I’m now back in Cleveland after spending a week visitng my very dear friend David Hattner and working with the wonderful and talented musicians of the Portland Youth Philharmonic. This organization never ceases to amaze me, not only with the level of talent in the ensembles, but also the fabulous and incredibly nurturing staff that help make PYP such a flourishing organzation.

I spent a great deal of time working with PYP in Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5, first with the full orchestra on Monday, and then with just the strings on Wednesday.We worked a lot on the basics of orchestral playing… most importantly, rhythm! The key to great ensemble playing is having a good personal sense of rhythm. Working at home with a metronome is certainly tedious, but the rewards are so great. It’s always interesting for me to be able to hear where some musicians had not done that type of homework… it’s actually very easy to hear! Having that pulse inside of you all the time is such an important ingredient to great musicianship. There’s just no way practicing it, as annoying as it might seem.

We also worked on sound quality, and finding different ways to create a palette of colors, especially with the strings (not everything has to be in first or third position!). I also spoke about bow division… how important it is to always know how much bow you are using for each note. This was especially apparent in the “Habanera” theme, first in the violins at rehearsal 9 and then in the violas at rehearsal 15.

I also very much enjoyed working with a student conductor; the brave John Caughman, who is also PYP’s talented tuba player. It was his first time leading an orchestra, and it certainly brought me back to my very first time working with a large group of musicians. It can be a very scary ordeal, but John was well prepared and the musicians really gave their all for him. You can learn so much by having that kind of experience, having to be completely responsible for an ensemble’s momentum.

I worked with John on some basics of body language, specifically on conveying the right mood to an orchestra within each beat. He conducted the slow movement of the Shostakovich, and at first he seemed a little too worried about making sure each beat was accounted for. So we worked on trying to smooth it out, let go of some tension in the shoulders, and to trust the orchestra. They are great musicians, and it can be surprising (especially the first time on the podium) how well they can stay together without having to be a metronome for them. But that means that the possibilites are infinte in what a conductor can communicate to them.

It was certainly a wonderful learning and growth experience for everyone, including me. I enjoy teaching very much, and when you have such talented and motivated students as PYP, it makes it all the more rewarding. I can’t wait until my next visit!

Bravo to all!

Tito Munoz

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Richard Zeller, in rehearsal with PYP before the Concert-at-Christmas
(Photo: Jean Choi)

. . . the orchestra was joined by bass-baritone Richard Zeller. Before singing the toreadore’s song, Richard told the audience how this appearance was, for him, the fulfillment of a dream that he has had for 30 years. Zeller’s mahogany-rich voice, humour and natural modesty make him a performer of rare quality and on Saturday night it showed. His toreador was larger than life and every bit the ladies man we have come to expect and elicited big cheers from the crowd. In a dramatic change of pace he then sang Billy Bigelow’s Soliloquy from Carousel, and let us see Bigelow for the flawed charmer he is. In a deserved encore, Zeller treated us to Old Man River from Showboat. It brought the audience to its feet. It was very noticeable that while Richard Zeller was the star of this part of the evening he took every opportunity to applaud and encourage the young musicians playing with him. I expect they will have fond memories of that for many years. I think Zeller will, too. And so will I. The Waltz, also from Carousel, ended the formal part of the concert before Maestro Hattner and the orchestra left us with another brief excerpt from Carmen. In a very short time I have become a huge fan of Portland Youth Philharmonic. They perform with commitment and skill and an amazing degree of musicality inculcated in them by a conductor who knows how to have them give their best at every moment and who will settle for nothing less. In a few months they will be performing Shostakovitch’s 5th Symphony. Now that’s gonna be a trip!

Stephen Llewellyn, Operaman

Working with an Opera singer for the first time was an incredibly rewarding and exciting experience. Richard Zeller is not only a fantastic singer, but also a great man to work with. I’m glad we could help him realize his dream of being part of PYP!

Galen Viktor Nahas, cello, PYP

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Have you ever wondered how it might feel to play the timpani, cymbal,
triangle, or other percussion instruments in an orchestra? Those
instruments, all the way in the back of the orchestra, may seem far from
the conductor and the audience, yet surely you will have noticed them.
Perhaps you wonder: how hard can it be? Let me frame it this way: if you
have ever heard a poorly played percussion sound—a sound too loud, too
early, or too late—you know that one sound alone can deflate a musical
atmosphere. But with this experience comes the realization of how
powerful percussion sounds are. What else can alone overpower eighty
musicians playing at full force? For a percussionist, every note is a
solo, every sound is a spectacle. A well-placed cymbal crash can
energize the whole orchestra, a beautiful triangle roll can make the
music sparkle like nothing else (that’s why we have the triangle!), and
to control the pulse of a concert hall with the stroke of your drum is
an intense, intoxicating experience. As a percussion section, we
understand that with this power comes the responsibility to prepare each
note with great care and insight and love for the music. And for me as a
coach, there is nothing greater than to see our young percussionists
develop the technical and musical skill and the sensibility, maturity
and joy to assume that awesome responsibility.

Florian Conzetti, Percussion Coach

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Thank you so much for the opportunity to work with your low
brass section last Monday night. I thoroughly enjoyed the time
spent. As you know, they are extremely bright kids and fine players
as well. They were pretty much nailing their parts already, so I was
able to use the time as a master class. I tried to give them some
useful, perhaps new, ways of thinking about important concepts such
as pitch, articulation, rhythm and phrasing, as well as some
“trombone specific” ideas about right hand position, basic concepts
of slide technique, and choice of alternate positions.

Jeff Williams, Professor (trombone, brass chamber music)

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A picture tells a thousand words. Check out PYP’s facebook fan page and see who came to conduct at rehearsal this week: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Portland-Youth-Philharmonic/58368939237?ref=ts

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Show you support PYP with buttons:
1) Find the PYP Buttons Album on our fanpage. Right click a button and “save image as” 2) Upload to your online albums or use as a profile pic.

-or-

1) Become a fan of Portland Youth Philharmonic 2) Add the “Pieces of Flair” application. Search “PYP” or “Portland Youth Philharmonic”

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(Above)

Left: Megan Richardson, Clarinet, PYWE 2008-2009, PYCO 2009-Current
Center: Andrea Moon, Violin, PYCO 2005-2007, PYP 2007-Current
Right: Arthur Halim, Viola, PYCO 2008-Current

(Above)

Left: Cramer Kallem, Oboe, PYWE 2008-2009, PYCO 2008-2009, PYP 2009-Current
Center: Jenny Lee, Cello, PYCO 2007-2009, PYP 2009-Current
Right: Tiffany Chen, Harp, PYCO 2008-Current

(Above)

Left: Left: Miranda McCausland, Percussion, PYP 2009-Current
Center: Judy Lee, Violin, YSE 2006-2008, PYCO 2008-Current
Right: Joanne Lee, Cello, YSE 2008-Current

(Above)

Left: Aaron Choi, Cello, YSE 2009-Current

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