One of PYP’s graduating seniors, Riley Crabtree, and Spring Concert guest composer, Stephen Dankner.

My experience with the PYP, under maestro Davis Hattner’s masterful direction, was memorable for the artistry he and all the PYP members brought to the interpretation of my work ‘Albrecht Dürer: The Apocalypse of St. John’.

I felt, from the first bars at the rehearsal I attended, that my music was in capable hands - always a rewarding experience for a composer. Added to that was the enthusiasm I perceived from the PYP who were stimulated and challenged to bring off stellar performances by the not inconsiderable demands of my score.

I wish everyone involved with these concerts, but particularly the PYP students, all my best hopes for lives filled with the thrills and rewards of mastering music, in all its great depth, challenges, opportunities and ennobling riches. Perhaps in future years, you will look back on our shared experience as the occasion for determining that music was truly your calling. If so, I will be glad that I had a small part to play in helping you determine your own personal destiny.

Please accept my profound gratitude for your combined and individual musical talents.

Sincerely,
Stephen Dankner

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Wednesday night I went to the dark side of the orchestra–located in front of the strings and behind a baton. Specifically, I conducted PYP’s string section in the opening of the third movement of shosty 5. Leading up to this was plenty of studying/analyzing of the score as well as practicing by conducting along to recordings (by the way, it’s an absolutely amazing piece). The first difficulty of this piece is its slow tempo: 50 beats per minute–slower than a resting heart-rate (and since I was nervous, it would have been about a third of mine). A second point of difficulty is the unusual division of the string section in this movement of the symphony, the violins which are normally in two groups are, as a whole, divided into three sections leading to some uncertainty on my part as to who would be playing which part — i.e. the movement begins with the third group. The music also begins on a weak beat of the measure: on “two,” meaning “one” is actually a preparatory beat. Those were some of the “technical” aspects of conducting going through my mind as I went up in front of the orchestra. But picking up the baton and diving into the first bars of the piece was something I couldn’t have really prepared for. The first thing I realized was just how far INTO the orchestra the conductor stands; to see the first violin or viola desk I’d have to turn 90º to the side: I originally visualized conducting to be a sort of disembodied omnipresence. I was also IN the orchestra in a sense of being SURROUNDED by the music. The first real “forte” felt like a tsunami around me (I think I may have had to hold back an evil giggle of power at that point). Luckily I had training wheels named Mr. Hattner and Mr. Muñoz behind the orchestra, helping me out. They helped bring my mind back to the some of the finer technical points I mentioned earlier and had several additional suggestions. The first point was I should show a more ‘legato’ beat, with less emphasis on the ictus. Tito compared a good legato motion to the feeling of conducting underwater. Afterwards they both discussed with me the subject of a good grip on the baton and posture in general such as the position of my elbows and shoulders. After all, conducting is the art of leading ~100 musicians entirely through body language.

John S. Caughman V, tuba, PYP

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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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When it comes to most things in life, there isn’t much of an advantage of being older except for one thing: experience. When you live longer, you have more experiences, both good and bad. When I was in high school, and even college, there were many things that I know now that I wish I’d known back then. Here’s my top ten list of things that I wish I’d known when I was a young musician.

1. Practicing isn’t a matter of how many hours you put in, but how many good hours you put in. It’s quality, not quantity. Practicing intelligently is something that my best teachers instilled in me, and it’s vital if you’re going to survive in the professional world. You don’t always have months to prepare your repertoire, and after school is over other demands will fill in the open spaces, and being able to be efficient in your practicing will pay for itself many times over. Trust me on this one.

2. Your body is also your instrument - learn how it works and take care of it. I cannot stress this enough. Every year I see high school aged musicians who are suffering from overuse injuries (see #1 above) that might have been avoided with some basic knowledge of how the mechanics of playing their instrument affect their physical well-being. A book of stretches is essential: daily stretching before practice and rehearsals can absolutely save your future career. I recommend the classic book Stretching by Bob Anderson. There are also such disciplines as the Feldenkrais Method or Alexander Technique that can help you become aware of your body and its motions that can be extremely helpful both before and after an injury happens.

3. Being professional is a 24 hour job. When I was in school, we used to have a phrase that described this: The Conservatory Curse. If you were talking trash about someone else’s performance, chances are they were standing right behind you - no matter where you were. What to do? Don’t talk trash about or to other musicians. You never know when or where you’ll run into them again - they might be in a position to help your career later on when you least expect it, and chances are they won’t be in a charitable mood if you’ve been rude to them. I had a teacher who was at the very pinnacle of his profession who I never, ever heard utter an unkind word about anyone, either personally or professionally. It’s a standard that I strive to attain myself, and the old saw that one catches more flies with honey than vinegar is absolutely true.

4. Keep busy, and do a variety of things. This was a hard one for me to learn. When I joined the Oregon Symphony I was consumed by the demands of my first full-time professional job, but I also played chamber music, filled in with Third Angle New Music Ensemble, played recitals and concertos with various orchestras, and in general stayed busy and kept my workload varied. Variety is the spice of life, they say, and it’s very true in the musical world. The main advantage of variety is that each different sort of music-making that you do will reinforce the other. Playing in orchestra demands ensemble skills, which are reinforced by playing chamber music. Solo playing demands the height of preparation and rigorous performance standards, which benefit all of your other playing, and so on. In addition, do things outside of music. I cycle, read, blog, and cook regularly, and this makes my life more balanced and enjoyable. Sure, I still live for my music, but music is just a part of my life, not my entire life.

5. Respect your elders and those who have more experience than you do. In music school there are various classes of musicians, but most often it boils down to two: those who can really play, and everyone else. This is all well and good in school, where there is often an unhealthy obsession with competition. In the real world, however, it’s not always about who plays the most accurately. That old guy in the back of the violins might not shred like you do, but he might have played under Copland or Stravinsky, and would have some great stories to tell. He also, chances are, knows pretty much every standard work that an orchestra plays, and would have a wealth of information about bowings and fingerings to share should you hit it off. Plus, it’s just a matter of manners. Be respectful to those who have gone before you. This is a relatively rare thing to encounter these days, and if you adopt these manners, you will distinguish yourself from the crowd.

6. Be a sponge, not a faucet. Most of the great musicians, artists, and people in the world have one thing in common: they are constantly learning from the world around them. This is especially important for a young musician. Every new concert, rehearsal, or gig is an opportunity to learn something. You might have played the Dvorák cello concerto several times, but did you ever really pay attention to that second oboe part at the beginning of the second movement? It’s cool, and wicked hard to pull off. Listen to how good wind players phrase - try to emulate that if you’re a string player or pianist. Listen to how great singers phrase - everyone should try to aspire to that kind of phrasing. As you learn more, resist the temptation to spew your advanced state of knowledge all over your colleagues. You will quickly earn a reputation as a blow-hard, and no one will every take you seriously again. Seriously.

7. Choose aspiration over competition. It’s easy to be competitive - sometimes it’s even fun - but it can go too far. It’s easy to let it go to the dark side. Resist that temptation. You want to play more notes faster than the other guy. Louder. Higher. Whatever. Instead trying to tear someone down, look at what it is that they do that you like, and try to figure out how to integrate it into your own playing. Listen to recordings of the great players or singers and try to figure out what they do that makes them unique. YouTube is a boon, because there are all sorts of videos of artists new and old, and it is very possible to learn a lot from viewing them. Good teachers take the time to point out great players that can be learned from, and often will loan a student recordings or videos, or even have their studio watch or listen to them as a group. The main point is, make your quest to be better a positive thing. There will always be someone better than you, and always someone less good, and it’s something you should always keep in mind.

8. Diversify: learn about other art forms. When I was in high school and college I was always interested in lots of stuff other than music. I built models, took photographs, rode my bike, read tons of books. Aside from the outside activities, it’s also very valuable to learn about the other fine arts from the time periods of the music that you’re working on. When I was in undergrad at the University of Puget Sound, there was a lot of coursework outside of the music program, and writing was stressed through the entire curriculum. My final senior paper was about Schoenberg and the Blaue Reiter Almanach, which took an entire semester to research and write, and coincided with a chamber group of mine doing Schoenberg’s Transfigured Night. I found that being exposed to the entirety of what Schoenberg’s great artistic school was up to at that time very helpful in trying to figure out how to present the piece. When listening to lieder, for example, you might want to read more of the poetry by the poet whose words are set by the composer. Or you might want to take in a play related to a work you’re performing, or that’s contemporaneous to the work you’re studying. Music doesn’t exist in a vacuum, it’s part of a greater artistic and social movement, and so too should you.

9. Learn the business of music. This can never begin too early. If you do wedding or occasional gigs, learn to draft a contract to cover the eventualities of things going awry. The musical portion of an event is often the last to be hired, and there is almost never time to get things staked out much in advance. In addition, learn how to write a good, attractive resume. Make sure that you know how to use online social media to your advantage: put up videos of your playing on YouTube (but only if it’s really good), set up a fan page on Facebook with photos and audio files, and set up a Twitter account related to your performing activities. The possibilities are virtually limitless, and as the generation that is the first to be fully immersed in these new media formats, you have the power to make them work for you. This is such an important arena that such formerly conservative institutions as Juilliard, Curtis and Eastman are adding curricula that address self-promotion and survival in this new media landscape.

10. Love what you do - and remember to nurture that love. When you’re young and just finding your way, your relationship with music is passionate and full of zest and ardor. Over time, setbacks and the less positive side of the business (and it is, ultimately, a business built on an art form) can make one become lazy, jaded, and cynical. It’s easy to forget that you used to love the Beethoven Fifth Symphony after you’ve played it a dozen times or more. That’s why it’s so important to nurture the basic love for music and performing that you have right now. Spend time regularly investing in that initial stock of love that you have for music, and it will sustain you over the long haul.

Written by: Charles Noble, Oregon Symphony Assistant Principal viola. Charles Noble keeps his own blog rolling at: www.nobleviola.com. Check there for interesting insights into the Oregon Symphony, the orchestral world at large and the life of a professional musician.

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. . . 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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Jenny Lee, cello, PYP

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Arthur Halim, viola, PYCO

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Chris Aholt, Piano Concerto Competition Winner Runner-Up

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Florian Conzetti, Percussion Coach

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