NHL Round 1 Predictions

Ryan Kesler and Alex Burrows of the Vancouver Canucks!

All right, normally this is a blog dedicated to classical music, some jazz, and music education.  But the Stanley Cup playoffs have begun and I'm a HUGE hockey fan. (For example, if you look at my Blackberry, the Habs and Canucks games are blocked off as "busy.")

So instead of practising or score studying, I've been checking my hockey stats.  Here are my predictions!

My favourite goalie: Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens!

What do YOU predict?

Western Conference
Chicago vs Minnesota: Chicago in 5.
Detroit vs. Anaheim:   Anaheim in 6.
St. Louis vs. LA: who cares.  Ok fine, St. Louis in 7. 
Canucks vs. Sharks: Canucks in 6. 

Eastern Conference
Montréal vs. Ottawa: Montréal in 5. (Go Habs Go! Ole!)
Pittsburgh vs. NY Islanders: Pittsburgh in 3. Haha, just kidding. Pittsburgh in 4.
NY Rangers vs. Capitals: Capitals in 5.
Boston vs. Toronto: Both teams get abducted by aliens because NO ONE CARES.

(Fine, Toronto in 7 just to stir it up.)

Agree? Disagree?

A Wonderful Sunday for String Quartet Playing

I started playing violin 10 years ago and I soon realized that musicians did not have to play music alone! Imagine that.  I could collaborate with other musicians to create art.  As soon as I was able to, I joined an orchestra.  After that, I formed a string quartet with other members of the Edmonton Youth Orchestra.  Since beginning to play violin, it has been my absolute joy to discover the string quartet repertoire.  There is no higher art form than the string quartet.  It is such a refined form of communication.

This is the view from the rose garden at the UBC Chan Centre for Performing Arts - glorious!

This afternoon, I got to hear some very fine quartet playing indeed.  The Vancouver Recital Society brought in one of England's finest young quartets, the Doric Quartet.  From the onset of the concert, they were fabulous at connecting with the audience.  

The first selection that they played was Haydn's String Quartet in g minor, opus 20, no. 3.  This piece was played with such grace and poise.  The gentlemen of the Doric Quartet vividly capture the high classical style in which Haydn wrote this quartet.  The performance showed immense intellect.  The third movement (poco adagio) was played with great sensitivity.  The dynamic contrast that the group achieved was particularly noteworthy.

Looking at the Burrard Inlet from UBC - stunning.

After the wonderful Haydn performance, the quartet played a composition by Twentieth Century composer, Erich Korngold.  It was completely refreshing to hear them program this work - a piece of music not heard as often as it should be.  The third movement was particularly intimate and moving.  In the final movement, the quartet indeed played con fuoco!  Their energy was incredible and the performance of this piece was very convincing.  Bravo to the quartet for including it on their program and introducing the audience to this wonderful work.

Finally, the quartet played Schubert's epic (and I mean EPIC) Death and the Maiden quartet, in d minor. This was a truly hauntingly beautiful performance. The music breathed, in particular during the first and second movement.  Their musicality and understanding of the score was simply exceptional.  The members of the quartet worked together to convey a frightening sense of drama that was very compelling.  

The refinement that the group showed made for a fabulous afternoon of music!  We, at An Die Musik, wish them the very best in what is surely going to be a very bright career.

P.S. You should really buy their Schubert disc. It's available on iTunes!

Stile Antico "Raises the Roof" and Easter continues!

I have been listening to Stile Antico's recordings on Harmoni Mundi for a few years now and have been thoroughly impressed.  The sound that they create as a group is so refined. Needless to say, their April 12, 2013 concert was circled in red and marked important on my Blackberry.  Fortunately, their concert was at the stunning Chan Centre for Performing Arts (which happens to be Stile Antico's favourite venue in which to sing!)  It was with great anticipation that I put on my Hunter boots (fitting for a British vocal group, yes?) and had umbrella in hand. I headed off to UBC for what I expected would be a fabulous concert.

It was, in fact, more than that. Stile Antico raised the roof. No, literally - they actually used the mechanical roof function in the Chan Centre to achieve maximum acoustics. Alright, fine - they also figuratively raised the roof.  I have heard many excellent vocal groups perform, including the Tallis Scholars. Nonetheless, Stile Antico's self-directed approach brought an element of freshness to the performance.  They presented their Passion and Resurrection program, which is fitting since Western Christianity continues to celebrate Easter for the forty days following the day of Christ's actual resurrection. 

Stile Antico's performance was inspiring musically. Their diction was impecable. Every detail in the text and the musical lines was discernible. The group's singing was, in a word, effortless!  (N.B. The music that they sang is actually extremely difficult so making it appear effortless was a challenging feat indeed!)  As a musician, what I appreciated most about their performance was the subtlety of dynamics.  For a group of twelve people to create such seamless crescendos and diminuendos takes incredible skill.  It is so rare in this day and age to hear this glorious polyphonic music performed with such control and in such a fabulous concert space.  Stile Antico's dedication to early music and renaissance performance practice is something that I truly admire about this group. They were wonderfully friendly and took time to meet the concertgoers in the lobby afterward even though they'd been up for many hours due to traveling. Their commitment to sharing this music is evident and we, the Vancouver audience, are grateful for that commitment!

Not only did Stile Antico's performance inspire me musically, but it was profoundly inspiring spiritually.  The entire program was sacred music revolving around Holy Week and the Resurrection.  Not everyone in the audience was of the Christian faith but what Stile Antico managed to communicate through the music was the ineffable love of a creator.  The particular music that they sang happens to be communicating through the Christian paradigm.  Regardless of one's faith affiliations, Stile Antico's performance was transcendant and all who were there to hear were certainly brought into a realm that is not of our cacophonic, bustling, distracted world.

Although all audience members were greatly appreciative of this stunning performance, as a Christian, it had an extra layer of meaning for me.  The singers infused certain pieces in second half of the concert with such joy that one's heart was moved to rejoice!  Their word painting was so clear that I could picture scenes from the Gospel wherein the women arrive at a tomb expecting to mourn but are instead greeted with the greatest news ever told in all of history.

"I am the Resurrection and the Life, says the Lord, he that believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live with his Redeemer." - John 11:25

Commitment in music education

On Wednesday, I begin lessons with a new piano teacher at the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra School of Music.  I am thrilled to start lessons with him.  He has decades of experience, extensive pedagogical knowledge, and tons of performance experience.

However, he has more than that.  He is compassionate and wants to connect with students in order to know them better and therefore tailor instruction to their needs.  

The evidence of this trait? He just spent an hour with me on the phone just doing a pre-lesson interview. I haven't (yet) paid a cent.  Still, he showed dedication to a new student by taking the time to discern my motivation for playing piano.  He has also mentioned numerous times that he is looking forward to teaching me.

How nice it will be to be under the instruction of someone who I know is truly interested in teaching me. Often, many musicians are teaching in order to survive financially.  This is completely understandable and to be expected. After all, meeting one's needs as a performer is next to impossible in this day and age.  Nonetheless, even if a music teacher would rather be performing, this attitude should not be displayed to the student.    If a teacher isn't finding joy in teaching music, it will be more difficult for the student to find joy in music. 

Double stops can be FUN!

Okay, so double stops aren't that fun. They're really difficult to learn how to play. They're frustrating and test the patience like no other element of violin technique.

I'm preparing for my RCM violin exam right now and I'm required to play thirds, sixths, and octaves in three different keys (major and relative minor.)  When I first started learning double stops, I was told by my teachers to play the lower note, then the higher note.  Once both notes were in tune, I could play both strings together.  I still believe that this is a reasonable method when beginning double stops.

However, there comes a point when you have to play your double stops legato and shift between them smoothly. MY TIME HAS COME.

Moment of truth: over the last month, I've been very discouraged by my violin playing and how far behind I am in preparing these double stops for my exam.  After some experimentation I had a huge breakthrough today. Here are the keys to success that I've discovered:

1) Be patient with yourself. Double stops don't happen over night or even in a month.

2) Play the first two double-stops in the scale. Are they in tune? If so, continue with the third double-stop. If they're not, go back and fix your intonation.  Do not continue until each step of the double stop scale is in tune.  This might mean that in a week, you get the first four double stops of a scale in tune. That's PERFECTLY fine.  This is where rule one comes into play ...again.

3) Understand how the scale is supposed to sound and the intervals between each notes before beginning to play double stops. Yes, you should be able to sing a minor third, major third, minor sixth, major sixth, and octave. And yes, this will require knowing theory. 

4) Play the lower note of the double stop as a scale separately, using the double stop fingering and paying special attention to the intervals between each double stop.

5) Repeat step 4 for the upper note of the double stop.

6) Relax your left hand and make sure you're not squeezing. Leave some space to keep the hand formation without tension.

7) Use your WHOLE BOW. You paid for the whole thing...use it all.

And now, I'm going to put my violin away and watch the Habs beat up the Bruins.
A just reward for my practising!