The recital is at Lorain County Community College on March 10, 2010 at 7:30 pm as part of their Signature Series. I will be performing with Shanelle Cook on piano. I did an interview on the Cleveland NPR show Around Noon about the concert and the Porter album. It went well, and I had never done a live radio interview before.

On February 28, I performed Jeffrey Mumford’s piece wending on the Cleveland Composer’s Guild.  I will also perform it on my recital in LCCC March 10.

I performed the debut of Leslie Adams’ viola piece L’extase d’Amour for his Cleveland based fan club on February 15. Channel 3 was there taking footage, and a very nice piece was presented about him. 

This is my new son William, who is 6 weeks old, in his green bassinet.

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

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!

csa-benefit-postcard

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.

I love to record. This is a new discovery of mine, being that as of yet I have no discography. What I love is the exploration of what I can do in a given moment to make music to the highest level. Mistakes are to be learned from, not chastised or used to define how good I am. There’s such a freedom in that mentality.

But I am still nervous and wanting to be perfect, so on the plane ride from Cleveland to Seattle I decide to reread Aaron Copland’s What to Listen for in Music to see if there’s anything that will inspire me. Nothing does until I get towards the end where Copland discusses listening to contemporary music and the general public reaction towards it. On page 199 of my copy he says, “Contemporary music, especially, is created to wake you up, not put you to sleep. It is meant to stir and excite you, to move you – it may even exhaust you. But isn’t that the kind of stimulation you go to the theater for or read a book for? Why make an exception for music?” What I try to do (and often fail) when I play is to say something interesting. It is my nature to want it to be clear, clean and right, but if it can also have intention and heart when I play, that is the goal. It isn’t great music, one without the other. I don’t believe playing out of tune or with bad ensemble can always be trumped by so-called musical playing. If you are not sensitive enough to play in tune and listen, how can one possibly be musical while insensitive to the sound that comes out? One should have it all!

I’m in Seattle to record the Quincy Porter Viola Concerto with the Northwest Sinfonia to complete my recording of Quincy Porter Viola works. It will be the first recording of the concerto since 1951. I meet Marina and Victor Ledin, the producers, and John McLaughlin Williams, conductor, at the airport around 4. We rent a car, go to our fabulous hotel Willows Lodge, eat at the Barking Frog and discuss the rehearsal strategy for tomorrow’s session.

Victor Ledin, Eliesha G. Nelson, John M. Williams in the lobby of Willows Lodge.