, Op. 40 (ISO)
Hector Berlioz March to the Scaffold from Symphonie Fantastique (ISO)
John Williams Revenge of the Siths from Star Wars (CSO and ISO)

September 30, 2007
Cornell Symphony Orchestra and Cornell Chamber Orchestra
Bailey Hall, Ithaca, NY
Leoš Janáček Suite for Strings (CCO)
Osvaldo Golijov Last Round (CCO)
Christopher Rouse Bump (CSO)
Antonín Dvořák Symphony No. 8 in G Major (CSO)

What Chris has been up to during his study leave

2008-06-07T05:16:00.003-04:00

Here is a list of concerts and masterclasses I have taken part in during my study leave. I have been very fortunate to be a visiting scholar at the Hochschule der Kunste in Zurich, Switzerland to work with Johannes Schlaefli.

I have been able to receive valuable feedback on my work as a conductor. The various conducting opportunities kept me quite busy but also provided a setting in which I could evaluate my conducting. I can't wait to share some of the insights with you in the fall.

The concerts listed below is a small portion of my work. There were also weekly ensemble workshop sessions, weekly private lessons with Johannes Schlaefli and numerous opportunities to observe rehearsals of the Tonhalle Orchestra, the Zurich Opera and many concerts around Switzerland and beyond.

My schedule in reverse chronological order;

July 21-August 4, 2008
Vendome Academy, Vendome/Paris, France
Participating conductor (6 are chosen and all will conduct in the final concert)
Masterclasses with Kenneth Kiesler and John Nelson and the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris
Repertoire
Beethoven, Symphony No. 7
Mahler, Adagietto, from Symphony No. 5
Mozart, Symphony No. 35
Mozart, Ballet Music from Idomeneo
Schubert, Symphony No. 5
Stravinsky, Dumbarton Oaks
Vaughan Williams, Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis

June 12, 2008
Teplice, Czech Republic
Teplice Symphony Orchestra
Johannes Brahms Symphony No. 1

May 13, 2008
Collegium Musicum Basel
workshop rehearsal
Arthur Honegger Pastoral d'été

April 24, 2008
Song project at Hochschule der Kunste in Zurich
recording session
Antonin Dvorak Biblical Songs Orchestrated by ZDH composers

April 12, 2008
Denison University Chamber Orchestra
Guest conductor for the Vail concert Series at Denison University
with Yuja Wang, Piano
Felix Mendelssohn Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor

April 7 2008
Brave New Works in New York City
St Stephens and Christ Church
Chris Gendall Wax Lyrical
Steven Mackey Indigenous Instruments
Christopher Rouse Compline

April 6, 2008
Christ Church, Rochester, NY
Brave New Works Residency as part of the Mellon Corridor Initiative
Chris Gendall Wax Lyrical
new works by Cornell and Syracuse
Christopher Rouse Compline

April 5, 2008
Setnor Hall, Syracuse University
Brave New Works Residency as part of the Mellon Corridor Initiative
Chris Gendall Wax Lyrical
new works by Cornell, Syracuse and Estman School of Music
Christopher Rouse Compline

April 4, 2008
Brave New Works Residency as part of the Mellon Corridor Initiative and the CCA
Barnes Hall at Cornell University
Chris Gendall Wax Lyrical (World Premiere)
new works by Cornell, Syracuse and Estman School of Music
Christopher Rouse Compline

March 16, 2008
Palazzina Liberty, Milan, Italy
Ensemble Divertimento
Masterclass and concert (selected for final concert)
Manuell De Falla El Retablo De Maese Pedro

March 7, 2008
Marienbad, Czech Republic
Marienbad Symphony Orchestra
Berich Smetana Sarka from Ma Vlast

February 19, 2008
Luzern, Switzerland
Masterclass with Luzern Festival Strings
Othmar Schoeck Sommernacht
Bela Bartok Divertimento for Strings

January 25, 2008
Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra
Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic
Igor Stravinsky Firebird Suite (v.1919)

Chamber Orchestra Fall 08 schedule

2008-06-07T05:11:00.002-04:00

CCO concert #1
10/5 Sun 8 pm in Barnes Hall
Program
Anton Webern Langsamersatz
Samuel Barber Summer of Knoxville 1915 with Judith Kellock
Chambers Concerto for Fiddle and violin (Chamber version)
with Susan Waterbury(violin) and Evan Chambers(fiddle)

CCO/Chorale
CCO concert #2
11/23 Sun 4 pm in Sage Chapel joint with chorale
11/22 Sat 8 pm performance in off campus location TBA
Tom Schnauber In Memory of Henri Temianka
HyeKyung Lee Gust of Embers (world premiere)
W.A. Mozart Requiem - Robert Levin

12/2 and 12/4
Composer reading session

Fall 2008 CSO schedule

2008-06-07T05:08:00.003-04:00

Here is the concert dates and repertoire for the Cornell Symphony Orchestra during the Fall semester. (Repertoire subject to change)

CSO concert #1
(Note performance and recording session is during first 2 days of Fall break)
(As part of the Astronomy conference)
10/10/08 Fri 4-630 pm Extra rehearsal for Planets with Extra players CSO+ICSO in Bailey Hall
10/11/08 Sat 1030-1 pm CSO+ICSO Dress rehearsal in Bailey Hall
10/12/08 Sat 8 pm CSO + ICSO Performance in Bailey Hall
Roberto Sierra World Premiere Commissioned by the Astronomy conference
Gustav Holst Planets
10/13/08 Sun 12-4 pm Recording session in Bailey Hall
for Roberto Sierra's piece
Program
Roberto Sierra New Commission featuring Tim Feeney
Gustav Holst Planets

Halloween concert
joint concert between CSO and Ithaca College Symphony Orchestra
10/31/08 Friday 8 pm in Bailey Hall
Program TBA
Adam Glaser March of the Little Goblins
Gustav Holst Mars from the Planets
ISO piece TBD
John Williams Raisders of the Lost Arc
John Williams Revenge of the Siths

CSO concert #2
12/6 Sat 8 pm in Bailey Hall
Tour repertoire
Leonard Bernstein West Story Suite
Roberto Sierra Commission with Tim Feeney
Dmitri Shostakovich Symphony no. 1

Special event
Concerto Competition
12/14 Sun 1-5 pm in Barnes Hall preliminary round
8 pm Final round concert

Ireland Tour
January 6-16, 2009
1/6-7 rehearsal in Ithaca
1/8 travel day
1/9 arrival in Shannon, Ireland
1/10 sight seeing and collaboration in Limerick, Ireland
1/11 concert at University Concert Hall in Limerick
1/12 rehearsal with RIAM, conducting masterclass at RIAM
1/14 concert at Christ Church in Dublin, Ireland
1/15 concert at third Irish City TBA
1/16 travel day back to Ithaca

January 25, 2009
CSO performs at Light in Winter Festival, Bailey Hall
Roberto Sierra's commissioned piece

Fall 2008 Audition info

2008-06-07T05:01:00.002-04:00

Fall 2008 Audition info is up on both CSO and CCO websites.

Auditions will be held over five days beginning August 25.
The schedule is as follows;
Monday
August 25
10 AM - 12 PM
Woodwinds (flutes), with Liz Shuhan
2 PM - 5 PM
Woodwinds (flutes), with Liz Shuhan
7 PM - 10 PM
Woodwinds (clarinets)

Tuesday
August 26
10 AM - 12 PM
Woodwinds (double reeds)
1 PM - 5 PM
Violas, with Wendy Richman
7 PM - 10 PM
Brass, with Ryan Zawel

Wednesday
August 27
10 AM - 12 PM
Basses, with Nicholas Walker
1 PM - 5 PM
Cellos and basses, with John Haines Eitzen
7 PM - 9 PM
Percussion, with tim Feeney

Thursday
August 28
10 AM - 12 PM
Violins, with Joseph Lin
1 PM - 5 PM
Violins, with Joseph Lin
7 PM - 10 PM
Violins, with Joseph Lin

Friday
August 29
10 AM - 12 PM
Violins, with Joseph Lin
1 PM - 5 PM
Violins, with Joseph Lin
7 PM - 10 PM
Violins, with Joseph Lin

To schedule an audition, send an email to professor Kim.

For more info visit the orchestra website.

Muti goes to Chicago

2008-05-05T10:39:00.002-04:00

Riccardo Muti to Chicago Symphony Helm
Associated Press
May 5, 2008

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association has named maestro Riccardo Muti as the next music director of the CSO. He's the tenth conductor to hold that post.

CSO president Deborah Card announced early Monday that Muti (MOO'-tee) has signed a five-year contract to serve as music director beginning in the 2010-2011 season. The post has been vacant since Daniel Barenboim (BAYR'-en-boym) resigned in 2006.

The 66-year-old Muti first led the CSO as a guest conductor in 1973. Rumors that he was being considered for the top post began circulating after he led the orchestra in a triumphant European tour in 2007.

Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press

Orchestra member wins Marshall Prize

2007-11-27T10:19:00.000-05:00

Our own Michael Barany who plays french horn in the CSO wins the Marshall prize. Full article in the Chronicle after the jump.

updates since the last post

2007-11-27T10:14:00.000-05:00

The orchestra activity has been at such an intensity that it has been hard to keep updates on this blog. I will post a series of updates of what the orchestra has been up to in brief. Since the September 30, joint concert by the CCO and CSO here are the high lights.

October 31 Joint Halloween concert between CSO and Ithaca college Symphony Orchestra
Program included Music by Berlioz, Rimsky-Korsakov, Saint-Saens, Adam Glaser and John Williams

November 9, 10, 11 A collaborative production of Carlisle Floyd's one act opera Slow Dusk

November 11 Chamber Orchestra fall concert featuring music by J.S. Bach, Steven Stucky and Roberto Sierra with soloists Anna Herforth (oboe), Daniel Kim (violin) and Wendy Richman (viola)

Mid November Orchestra member Alex Chao redesigns CSO website

I will put detailed posts regarding these entries

download the orchestra newsletter as a pdf file

2007-10-17T11:32:00.002-04:00

Here is a link to the pdf file of the Orchestra newsletter. It is about 13 mb.
If you would like to receive a copy in the mail, please send your mailing address to cyk8(at)cornell.

Orchestra Newsletter article part 5 - Orchestra Board efforts

2007-10-17T11:32:00.001-04:00

It’s a new year. This means new repertoire, new members of the orchestra, a fresh start. It also means that we have a new executive board, an excited and motivated group of individuals with big dreams for the orchestra. We have revamped the structure of the board this year and are excited about the new opportunities that this year provides.

We have kept a few standard positions: co-presidents, treasurer, and secretary. However, beyond this – with a few exceptions of positions that had already been in place – we have expanded the board by creating several new positions. Our hope is that by delegating smaller tasks to a greater number of people, we will be better equipped to achieve the large goals that have set for ourselves. In addition to the aforementioned four officers, the board consists of four committee chairs: social chair, fundraising chair, outreach chair, and publicity chair. These individuals will oversee and delegate in their respective efforts. Furthermore, we have added a number of other positions with specific goals in mind.

CCO representative – This year, we are trying to bridge the gap between CSO and CCO. The CCO representative will represent the ideas and interests of the CCO in orchestra board meetings and will report back to the CCO.

Webmaster – Our website is our primary method of contact with prospective students, alumni, and the rest of the world. We are working on a new design and a more user friendly interface.

Alumni Liaison – We are aware that many alumni cherish the experience they had in the Cornell orchestra and would like to stay in touch with us. Thus, this liaison will work to establish a current database of orchestra alumni and communicate with directly.

Orchestra Historian – This individual will be maintaining the orchestra’s records. We would like to focus these efforts on both the present (documenting our activities, taking pictures, etc) and the past (researching and digitizing information about the orchestra’s history).

Newsletter Editor – The editor will assign and manage revision of articles, as well as working on the layout of the newsletter and maintaining the mailing list.

The orchestra board is now meeting independently each week. After each week’s meeting, the minutes from the meeting are sent out via email to the orchestra members and posted on the website. In addition, important matters are discussed with Chris Kim. So far, through these weekly meetings, we have planned social events (including orchestra ice skating and an upcoming board game night), brainstormed publicity ideas and website plans, worked out ideas for our Halloween concert, and – most exciting of all – begun planning for our tour to Spain in January of 2009.

I could not be more excited about the dynamic group of people on the board this year. Despite the fact that every board position has yet to be filled, each current board member is happy to temporarily fill in for missing positions. As we work throughout the year to write bylaws for this governing body of the orchestra, we hope to set a precedent of efficiency and innovative ideas that will serve as a strong foundation for years to come.

We always welcome new members of the board and would love for as many members of both CCO and CSO to join us at our weekly meetings. We also would love to hear suggestions that can make this board even better! (Send ideas to co-presidents Melanie Adamsky [maa67@cornell.edu] or Sam Birmaher [sb397@cornell.edu].)

-Melanie Adamsky, Biological Sciences ’09

Orchestra Newsletter article part 4 - Old and New

2007-10-17T11:31:00.004-04:00

This semester the Cornell music department welcomes to its family two new ensembles that take the stage in early November. Interestingly, each of these groups stretches the department’s horizons in a different direction. First, a small chamber opera orchestra assembled for the endeavor will perform Carlisle Floyd’s one-act music-drama Slow Dusk in the Schwartz Center’s Black Box Theatre. Conductors Chris Kim, John Rowehl and Dorian Bandy will lead the ensemble, with a stage cast drawn from members of Judith Kellock’s voice studio. Although various attempts have been made over the years to stage operas at Cornell, several practical problems have persisted, one of which is finding performance space that accommodates an orchestra while still leaving room for the actors. The production staff of Slow Dusk have avoided this logistical problem by reducing the opera’s score from a full orchestra to an 8 piece chamber ensemble consisting of Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, 2 Violins, 2 Violas, Cello and Piano, all of which will remain on stage for the duration of the performance. Because instrumental rehearsals for Slow Dusk don’t begin until 15 October, my own involvement in the project has been limited to orchestration, but with the caliber ensemble that we’ve drawn from the Cornell Orchestras, and the level of singers that are participating, I have no doubt that this production will be an excellent step in terms of collaborations between the Music and Theater Departments.
Les Petits Violons de Cornell, on the other hand (unlike the Slow Dusk project) has had multiple incarnations over the last decade. The student baroque orchestra, consisting of 3 or 4 violins (and in search of more), 2 violas, 2 cellos, a violone and a harpsichord, and playing on baroque and classical instruments, is named with a playful nod to Louis XIV’s own orchestra, plain old Les Petits Violons. Convened and coached by Neal Zaslaw, the group consists of a mix of faculty, grad students and undergrads, each with varying levels of exposure to baroque repertoire and period instruments. Les Violons are currently preparing Händel’s excellent D major concerto grosso, op. 6 no. 5 and a Telemann Burlesque Dance Suite, ultimately intended for performance on November 18th in Bailey, as part of a collaboration with the NYS Baroque Orchestra and the NY Baroque Dance Troupe. The event—entitled “Harlequin’s Capers”—will feature dance and music from the 18th century comic theater, including a staged version of Mouret’s Pygmalion. With improvised commedia dell’ arte scenes, plenty of buffoonery, and great music, this concert is not one to be missed! Stay tuned…
- Dorian Bandy, Music,’10

Orchestra Newsletter article part 3 - Freshmen Perspective

2007-10-17T11:31:00.003-04:00

Starting a new life in a new place can be nerve-wrecking for many 17 and 18-year-olds. College freshmen often have their hands completely full just dealing with the various changes in their lives associated with beginning college life. Imagine then being a freshman standing in the back of the symphony orchestra in Bailey Hall, playing the first notes in a piece all alone: the fourth beat of every measure on the bass drum in Christopher Rouse’s “Bump.”

I entered the music world as a violinist 13 years ago, playing in orchestras since 5th grade. However, after also playing percussion in the high school marching band for 4 years, I decided to become a concert percussionist in the Cornell Symphony Orchestra.

Playing in the orchestra as a percussionist has been a whole new experience, and I love it. The director, the TA, and fellow members are – for a lack of better word – amazing. Whether it is the picnic at Stewart Park or the rehearsals in Lincoln Hall, orchestra director Chris Kim always gives his all, driving the orchestra to its fullest potential. Orchestra TA Spencer Topel is always there to assist both the director and the ensemble. Every member of the orchestra is unique, possessing various backgrounds, interests, majors, and life goals. Despite such differences, however, we all share the love of music which brings us together every Monday and Wednesday nights to the basement of Lincoln Hall, where we strive to play our very best.

While there have been big changes in life – high school to college, California to New York, and violin to percussion – I am glad and honored to be a member of the Cornell Symphony Orchestra. Thank you to Chris Kim and fellow members for an amazing start to my new life here at Cornell University!
- Risa Naka, Animal Science ’11

Orchestra Newsletter article part 2 - Senior Perspective

2007-10-17T11:31:00.001-04:00

Late Night Reminiscences on Playing in the Cornell Symphony Orchestra

Sometimes, it feels as if we had just finished rehearsing Beethoven's Coriolan Overture. The c minor chord that opens the piece and represents our tragic hero's resolve still plays itself in my memory. I arrived at Cornell the same year Chris began his tenure as conductor of the Cornell Symphony Orchestra. Bailey Hall was still in renovation at the time, and so I played my first concerts with the orchestra in Ford Hall at Ithaca College. I remember the other concerts we performed too: one in the stifling heat of Helen Newman Hall for the First Year Family Weekend concert, a stint at the Johnson Museum, where a group of us played Riley's In C (my first experience with aleatoric music), and Sierra's Concerto for Saxophones at Ithaca High School.

I was then sorely disappointed during spring pre-enrollment when I realized that there was no way I could play in orchestra during the coming year because of scheduling conflicts. It was a difficult year. Without the motivation of orchestra, I found it increasingly difficult to find time to practice the violin. But the year ended, and I spent the summer bringing my violin playing back up to par in anticipation of the next orchestra season. My second season with the orchestra coincided with my third year at Cornell, and, writing now as a senior, I can say it was my best year at Cornell ever.

Besides another year of great repertoire, the orchestra had the chance to go on tour to perform in Berlin. More important than the allure of traveling to Europe, the tour was a great bonding opportunity for the orchestra. I'll never forget waking up at 8 AM to explore the city until night, staying up obscenely late to play card games with friends until sheer exhaustion set in, then repeating the cycle again the next day. Berlin remains one of my fondest memories of orchestra, and it was the place where many of my lasting orchestra friendships were made.

Although it has been an extremely busy semester for me so far (then again, does the opposite even exist here at Cornell?), I am always uplifted by the fact that every Monday and Wednesday night, I have a chance to forget my work, take out my violin, and sit down and simply play music for two hours. It has always been an oasis in my day-to-day work schedule. But with one great regret do I graduate from Cornell and depart from orchestra: I will not be staying for one more year, so that I can end my Cornell Symphony Orchestra career playing under Chris's baton and tour Spain with my friends in orchestra.
-Adrian So '08

Orchestra Newsletter article part 1 - Horn Call

2007-10-17T11:29:00.000-04:00

Although I am a first-year graduate student, this is my fifth year as a student at Cornell University. I have endured four Ithaca winters, witnessed four Slope Days, and taken more prelims than I care to remember. I am, however, only in my first year as member of the Cornell Symphony Orchestra. There is no record of my affiliation with the ensemble for any of the past four years, and likewise, there shouldn’t be: in August of 2003, I left home for my first year of college, and my horn didn’t follow. It would remain untouched in the corner of my bedroom, collecting dust as I pursued a life of supposedly more important things. Nearly four years later, in early June of this year, I opened the case for the first time since that day.

The sudden desire to play my horn again was motivated by several reasons. The first is simply that it is a shame when there is something you once did relatively well but no longer do because you essentially quit without good reason. In this sense, I was motivated by guilt.

Perhaps more importantly, though, my last two years as an undergraduate coincided with a revival of classical music in my life, which began naively during my junior year when, in hopes of balancing my mostly technical curriculum with something from the liberal arts, I enrolled in a music history class. I rediscovered pieces I performed years ago in my youth orchestra, and after further exploration into the greater landscape of classical music, I learned that the works that appealed to me most were of a late Romantic and Russian origin.

By the middle of my senior year, my renewed appreciation for the classical tradition made my return to the horn seem like a likely undertaking. However, I was not convinced that I would be able to make time for another extracurricular activity. I equivocated on the matter as one would expect from someone sporting genuine ambition but lacking self-confidence, until this past June. My curiosity led me to the orchestra’s blog, where Chris Kim posted a tentative concert program for the 2007-2008 season. There, listed for the December 2nd concert, was Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances. Although a lesser known work in the orchestral repertoire, it holds – for me at least – a certain programmatic significance. It is Rachmaninoff’s last opus, and although conceived in an era of rampant serialism and deviation from tonality, the first movement features an unexpected and brief yet distinctly Romantic interlude that betrays even the composer’s late style—a befitting anachronism for one of the last Romantics.

Having this opportunity waved in front of my face was exactly the enticement I needed; I could not miss this chance. So, I practiced. A lot. I logged more hours on my horn this summer than my former, teenage self would have ever considered (though I admit that does not speak for much). I found a private teacher in Boston where I spent the summer to help me regain my playing ability, for I had to be audition-ready in two months.

It has been four months since I made that resolution, and I can’t help but acknowledge the effectiveness of a little, honest-to-goodness dedication and hard work. It’s a maxim that is so often proclaimed in the form of nice-sounding, rhetorical proverbs and parables, but its underlying truth is so frequently obscured by cliché. And yet here I am. I made it. I found myself a seat in a row of brass, with percussion behind me, woodwinds before me, and strings beyond them. There is a localization of sound specific to my very spot in the orchestra, and it is a sensory experience I have been too long without. Truth be told, the Symphonic Dances has been replaced on the concert program by Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra, but this modification, in the end, is not in the least disappointing.

If I seem at all boastful in describing what I have accomplished, let that simply be on account of the small, personal triumph I have earned for myself. Ultimately, my experience can be seen, I hope, as just one instance of a more general phenomenon in which we as humans arrive at some of our greatest achievements in life through our own, deeply personal incentives. In these cases, we are driven not by the wishes of our peers or the prospects of tangible reward, but rather by privately held notions of duty, ambition, and passion.

My horn was a part of my life I never should have abandoned in the first place, and though I may never make a living out of making music, I will always turn to music as a source of inspiration and emotional consolation. And even as making up for four years of lost playing proves to be a daunting task, I wouldn’t want to be using my time in any other way. This is what I set out to do, and I managed to pull it off in a quirky, spontaneous kind of way. It’s nice to be back. -Alex Chao, Horn

Masterclass with Francois Rabbath

2007-10-09T20:41:00.000-04:00

The french double bassist and composer Francois Rabbath was in residence at Ithaca College and gave a masterclass on September 20th. Thirteen bassists from Ithaca College and Eastman's School of Music performed a solo work or etude written by Mr. Rabbath. This provided a rare opportunity to gain insights not only from a superb musician but also from the composer.

Mr. Rabbath was born and Syria and taught himself to play the double bass using a book written by the French bassist Edouard Nanny. He moved to Paris in hopes of meeting Edouard Nanny, but the Parisian teacher had already died. He ended up staying in Paris to study music and became one of the most influential bassists of our time. In particular he formulated a whole new method of playing the double bass based on extension fingerings rather than the traditional method of smaller, more rigid fingering positions.

Most impressive to me was his intuitive understanding of all aspects of creating music. Composition, musicianship, technique, performance. As a both composer and player he puts a strong emphasis on visualizing the music. Each of his own pieces were written with a specific mental image in mind. "Iberique Peninsulaire" was inspired while he was walking through the desert and came upon a rose-colored lake. Another piece he wrote around the birth of his first son. He and his second son performed a piece at the masterclass which depicts a huge whale being hunted.

What sets Mr. Rabbath apart is his physical awareness of playing. His bass is truly an extension of himself. Nicholas Walker, professor of double bass at Ithaca College, told an anecdote about the dress rehearsal before Mr. Rabbath's recital the previous evening. He described how Mr. Rabbath complained that the floor of the stage sloped down toward the audience. They first attempted to test this by rolling a quarter down the stage with no success. Finally they found a level, and sure enough, the stage floor sloped down a millimeter over half a meter. Mr. Rabbath could tell because the instrument didn't quite feel right.

Finally the insight which blew me away the most was his belief that wood has memory. A bow keeps its curve because the wood has memory. He told us that as string players we teach the wood of our instruments to vibrate, and it remembers the vibrations. We can either teach it well so that its sound improves with time, or we can kill it. Mr. Rabbath's genius is understanding how to show a bass how to best to vibrate.

For two and a half hours on a Thursday evening, about forty people saw a musical genius at work. His love for playing, teaching and composing was contagious. He was an inspiration, and many years from now I will still remember that wood has memory.

0708 brochure revised v.3

2007-09-09T17:52:00.000-04:00

The 2007-2008 season brochure for the Cornell Orchestra has been revised. Some program changes were made and also the spring season is set for both CCO and CSO.

If you would like to receive a copy in the mail, please send us a message.

Brave New Works Summer newsletter

2007-09-06T14:34:00.000-04:00

To download the Brave New Works Summer '07 Newsletter follow the Link.

Composer Forum schedule

2007-09-05T11:25:00.000-04:00

Here is the Composer Forum schedule for the fall semester.
More updated info after the jump.

SEPTEMBER

Sept 7: Master class with Steven Stucky (music of Chris Gendall and David Weaver)
Sept 14: Guest composer: Professor Emeritus Karel Husa
Sept 21: Master class with Kevin Ernste
Sept 28: Seminars on Modern Opera and Music Theater: Ravel's L'Enfant et les sortleges (seminar leaders Ryan Gallagher and Zachary Wadsworth)

OCTOBER

Oct 5: No meeting

Oct 12: Master class with Roberto Sierra
Oct 19: Seminars on Modern Opera and Music Theater: Maxwell Davies' Eight Songs for a Mad King (seminar leaders Chris Gendall and David Weaver)
Oct 26: Guest composer: Zygmunt Krauze
Oct 27: Guest composer: Luca Antignani [N.B.: Saturday, 2:00 PM]

NOVEMBER

Nov 2: Seminars on Modern Opera and Music Theater: topic and leaders TBA
Nov 9: Guest violinist: Peter Shepherd Skaerved
Nov 10: Readings of student work by soprano Marnie Breckenridge and pianist Blaise Bryski [N.B.: Saturday, 1:00 PM, Barnes Hall]
Nov 16: Seminars on Modern Opera and Music Theater: Beat Furrer's Begehren (seminar leaders Chris Stark and TBA)
Nov 23: No meeting due to Thanksgiving break
Nov 30: Composing for the Harp, a workshop by guest harpist Bridget Kibbey, using as examples music by Cornell composers

Colloquium Schedule

2007-09-05T11:22:00.001-04:00

Thanks to David Yearsley, here is the Colloquium schedule for the fall semester.
Some very interesting speakers. You can also check the latest update on the link.(currently it still has the Spring 07 schedule, but it will be updated shortly)

Musicology Colloquium, Fall 2007
Mondays beginning at 4:15pm in 124 Lincoln Hall

September 10: Alexander Rehding, Harvard University: "Screeching Dissonances, Inaudible Quartertones and Enharmonic Furies in the French Enlightenment"

September 17: Malcolm Bilson, Cornell University: "Knowing the Score Redux or
Some Old Recordings and (Possibly) Some New Insights"

September 24: William Rothstein, Queens College and the Graduate Center, CUNY: "La via italiana: The Italian Approach to Nineteenth-century Tonality"

THURSDAY, September 26: Jerrold Levinson, University of Maryland: "Philosophical Reflections on Jazz Vocal Improvisation" LECTURE IN A. D. WHITE HOUSE AND BEGINS AT 4:30

October 1: Charles Kronengold, Wayne State University/Cornell Society for the Humanities: "Presence, Presences and the Present Tense in Modern Gospel"

October 22: Neal Zaslaw, Cornell University: "Mozart the Borrower"

October 29: Rebecca Harris-Warrick, Cornell University: "Reading Roland"

November 5: Rafaëlle Legrand, University of Paris, Sorbonne: "French Vaudeville
Theater of the Eighteenth Century"

November 12: Lenore Coral Memorial Lecture: Richard Will, University of Virginia: "Mozart's Topoi in Performance"

November 26: David Yearsley, Cornell University; "Princes of War and Peace and their Most Humble Court Composer"

The other CCO

2007-09-05T00:19:00.000-04:00

The other CCO (Cayuga Chamber Orchestra) is in the midst of a music director search. It is a good chance to see four conductors this season. The first concert is is this Saturday at our old venue over at the other hill. Here is the program.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 8th, 2007
8:00 PM
Ford Hall, Ithaca College
WITH CCO MUSIC DIRECTOR CANDIDATE,
TOMASZ GOLKA
ROSSINI: La Scala di Seta
MCLEAN: Elements for Violin and String Orchestra
Brian Lewis, Violin
MENDELSSOHN: Symphony No. 4, Op.90 in A Major (Italian)

Bailey Plaza construction update on Chronicle

2007-09-04T15:13:00.000-04:00

Here is a link to the Chronicle article on the Bailey Plaza construction. According to the article the plaza will be finished on October 19. A full 3 weeks after the first concert by the Cornell Orchestras on September 30.

Here is a picture. There are grumbles about the faux waterfall in the middle of the plaza. Who thought it was a good idea to have a fake water fall in Ithaca, the land of real waterfalls.

Perhaps final evaluation of the plaza should be weighed in once the plaza is open.

Dudamel and orchestra at the BBC proms

2007-09-02T13:08:00.000-04:00

What fun it must be to play with this orchestra!

List of Early music concerts in the Ithaca area

2007-09-02T13:07:00.000-04:00

Here is a list of early music concerts coming up, thanks to Neal Zaslaw for this post.

Many of them are free or heavily discounted for orchestra members.

Upcoming Early-Music Concerts in Ithaca

Sunday, Sept 9: Malcolm Bilson, fortepiano: Haydn, Beethoven, Dussek (Barnes, 8 p.m.)

Wednesday, Sept 26: Annette Richards: Frescobaldi on the 1740 Vicedomini organ (Sage Chapel 12:30 p.m.)

Wednesday, Oct 10: Mark Ferraguto, organ: Mendelssohn, Bach (Anabel Taylor Chapel, 12:30 p.m.)

Thurs, Oct 11: Stefania Neonato, fortepiano, winner 2007 Bruges Fortepiano Competition (Barnes 8 p.m.)
Friday, Oct 12: Blaise Bryski, fortepiano: Clementi (Barnes, 8 p.m.)

Saturday, Oct 27: NYS Baroque: The Trout Quintet and other Schubert chamber music with Malcolm Bilson (First Unitarian Society, 8 p.m.)

Monday, Oct 29, Sezi Seskir, fortepiano (Barnes, 8 p.m.)
*Friday, Nov 2: Andrew Manze, violin, Richard Egarr, piano: Mozart & Schubert (Bailey, 8 p.m.)

Sunday, Nov 4: Frédérique Lacroix, fortepiano: Mendelssohn, Schumann, Schubert (Barnes, 3 p.m.)

*Wednesday, Nov 14: Apollo's Fire (Sage Chapel, 8 p.m.)

Sunday, Nov 18: "Harlequin's Capers" with New York Baroque Dance (Bailey, 3 p.m.)
Monday, Nov 19: Cornell Chamber Singers, Holland Jancaitis cond., Lassus, Schütz, Schein (Barnes, 8 p.m.)

Saturday, Dec 8: NYS Baroque, Vivaldi's Four Seasons and other Venetian delights (First Unitarian Society, 8 p.m.)

orchestra picnic

2007-09-02T13:05:00.000-04:00

Orchestra picnic is today.
We will leave from the parking lot behind Lincoln Hall at 145 pm.
Bring food to share. There will be about 5 cars driving, so if you need a ride please arrive early. The picnic will be in Stewart Park from 2-6 pm. We will be in the main pavilion. Special gift for all who come.

Orchestra audition results

2007-08-26T18:41:00.000-04:00

Here are the audition results of the Fall 2007 Orchestra auditions.
First the Chamber Orchestra roster;

Fall 2007 Cornell Chamber Orchestra
Violins
Charlene Kluegel, Biology/Music, '10
Auriel Washburn, Undecided, '11
Haran Tae, Government/Psychology, '10
Aaron Wexler, Biology and Society, '10
Kasia Hozer, Biology, '11
Alex Fe, Biological Engineering, '08
Adam Sidor, Mechanical Engineering, '08
Alex Ma, Biology, '08
Sumona Bhattacharya, Undecided, '11
Tim Vo, Biology and Society, '10
Angela Chiang, Math, '11
Andrea Matho, English/Biology, '08
Brian Vaccaro, Biology/Chemistry, '08

Viola
Christina Butler, Animal Science, '09
Elbert Chang, Chemical Engineering, '11
Philip Chuang, Materials Science Engineering, '08
Jennifer Lee, Biology/Economics, '08
Claire Barbasch, Math/Music, '07
Michael Lee, Physics, '11

Cello
Abe Katzen, Biology, '08
Ellen Haynes, Animal Science, '09
Theresa Tan, Psychology, '09
Ricardo Villarreal, Biology, '11

Bass
Trevor Yeats, Grad

Keyboard
Dorian Bandy, Music, '10

The Symphony Orchestra

Cornell Symphony Orchestra Membership for Fall 2007

Violin I
Julian Kang, Chemistry/Biochemistry, '10
Alisa Timashpolsky, Biology, '11
Jian Liu, CS/Economics. '09
Marcus Cerroni, PAM '11
Sejin Bai, ILR, '11
Minerva Ho, China/Asia Pacific Studies, '10
Kevin Lin, Biology, '09
Chanha Carol Ohh, Operations Research, '10
Yvonne Chang, Architecture, '11
Sinsub Jeong, Engineering, '11
Christina Fiorenza, Human Biology/Health and Society, '09
Joanne Yuan Chua, Asian Studies, '11
Benjamin Ou-Yang, Astronomy, '10
Adrienne Carey, French Lit/Comparative Lit, '09
Erin Chu, Biological Sciences, '10

Violin II
Adrian So, Chemistry/Math, '08
Andrew Chen, Biological Engineering, '11
Kathryn Barger, Statistics, Grad
Eugena Fung, Economics, '09
Anna Nickless, Undecided, '11
Wallace Hui, AEP, '08
Jeremy Greiner, Chemistry, '11
Yubo Lu, Law, JD
Michael Chen, Computer Science, '10
Tina Hang, Economics, '09
Elizabeth Baker, ILR, '11
Yvette Wong, Math/Biology, '10
Collin Chan, Operations Research, Phd
Kirby Black, Biological Sciences, '10
Emerson Fang, Biology, '10

Viola
Joel Ong, Computer Science, '09
Mickey McDonald, Physics, '10
David Chang, Undecided, '10
Yoriko Nakamura, Biological Sciences, '11
Andrew Shook, Atmospheric Science, '09
Eric Auerbach, ILR, '10
Andrea Bowring, Engineering, '11
Joseph Hamilton, Comparative Lit, '10
Nick McAfee, Music
Kim Mezger, Mechanical Engineering, '09

Cello
Brian Lee, Chemical Engineering, '10
Alexandra Pavel, Government, '09
Isabelle Posey Cutting, Government, '10
Hilary Wattenberger, Hotel, '09
Jin Sung Kim, Engineering, '11
Alissa Sexton, Psychology, '10
Adrian Radocea, Engineering/Material Science, '11
Alexander Mora, Engineering, '10
Liz Hartman, Public Affairs, Grad
Alexander Sahn, Music, IHS
Sarah Smith, Physics/Music, '10
Stephen Moseson, Mechanical Engineering, '10
Jason Lee, Biology/Material Engineering, '11
Gretchen Craig, Environmental, '10

Bass
Laura Spitler, Astronomy, Grad - principal
Mike DeFlorio, Atmospheric Science, '09
Chris Gerig, '11
Kris Kooi, Music, '11

Harp
Janet Vertesi
Stephanie Beth Liff, '11
Sarah Blau, '10

Flute
Miriam Nussbaum, Linguistics, '11
Rebecca Morrow, Communication, '09
Alexander Tsiatas, Computer Science, '08
Annie Mulcahy,Hotel Management, '11

Piccolo
Christine Marschilok, Biology, '08

Oboe
Kit Stone, Science of Natural and Environmental Systems '11
Greg Weisbrod, '10
Shanon Sim, Chemical Engineering, '08

Clarinet
Jonathan Felbinger, Electrical Engineering, Grad
Vance Gao, Biology, '10

Bassoon
Melanie Adamsky, Biological Sciences, '09
Sarah Furnish, '10

Horn
Alexander Hong Chao, Computer Science, Grad
Kira Gridley, Biology, '11
Sallie Dietrich, French/Sociology, '10
Sarah Edythe Dimiduk, Biological Engineering, '11
Michael Barany, Math/College Scholar, '08

Trumpet
Anthony Clark, Music, '09

Trombone
Christopher Mayes, Physics, Ph.D
Christopher Stark, Composition, DMA
Sam Birmaher, Music, '10
Carl Seiber, Chemical Engineering, '11

Tuba

Percussion
Ian Chu Chen
Risa Naka
Brian Gainor
Jonathan Rothschild

Piano
Jake Jungbin Lee

Congratulations to those who have made it into orchestra.
Rehearsal starts on Monday, August 27 for Symphony and August 28 for Chamber Orchestra.

Audition statistics for 2007 so far

2007-08-21T10:06:00.000-04:00

Here are the numbers for the fall 2007 orchestra auditions.
As of Tuesday August 21 at 1008 am;

String players auditioning
violin 61
viola 17
cello 21
bass 4

Wind players
flute 12
oboe 5
clarinet 5
bassoon 1

horn 7
trumpet 4
trombone 6
tuba 1

percussion 5

If you would like an audition time please email Chris at cyk8.
Audition results will be posted Sunday, August 26.
Rehearsals will begin in the week of Monday, August, 27.

Hottest Ivy school

2007-08-21T10:04:00.000-04:00

Cornell was named the hottest Ivy by Newsweek.
Here is the link to the article.

Excerpt from the article:
"Hottest Ivy Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.

Unlike the other Ivies, Cornell is a land-grant college emphasizing problem solving as well as scholarly debate. The university boasts a world-class engineering college and top-flight liberal arts, science and fine arts. The hotel school is considered the world's best. Cornellians, proud of the variety on campus, point to the president, David Skorton, a cardiologist, jazz musician and computer scientist who is the first in his family to have a college education."

concert in Ithaca

2007-08-07T13:55:00.000-04:00

Orchestra auditions are two weeks away. I have just returned from Tanglewood where I attended the Contemporary music festival. I will link to some articles later. In Ithaca there is a concert by Malcolm Bilson. If you are in town you should try to make it. Here is the release from Loralyn Light, our concert manager.

Here's a reminder of a free concert in the Schwartz Center this Tuesday evening (tonight), involving Malcolm Bilson and two of his former students (both D.M.A. performance practice) who were part of the concertizing and recording of all of the Beethoven piano sonatas--and were both here for Malcolm's 70th birthday celebration/festival.

Malcolm Bilson, David Breitman, and Andrew Willis
Fortepiano

Date: Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Place: Kiplinger Theatre, Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts
Web site: Malcolm Bilson, David Breitman, and Andrew Willis

Malcolm Bilson, the Frederick J. Whiton Professor of Music at Cornell, and two of his former students - David Breitman, associate professor of music at Oberlin, and Andrew Willis, associate professor of music at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro - perform works of of Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and others.

Stevie Wonder on Sesame Street (1973)

2007-07-31T23:06:00.000-04:00

I came across this post of Stevie Wonder's band on Sesame Street in 1973 on youtube. WOW! What is your favorite music? Check out Stevie's expression as the clip gets to about a minute from the end. Pure joy in his music making.

Audition time sign up

2007-07-31T11:27:00.000-04:00

Sign up for audition times by following the link. Please fill out the audition form and bring it to the audition. There are specific instrument audition time slots. Please email me and request a time slot in those times.

I would prefer to hear all like instruments together.

Audition dates are from August 20-25. Results will be posted on Sunday August 26. First rehearsals will start on August 27 and August 28 respectively for each orchestra.

Looking forward to seeing you in August.
If you can not be in orchestra do let me know about that too.

Updated 0708 season brochure

2007-07-31T11:25:00.001-04:00

Here are the updated season brochure for 2007-2008.
It has a cleaner layout of concert dates on some minor changes in repertoire.

Alan Gilbert named music director of NY Philharmonic

2007-07-23T11:19:00.001-04:00

First it was LA Phil's announcement of Gustavo Dudamel to succeed Salonen, now it is Alan Gilbert who will be the next music director of the New York Philharmonic. I love the fact that his favorite composers are Anders Hillborg and Magnus Lindberg. Perhaps we will see more exciting and innovating programs.

Here are articles;

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/19/arts/music/19reac.html?ref=music
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/18/arts/music/18phil.html?hp
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/19/arts/music/19tomm.html?ref=arts

and some pictures

Havard Summer school orchestra

2007-06-25T11:03:00.000-04:00

For those of you who may be in Cambridge, MA for the summer, here is a notice for auditions with the Harvard summer session orchestra.

Notice of Open Orchestra Auditions

The Harvard Summer School Orchestra is pleased to announce
its 22nd season under music director, Judith Zuckerman.
Orchestral musicians of all ages are invited to audition.
(A Harvard affiliation is NOT required.)

Auditions for the Harvard Summer School Orchestra will be
held on a first-come, first-served, walk-in basis (no
appointments) Tuesday through Thursday, June 26 to 28,
5 to 9 pm in Harvard University's Memorial Hall room 038
(in the basement of Sanders Theater).

For directions to the auditions/rehearsals/concert, please
see http://www.fas.harvard.edu/%7Ememhall/directions.html

To audition, you will need to do a little sight-reading and
play one prepared piece (this can be anything you love to
play and feel you play very well without accompaniment).

The whole audition will last no more than eight minutes.
If your chosen prepared piece is long, please select a short
section or sections that you feel best display your
musicianship. It is not necessary to memorize your audition
piece.

Openings are available for all orchestral strings, piano,
harp, flute/piccolo, oboe/English horn, clarinet, bassoon,
French horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba, and percussion.
(Returning players must reaudition.)

This season's program includes American music by Copland,
Still, Cowell,and Ives and will feature the wonderful
baritone, Robert Honeysucker singing Copland's "Old American
Songs".

Regular rehearsals are Mondays, 6:30-9 pm, July 2-August 6,
Dress rehearsal on Wednesday, August 8.
The performance will take place on Saturday, August 11.
The call rehearsal will begin at 6:30 PM.

All rehearsals and the performance will be held in Harvard's
famed Sanders Theater.

The performance will begin at 8 PM and is free and open to
the public.

Concert dress for the orchestra will be as follows:
WOMEN--Black skirt or slacks, black shoes, white blouse.
MEN--Black suit, black shoes, white shirt, tie.

For more information, please contact
Judy Zuckerman at [send email to judyzuckerman(at)yahoo.com

New type of music making interface

2007-06-23T14:47:00.000-04:00

Check out this video of of this input device. It would be interesting to figure out a way to perform with analog instruments using this device.

0708 brochure revised

2007-06-21T02:45:00.000-04:00

Revised brochures.

Possible fund raiser item

2007-06-20T18:29:00.001-04:00

Here is a link to a possible fund raiser item for the orchestra. You can get a name plate or a key chain for free.
desk nameplates

Alumni week concert

2007-06-06T21:06:00.000-04:00

In case you are around for the summer and are looking for a way to celebrate Karel Husa's 80th birthday year, come to the concert in Barnes this Saturday. Program is on the poster to the left.

07-08 season brochure

2007-06-06T10:23:00.001-04:00

Here are screen shots of the 07-08 season brochure for the Cornell Orchestras. Board members please proof the brochure for any spelling mistakes.

Ed Murray conducts Rake's Progress

2007-06-02T12:26:00.000-04:00

Here is a link to the Cornell Chronicle article about Ed Murray's operatic work at Cornell in 1997. Murray, who succeeded Karel Husa in 1975 as conductor and director of the Cornell Symphony Orchestra, was musical director for the Ithaca Opera Association's productions of Candide, Cosi Fan Tutte, Marriage of Figaro, Fairy Queen and Gershwin's Of Thee I Sing. Widely known as a performer with the Society of New Music, Murray has performed in concert several times with David Borden, director of Cornell's digital music program, at Barnes Hall in two-piano programs of popular and jazz standards. Murray and Borden have released a CD of popular and jazz standards, "Night and Day," on the Lameduck label. (The performance dates for this production was March 27 and 28, 1997)

Husa conducting Music for Prague 1968

2007-06-02T12:23:00.000-04:00

Karel Husa conducts his "Music for Prague 1968" in Prague in 1990 following the Velvet Revolution. The concert was noted as a landmark in Czech musical history.

Also, the Karel Husa Archive and Gallery at Ithaca College, Ithaca, New York may be contacted at (001) 607-274-1367 (Fax: (001) 274-1727) or via email at mradice(at)ithaca.edu.

Karel Husa with Solti and Herseth

2007-06-02T12:22:00.000-04:00

Sir Georg Solti, Karel Husa, Adolph Herseth and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at a performance of the Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House. Photo courtesy Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

CCO history : conductors

2007-06-02T12:16:00.000-04:00

Here is a list of conductors who have conducted the CCO in the past.
Xak Bjerken
Mark Scatterday
Karel Husa
John Hsu
Edward Murray

I will try to find past photos and articles and make a link.
If you have any info regarding past conductors of the Cornell Orchestras please forward to them to this Blog.

First one is Cornell Professor Emeritus Karel Husa conducting the Cornell Chamber Orchestra in a performance of his Pastoral for String Orchestra, during a music department concert in honor of his 80th birthday in Barnes Hall Sept. 28, 2001.
(Charles Harrington/University Photography)

Cornell Chamber Orchestra has a newly designed website

2007-06-01T11:34:00.000-04:00

The Chamber Orchestra website has been completely redesigned. There are few links that needs to be fixed. But please visit and give us your comments.

Notes on conducting the CCO

2007-05-30T14:39:00.000-04:00

NOTES ON MY EXPERIENCE CONDUCTING
THE CORNELL CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
by John Rowehl

1. Choosing the piece

It was quite helpful to be given a few pieces from which to choose (two C. P. E. Bach sinfonias, the Dvorak “Nocturne,” and a Mozart divertissement), given that I know so little of the orchestral repertoire, and know even less about what would be appropriate for an ensemble of the CCO’s ability. The C. P. E. Bach Sinfonia in D (W 183/1) appealed to me for various reasons – length, degree of complexity, musical material – but as it turns out, it also made for a nice complement to the rest of the program (the Mozart concerto for violin and viola, and the Bartok “Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta”).

2. Learning the piece

Though it’s full of little surprises and twists, the Sinfonia in D is not a terribly complicated or difficult piece; indeed, it is largely sight-readable for the conductor. Even so, at Chris’s suggestion, I aimed to memorize it. My initial attempts proved to be not very successful, and with hindsight I think that may have been because I was trying to memorize too much at once. I think I might have been more successful if I’d started with basic elements – e.g., phrase structure – and then gradually layered on other details (harmonic structure, individual parts). Even so, I did eventually commit most of the work to memory, though not to the level of knowing every note in every part.

3. Rehearsing the piece

When I began rehearsing the piece, I acknowledged to the players that this was my first experience conducting an orchestra and that I hoped to learn a lot from them. I shared with them that because I’ve performed a lot of Baroque and early Classical music as a singer (with professional period-instrument orchestras) and have also played several C. P. E. Bach flute and keyboard works, I was quite comfortable with the style of the music, but might need their help in translating my musical suggestions into their language as string players.

At the first couple of rehearsals, we worked primarily on articulation and phrasing. In their initial readings, the players tended to employ a fat, romantic sound, they had difficulty backing off unaccented notes, and they resisted the extremes in Bach’s dynamic markings. To address the last of these problems, I consulted with Annette Richards about the reliability of the dynamic and phrase markings in the Durand score. (I was already suspicious of the phrase markings, because all four of the recordings of the piece I’d heard departed from them considerably, generally in the direction of less phrased, more detached playing.) Annette confirmed my suspicions about the phrase markings and advised me to use the recordings as a guide and alter the markings in the score. But she thought that the dynamic markings were likely to be Bach’s, because he is known to have been very precise about the dynamic markings in his works for keyboard. Annette also felt that the “wildness” of the markings in this piece (e.g., sudden dynamic changes, liberal use of sforzandi, particularly in the 1st and 3rd movements) was entirely compatible with Bach’s style. Armed with this musicological support, I returned to rehearsal with the aim of eliciting a wider range of dynamics from the players. We largely succeeded in this, though not without a considerable amount of prodding and positive feedback from me.

I also found the players to be somewhat stiff physically, in a way that I think impaired their ability to capture the right affect for the music. For example, in the second movement, a slow minuet, it was not at all possible to read the desired strong-weak-weak articulation from the way the players moved (or rather, didn’t move) when they played, and I believe it was no coincidence that the ensemble was ragged. When I asked them all actually to move into the first beat as if they were about to take a step in a dance, the articulation and ensemble both improved dramatically. I continued to emphasize physical expressiveness in subsequent rehearsals, but it never felt as if this became natural for the players.

Once we were playing in a manner that seemed to me more stylistically appropriate, we began to play through larger sections of the piece, whole movements. The virtuosity of the violin parts forced us to remain under tempo in the first movement for a while. And I found that retention of the stylistic suggestions was not terrific from rehearsal to rehearsal. Every week, I needed to remind them anew about strong-weak articulation and ask that they go for more extremes in dynamics. Nonetheless, we began to make some progress.

At the beginning of one rehearsal (about halfway through the rehearsal cycle), Aara Edwards gave a demonstration of baroque playing style, using period instruments. Aara prepared well, and created an interesting exercise using a passage from the first movement to illustrate the quasi-melodic role the bass line can play in creating forward motion. She had them all play the bass line on their own instruments, as if it were a melody. And then she had them return to their own part but listen for its relation to the bass line. The timing of the demonstration was useful, as it occurred on a day when I was delayed in getting from my seminar to rehearsal, but – to be frank – I’m not sure it was of much use or interest to the students. They listened politely, but I couldn’t see evidence that the demonstration greatly affected their playing.

There were a few impediments to rehearsing that are perhaps worth mentioning. (1) We lost ground over Spring Break, since people pretty clearly didn’t even look at their parts for two weeks, which negligence was readily apparent at the first post-break rehearsal. (2) We lost small, but not insignificant, chunks of rehearsal time to the Bartók on several occasions, because the Bartók routinely needed 5 or 10 more minutes than it had been allotted. (3) Finally, we never had the full complement of players (strings, winds, horns) until the actual performance

4. Performing the piece

The dress rehearsal for the Bach was 1:00-2:30 pm the day of the concert, ending just half an hour before the concert’s start. Given that we’d had adequate rehearsal time over the previous weeks, it should have been unproblematic to run the dress rehearsal just before the concert. But the rehearsal was surprisingly ragged. In particular, the violins had trouble holding back tempo in the first movement. My guess was that this was due primarily to the players’ being anxious about the Bartók, a piece that had them justifiably terrified, and I did not want to increase their anxiety by making too big a deal out of the rushing. Neither, though, did I want the performance to be ragged. I chose to take a slightly slower tempo for the first movement – and I showed more beats, especially with the left hand, than I would have liked to.

From my perspective – hardly an objective one, to be sure – the performance came off reasonably well. There were the splats one typically gets from amateur horn players, and there was still some rushing in the violins (especially the 2nds), but the energy of the piece felt good. As is typical of amateur ensembles, they were not quite as daring with expressive gestures in performance as they’d been in rehearsal, but I think they were expressive enough to make the gestures read.

5. Developing my conducting skills

My chief objectives for this independent study were:

(1) to gain some experience working with an orchestra.
This objective was achieved, not only through my own conducting of the C. P. E. Bach group, but also in closely observing Chris’s work on the Bartók (and on the Bach, Elgar, and Vaughan Williams in the first concert of the semester). Given that I’ve spent so little time with orchestras, it was quite helpful for me just to sit in the orchestra and hear its sounds from the inside, so that I could get a better sense of how things would sound from the podium.

(2) to learn conducting technique from Chris.
This objective, too, was achieved – largely through direct coaching, but also through observation. If I had the semester to do over again, I would start taping my rehearsals earlier in the process and analyzing them with Chris. That I didn’t was due partly to logistics and partly to my own emotional ambivalence at having to watch myself on tape. Watching myself turned out to be both much less painful and much more helpful than I’d expected (as helpful as conducting for Chris in his office); in particular, it showed me how much as I was doing (especially with my left hand) that I wasn’t even aware of..
I think that in my effort to make my gestures more efficient, and to convey as much as possible with the baton, I’ve put myself in a transitional stage that feels a little awkward. I’m censoring modes of expressivity that previously felt natural without yet having completely transferred what I wish to express to the baton. But I can tell already that the effort will pay dividends, because it’s forcing me to make more conscious choices about my conducting gestures.

(3) to learn score preparation and the reading/ear-training skills that support it.
I made pretty good progress at learning new clefs (the tenor, alto, and soprano C clefs), which was useful for reading the viola and horn parts in the Bach. I made some – albeit less – progress in identifying heard intervals quickly. I expect to make more progress on this skill in the summer, when I’ve arranged for a partner to play material for me. And, in any case, because the Bach was completely tonal and quite straightforward harmonically, I was not especially disadvantaged by the current state of my aural skills; they were sufficient for the purpose at hand.
As I mentioned in section 2, above, my method for learning and memorizing the score was probably not as efficient or productive as it could have been, at first. It might have been useful if Chris had had me do with the Bach some of the basic steps he showed me with the Brahms Requiem at the end of the semester (e.g., number all measures, identify repetitions and near-repetitions, create a phrase map, create a harmonic map). Understanding the phrase and harmonic structure is something I tend to do intuitively, but being forced to be explicit (and thorough and detailed) about it would make for good training and discipline.

Former conductor of CSO featured

2007-05-28T14:32:00.000-04:00

John Hsu, conducting the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra in rehearsal recently, has proven himself a leading early-music maestro in America. His ABO debut was a knockout; the musicians believe they've never sounded better.

Read about former CSO conductor John Hsu's activities in Atlanta.

2007 fall dates for CCO and CSO

2007-05-21T13:30:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone,
Here is the schedule for the Fall 2007 season. Repertoire will be posted in about a week.

Auditions
August 20-25, (More specifics will be posted by June 1)

August 26, Sunday Audition results posted

August 27 Monday First rehearsal for CSO (630-815 pm in B20 of Lincoln Hall)

August 28 Tuesday First rehearsal for CCO (445-615 pm in Barnes Hall)

September 30 Sunday First Combines concert for CSO and CCO in Bailey Hall 8 pm

October 31 Wednesday Halloween concert combined with Ithaca College Orchestra
(Two performances; one at 8 pm in Bailey Hall, one at Midnight in Ithaca College's Ford Hall)

November 11 Sunday CCO concert in Barnes Hall 3 pm

December 2 Sunday combined CSO and CCO concert in Bailey Hall 8 pm

December 8 Saturday Fourth Annual Concerto competition Finals concert in Barnes Hall 7 pm

New Director of Percussion

2007-05-21T13:27:00.001-04:00

Here is an announcement from Steven Pond who chaired the Percussion search.
I have also linked to Tim Feeney's website.

Dear Colleagues and Members of the Cornell Community,

It's my pleasure to announce the hiring of Tim Feeney as the new Director of Percussion at Cornell. Tim, who was chosen from a field of over 30 candidates, is completing his DMA in percussion at Yale this month. He will direct the CU percussion program, including the Percussion Ensemble, the Steel Band, and the World Drumming and Dance Ensemble, and will work closely with Cornell's other performing ensembles that feature percussion and with composers. Tim will begin his duties as of July 1.

Please join me in welcoming him.

Sincerely,
Steve Pond
Chair, Percussion Search Committee
Associate Professor, Music
120 Lincoln Hall
Cornell University

Final concert of the 2006-2007 season

2007-04-24T14:38:00.000-04:00

The Performance will be this Sunday (April 29, 2007) at 3 pm in Bailey Hall. This will be the final program of the 2006-2007 season.

The program will be as follows;

Rossini Overture to La Gazza Ladra (Thieving Magpie)
Maurice Ravel Piano concerto in G major with Xak Bjerken
intermission
L.V. Beethoven Symphony No.6 in F Major

Concert is free and open to the public.

I look forward to seeing you at the concert.

Chamber orchestra schedule

2007-04-19T13:37:00.001-04:00

Here is the poster for the April 22 concert by the Cornell Chamber Orchestra.
Roberto and Gabriela Diaz will be arriving on Friday.
Here is the schedule of events for this Weekend;

Thursday
Last Regular rehearsal in Barnes Hall
445-6 pm Bartok with everyone
6-645 pm CPE BACH on stage in Barnes, Mozart strings in Green room

Friday
4-6 pm viola masterclass by Roberto Diaz at Ithaca College
8-10 pm Mozart rehearsal in B20 of Lincoln Hall with soloists

Saturday
1030-1130 am dress rehearsal for Mozart with soloists in Barnes Hall
1130-1145 am setup for Bartok
1145-1 pm dress rehearsal for Bartok

Sunday
130-230 pm Dress rehearsal for CPE Bach in Barnes
3 pm Concert in Barnes Hall
Program order
CPE BACH Sinfonia in D major
Mozart Sinfonia Concertante
intermission
Bartok Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta

New conductor in LA

2007-04-09T10:38:00.000-04:00

Shocking news from LA. Salonen will step down to hand the post of MD of La Phil to 26 year old Gustavo Dudamel! He is has been a sensation around the world.
Bold move by LA phil. More orchestras should make brave choices like this.

Bailey Hall plaza update

2007-03-13T23:54:00.000-04:00

On March 19, construction will begin for the plaza in front of Bailey Hall. According to the Chronicle article the plaza is due to be complete in Mid August.

CSO's collaboration with CUMEP

2007-03-12T12:05:00.000-04:00

CUMEP

This year, the Cornell Symphony Orchestra has begun an outreach program to give back to the greater Ithaca community. We are most excited about a new collaborative venture with the Community Unity Music Education Program (CUMEP), which provides low cost instruction to youth of limited financial resources. Members of the CSO have volunteered to serve as mentors in this program. Through weekly visits to Beverly J. Martin Elementary School, these volunteers teach students basic skills in individual musicianship and what it means to have music in their everyday lives. We hope to share our passion for music with the youth in this program and inspire them to achieve great things, musical and otherwise. -Melanie Adamsky, Outreach coordinator

Here is the schedule of events;

4/29 Sun 3 pm in Bailey hall
CUMEP will perform a piece on the CSO concert at the beginning of the
CSO concert.

4/28 Sat in B20
30 minutes rehearsal at the beginning of the rehearsal with CUMEP
students.
4/26 Thurs in Statler Auditorium
345-430 pm short performance for President Skorton with the CUMEP students
4/21 Sat 2 pm in Barnes Hall
afternoon rehearsal with CUMEP students
4/17 Tues
regular CUMEP visit
4/9-13 (Ithaca area spring break, no CUMEP visit)
4/7 Sat 2 pm in Barnes Hall
afternoon rehearsal with CUMEP students
4/3 Tue
regular CUMEP visit
3/27 Tue
regular CUMEP visit
3/13 Tues
regular CUMEP visit

Photos to be added shotrly.

Elgar is now on google video

2007-03-10T14:24:00.001-05:00

The performance is on Google Video.

Chamber Orchestra's performance on February 25, 2007, of Elgar's Introduction and Allegro is now on youtube and google video. The performance featured CCO collaborating with Bryant Park Quartet. Enjoy.

Bernstein plays Ravel

2007-03-09T11:55:00.000-05:00

Check out this video of Bernstein playing Ravel's piano concerto in G(3rd mvt).
Blazing fast and very exciting.

Beethoven 6th rehearsals

2007-03-07T12:24:00.000-05:00

As the Symphony begins rehearsal on Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony I will collect program notes and webclips for CSO members.
If you have a link you would like to post, please forward them to one of our bloggers.
The first one is a program note by Phillip Huscher from the Chicago Symphony website.

Cornell Symphony Orchestra concert

2007-02-26T15:32:00.000-05:00

Here is the poster for the upcoming Symphony Orchestra concert.
Program will feature two works by Jean Sibelius. The first movement of his violin concerto with the winner of the Third Annual Cornell Concerto Competition, Charlene Kluegel and Symphony No. 2.
Concert is free and open to the public.

Weekend of new music

2007-02-22T12:26:00.000-05:00

Here is an invitation from Steven Stucky about this weekend's three new music concerts in Barnes Hall.

Barnes Hall will be the scene of a rich offering of contemporary music this weekend. Please mark your calendars now for all three concerts:

IMAGES, ETUDES, AND FANTASY
February 24, 8 p.m.

An "Ensemble-X-style" concert with guest composer Fred Lerdahl and many of our favorite Cornell and IC performers. In addition to Lerdahl's classic sextet from 1985, Fantasy Etudes, the program includes Stephen Hartke's violin-duo showpiece Oh Them Rats Is Mean in My Kitchen delivered with panache by Steven Miahky and Rebecca Ansel, and the world premiere of Xi Wang's Three Images (winner of last year's Ensemble X Competition). Rounding out the concert are two folk-influenced works by Lutoslawski from the 1950s: Dance Preludes in the nonet version, and the piano suite Bucolics in the world premiere of a new arrangement for the same nonet complement.

CORNELL CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
Chris Younghoon Kim, conductor
February 25, 3 p.m.

Chris Kim will have reminded most of you of this concert already; let me just stress that the program includes Berio's rarely heard Concertino (1949) with soloists Rick Faria and Steven Miahky.

LANDSCAPE WITH BUTTERFLIES AND CRANES
February 25, 8 p.m.
guest artists:
Daria Binkowski, flute
Elinor Frey, cello

This beautiful program of (mostly) recent music for flute and cello, singly and together, will include the chance to hear a complete performance of Kaija Saariaho's stunning Sept Papillons for solo cello, and of Shirish Korde's celebrated solo flute piece Tenderness of Cranes. Works by Cornell composers Stephen Gorbos and Xi Wang will also be featured, as will Cornell's own Emily Green as pianist. These young musicians are rising stars, and their recital is sure to be a memorable occasion. (I have appended the guest artists' biographies below.)

Hope to see you there,
Steven Stucky

Daria Binkowski, flute, is currently pursuing her master's degree at McGill University in Montreal, where she studies with Timothy Hutchins and performs with the Contemporary Music Ensemble under the direction of Denys Bouliane. She completed her undergraduate studies in 2005 at the Eastman School of Music with Bonita Boyd and also had post-graduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
Daria was a member of the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble from 2004 to 2006, working with Sydney Hodkinson, Steven Stucky, Marc-André Dalbavie, and Robert Spano. She is currently performing with the East Coast Composers' Ensemble (ECCE), a new ensemble based in New York. Daria has performed at the Heidelberg College New Music Festival (Tiffin, OH), the Women in New Music Festival (Rochester, NY), and the Music of Japan Today Festival (College Park, MD). In March 2006, she performed with members of the St. Louis Symphony in their Pulitzer Foundation contemporary music series. She has also appeared with members of the St. Louis Symphony at the Pulitzer Foundation for Contemporary Art with conductor Pascal Rophe. An avid devotee of contemporary music, Daria performed extensively with Eastman's new-music ensembles and has premiered works of faculty and students in Rochester, New York, and Aspen. In addition to her contemporary music activities, Daria was a member of the 2006 Spoleto Festival Orchestra and has soloed with the New Jersey Symphony, the Brockport Symphony, and the New Amsterdam Symphony. She was also on the administrative board of Eastman's student-run new-music ensemble, OSSIA, and was recently an intern with National Public Radio's Performance Today in Washington, DC.

Cellist Elinor Frey joined the eclectic virtuoso ensemble Quartetto Gelato in December 2005 after receiving a Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School the previous May. A native of Seattle, she has studied in Philadelphia, New York, and Chicago with renowned teachers including Bonnie Hampton, Hans Jensen, Orlando Cole, and Barbara Mallow. An active recitalist, chamber musician, and teacher, and an advocate of new music, she served as cellist of the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble in 2004 and 2005. With the New Juilliard Ensemble, she gave the New York premiere of Betsy Jolas' cello concerto Wanderlied in April 2005, and she recorded a CD in London of new chamber works. As winner of the 2006 Contemporary Record Society Competition, she will record Lutoslawski's Sacher-Variation, a work she also played at the Cornell University Lutoslawski conference. in November 2005.
Elinor has attended the Kneisel Hall Music Festival, Yale University's Norfolk Contemporary Session, and the Fontainebleau Music Festival in France, and she was a participant in the July 2006 London master classes of Ralph Kirshbaum. Elinor performs on 115-year-old French cello on loan to her as the winner of the Virtu Foundation competition. After winning the prestigious 2004 Ladies Musical Club of Seattle competition, she gave a concert tour of western Washington State in September 2004. As a fully accredited Suzuki cello teacher, Elinor has been on faculty at the Music Institute of Long Island and the Hudson River School of Music and guest faculty at the Suzuki String School of Guelph. She now lives in Toronto.

Bryant Park String Quartet

2007-02-19T17:34:00.000-05:00

Bryant Park String Quartet will be joining the Chamber Orchestra performance this Sunday by playing the solo parts of Elgar's Introduction and Allegro. They will also be teaching lessons on Saturday to Chamber Orchestra members. Here is their bio.

Based in New York City, the Bryant Park Quartet (Stephen Miahky and Benjamin Russell, violins, Adam Meyer, viola, Tomoko Fujita) is dedicated to performing in concert halls and bringing chamber music into the community. The BPQ recently completed a weeklong outreach tour of eastern, rural Appalachian Kentucky, performing for more than 3,300 school children. Other highlights from the BPQ's current season include recitals throughout New York City, Massachusetts, Des Moines, a solo performance with the Cornell Chamber Orchestra, a recital under the auspices of the Perlman Music Program, and other outreach projects on Long Island. Its members have attended the Amsterdam Conservatory, the Juilliard School, the New England Conservatory, the Oberlin Conservatory, the University of Michigan, and Stony Brook University. In recent summers they have participated in the Aspen Music Festival and School, Kneisel Hall, the Lucerne Festival Academy, the Perlman Music Program, and the Tanglewood Music Center. The Bryant Park Quartet has been coached by Colin Carr, and Kathy Murdock and members of the Brentano, Borromeo, and Emerson String Quartets.

Summer internship

2007-02-18T16:20:00.000-05:00

Here is an internship for this coming summer. Sent to us by former CSO member Erica Knight.

Woodwind and String musicians:

UVMC is looking for college and university students in woodwind quintets and string quartets who also enjoy working with young musicians.

University music students as interns, an integral part of our summer music camp, assist in teaching choral and instrumental music at camp. They also perform a concert series in the Upper Valley area. We would ideally like to hire ensembles that are already formed to perform its repertoire and presents children’s concerts.

The Upper Valley Music Center (UVMC), based in Lebanon, NH, operates programs throughout the Upper Connecticut River Valley of New Hampshire and Vermont: children’s and youth choruses; three levels of string orchestras; a variety of chamber music ensembles for youth and adults; Suzuki violin and cello lessons and group lessons for string, wind, brass and percussion instruments in elementary schools; and a summer music camp for all ages.

Interns will be paid $2500 for the period June 20 through July 20 for teaching and performing, with an option for a few to continue through August 3 @ Kimball Union

The summer schedule is as follows:

June 21-24 Rehearsals
June 25-29 UVMC Summer Music Camp, Woodstock, VT
July 1-7 * Performances
July 9-13 UVMC Summer Music Camp, Hanover, NH
July 16-20 UVMC Summer Music Camp Hanover, NH
* Concerts will be scheduled throughout the month, primarily the week of July 1-7.

July 22-26 Kimball Union Academy Arts and Technology Camp,
Meriden, NH
July 29-Aug. 3 Kimball Union Academy Arts and Technology Camp,
Meriden, NH

Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, just south of Hanover, will provide housing and kitchen facilities for UVMC performers/interns from June 20 through August 3. Transportation is the responsibility of performers/interns.

Page 2

UVMC’s summer day camp operates Monday through Friday, for one week in Woodstock, VT and for two weeks in Hanover, NH, the home of Dartmouth College. Kimball Union Academy, a nearby boarding school, also offers a two-week music, arts and technology camp. UVMC sponsors summer ensembles that perform a concert series in the Upper Valley. These concerts consist of childrens’ programs and performances for recreation departments, libraries, house concerts, cruises as well as concerts on the Dartmouth and Medical Center campuses.

UVMC’s camp serves children from grades one through twelve, divided into three age groups. Children in grades 1-3 learn about music through movement, listening, singing and playing Orff instruments. Campers in grades 4-6 participate in chorus, musical theater, chamber ensembles, orchestra, gamelan, theory and composition class. Additionally these campers select a new instrument to explore. Chamber music ensembles are the focus of campers in grades 7-12. At the end of the week all campers perform in an informal concert for parents.

Kimball Union Academy’s Arts and Technology camp, held on the KUA campus offers campers, ages 8-15, the opportunity to explore fine and performing arts, and technology. Courses such as drawing, painting, choreography, computer programming, gaming, animation, instrumental and vocal classes will be offered.

Please send a CD or DVD of a current performance with a repertoire list to UVMC’s artistic director, Robert Mark, by March 10, 2007.

Sincerely,

Susan K. Kinne
Program Coordinator
Upper Valley Music Center
P.O. Box 826
Lebanon, NH 03766

Cornell University closed due to weather

2007-02-14T15:34:00.000-05:00

Cornell University is closed until 5 am Thursday morning due to the 30 inches of expected snow which is falling at a rate of 2-4 inches per hour. Tonight the snow will be accompanied by 30 miles per hour wind with wind chill factor around zero. Symphony rehearsal scheduled for 7-9 pm is canceled.

poster for Chamber orchestra concert

2007-02-13T13:32:00.000-05:00

The poster for the Chamber Orchestra's upcoming February 25th concert is ready.
The program for this concert will be;

Luciano Berio Concertino
CPE Bach Double concerto in Eb major Wq.47
intermission
Edward Elgar Introduction and Allegro
R.V. Williams Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis

Brave New Works concert in Williams College

2007-02-09T10:36:00.000-05:00

I have been in Williams College for the past two days rehearsing with Brave New works for a concert tonight. Yesterday we had a recording session for two of the composers from Williams College. We have been welcomed by Williams College and have been treated very well. Everyone is looking forward to our concert tonight. The program will include two pieces by guest composer in residence with us Marilyn Shrude. We will perform her Piano trio and her new violin sonata. The program will also feature an East coast premiere of Andrew Mead's Far Cry and a performance of 2006 call for score winner Peal by Phillippe Bodin. The concert will finish up with 2005 call for score winner Black Bend by Dan Visconti.

And here is the video of the performance of Black Bend by Dan Visconti on Google video.

Brave New Works at University of Puget Sound

2007-02-05T23:05:00.000-05:00

BNW- Northwest tour

Immediately after the Berlin tour, Chris and Steve went on to Tacoma, WA, for a residency at University of Puget Sound. The same trip also included a residency at Western University at Bellingham, WA. In both Universities Brave New Works gave a full length program plus gave masterclasses and composer reading sessions.

Brave New Works at Williams College

2007-02-05T23:01:00.000-05:00

Chris will be in Williams College this week from Wednesday to Saturday for a performance and residency with Brave New Works. The program info is included in the link.

Berlin tour photo slide show

2007-02-05T22:55:00.000-05:00

Berlin tour slide show

Here is a collection of photos taken by CSO members on our recent tour to Berlin, Germany. After the Monday night rehearsal we presented the premiere of the Slide show in B20. Now the same slide show can be enjoyed online.

pictures from the competition

2007-02-05T13:30:00.000-05:00

Cornell Concerto Competition

Here are photos from the third annual Cornell Concerto Competition.
The winner was Charlene Kluegel who will play the Sibelius violin concerto with the Cornell Symphony Orchestra on March 4, 2007 in Bailey Hall.

Concerto winner announced

2007-01-28T08:19:00.000-05:00

I am pleased to announce the result of the third annual Cornell Concerto Competition.
It was an event in which an enormous amount of talent, dedication, and communal support brought much inspiration to all that participated and sat in the audience.

After a full day of preliminary rounds with sixteen participants, the final round of five students were chosen as the following;

Emily Looney (Saxophone) Glaznunov Concerto in Eb
Jung Bin Lee (piano) Liszt Totentantz
Andrew Yeo (violin) Lalo Symphonie Espagnol
Jian Liu (violin) Chuasson Poème
Charlene Kluegel (violin) Sibelius Concerto

At the 7 pm final round in Barnes Hall, all five finalists performed. A winner was chosen by the panel of judges. The 2007 Cornell Concerto Competition winner is Charlene Kluegel. She will perform Jean Sibelius' violin concerto on the March 4th concert by the Cornell Symphony Orchestra.

I would like to thank the five judges for their hard work this past Saturday.

Chris Kim
director of orchestras

Bios of the judges follow;

*Kristin Taavola *is an Assistant Professor of Music Theory at Cornell University. Her research combines music-theoretic and ethnomusicological perspectives in studying twentieth- and twenty-first century art music, as well as musics from Asia and Indonesia.. She has published on Zen and contemporary Japanese art music, as well as musical processes in the music of Bali and the compositions of Hungarian composer Béla Bartók. Currently, her interest in harmony and mode has turned to France, specifically fin-de-siécle Paris and the music of Satie. She also plays the flute, and has performed in various Balinese angklung gamelan, or percussion orchestra. She has previously taught at Sarah Lawrence College, the University of Colorado Boulder, and the Eastman School of Music.

A native of Canada, *Dr. Mayron Tsong* was one of the youngest musicians to complete a Performer's Diploma in Piano from the Royal Conservatory of Toronto at age 16. Since that time, she has performed extensively across the United States, including New York, Chicago, Houston, Denver, Las Vegas, San Francisco, West Palm Beach, South Carolina, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Washington, Indiana, California, Oregon, Michigan, Louisiana, Arizona, Texas, across Canada, Sweden, Switzerland, China, Taiwan and Russia as a soloist and chamber musician. She has been featured as a soloist with the St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic (Russia), Symphony North (Houston), the University of North Carolina Symphony Orchestra, the Longview Symphony Orchestra (Texas), the Red Deer Symphony Orchestra (Canada), the Lethbridge Symphony Orchestra (Canada), and the University of Calgary Orchestra (Canada). She has collaborated with renowned artists such as James Campbell, Antonio Lysy, George Taylor, Jeffrey Zeigler (of the Kronos Quartet), the Brentano String Quartet and the Miró String Quartet. Ms. Tsong's solo and collaborative performances have been broadcast by CBC Radio Two - Calgary, Radio Canada - Montreal, WDAV North Carolina, WFMT Radio - Chicago and Radio 4 - Hong Kong. Numerous prizes have included First Prize in the Canadian Music Competitions, the Millenium Prize for Russian Performing Arts, and the prestigious Arts B Grant, awarded by the Canada Council. From 1994-1998, Ms. Tsong was a three-time recipient of The Female Doctoral Students Grant, a competition that encompasses all disciplines nationwide, awarded by the Government of Canada.

Ms. Tsong holds graduate degrees in both Piano Performance and Music Theory, and she obtained her Doctor of Musical Arts under the tutelage of John Perry at Rice University. Her dissertations discuss the piano etudes of György Ligeti. She has also studied with such renowned musicians as György Sebök, Robert Levin, Marek Jablonski, Anton Kuerti, Marilyn Engle, Dr. Robin Wood, and Charles Foreman.

Having served on faculty at California State University in Humboldt and as Chair of the Piano Area at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada, Ms. Tsong is currently Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Active as a teacher, clinician, adjudicator and judge in the United States, Canada, China and Hong Kong, Ms. Tsong was Artist in Residence at the Banff Centre, where she was invited to give masterclasses in 2001. In the summers, she has taught and performed at the Sequoia Chamber Music Festival in Northern California, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan, Lutheran Summer Music in Minnesota and the Young Musicians
and Artists Camp in Oregon.

A Steinway Artist, Ms. Tsong is a member of the performer¹s roster of the College Music Society, the Scriabin Society, the Canadian Universities Music Society, Minorities and Women Doctoral Directory, the Canadian Music Centre, and she is an Honorary Member of the Tingshuset Music Society in Sweden. She is currently recording her first album for Centaur Records.

Born in Chicago, *Jeffery Meyer *began his musical studies as a pianist, and shortly thereafter continued on to study composition and conducting. He is presently the Director of Orchestras at the Ithaca College School of Music, as well as the founder and Artistic Director of the St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic in St. Petersburg, Russia. Jeff has worked with orchestras in the United States and abroad, including ensembles such as the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. In recent concert seasons, he has been seen conducting, performing as piano soloist and chamber musician, as well as conducting from the keyboard in the United States, Canada, Russia, and Germany.

An active participant in the music of our time, he has collaborated with many composers, and commissioned and premiered many new works. He has been featured numerous times as both a conductor and pianist as part of the “Sound Ways” International New Music Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia. As a pianist, Jeff has been in residence at the Banff Centre for the Arts, and in residence at the Aspen Festival as part of the Furious Band, a New York-based group dedicated to contemporary music. He performs frequently with percussionist Paul Vaillancourt as part of the piano and percussion duo Strike. He has been broadcast on CBC Newfoundland, has recorded and performed with the Philadelphia Virtuosi (Naxos), and has been heard as a soloist at the Aspen Festival. During the 2001-2002 academic year he lived and studied in Berlin and Leipzig as the recipient of a DAAD grant in music. He was selected as a semi-finalist in the 2004 Pedrotti International Competition for Conductors, a finalist in the 2003 Vakhtang Jordania International Conducting Competition, and a semi-finalist in the 2003 Beethoven Sonata International Piano Competition, Memphis, Tennessee.

Jeff is an active adjudicator, guest clinician, and masterclass teacher and has served on the faculties of the Dorian Keyboard Festival, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, Marrowstone Music Festival, and the Lutheran Summer Music Academy and Festival. He holds degrees in piano as well as composition and completed his Doctorate of Musical Arts at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where he studied with Gilbert Kalish.

When the Worshipful Company of Musicians awarded the prestigious Constant & Kit Lambert Fellowship to *Karl Lutchmayer*, the only time in its history that it has been awarded to an instrumentalist, the accolade recognised an artist who in addition to a busy international concert career is also a high profile lecturer, and has even successfully combined the two disciplines to create the 'Conversational Concert' format of public lecture-recitals, which is regularly featured in the national press.

Born in London, he studied with Peter Wallfisch and John Barstow at the Royal College of Music, where he was a major prize winner, and his studies included extensive research into the music of Ferruccio Busoni for his Masters' degree. He subsequently undertook periods of study with Lev Naumov at the Moscow Conservatoire, Gyorgy Sandor, and Martino Tirimo.

His wide-ranging repertoire, extending from the Renaissance to the present day, allows him to create exciting and innovative programmes; and his recitals and concerto appearances in Russia, Greece, Malta, India, Germany, the USA, and at venues and festivals throughout the United Kingdom have received wide acclaim. He has performed for Radio 3, All India Radio, and Classic FM, worked with international conductors such as Sir Andrew Davis and Lorin Maazel, and been a soloist with numerous orchestras including the Philharmonia, The Erneast Read Symphony Orchestra, The National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, the Bombay Symphony orchestra, as well as numerous provincial orcjestras.

As the Constant & Kit Lambert Fellow he returned to the Royal College of Music, where he created a piano repertoire course, gave lectures on the Masters Degree programme, coached contemporary piano music and designed, established and delivered the pioneering Performance in Perspective series of lecture-recitals. It was through this work that he was first invited to guest-lecture at the Juilliard and Manhattan Schools in New York, and appointed Professor of Performing Practice at Trinity College of Music, London. He has also been a key-note speaker at the Incorporated Society of Musicians' Annual Conference, and is reguarly invited to give pre-concert talks at the Wigmore Hall. He has more recently, been in demand as a professor of piano, and as a coach for artists in their early careers, and as well giving frequent masterclasses, he has now been invited to join the keyboard faculty at Ithaca University, New York, for a semester in 2007.

A passionate advocate of contemporary music, he has given numerous premières, and had works written for him by Julian Anderson, Richard Causton, and Kenneth Hesketh. He regularly performs with his own chamber collective, Dialogos, as well as the Continuum Ensemble, with whom he has appeared as chamber musician and soloist He has also been the soloist in several performances of Messiaen's Turangalîla Symphony, and took part in the Stockhausen festival at the Barbican Centre.

He made his New York debut in the 'Interpretations' contemporary music series, and recently gave a recital devoted to premières of works by British composers in Montreal where he also performed and lectured at McGill university. He is also much in demand as a chamber musician in which capacity he has performed at the Cheltenham, Spitalfields, Brighton and Huddersfield festivals and worked with the Duke, and Belcea Quartets.

*David Weaver* began studies in composition in 2000 while a sophomore at Swarthmore College. While completing a B.A. in physics he took extensive courses in music including composition with Gerald Levinson. From 2002 to 2005 he worked as a laboratory researcher in cell biology at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia. His scientific discoveries have appeared in The Journal of Cell Biology. In 2005 he began pursuing music full-time as a D.M.A student in composition at Cornell University where he studies with composers Steven Stucky, Roberto Sierra, and Kevin Ernste. Recent works have included an interactive electroacoustic gallery installation at Cornell University. His instrumental works have been performed at Cornell, Swarthmore College, and in New York City.

Cornell Concerto Competition

2007-01-24T01:12:00.000-05:00

The Third Annual Cornell Concerto Competition is fast approaching.
This Saturday, January 27, 2007 the following participants will take part in the competition. This is the largest number of participants we have had in its short three year history. The preliminary round will begin at 1030 am in B20 of Lincoln Hall, then move to Barnes Hall from 12-330 pm. The final round will be at 7 pm in Barnes Hall. All proceedings are free and open to the public.

Order of Participants

in B20
Time - Name - instrument - accompanist - composer - composition
1030 am
Greg Shih guitar Fred Lacroix Rodrigo Concierto de Aranjnez(Adagio)
1045 am
Diana Golden cello Dorian Bandy Haydn Concerto in C (1st mvt)
11 am
Peanut Wong marimba Thomas Weber Rosauro Concerto (4th mvt)
1115 am
Emily Looney saxophone Grame Bailey Glazunov Concerto in Eb

1130 am break

in Barnes Hall
12 pm
Kevin Lin piano Frederic Lacroix Rachmaninov concerto no.2 1st mvt
1215 pm
Jung Bin Lee piano Grame Bailey Liszt Totentanz
1230 pm
Kathleen Ting piano ? Beethoven Concerto no. 4(1st mvt)
1245 pm
Tanya Lee piano David Kim Tchaikovsky concerto no. 1 1st mvt
1 pm
Nathan Drenkow piano Stefania Neonato Rachmaninov concerto no. 2 1st mvt
115 pm
Mariko Adachi piano David Kim Schumann aminor(1st mvt)

_____130pm break
in Barnes Hall
2 pm
Maurice Chammah violin Graeme Bailey Bloch Baal Shem (II night)
215 pm
Charlene Kluegel violin Graeme Bailey Sibelius concerto 1st mvt
230 pm
Stephanie Chu violin ? Saint-Saens concerto no.3 3rd mvt
245 pm
Jian Liu violin Graeme Bailey Chausson Poeme
3 pm
Esther Kim violin Sezi Seskir Sibelius concerto 1st mvt
315 pm
Andrew Yeo violin Sezi Seskir Lalo Symphonie Espagnol
330 pm
Meredith Riley violin Bill Cowdrey Mozart concerto no. 4 1st mvt

7 pm Evening final round in Barnes Hall

Chamber Orchestra Roster

2007-01-24T01:04:00.000-05:00

Here is the String Roster for the Spring semester Chamber Orchestra.
We had our first rehearsal on Tuesday.

Violins
Charlene Kluegel, Biology/Music, '10
Adam Sidor, Mechanical Engineering, '08
Meredith Riley, Music
Yvette Wong, Math, '10
Andrea Matho, '10
Kevin Eckes, Biological Engineering, '09
Maurice Chammah, Music, '10
Benjamin Ou-Yang, Astronomy, '10
Adrienne Carey, Undecided, '09
Sasha Wiktorek, A&S, '07
Brightin Schlumpf, Music, '07
Jennifer Hwang, Policy Analysis and Management, '07
Carol Ohh, Engineering, '10
Melanie Jacobs, Psych/English, '09
Sayako Seto, '10
Alex Fe, Bioengineering, '08
Haran Tae, Government and History, '10
Alex Ma, Biology, '08
Lily Hakim, AEM Business, '07
Natalie Pierro, Architecture, '08

Violas
Christina Hung, Psychology, '09
Claire Barbasch, Math/Music, '07
Eric Auerbach, Industrial Labor Relations, '10
Dorian Bandy, Music, '10
Jennifer Lee, Biology/Economics, '08
Tina Chen, English, '08
Jason Cho, Undecided, '08

Cello
Theresa Tan, Psychology, '09
Abe Katzen, Biology, '07
Ellen Haynes, Animal Science, '09
Brian Lee, Chemistry, '10
Julia Hilabrant, Biology/Music, '08
Isabelle Posey Cutting
Sarah Woo, HE/HBHS, '08

Bass
Mike DeFlorio, Atmospheric Science, '09
Aara Edwards

First CSO rehearsal tonight

2007-01-22T13:09:00.000-05:00

Tonight is the first rehearsal of the semester.
Both the Monday and Wednesday night rehearsals will take place in B20 of Lincoln Hall this semester. Tonight's rehearsal will begin at 630 pm with Sibelius second symphony. If you would like your part before the rehearsal please get in touch with our librarian Alex Tsiatas. To register for CSO it is under Music 344.

Auditions

2007-01-22T13:04:00.000-05:00

Orchestra auditions will be held this week. It is by appointment only. Please contact Chris Kim at cyk8(at)cornell.edu for an audition time.
There are openings in the following sections in both orchestras.

CSO
2 spots in first violin section
1 spot in second violin section
3 spots in viola section
2 spots in cello section
3 spots in bass section

flute - No openings
oboe - 1 opening
clarinet - No openings
bassoon - No openings
horns - 1 spot
trumpet - No openings
trombone - No openings
tuba - No openings
percussion - No openings

CCO
violin sections - No openings
viola - 2 spots open
cello - 1 spot open
bass - 1 opening
No openings in wind or brass section
1 opening for celesta/keyboard
1 opening for percussion
1 opening for harp

Please bring two contrasting excerpts and be ready to sight read an excerpt.
Audition will last about 10 minutes and will be held in Room 332 of Lincoln Hall.
Please remember audition slots are only given by appointment.

Berlin Phil

2007-01-21T10:34:00.000-05:00

Oh my goodness, Berlin Philharmonic is amazing.

This morning we got to the Philharmonie around 9 am and had a pre-rehearsal lecture with the cellist who was to be playing a concerto with the orchestra that day. I'm sure it would have been interesting, but it was all in German. Needless to say, I didn't really catch most of it. I was able to pick out some musical terms and the composers' names. Just goes to show how universal music is. :-)

After the lecture we walked into the concert hall. In plain English, it was amazing. Check it out:

http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=7940

And that image is from "behind" the stage - there are seats all around the hall. Although we sat down on the first level (or somewhere thereabouts) during rehearsal, we had nosebleed section tickets later that night. I'm talking literally the last row. Unlike most last-row tickets, though, these seats were great! The accoustics in the hall were amazing and everything was crystal clear. Plus birds-eye views are cool. We got to see everything with no obstacles to strain our necks around. OK, though, enough of the logistics, more of the music!

The first piece was Henri Dutilleux's cello concerto. It was a bit cracked out and a little too long for what it was, but an interesting piece. Tchaikowsky was next though - Symphony No. 6. A-mazing! As far as composers go for me, Russians rock. And the alliteration proves it must be true! Seriously a beautiful piece. And having one of the best groups in the WORLD play it was wonderful.

At one point during the third movement, I glanced around and there were at least five people right next to me (including myself) on the edges of our seats. It was so amazing and tight and together and beautiful... Music is awesome. I sound like such a music dork right now (I am, so it's cool), but it was amazing to me that a bunch of 20 year-old jet-lagged college kids were so excited that they couldn't sit back in their seats. Terrific.

Friday January 12, 2007

I missed New York City briefly on Friday. Earlier on Winter Break I had visited friends down in NY and gotten to know the city a little better than before. One important bit I learned was that even avenues run north, odd ones run south Now, there could be a similar system in Berlin. But if there was, I was unaware.

After an afternoon of site-seeing with a couple of fellow woodwinds, the few of us went back to the hostel to change before our evening at the opera. Changing into mostly our concert dress (because those were the only dressy clothes we brought) with a few alterations, we left the hostel and headed out on the S-Bahn in plenty of time to get to the Komische Oper Haus. I thought I knew exactly where I was going, so nobody questioned me. Whoops. That was the wrong idea. We got off at the right stop, but instead of turning up the street, I got confused and turned us down the street. It was drizzling a little, but not too bad. After a few blocks, I realized that we were getting farther away from where we wanted to be. I felt awful. (This was the point when I wished I knew which way the traffic went on streets in Berlin) Not only were my navigating skills shot to nothing, but I was making myself and my friends late to the opera. In Europe. Apologizing profusely, I handed the map over to Julia, she got us back on course and we made a beeline for the opera house. Fortunately, our conductor had left the last three tickets with the woman at the door and we got right into our seats… As the orchestra was tuning.

The rest of the evening turned out to be really great. The opera, Die Fliedermous, was exceptional and very entertaining. They even butlered champagne during one of the songs (which was about drinking champagne and being merry – very appropriate). The nice German couple next us, instead of taking the champagne for themselves, past it down to us girls. It was a great treat to put a smile on our faces and ease my feelings of guilt. Overall, it turned into a wonderful evening with wonderful music. An adventure, of course, but I wouldn’t expect anything less from a day in Europe. And now we have a good story to boot.

Monday

Last night was an adventure. A bunch of us decided to go out to the bars after we got home from our big group dinner. We didn’t head out till 11:30 and it took a little while to find a decent place open on a Sunday evening. So by the time we got settled, it was late. Around 2:15 am the bartender of the place we were at decided we finally wanted to go home. Some people decided to check out some other places, while about five of us decided to go home. We walked to the nearest S-Bahn stop and had a nasty surprise. It was gated. Apparently, the train doesn’t run 24/7 in Berlin. After weighing our options, we decided the only way to get back to the hostel (insert dramatic pause) was to walk there. Doesn’t sound too bad, but we were a good three-plus miles from home, and it was cold, and we were in a foreign country. Slightly unnerving, but there are power in numbers. That calmed me down a bit. It took a while, but we finally got home around 4 am. Needless to say, I didn’t get up at the crack of dawn to go sight-seeing.

My friend and I finally set out around 11 am to do some souvenir shopping and see the last few sites we wanted to. The day panned out well and we got everything in despite our late start.

Now on to packing. The last day of Berlin is coming to a close. It was a great city and a great trip! And I love that these trips get you to meet people that under ordinary circumstances you wouldn’t meet, even though we have so much in common. We’re musicians!

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Today we had our dress rehearsal in the church we’re performing in tomorrow. It was a really nice, big and open place. Made for some interesting acoustics, but very pretty. Rehearsal went well, despite having to wait a while for someone to unlock the church for us.

Later on, some of us went to the Berlin Symphony Orchestra concert. They played one of my favorite pieces, Brahms Symphony No. 1. Unfortunately, it was not the greatest performance. Maybe we were just spoiled having heard Berlin Phil the day before, but it just wasn’t the best.

The best part of the evening came later at the hostel. There were a lot of people hanging around the hostel, partaking at the (always popular) Generator Bar and playing card games. As one of my fellow flute players pointed out, musicians are often very good at fast card games because we’re used to being fast with our hands. Thus ensued a rousing night of spoons. However, the smart people at the hostel realized all their spoons would inevitably wind up in the hands of crazy American musicians, and so locked them up. We resorted to using fake sugar packets instead. It did the trick. Our group started small, but grew slowly and wound up including a bunch of students, our conductor, and one of our guest soloists. As the group grew, so did the energy and pretty soon we had a large group of really hyper musicians. If you have never had the pleasure of being around such a group, it is pretty amazing. Everyone was laughing and trying not to get their fingers slammed by other incoming hands reaching for “spoons” (or sugar packets). Oh yeah, and being pretty competitive about the game. It was really amazing the transformation from being skeptical about playing the game, to joining in, to getting ÜBER competitive. (This was exactly the case with our guest soloist, who wound up being quite the player). We eventually turned it into a game of Survivor Spoons (= amazing fun). The last round was between Chris (our conductor) and one of the cellist. The cellist was victorious!

Good times at the Generator Hostel.

Sunday January 21, 2007

Concert day!

In the morning we all went to this amazing hotel by Alexanderplatz. The lobby was circular in shape, and in the middle towered a four story tall, cylindrical fish tank. I would have loved to be a scuba diver who got paid to swim around the tank and wave at people all day. Screw med school, that’s my plan for the future. (Just kidding!) There (in the restaurant of the hotel, not the fish tank) we had a delicious three course, served brunch. The food was delicious and the service was great! I used to work in a hotel where I served a lot of functions like that one, so it was really nice to be on the other end of things!

After a couple hours and stop at the hostel to change, we made our trek to the western side of Berlin to the church again. But this time it was concert time! It was very exciting to finally be playing in Germany! It was my first time performing in Europe and I was very amped for the concert. Our audience turned out to be a little small, but not surprisingly seeing as we didn’t do too terribly much advertising. The pieces went really well and we were all really happy to have had such a great concert and experience!

A group dinner at a restaurant a couple miles down the street completed the wonderful day. It was especially nice to have the whole group together for the majority of the day. Previous to today we had all split up into little groups to go sight-seeing and shopping. Today it was really nice to feel the whole group around you and camaraderie associated with it. It was a really great day. :-)

Yikes! Berlin Airport!

2007-01-19T22:31:00.000-05:00

We departed Ithaca on a fairly nice Tuesday morning and set about on our journey to Berlin, Germany. The bus was pretty uneventful, except for the thrilling truck stop we stopped at for lunch. Taco Bell or McDonalds? Oh the choices... To make a long story short, the flight over there was fine, although I think the Dramamine I took made me a little loopy, so any sleep I got was a little bit strange.

We arrived in Berlin after a lay-over in Amsterdam (unfortunately not long enough to experience any of the Dutch culture outside the Schiphol Airport Walls). We were divided into two flights from Amsterdam to Berlin and I was on the second flight along with the rest of the flute section. On tours like this (at least the ones I've been on), sections usually look out for one another and usually stay fairly close. So it was a little alarming when, after we had loaded the buses to drive to our hostel, Chris got on the bus and said "Where's Rebecca?" Rebecca is a fellow floutist. Alex and I looked at eachother with panicked faces and both had the "Oh no, we just lost a section member" look on our faces. Chris assured us he had asked the other bus if she was on, and when everyone said no Chris went into a mode just shy of panic.

"All the guys, off the bus."

I must say, I took a little offense to this one gendered request, but I knew he was just trying to be protective. No sooner had the guys set off in groups of threes to search the airport, then I noticed Rebecca's head popping out of the other bus. Apparently, she had fallen asleep in the back of the bus and the string player next to her didn't know her name. The conversation that followed her waking up is slightly comical:

Rebecca: awakened in the midst of craziness "What's going on?"

String player: "We're missing the flute player named Rebecca."

Rebecca: "I'm Rebecca!"

Lesson learned - although we all dread ice breakers, they are necessary to learn names and prevent missing person reports. Luckily, the emergency turned out to be a fluke. Next time though, I think we'll have a few mandatory rounds of "The Name Game" before departing on any crazy adventures.

Article on Chronicle

2007-01-19T13:51:00.000-05:00

Here is an article on the Cornell Chronicle.
Robert Barker/University Photography
Conductor Chris Kim, left, rehearses with soloists John Haines-Eitzen, right, and Stephen Miahky.

Conclusions

2007-01-19T10:17:00.001-05:00

As a whole, I think the tour was a huge success. Other than a few minor hiccups (sort of losing a group member, getting locked out of the church…) the whole thing went off pretty much without a hitch. Not only did we get to see some amazing things, but I made a lot of new friends and I think everyone else did as well. The orchestra as a whole will be a lot closer after this, which can only help us musically. Also, we can form a united front to search for the closest equivalent to apfelschorle.

Day 6 Monday, Memorial Church, Olympic Stadium, the Reichstag

2007-01-19T10:15:00.000-05:00

Today was our free day and we were planning to go to Potsdam and check out the palace but it was closed today. Luckily, we discovered this before we left the hostel. So instead we went back to the KaDeWe area to check out the bombed-out church that serves as a war memorial.

After that, we took the S-Bahn out of the range that we had paid for (accidentally, I swear!) to see the Olympic Stadium, which was built by Hitler for the 1936 Olympics. The stadium very stark in the way that you expect Third Reich architecture to be, but it had been spruced up some by the addition of a partial glass roof and the removal of the Fuhrer’s Box. It was also the site of the finals of the World Cup this past summer, where Italy beat France in penalty kicks (and Zinedine Zidane made the Headbutt Heard ‘Round the World) and there was a group of loud and possibly drunk Italians still celebrating the win by waving flags and singing their national anthem at top volume.

After several train changes, we made our way back to Unter den Linden to see the Reichstag, this time from the inside. The renovated Reichstag has a cool dome on the top and roof terrace which we wandered around on and took pictures from. There is also an overpriced café on the terrace, where we ate a light snack (would have been lunch but by this time it was nearly dinner hour). After that I came back to the hostel and packed up my luggage and made a quick internet stop (at 4E/hour it could only be quick) and went to bed early as we had to be up at 5 the next morning to fly home.

Day 5 Sunday, Our concert

2007-01-19T10:13:00.000-05:00

Sunday we had brunch in a fancy hotel which featured an enormous aquarium with a double-decker elevator inside it. The brunch wasn't that great and it was quite expensive so that was a bust. Also, in what was becoming an altogether too common theme for the trip, drinks were expensive and small, meaning you had to chose between dehydration and bankruptcy. Afterward, we came back hostel to change into concert dress, and left for our concert.

The concert went quite well (better than the December version for the most part I would say), although it was fairly sparsely attended. I'd say about 30 or 40 people showed up, including someone from the US Embassy and the director of the Komische Oper, who is apparently from Ithaca.

Afterward, we all had a nice dinner at a nearby Italian restaurant and took copious amounts of pictures of each other. Later, I ventured out to explore German nightlife, but discovered it was pretty dead on a Sunday night in January. Nonetheless, a good time was had by all.

Day 4 Saturday, Rehearsal, Checkpoint Charlie, Konzerthaus

2007-01-19T10:11:00.000-05:00

Saturday morning we had a dress rehearsal in the church where we were performing Sunday. Unfortunately it was a good distance away from the closest S-Bahn station so we had to walk for 15 minutes or so to get there. It wasn't so bad for me but I imagine it really sucked for the cellos. When we got to the church, the door was locked so we had to stand around outside and wait for a while before someone was woken up to let us in. The church itself was very nice, old building but modern stained glass.

After rehearsal a small group of us went to Checkpoint Charlie and to check out one of the remaining sections of Wall. The Checkpoint Charlie Museum was interesting, I thought, although a bit large and too varied. For instance, tt included a couple rooms devoted just to non-violent protests around the world and another just to different world religions. There were some neat exhibits showing the inventive ways people tried to escape East Berlin. My favorite was one where a lady was hidden in two suitcases side-by-side. The section of Wall nearby was tucked away back in a neighborhood and not
well-signed at all but we found it. All the graffiti had been chipped off (probably sold to tourists like me) but it was still cool to see what it looked like. Being a civil engineer who had just taken a course in concrete, I was interested to see how heavily reinforced the wall was. Where the wall has been knocked down there are cobblestones showing where it used to be so we had fun jumping back and forth from East to West Berlin.

By this time, we were exhausted from carrying around our instruments all day (some people went back to the hostel to drop them off but we decided that would have taken too long and chose to lug them around instead). We walked from Checkpoint Charlie over to the area of the Konzerthaus to find somewhere to eat. None of us were all that hungry, but the only place that we could find was a fairly chic Italian place, where the waiters were visibly irritated by our ordering of two pizzas to split among the five of us.

After dinner, we went to the Konzerthaus to see an all-British program (Bridge, Britten, and Elgar). The building was very ornate and felt like it wouldn’t seem all that extraordinary if Mozart himself wandered in. The first half of the concert was pretty boring but the second half (the Elgar 1) was good and certainly made up for the first half. Then we went looking for currywurst, Berlin's local delicacy. Afterward we came back to the hostel and played Apples to Apples, Berlin Tour Edition with an ever-growing number of people.

Day 3 Friday, Rehearsal, KaDeWe, the Pergamon, and the Komische Oper

2007-01-19T10:09:00.000-05:00

This morning we had rehearsal in the hostel again. I can’t imagine what the other hostel guests think of us. We took up almost half of the common area and blocked most of the pathways between the other half of the common area and the main lobby. A couple people sat around and listened to us for a bit, but I couldn’t tell if that was out of interest or inability to find a way through.

Afterward, the whole group went to KaDeWe, a huge department store not unlike Harrod's. We had lunch in the food halls. I had some smoked salmon, a shrimp-oil-garlic dish and strawberries and whipped cream. Then the orchestra splintered into smaller groups and went our separate ways. My group stayed at KaDeWe for a while, mostly admiring their vast chocolate selection, and then headed off to Museum Island to see the Pergamon Museum. The museum was mostly devoted to ancient Greek and Babylonian artifacts, including a full-sized replica of the altar from the temple of Pergamon. There was also a full-sized model of the Gate of Ishtar from Babylon.

Then the orchestra met up again at the Komische Oper to see Strauss’ comic operetta, Die Fliedermaus. The plot was so convoluted and spoken entirely in German that it was pretty indecipherable, even though I had seen an English version fairly recently. However, the set and music completely made up for that. The set fully rotated and had a three-story working elevator in the middle of the stage.

After eating dinner at an Italian place on Unter den Linden, we came back to the hostel, where we stayed up until all hours playing Apples to Apples and Spoons (with packets of something called Assugrin in place of the silverware). Despite his musical ability, I must report that Steve Miahky is pretty miserable at Spoons.

Day 2 Thursday, Berlin Philharmonic

2007-01-19T10:07:00.000-05:00

Thursday we went to a dress rehearsal of the Berlin Philharmonic, which was pretty neat, although everyone was still really jet-lagged. They were playing a modern cello concerto and the Tschaikovky 6. Before the rehearsal, the cellist who was performing the concerto gave a half-hour talk about it, entirely in German peppered with Italian musical words. Suffice to say, it was pretty incomprehensible to most of us, although he did a few demonstrations of cello technique which were cool.

Afterward, we had some free time, so a group of trooped off toward central Berlin. We went and saw the Holocaust Memorial (although apparently we completely failed to find the main exhibit, which was hidden underground), the Reichstag (but didn't go inside unfortunately), the Brandenburg Gate, then strolled up Unter den Linden (one of the main drags of Berlin--- the linden trees had been there for years until Hitler chopped them down to make parade grounds but they have since been replanted), the Berliner Dom (the city cathedral), and the TV tower from East Berlin. Right before we got to the TV tower, it had started to rain so we were quite happy to just sit in the revolving restaurant at the top and take in the (somewhat obscured) view for a couple hours, nursing coffee and wine. It was sometime on this day that we collectively discovered apfelschorle (“apple spritzer”). My family and I discovered this delicious German drink about ten years ago when we were here, but had mistakenly called it apfelsaft (“apple juice”) ever since. Unfortunately, it’s nearly impossible to find a suitable equivalent in the States, so it was a nice treat for me to drink it again.

After dinner at a doener kebap stand at Alexanderplatz, the group headed back to the Philharmonie. The concert was great and I was much more awake than during the rehearsal. Undoubtedly, the best part of the evening was the very zealous cymbal/gong player, who had very few notes, but made a huge production of all of them.

Day 0-1, Ithaca -> NYC -> Amsterdam -> Berlin

2007-01-19T10:05:00.000-05:00

This was a very long day. After having rehearsals Sunday night and most of the day Monday, we left at 9:30 AM Tuesday from Lincoln Hall. The bus trip to JFK was thankfully very uneventful. Checking in at the airport was a hassle, but considering the size of our group and the large things we were taking with us, it wasn’t entirely unexpected. The long flight from New York to Amsterdam was actually fairly short as these things go. Once we got into Amsterdam, some of us had a three-hour layover and some only had an hour. I was in the three hour crowd, and I spent most of it wandering around the airport and playing poker with M&M’s. Once we got on the one-hour flight to Berlin, I promptly fell asleep, missing what I was told were very delicious sandwiches.

Once we got to Berlin we had a bit of a scare. When we thought we had everyone on the buses, a quick headcount had us missing one person. It turned out she was just asleep and hunched down in her seat. But we only discovered this after four search parties had been sent to find her, one of which didn't come back and had to be searched for itself. Meanwhile, Steve Miahky bought some currywurst and offered it around. I tried some, thought it delicious, and then spilled a bunch of the sauce on myself. Eventually everything got straightened out and we made it to our hostel. The hostel is quite nice
and modern by hostel standards. I am sharing a room with three other 2nd violinists.
It is squarely in what used to be Soviet East Berlin, and the architecture around it certainly proves that.

Some friends and I decided to use our free time this afternoon to venture into central Berlin and see the Brandenburg Gate. So we bought S-Bahn tickets and got on the train
and changed trains at a station onto one which we thought was going into the city center. It got close. It went three or four stations, stopped for five minutes, and then went the other direction (strangely, no one else got out either). Well, no big deal, we'll just hop out and get another train going back toward the center. So we find one that comes into the station going the right direction and get on. And sit for five minutes. And then it goes the other direction. At that point we were so fed up with the indecisive trains that we decided to just bag it and came back to the hostel.

We have a rehearsal tonight (3 hours long, not exactly the best way to start the trip) with some Berlin musicians.

January 15, 2007 - Monday

2007-01-15T23:59:00.000-05:00

Oops! Turns out, almost every museum is closed on Mondays. Instead, we went to a palace and the Berlin Zoo. Though one may think a zoo is a zoo, this zoo was unique in that the animals were all impressively tame and warm to humans. There were no high fences holding in the animals - they well separated from the paths by a small trench and a foot-high fence. Zoo personal walked freely among the animals without eliciting any kind of fear in them. In fact, I even got to pet a Mongolian horse (it was fuzzy!), and many other horses promptly came over to be petted.

From the zoo, we could see the victory tower, so we walked through parks and across highways to find it. After doing so, we took a bus to a giant department store, stopping along the way at a McDonalds because one of my friends (Mickey) insisted that getting a "Royale with cheese" (an American quarterpounder) was an experience not to be missed (and I agree!). At the Galleria, I discovered the reason we came - the bottom level was dedicated to candy and chocolate! After much excitement and empty pockets, and being tired and cold after walking in the suddenly-chilly weather, I suggested we go to the TV tower (since the new group I was with had not yet seen it), so we went, ate dinner, and relaxed. It was a fun last day in Berlin and a great way to wrap up my vacation!

January 14, 2007 - Sunday

2007-01-14T23:59:00.001-05:00

When I woke bright and early, a bunch of my friends asked if I wanted to see the instrument museum before our group lunch. Since there were so many places to see in our one short week, I jumped at the opportunity and we marched over to the museum. Unfortunately, we only had around half an hour to look at the exhibit, but the museum was absolutely amazing. Pianos and stringed instruments from the 17th and 18th centuries were on display, ornamented and colored with delicacy and beauty. There were violins made specifically for practicing (tiny sound-box) and stringed instruments built into walking canes! Not being much of a brass player, I couldn't fully appreciate the brass instruments there, but could definitely see the alterations in design as time progressed.

We moved on to the Radisson- a very classy hotel with a giant aquarium in the middle through which passed the elevator, but which we sadly missed the opportunity to ride. The meal was classy as well - the 3-course lunch included steak and a wonderful dessert which I could definitely have eaten about 40 more of.

After that, it was off to the concert! Everyone played well, and the church we played in was beautiful. The windows appeared cracked in several different places, and after talking to some of the locals, I found out that the church had been there during the war, and after reconstruction, it remains part of the history.

After the concert, we went to a ritzy restaurant for another 3-course meal. It was delicious and everyone had a great time. One of the members in the orchestra toasted Chris Kim, who then made a touching mini-speech about how much he loved the orchestra and the tour.

When we got back to the hostel, a group of us promptly returned to the city in full concert dress to visit the more high-end of the nightlife -the casino. More than one of my friends made substantial money (in the hundreds of dollars), while it was fun for the rest of us to just watch our friends play. That was definitely an experience.

January 12, 2007 - Friday

2007-01-12T23:59:00.000-05:00

Today is my birthday! Last night everyone was amazing and toasted to me at midnight, and I got many, many birthday wishes today. I think this trip has definitely been a great way to form valuable bonds with fellow musicians, and many people I've met or gotten to know better on this trip now feel like old friends.

We started the day with a morning rehearsal in the hostel. In the afternoon, we ate at a restaurant called KaDeWe. The food was absolutely amazing, and I got to practice my approximation of the weight of so many grams (instead of pounds) after all those years of measuring it in a lab! After lunch, a bunch of us went to the Judisches Museum. There were many intriguing and eye-opening exhibits, including my favorite, which was a long tunnel with brass gaping faces covering the ground. When walking into the darkness at the end of the tunnel, all you could hear was the eerie clanking of the metal faces, and since you had to watch your step, the ground seemed to be staring up at you from all directions. The exhibit was embodying the forgotten memories of holocaust victims, and I thought it was extremely effective in doing so.

After the museum, we stopped by Checkpoint Charlie on the way to the Komische Oper to watch Strauss' Die Fledermaus. Since this was one of the first operas I'd ever seen, it was very entertaining and reminded me of how centralized Berlin culture was around the arts. On that street alone, there were many different opera houses, and the house we went to was full. On a related note, it was also interesting to walk around malls and parks and see a substantial number of people walk by with recognizable instruments on their backs (cellos, violins, trombones) - something not regularly seen in America.

After the concert, the conductor of the opera orchestra, conductor of the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra in Ithaca, and family friend, Kimbo, took Chris, Steve, one of his friends, and I to a German restaurant for amazing food, drinks, and dessert. He even got me flowers for my birthday, and, being his birthday the following day, had a wonderful time.

January 11, 2007

2007-01-11T23:59:00.000-05:00

Today we woke up bright and early to watch the Berlin Philharmoniker rehearsal in the Philharmonie. After that, a small group of us walked around the city visiting landmarks like the Berliner Dom. At night, we watched the Berlin Philharmoniker concert, which was excellent. At this point, the tour was getting so exciting and fun, especially when living with 50-something good friends, that I didn't have time to write in this blog, let alone even check email. So! My contribution to this blog is now mostly from memories and trying to trace my steps through pictures.

Day at the Philharmonie

2007-01-11T18:55:00.000-05:00

Berlin Philharmoniker Day

We had our first excursion as a group to the Philharmonie, the home of the Belrin Philharmoniker. We attended their open rehearsal and in the evening we attended the concert. More details later.