Chordial Notes - February 2014

MUSIC = LOVE

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, it’s time to think about those you love and the things you love to do! This issue of Chordial Notes is packed with concerts and activities like the Jane Coop Solo Piano Recital on February 16 and the Musical Theatre Workshop over Spring Break with Joelle Rabu. We also celebrate some of our wonderfully successful students who continue to achieve the highest grades when they pursue their RCM examinations. Here at NCM we love MUSIC and we want to share it with everyone!!

JANE COOP - Solo Piano Recital Port Theatre Sunday February 16^th, 2014

Don’t miss this incredible concert, our annual fundraising event for the Conservatory. A huge thank you must be sent out to all of our donors and sponsors including BMW Nanaimo (there will be a Beemer in the lobby at the concert!) Tom Lee Music (They are lending us a 6 foot grand for the Master Class on Saturday at 2:30 at NCM) and Vancouver Island University (whose culinary arts students are providing the catering for the performer reception after the concert). In addition, our Concert Committee led by Christine Whitelaw have done a superb job of organizing the concert, getting the word out and generating support for the Conservatory. A huge thank you to Christine and the Concert Committee for all of their hard work!

JANE COOP MASTER CLASS – February 15 @ 2:30PM

On Saturday, February 15 at 2:30 in the NCM Ensemble Room, Jane Coop will give a Master Class for 4 advanced students. If you are a piano teacher or an aspiring pianist you should attend this workshop as an observer. Each student will play a piece and then Ms Coop will work with the student. She is known as an incredible educator and has just recently retired from teaching at UBC. Observer tickets are a suggested minimum donation of $10. Please reserve by calling NCM at 250 754 4611. Seating is extremely limited.

WINTER RECITAL – February 22 @ 2:00PM

The Winter Rectial will take place in the NCM Ensemble Room at 2:00 PM on February 22, 2014. Sign up sheets are posted on the office shutters. Please sign up by February 19. We are looking forward to hearing all the work that you have been doing. This is a great way to prepare for upcoming UIMF performances and examinations!

MUSICAL THEATRE CAMP – SPRING BREAK March 17-21 – REGISTER BY FEB 28 and save $100!

We’re doing it again! Last year’s Spring Break Musical Theatre was such a success that we have decided to bring it back. Directed by the illustrious Joelle Rabu, a world renowned chanteuse and musical theatre performer, this camp is, without question, some of the most fun a student can have over the Spring Break holiday. Working with Nico Rhodes who will prepare the music for the camp, Joelle has some wonderful ideas for how to make another “revue” performance on the final day of the camp. We make it easy for parents too! Classes run from 10-4, but your child can be dropped off as early as 8:30 and picked up as late as 5:00. We will have supervised child care available for the mornings and evenings! Tuition for the week is $350 but if you register by February 28 you can save $100. The camp is designed for students ages 7-14. Classes focus on: theatrical characterization, vocal technique, performance training, movement for the stage, teamwork, exploring creativity and problem solving. It’s fun and students learn a lot about how to create their own stage presence. Call NCM to register.

Student Achievements

·       George McNally, trombone student of John Capon at NCM, will be performing with his Jazz Quartet at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival in Moscow, Idaho. http://www.uidaho.edu/JAZZFEST. George is a grade 12 student at Alberni Secondary. George is son of Robert McNally, Bass Trombonist with the Naden Band. His mother Margot McNally teaches music at the middle school in Port Alberni. So, George comes by his musical talent and enthusiasm quite naturally!! George stands to win a substantial scholarship if the judges like his playing. So, we wish him luck in Idaho. The Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival runs February 19th through the 22nd, 2014.

·       Congratulations to flute student Uei-Young Jung, student of Cindy Speelman for achieving First Class Honours on her RCM Grade 4 flute exam in January.

·       Voice Teacher, Christine McMahon, recently received news that her students, Akela Szasz and Lilu Scott, have tied for the 2013 Gold Medal in their Gr. 4 RCM Voice exam with a mark of 93%.  These two twelve year old NCM students were awarded the highest mark in the Province of BC for their grade level.  The girls have frequently sung duets together and will again be performing in the Upper Island Music Festival, beginning March 8.

·       Elizabeth Herman, adult voice student of Christine NcMahon, has been cast in the lead role of Aldonza/Dulcinea in an upcoming production of Man of La Mancha directed by Mort Paul at the Ladysmith Little Theatre from April 24 - May 18.  She will also be performing in the 'Beautiful Baroque' recital with the Kirkwood dancers on Feb. 8, and in the UIMF on Sat. March 9.

·       Moyo Alabi, Suzuki piano student of Nicole Arendt is participating in the UIMF in 2 classes for piano.

·       Tianna Jack, piano student of Nicole Arendt, received First Class Honours for her RCM Piano Preparatory Exam in 2013.

·       A big cheer for Hayley Farenholtz, harp student of Marilyn Rummel who will collect her Gold Medal for the top mark in the province for Gr. 8 harp at the ceremony next month.

·       Congratulations to Joo Young Jung, violin student of Veronica Wagner, who received First Class Honours in Grade 6 violin!

Thank you to all of the instructors who sent in student achievements for the newsletter. Way to go everyone! What a celebration of Nanaimo Conservatory of Music success!

Announcements

·       SAYURI KUBOTA played her fourth annual SOLO PIANO RECITAL with Italian music in the program (on January 25 at the McMillan Arts Center in Parksville, and on February 1st at St.Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Nanaimo. As in the previous years, the proceeds from the Nanaimo concert she donated to the Nanaimo Conservatory of Music. Thank you so much Sayuri!

·       Come and Support these students who are performing at the Upper Island Music Festival. Students will be accompanied by Cassidy Stachow and Viki Jung Monday March 10 at 9 a.m. at St. Paul's Anglican Church; Moji Alabi, Ella Hannesson, Uei-Young Jung, Jocelyn Maguire, Jake McDermid, and Monica Mun Monday March 10 at 1:30 p.m. at St. Paul's Anglican Church: Grace Karreman, Elaine Tschofen, and Pat Wells

·       Happy 80^th birthday to our friend, volunteer and supporter Arla Jean Murch on February 19!

Elements of Music – New Offering – May 15 to June 19, 2014

I have been taking this class with Marilyn and I must say it is very, very good! As some of you know I am not a professional musician or music teacher, but I do sing with a group called Panache and I play guitar. Since I have been taking Marilyn’s class each time I go to work on music I find that the lessons that I have taken come back to give me wonderful insight into how to improve my performance. I highly recommend this class for anyone who is studying music. – Kathleen Darby, Executive Director

A second class of Elements of Music will begin Thursday May 15th in Nanaimo. There will be 6 sessions ending June 19th. Though the same material will be covered as in the current session, it's always a little different. Students seem to be really enjoying the classes so far! This is a class that is especially helpful if you've never studied music before, though it is especially good for those who have studied music all their lives. It is super prep for anyone taking exams and worrying about the ear-training portion of the exam. Register through the Conservatory.Tuition: $100

Community Events

·       Lynne Bowen Launches New Book - Award-winning author and Nanaimo Conservatory Board Member, Lynne Bowen is set to launch her latest book. Those Island People is a collection of stories about interesting and often unknown Vancouver Islanders.  The Nanaimo Museum will host the book launch on Monday, February 17 from 3:00pm-5:00pm. The book Those Island People was inspired by a monthly column Lynne Bowen wrote for the Times Colonist newspaper 10 years ago.  The stories cover a diverse group of people in regions all over Vancouver Island.  Each column was devoted to a person who lived on Vancouver Island but whose story was not widely known, including gold seekers and gamblers, former slaves and veteran soldiers, missionaries and rabble rousers.  The book will include additional stories about Islanders that Bowen has since collected.

·       'Beautiful Baroque' event is coming this Saturday! Students of the BC Registered Music Teachers Association (BCRMTA) (of whom a number are also NCM students) are collaborating with young dancers from the Kirkwood Academy of the Performing Arts to present a charming evening of Baroque entertainment featuring instrumental music, song, dance, and costumes from the period of 1600-1750. This unique event is part of a new 'branching-out' educational initiative by the BCRMTA to connect with other arts groups in our community, and has been conceived and produced by Jacinthe Laramee. There will be seven different choreographed dances presented with a cast of forty performers including a string orchestra, harp trio, singers and pianists, with music from the Baroque composers including Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, and Telemann.Tickets are only $10 for adults and $20 for families. Entrance for all school-age students of BCRMTA teachers is free! To be sure of getting a ticket please call Jacinthe Laramee at 250.751.2454 to reserve. See you at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church on Departure Bay Rd. on Saturday, Feb. 8 at 7 pm  to enjoy this mixed media performance of  music from the Beautiful Baroque.  Please forward this to any others who may be interested in attending.

·       The Vancouver Island Symphony presents - Hollywood Magic (otherwise known as Movie Music Mania); Guest artists: Symphonic Choir; Conductor: Pierre Simard; Saturday, February 15, 3:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Port Theatre, Nanaimo; Tickets: Individual and Family 4-Packs at 250-754-8550 www.porttheatre.com

CALENDAR
February 15            Jane Coop Master Class at NCM

February 16            Jane Coop Solo Piano Recital at the Port Theatre

February 22            Winter Recital

March 17-21            Musical Theatre Spring Break Camp

May 31                    Festival of Recitals

SAVE THE DATE!

FESTIVAL OF RECITALS – MAY 31, 2014

Our annual Festival of Recitals will be held again at the Conservatory on May 31. Please mark this day in your calendars. This event is always a lot of fun. Please also think about silent auction items that you would be willing to donate in support of the Conservatory.

           

Interview with Jane Coop

 by Alexis Harrison

At the age of nineteen, Jane Coop won First Prize in the CBC’s national radio competition and prizes at New York’s Kosziusko Foundation Competition and the Washington International Competition. Recital debuts at Wigmore Hall and Carnegie Recital Hall and performances with the Toronto Symphony, the Calgary Philharmonic, the Victoria Symphony and the CBC Vancouver Orchestra were followed by a tour as soloist with the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Canada. Subsequently she has played in over twenty countries and been a jury member for the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards, the Glenn Gould Prize, the Hnatyshyn Foundation Developing Artists Grants and various Canada Council grant awards. Three of her many critically successful recordings have earned Juno nominations and in 2012, Jane Coop was appointed to the Order of Canada.

      Nanaimo Conservatory of Music: to whom or what do your credit your childhood interest in becoming a musician? I understand your sister is also musical and won a national award for piano. If it’s something of a family tradition or something your parents originally orchestrated, what about outside of the home? Did public school or a Conservatory (or similar organization) have any part in it?

Jane Coop: think it was actually a few different things. Although they weren’t musicians, my parents were ardent music lovers who took us to the symphony and introduced us to the great composers. We weren’t under any pressure from them to become professionals; in fact, I think they were amazed that not one, but both their daughters studied music to the extent that we did! I also have to credit my excellent early teachers: as a twelve year old, for example, I studied with a young woman who had just graduated from Julliard. She had a great sense of humor and she just made music fun. As I grew older, the local chapter of Jeunesses Musicales became a cornerstone of my musical network. We gathered in members’ homes for house concerts, listening sessions, and discussion groups. I really felt like I was part of a community of like-minded people there, unlike at my high school, which was heavily sports-oriented. I didn’t make it known that I played piano and even picked up the double bass to play in orchestra: just so that nobody knew that side of me! Because I didn’t have a conservatory or a high school of the arts-type experience in my own adolescence, running summer camps for teenagers has brought me immense satisfaction.

            NCM: to speak to that last point, the so-called decline in popular interest in classical music is constantly mentioned in the media and cutting arts programs is often cited as a factor. Do you think this is a real threat to the art form, and if so, what do you think we can do about it?

JC: what interests me is that in the face of all these cuts and negative statistics, I have never seen so many amazing young musicians out there finding innovative ways to make it work. It’s become a given that big concert performances alone won’t guarantee you a career—unless you’re Lang Lang—and so people have taken to smaller venues, smaller audiences, and other alternatives, like playing in bars and restaurants. I think this is actually a good thing as far as revitalizing classical music goes, because when there are only thirty people in a room, every single person is engaged. You can’t not feel a profound connection to what’s happening, unlike in a massive symphony hall. Actually, some very memorable recitals for me took place in a Norwegian coffee shop and a bar in Berlin!

      NCM: your biography really can’t be matched in Canada and you’ve ostensibly cemented your place in our country’s musical history, but I read that you’re in the process of removing yourself from the teaching world in order to perform more. Having kept a “day gig” in academia for three decades, do you think your second debut as a full-time performing artist will be different? Do you find yourself more open to risks or new directions?

JC: I’m actually all done! It was a three year transition and I am now officially out of UBC. I absolutely loved teaching, especially being part of the academic community because it granted me access to a high standard of diverse, non-musical thinking. It’s invaluable as a musician to keep a sense of perspective, and talking to experts in other fields really helps. Although I always thought that a university career would be a good thing, I didn’t really have a plan on getting there, until one day in Toronto I walked past a notice board with the job posting. I had family in Vancouver and thought, why not? Thirty years later, I consider myself equal parts performer and educator.

That being said, it’s time to re-immerse myself in playing. I don’t foresee any radical twists in my career, but I do need space to focus on my own projects, instead of trying to cram recording sessions into my winter breaks, for instance. Also, my husband and I bought a little place in New York City and I’ve been taking advantage of this new freedom to collaborate with the talented musicians there. So, I guess my departure from academia isn’t a case of taking new things on, so much as taking old burdens off.

         NCM: as a born and raised Canadian, can you share any insights you’ve gained from performing internationally; for example, how do audiences differ by culture? In general, how do you think Canadians match up in terms of mainstream views towards classical music or the arts? From a musician’s perspective, is it better or worse abroad?

JC: I have noticed a few general trends: in Western Europe and North America, concertizing has less novelty. Audiences are passive because they know what to expect and the experience is somewhat taken for granted. That contrasts spectacularly with Eastern Europe, particularly before the Wall came down. Even those who had never before heard my name came out in droves, I think because they saw art and beauty as necessary to keep morale up. I haven’t experienced such attentiveness as I did in St. Petersburg: imagine an enormous concert hall full of riveted people.

Once again, I had an utterly different experience in China. That country is producing some of the top musicians in the world right now, but there doesn’t seem to be a great concert culture. Audience members talk over the music, get up to leave midway through a piece, and often won’t even applaud. I gave a master class and the students, who were incredible musicians, played to a seemingly indifferent room, so I ended up coaching their audience on how to clap.

In general, I really like to play small concerts, even in people’s houses. They’re great for trying out new programmes and the emotional connection is invaluable. One of my favourite performances ever was in rural northern Manitoba, where I played in a pizzeria owner’s living room for a crowd of people who otherwise spend their free time hunting and fishing. It was amazing! They were so appreciative and genuinely cared about the music, as evidenced by them driving for hours to be there. There’s nothing better than that.

      NCM: on a somewhat non-music related note, I’ve read that you enjoy hiking and making the best of living on the West Coast. “Serious” musicians are sometimes glamorized in film as having love-hate relationships with their instruments, serious emotional issues, or even sometimes substance abuse problems. You’re clearly someone who likes fresh air: is this a completely separate part of your life in music, with all its accompanying intensity or does being active in nature play some sort of role?

JC: I find all sorts of ways to get out there. Growing up in Calgary allowed me to hike in the Rocky Mountains and life on the West Coast also certainly lends itself to that pursuit. I even built a kayak! I was guided by an expert in his shop at Granville Island (and, yes, it is seaworthy). I do think that reconvening with nature plays a role in my musical practice. The mountains and the ocean inspire in a way that the great churches of Europe do. Overcome by their magnificence, you’re struck with the fundamental need to express that, to try to reflect it in your art. I think that the sublime in the natural world is very similar to that found in practicing piano and creating beauty with music.

            NCM: finally, a little about the music: you’ve been referred to as “Canada's premier Mozart pianist,” but there’s no Mozart on your Nanaimo programme--and that’s ok! Can you tell our students a little bit about how you curate your concerts? Is there a piece we’ll hear that is a particular favourite of yours?

JC: I actually don’t really self-identify as a “Mozart pianist,” although 18^th Century Music Person might be right! Yes, I love Mozart, but also Beethoven and Haydn: their work speaks to me in a very personal way. I’m also a big fan of the pianistic composers who came a little later, too; such as Chopin, Debussy, Ravel, and Rachmaninoff. As far as my Nanaimo programme goes, I’ve divided it into two. The first half includes Beethoven’s Sonata in D major and four selected sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti, which don’t require a fantastic piano to sound good: you could play them on an upright and it would sing. The second half, on the other hand, will put the Port Theatre’s Steinway to work: I’ve selected Brahms, Chopin, and Rachmaninoff, each of whom reveled in the instrument and sought to fully explore its nuances. 

I like that you use the word ‘curate’ when you ask about planning my concerts. It is indeed comparable to the process of researching, selecting, placing, and presenting works associated with art galleries. I obsess over my programmes for days, weeks, and even during my dreams. A good programme is crucial to maintaining the audience’s attention and ensuring that the recital works as a cohesive whole with strong internal structure. I consider what will grab my listeners from the start, just as I plan what they’ll be hearing in their head as they leave. It’s one of the most challenging aspects of my job! I’ll also take some time to speak a little about the music, share some interpretation notes. I really look forward to the Beethoven in particular, because it’s a sonata I’ve taught for years but didn’t make part of my personal repertoire until quite recently. For ages, I just kept putting it off: there were other pieces to learn, students to mentor, and administrative emails to send. I’m happy to say that I finally got to it, and I’m thrilled to perform it at the Port!

Nanaimo Conservatory of Music presents JANE COOP, Sunday, February 16, 2:30pm at the Port Theatre in Downtown Nanaimo. Tickets are available from the Port Theatre Box Office at 250-754-8550. Observers are welcome to attend her master class for advanced piano students, taking place the day before on Saturday, February 15 at 2:30pm at Nanaimo Conservatory of Music. The fee is $10 and you can call the Conservatory at 250-754-4611 for more information or to make reservations.