Fireflies & Goodbyes

Thank you, Brevard!

Wow! What a summer it has been!

I cannot believe that this festival is over!

Let’s discuss the final week!

Orchestra

This week, I was in the faculty side-by-side orchestra. However, I wasn’t sitting with a faculty member. I was sitting on my own stand at the back of the 1st violins, but I could not have asked for a better final week! On the program was Mozart’s C Major Piano Concerto and Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “Sea Symphony.” Maestro Kieth Lockhart was conducting with soloist Richard Goode.

I was very unfamiliar with the “Sea Symphony,” but it caught me by surprise! I actually LOVED it! This piece was composed for a very large orchestra, including the addition of organ, chorus, and 2 soloists. The music was grand, lush, and beautiful. Every word was sung with such care, finesse, and power.

One funny story about the music. In one of the movements, the orchestra is reduced to play underneath the soloists. It starts as just 4 stands, then goes to 6 stands. The funny part is that I am the only person on stand #7. So I was the only person who was not playing during one section. Occasionally, some of the faculty sitting in front of me would turn and look back at me. I was super confused. Did this mean they wanted me to play too? Because I was the only one left? They laughed and smiled. They were just teasing, so it became a thing that whenever we got to that part, they would turn back and look at me and we would laugh and smile, even during the final concert.

To me, that is what music is all about! The connection, the joy, the community, and so much more! This summer has given me more experiences to fill my cup that I could have ever asked for!

All the rain!

This week, the rain has been TORRENTIAL!!!! Like, walk outside and get soaked head-to-toe bad. I walked through one storm early in the week to get to a lesson, but later in the week, a group of us had to take shelter in the alumni house to wait out the rain. During that hide out, a tree right next to the building was struck by lightning! All we saw was a cloud of leaves! After the rain slowed, we saw the tree had been split down the middle and the bark had been shot off the tree! We also found out that the tree directly outside my bedroom window had also been struck! It created a spiral pattern around the tree and expelled splinters of wood all out into the road. It was very crazy!

Miro Quartet

This week, the Miro Quartet was visiting. Their concert on Monday was absolutely INCREDIBLE!!! The memorable pieces on their concert was Ginastera’s 2nd string quartet and Debussy’s string quartet. They work so well together and generate such a unique sound as a group. They also sit in a very interesting orientation. The cellist sits next to the 1st violin and the 2nd violin sits across from the 1st violin and the viola is in the middle. This unique arrangement of instruments allows for the 1st violin and the cello to play in perfect sync, melody and bass. The amount of playing together that the 2nd violin and viola do together makes sense to have them sitting next to each other, and the 1st and 2nd violins get to really express the counterplay between their parts. Their concert was breathtaking.

On Tuesday, my chamber group got to perform in a masterclass led by two of the Miro Quartet members. The Coleridge-Taylor is certainly complex in its own way, but we were able to dive into the small discrepancies in the score and discuss different possibilities in future performances. It was very high energy and quite exciting to dive into the music under a different lens.

Masterclass with Maria Ioudenitch

Our other visiting soloist this week was Maria Ioudenitch. She is an absolutely incredible violinist! I was selected among other students to perform and work with Maria in a masterclass! Yimeng and I performed the 4th movement of the Franck Sonata. In the masterclass with Maria, we talked about tradition with the performance contexts of this piece. We worked through dynamics, artistry, and accents. We discussed what past performers have traditionally done and worked on communication between the violin and piano. I certainly learned a lot from this experience

Final Studio Class

Thursday, we had a final meeting as a studio. We had pizza and performed for each other what we had been working on during the summer. After each performance, we gave each other compliments on our pieces, and we even gave self-compliments. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Karen this summer. I have grown so much as a musician. I have learned more about efficient and effective practice and how to be consistent. I have so many notes to take on all our lessons and so much to put into my practice and performance. I will be forever grateful for all the connections I have built at Brevard this summer.

Pre-concert Recital

On Saturday, I performed in the pre-concert recital that evening. I have been working diligently all summer to prepare as much of my final master’s recital repertoire as possible. Included in that is the Franck Sonata for Violin and Piano. My pianist Yimeng and I performed the 1st and 4th movements of the Franck Sonata at this recital. I was so proud of our performance! I have made so much incredible progress this summer and to perform what I have been working on felt incredible! Working with Yimeng was amazing. She is one of the best collaborative pianists I have ever worked with! We truly created art together. Music, art, and emotion, a true story came to life! I wish I could fly her out for my recital, but I am sure we will make music together again in the future!

My impressions and thoughts about the entire summer…

I find it interesting that my first “real” encounter with fireflies has been this summer in North Carolina. They are everywhere! In fact, during one of the early concerts, I was in the audience and many fireflies were hovering above our heads. A few rows up, a student reached up and snatched one out of the air! It is so peaceful to look out into the forest at night and see it decorated with little dots of light. Never permanent, but ever beautiful.

That is I guess a perspective for this festival too. It is never meant to last forever, but every moment is worth it. You must be fully committed to the learning and the music in order for the true beauty of the festival to emerge.

This festival was fast-paced. It was A LOT of music! We performed multiple concerts each week and every concert was new repertoire. We had weekly lessons, sometimes more, and chamber coachings and other various rehearsals. I have plowed through so much music in the last seven weeks. I could not have made as much progress anywhere else.

I have finally found my voice as a musician. I have been told to continue to follow my dreams, I might make other stops along the way, but one day, I might make it come true. I have learned new skills in disciplined practice time. My consistency as a performer has improved, and many faculty members have commented on my great intonation! I could not have ever asked for a better experience during the summer.

‘Till next time!

Caio!