Live auditions

For 2009 Brevard Music Center changed its practice with respect to instrumental auditions. There are no national audition sites this year; applicants must submit recordings instead or attend one of the two auditions on the Brevard campus. (Note that national auditions for the Janiec Opera Company have occurred as usual.)

Several issues have spurred the change this year.

1. The economy and travel: a significant number of applicants who attend Brevard's national auditions undertake significant travel to do so. Every year, several applicants miss connections or have their flights canceled, and, thus, miss their auditions. This is particularly unfortunate in light of #2, below.
   
   
2. The purpose and outcome of Brevard's national auditions: these are conducted by administrative staff, recorded, and distributed to those principal players and other faculty who make admission recommendations to the Dean. Generally, admission decisions are not made at the audition sites; attending a national audition would seem to provide no admission advantage for an applicant.
   
   
3. Performance anxiety: rarely do applicants perform at their best in live auditions. Some teachers encourage students to undergo the audition experience for its own sake, but this is not Brevard's mission. Brevard Music Center is interested in students' capability and potential. We believe that these are evaluated most effectively when students submit their best efforts. Generally, this means creating an audition recording thoughtfully, when there is time to do so.
   
   
4. Recording technology: access to reasonable recording equipment has become widespread, if not quite ubiquitous. (For the sake of those applicants with no access to recording equipment, Brevard has retained auditions on the campus for 2009.)
   

We think that it is easier to apply to the Brevard Music Center than to any other summer program; as we say in-house, a student may complete the application form, pay the fee, and submit an audition without getting out of bed...

If the absence of national auditions causes significant difficulties in 2009, then they can be restored in 2010.

Resolved: More Routine

by Dorothy Knowles, Admissions Coordinator

After more than 2 weeks of holiday—social functions, rich food, short work weeks, and a mini-vacation to Florida—I was happy to be back at work this past week and settle into my routine.

Routine helps me stay focused and organized; extra things fit within the routine, rather than determine it. Prior to working full-time at the Brevard Music Center, violin practice was a part of my daily routine. Practice seemed to be almost a relief after an unusually hectic time, like holidays.

At the end of my holiday trip to Florida, I arrived at the airport ready to go, only to be told that the flight was delayed by four hours. Four hours in a tiny airport! Ugh. I had been looking forward my routine: morning, dog-walking, cleaning, sleeping, and, particularly, Sunday evening preparation for the coming work week. The delay threw the rest of my weekend off track. Frustrating, to say the least.

There are times when I miss violin as part of my daily schedule, but I still play as much as I can. I won’t call it a resolution, but in 2009 I will strive for a routine that will include more violin playing. Maybe I’ll select an etude each week and go back through the Sevcik, 40 bowing variations that I enjoyed studying in college.

Playing music is hard. Musicians need a routine, right?

The Holidays – Classical Music's Busy Season

by Jason Posnock, Associate Artistic Administrator

December means only one thing for classical musicians: holiday concerts. Whether it’s Messiah, Nutcracker, or a holiday pops show, musicians across the country are busy bringing Christmas cheer to millions of concert-goers. As I write this I have just finished the Asheville Symphony Holiday Pops concert, complete with the ASO chorus and children’s chorus.

We all know the recipe: traditional works such as Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Ride and A Christmas Festival, a dash of Trepak and Sugar Plum Fairy, throw in a Hanukkah Festival and a carol sing-along and, voilà, a holiday concert. As usual, the Asheville program of fan favorites was enjoyed by all, although in a sign of these difficult times, the audience was 20% smaller than last year's.

Considering the economic climate and knowing that tough times cut deeply into support for the arts, you would think that my friends in the orchestral world would be grateful for the all the work that appears around the holidays. Yet I can't count how many complaints I hear; we all know musicians like to complain, but this is different. It's not just the desire for a better conductor or more space in the pit. It's almost wishing they didn't have to play one more holiday concert—ever.

Keep this in mind: many freelancers make up to a third of their annual income during the holiday weeks. That’s right, one third. However you do the math, that's a significant chunk of work.

How do we approach the holidays with a positive attitude? Let's put the checkbook aside for a moment. The fact is, The Nutcracker and Messiah are great works. I am not Tchaikovsky's biggest fan and Handel is what it is, but these are truly magnificent pieces with gold on every page. The opportunity to play these works in their entirety, which only presents itself at this time of year, should be regarded as a privilege. Whenever I revisit favorites such as Beethoven 9, Brahms 4, or Mozart 39, I always find new moments of beauty, rhythmic and harmonic nuance, or interesting lines in other parts (you may recall that I am a violinist). I do the same thing with these "holiday" classics. Moreover, someone in the audience is hearing these works for the first time. We owe it to the public to give the best possible performance of any work we're playing, at any time. That's the job.

So with all of this in mind, Happy Holidays from from Brevard, North Carolina. We have an exciting year ahead of us, and I look forward to sharing more thoughts here as we head towards the Brevard Music Center's 2009 season.

Anticipation of the season

by Dorothy Knowles, Admissions Coordinator

According to the latest census, the city of Brevard, North Carolina, has a population of 6643. Even though Brevard home to a world-renowned cultural institution (the Brevard Music Center, of course), it displays many aspects of small-town life.

Each December I look forward to Brevard’s annual “Twilight Tour” to inspire me into the holiday spirit. The Twilight Tour took place last weekend. It was cold—"northern" cold—which only added to the holiday spirit. Store fronts displayed beautiful decorations, and lights glittered in the windows. Vendors sold spiced cider and hot chocolate. Candy canes were tossed from the parade floats to excited children. Carols wafted from the courthouse gazebo and from various other corners of town.

It strikes me that I look forward to each Brevard Music Center season in a similar way. Now the relative calm of the post-season and autumn has passed. Repertoire and faculty appointments are being settled; scheduling and logistical challenges will soon be resolved. In mid-January the pace gradually increases to the pre-season bustle of calls, email, applications, auditions, enrollment, registration. Countless details are worked out as the summer approaches. You feel the anticipation with every breath.

Finally, students, faculty, and staff arrive on campus. Rehearsals begin. We hit opening night and seven weeks fly by. Suddenly.

Just like a holiday.

Learning music 2 fast 2 furious

by Jason Posnock, Associate Artistic Administrator

So, today is Monday and I have to play a concert on Friday. Five days from now. Normally no problem. The catch is that I'm performing two works that are completely new to me, and—please keep this between us—I haven't really started working on them yet. Therefore, the question is, how do you learn new pieces quickly? And not just learn them, but have them ready to perform in public?

My first step is to study the score while listening to a good recording. I'm not looking for anything out on the edge here, just a solid, standard reading of the piece that gives me an idea of how it's meant to go. Then I identify the tricky passages and do some condensed woodshedding. I'll practice the work in blocks, trying to be very systematic and organized. I will have to trust certain aspects of my playing such as sound quality, vibrato, and...gulp....intonation, as I really don't have the time to practice these into the performance. (FYI I'm a violinist.) Right now it's more important to get the right notes in the right order.

Now it's time for the first rehearsal. I'll concentrate on rhythm and ensemble. One piece is a duo and the other is a quintet, so there are very different demands in terms of the approach to listening and teamwork. My score study ought to pay off here, especially in the quintet. The duo is fairly straightforward; as long as I count correctly I should be okay. By the second rehearsal (if there is a
second rehearsal) I can try different shifts/slides/fingerings, timbres, dynamics, etc. This way I can at least have a considered musical arsenal with which I can create and explore during the actual performance.

That's my plan for the week. Wish me luck, and check back next week to find out if I pulled it off. I don't recommend leaving things to the last possible second, but sometimes circumstance conspires against you (more about circumstance in a future post).

UPDATE: Well, I survived. Actually, against all odds, it turned out to be quite a good concert. There were about six hundred people in attendance, including some from the local media, so the pressure was on. First up for me was the violin/piano duo. I decided beforehand that I would just go for it—no playing it safe. I didn't hold back the tempos, really brought out all the musical gestures I could muster, and did anything and everything to bring the work to life. Sure, I left a few notes on the floor, but this is live music after all, and things do happen. It was the first hearing of the piece for the vast majority of the audience, and they had a very positive response. OK, one down one to go. The quintet was on after intermission. Keep it together, keep it together. The performance had a couple of "moments" but overall had shape, passion, and a visceral excitement that whipped the audience into a frenzy, or at least got them to clap after we finished. So, it was a successful evening, better than it had any right to be. This is certainly one way to keep it interesting, but clearly I am getting too old for this...