Music Video at Dorian Sono Luminus
I’ve never participated in a music video before, excluding being video recorded during a concert performance. A music video is different, with the music being as important as the videography and set. The piece chosen for recording was Blues Lointains by Quincy Porter, which was written in 1928. It has a dark, searching nature, so the videographers had the idea of a film noir approach. I and John McLaughlin Williams, pianist, dressed up, and I had my hair styled in a 40’s hairdo. I also wore some of my mother’s jewelry, which I’m glad she gave me since I have none. My practice of playing with the recording paid off as well as the more rigorous memory work to match all the bow changes. The sections that had a lot of rubato were tricky, but I think we got close enough, and the videographer can edit such things. The video was shot in the ballroom at the studios of Sono Luminus. It will be in black and white, but the ballroom is a gorgeous brilliant blue color.
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Preparing for a Music Video
Vacation is definitely over as I prepare to visit the Dorian Sono Luminus studios in Virginia to make a promotional music video for my upcoming Quincy Porter Viola Works recording. Although I know this music quite well having studied and recorded it over the past two years, I find myself feeling oddly restricted. I am used to giving myself liberties during a performance of changing bowing and fingerings from time to time, so I am not a stickler when it comes to such things. However, when trying to match a recording, I find my liberties at odds with trying to match what I hear with what I’m doing. It feels eerily like my childhood Suzuki group classes where I didn’t want to be the one doing it “wrong,” but I always seemed to be on the opposite bowing as everyone else.
Posted by Eliesha on June 24th, 2009 filed in Quincy Porter Project, RecordingComment now »
Upcoming Chamber Music Concerts
This week is busy with two chamber music programs. The first is a free concert at the Music Settlement in University Circle, 11125 Magnolia Drive, Thursday, May 14 at 7 p.m. I’m playing in a faculty recital with Sae Shiragami, Chul-In Park and Ida Mercer, and we are doing two quartets by Mozart and Ravel. It’s been fun working with these ladies, as they are very professional and easy to work with.
The second concert is Monday, May 18 at 7:30 p.m. at Lyndhurst Community Presbyterian Church (in the Sanctuary), 5312 Mayfield Road. This concert is hosted by the Chamber Music Guild, which is a group of avid music lovers which holds performances by local musicians. There is a guest fee of $8.00 at the door, and an RSVP is requested to Rich and Judy Fired at 216-291-8692 or richjudy00@aol.com. This concert is mostly wind music, with a flute and oboe piece by Thea Musgrave and a quintet by John Steinmetz. I will perform in the Prokofiev quintet for oboe, clarinet, violin, viola and bass. Betty Camus is the fantastic oboe player who is featured in this concert, and the other musicians are members of the Cleveland Orchestra and Oberlin Conservatory faculty.
Posted by Eliesha on May 11th, 2009 filed in Concerts Worth AttendingComment now »
The Cleveland Orchestra in Miami
For those interesting in the whereabouts of the Cleveland Orchestra after their fabulous production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, we will be in Miami completing the third and final week of our Miami residency. The Orchestra plays a couple of concerts and provides educational outreach to schools and local organizations. If you are in the Miami area, you can catch a concert at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts April 3 and 4, 2009.
Posted by Eliesha on March 25th, 2009 filed in Cleveland Orchestra Tours, Concerts Worth AttendingComment now »
Bow Repaired!
My wonderful E. Tubbs violin bow was repaired by master bow maker Yung Chin in New York. He very kindly did the repair in one day, knowing that the Cleveland Orchestra was leaving New York over the weekend. The repair is called a spline, but the bow depreciated 75% because of the placement of the break.
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Wild Concert Experiences
As a professional musician in the Cleveland Orchestra, I’m happy to say that I have had very few strange or unsettling concert experiences. I think the oddest thing to happen was the loss of a scherzo from a Bruckner symphony that fell under the risers at Severance Hall a few years ago. But yesterday in Carnegie Hall during the Ligeti Atmospheres, the tip of my bow broke off, barely hanging on by a sliver of wood. I registered my shock by saying a silent, “Oh my G-d!” and then continued to fake my way through the rest of the piece. At the very end, the complete tip heaved it’s last final breath and fell off completely.
Tomorrow I will go to the esteemed bow maker Yung Chin to see if it indeed reparable, and to hear the catastrophic loss of value of my Tubbs violin bow. Wish me luck!
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Black Musicians and Classical Music
In this era of the “first black president,” I am reminded of all the “first black” moments I have witnessed and blacks I have known who are leaders in their own fields who were firsts. I am the “first black woman” musician hired in the Cleveland Orchestra, which seems to represent progress and opportunity to others. To me, I am just a musician, like many other successful musicians of other ethnicities, who practiced well, received good training, and made the right professional connections that eventually lead to my winning a job in the Cleveland Orchestra.
The Baltimore Sun had a good article December 7, 2008 about the seeming scarcity of blacks in classical music called A Solitary Stage, and my colleague, cellist Troy Stuart is interviewed. He is a fabulous musician and a wonderful teacher who’s life journey has been an inspiration to me.
There seems to be an assumption that classical music is not part of the “black” experience. Generalizing is usually a bad idea anyway, and I have met plenty of well-to-do people of European decent (white) who have no understanding or appreciation of classical music. Instead of making it an issue of race, I would make it an issue of accessibility. Most of my students at the Cleveland School of the Arts Lower Campus are black and poor, but they go to class knowing I expect them to learn, play in tune with a good sound, straight bow and good posture. They also eagerly go to class and expect to learn. Appreciation of an art form is not tied to skin color.
Classical music, like any other genre of the fine arts, requires a community for success. That community can be as small as one teacher and one parent. In my unscientific opinion, what makes one successful is a mixture of five things:
1. a supportive parent/s or individual/s who pays for and takes a child to lessons, music festivals, and helps them practice
2. good training from the beginning
3. disciplined student
4. positive professional network
5. talent
Posted by Eliesha on January 24th, 2009 filed in African American Composers/Musicians, music educationComment now »
Benefit Concert for the Cleveland School of the Arts
For those in Cleveland who would like to support a good cause, there is a fund raiser for the Cleveland School of the Arts Lower Campus Saturday, January 17, 2009 at 3 p.m. It will be held at Plymouth Church of Shaker Heights (2806 Coventry Rd., Cleveland, OH 44120), and there will be students from the school performing on the first half hour of the program. I will also be performing, along with teacher/artists Dianna White-Gould and Dennis Reynolds, plus singer Norris Kelly and my good friend conductor/violinist John McLaughlin Williams.
I began my affiliation with the Cleveland School of the Arts last September when I was asked by the Cleveland Music School Settlement to teach viola for the fourth and fifth graders. I was not interested at first, because I felt that seeing students once a week when there is no parental involvement was not enough for deep learning. However, they agreed that I could come twice a week for an hour long lesson each time, so I agreed. I teach a group lesson the first day and then “private” lessons the following, which means seeing two students at a time so I can give more individual attention.
The students I teach are and inspiration to me and a healthy challenge. They thirst for learning and are eager to play the viola. What more could a teacher want? Well, maybe teaching in a real classroom and not a stairwell, but I’m more interested in motivated students right now!
Posted by Eliesha on January 14th, 2009 filed in African American Composers/Musicians, Concerts Worth Attending, music educationComment now »
How to Find Obscure Music
Many people have asked me where I found the Quincy Porter music, hoping to buy it somewhere. I have been lucky to find some of the scores, like the Duo for Viola and Harp, and the Porter Viola Concerto at the Cleveland Institute of Music library. He did teach there for a few years in the 1920’s, so it’s expected they would have some of his music. Most of the scores I acquire have been found through WorldCat, a fantastic global library network. The Cleveland Public Library is a member of this network, and I have been able to find many out of print scores, books and dissertations. Sometimes the publishing company of the out of print music you seek will provide an archival copy, but that usually requires some prodding and of course, a fee.
Posted by Eliesha on January 4th, 2009 filed in Quincy Porter Project, Viola Technique and Music2 Comments »
Happy New Year!
I usually don’t do new year resolutions, but this year I must aim to be a better blogger. Going for months without writing anything, especially when I’ve been asked specific questions about the Porter project and its music, is really pathetic. So I will do better… at least today!
Since it’s a new year, I’d like to begin with a shout out to my friend and colleague John McLaughlin Williams, who was nominated for his second Grammy in the category of Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with Orchestra), Category 102 for those who look on the Grammy site.
He’s a wonderful musician with a keen ear and extremely knowledgeable about anything obscure. I’ve enjoyed working with him on the Porter project, which will be out in 2009. For more about John, you can read his bio here: http://www.elieshanelson.com/porter/musicians.shtml#williams
The recording features the violin concerti of Ernest Bloch and Benjamin Lees performed by Elmar Oliveira, violin, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, and John McLaughlin Williams conducting.
Posted by Eliesha on January 1st, 2009 filed in African American Composers/Musicians, Quincy Porter Project, Recording