Luisa Rosina shares her summer musical experiece at Norfolk
As I write this blog it is the final days of the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and I will soon be flying back to London. I cannot believe how quickly 6 weeks can pass. I have had a wonderful experience which will certainly stay with me forever.
In November 2008 I auditioned in London for an English Speaking Union (ESU) Scholarship. Each year the ESU award scholarships to musicians in the UK wanting to take part in a prestigious music festival. As I expressed a strong interest in chamber music in my audition, I was delighted to accept a place at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival.
After receiving the news that I was coming to Norfolk this year, I immediately started investigating the festival on the internet. Yale has a fantastic reputation in the UK so I knew I was onto something good, but when seeing the familiar names of the faculty members I was so excited to be coming here. (more…)
A first visit to Norfolk
As a Yale student, I heard time and time again about Norfolk’s beautiful location, but as of registering for the Chamber Music Festival, I had not actually been there in person. Since it’s one thing to hear about a place and another to see it, I decided to check things out for myself. So, in mid-June, I made the drive to Norfolk from New Haven. My plan was to meet up with some people I knew on staff and in the New Music Workshop and hang out with them for a while.
I arrived to find my friends happy and sweaty, throwing softballs outside the Music Shed. I parked my car on the grass – because that’s what you do in Norfolk – and occupied myself with spraying bug repellent over every inch of my body. Down with mosquitoes! Then, when the church bells announced the six-o’clock hour, we all made our way to the cafeteria for dinner.
I can’t remember what I ate, but I’m sure it was good, because the food there almost always is delicious. (more…)
The Tokyo Quartet’s Clive Greensmith on the first week of coachings
Clive Greensmith, cellist, joined the Tokyo String Quartet in June 1999. A graduate of the Royal Northern College of Music and the Musikhochschule in Cologne, his principal teachers were Donald McCall and Boris Pergamenschikow. He has held the position of principal cellist of London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. As a soloist, he has appeared with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic, English Chamber Orchestra, Mostly Mozart Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic, and the RAI Orchestra of Rome. He has collaborated with distinguished musicians such as András Schiff, Midori, Claude Frank and Steven Isserlis, and has won several prizes including second place in the inaugural Premio Stradivari held in Cremona, Italy. Mr. Greensmith has served on the faculties of the Royal Northern College of Music, Yehudi Menuhin School and San Francisco Conservatory of Music and is currently on the faculty of New York University. Mr. Greensmith’s recording of Brahms’ Sonatas with Boris Berman performing on Norfolk’s Bechstein piano from 1860 was recently released on the Biddulph label.
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Week one in Norfolk confirmed that this is going to be another superb vintage. Following an engaging week of teaching with four remarkably fine groups, we all felt a pang of regret as we headed to Japan straight after our first performance in the Shed on Friday July 10th. (more…)
Reflections from Norfolk
Norfolk Festival alumni, the Ying Quartet, joined the Festival faculty for the week (with each member coaching a student ensemble) and topped off its residency with a performance in the Music Shed on Saturday, July 31.
Now in their second decade as a quartet, the Ying Quartet (Stephen Copes and Janet Ying - violins, Phillip Ying - viola, David Ying - cello) has established itself as an ensemble of the highest musical qualifications in its tours across the United States and abroad. The Quartet performs in the world’s most important concert halls, from Carnegie Hall to the Sydney Opera House. Its 2007 Telarc release of the three Tchaikovsky Quartets and the Souvenir de Florence (with James Dunham and Paul Katz) was nominated for a Grammy® Award in the Best Chamber Music Performance category. A collaboration with the Turtle Island Quartet, Four + 4 won a Grammy® Award in 2005.
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I can hardly be here again in this magical and beautiful place without thinking back to my first visit to the Norfolk Festival. (more…)
Simon Carrington on the Chamber Choir and Choral Conducting Workshop
Between August 16 and August 22, the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival will once again host a special workshop for chamber choir and choral conducting. Simon Carrington, a founding member of the internationally acclaimed British vocal ensemble The King’s Singers and current Director of the Yale Schola Cantorum and Professor of Choral Conducting at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, will be leading this extraordinary session. Simon’s concert with the Norfolk Chamber Orchestra and Chorus will be in the Music Shed on Saturday, August 22, at 4:00pm.
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Simon Carrington gives a behind the scene glimpse into the workshop:
Welcome to our unique Norfolk choral and orchestral conducting course, now it in its fourth year!
Each season I select 24 excellent singers to form a quick reading, flexible chamber choir containing 8-10 conductors, who take it in turns to step up to the podium and rehearse the choir in wide-ranging, eclectic repertoire. On the Thursday of the week I assign specific repertoire to the individual conductors to prepare for the concert performance on the Saturday. Conductors also have the chance to conduct a small chamber orchestra of first rate players gathered from the Yale School of Music and other conservatories around the country.
Each year in the concert I conduct the premier of a new commission for choir and ensemble which we have also learned during the week, but everything else is conducted by the participants.
Choir members pay no fee, live in charming cottages on the glorious Norfolk estate and receive full board and lodging. Conductors pay a small fee, but receive individual tuition and DVDs of all their rehearsals and the performance.
I know of no other course that offers such an intense, diverse and refreshing musical experience at such a high standard anywhere else in the US.
The Festival asked Mr. Carrington what he feels is essential for students to take away from the Workshop:
An extra layer or two of musicianship, a heightened sense of ensemble, a renewed confidence in guiding both singers and players, and a commitment to the importance of communicating the inner meaning of the text to audiences through music.
And on a more personal note, we asked Mr. Carrington to share what event or piece of music made him want to devote his life’s work to choral music - as a performer, conductor and as a teacher:
The is no one piece, but rather a confluence of music making in my formative years: singing Tudor cathedral music as a boy treble; playing Brahms symphonies as a student bassist; roaming the boundaries of cross-over music from William Byrd to Billy Joel during my 25 years with the King’s Singers; conducting the Monteverdi Vespers during my first semester as a fledgling conductor and US choral director - on and on we go!
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The culminating concert of the Chamber Choir and Conducting Workshop will be held in the Music Shed on Saturday, August 22, at 4:00pm.
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