I was exceptionally lucky last year in July 2021, in the middle of the pandemic, to have my travel plans to Germany accepted. I had eight letters of support to be able to leave the country and I am so grateful for the support of my family, friends and my previous schools where I was teaching. I first went to Bayreuth for the Young Artist Festival. It was so wonderful to be surrounded by other musicians and to perform for a live audience. I also performed at the HIDALGO Festival in Munich in October. I was able to stay at Henfenfeld Schloss, outside Nurnberg and I lived there until December when I found my own small place in Nurnberg. While at Henfenfeld I assisted with the Opera Masterclasses, concerts and workshops. I also performed in many of the performances, including giving an Australian Music recital. Now in Nurnberg I have been focusing on my performance and having some wonderful training. It has been a wonderful time Nurnberg and I have loved the opportunity to learn more about German culture, language, and music, living in the Franconia district.
Creative Music Education
I have always been interested in encouraging crossovers in artistic fields, since I was a young girl doing every artistic and creative class I could. I strongly believe that this gives so much enjoyment and richness to the learning process, and endeavour to create opportunities for my students whenever I can.
I started as head of strings at a new school in 2019, and given the task of teaching students who had missed lessons over covid lockdowns. It was at first a very big effort to create the program, build musical foundations and practice habits. I knew that I needed to bring a lot to the table, and I found the solution to the student’s shyness and to help them remember how to play their instruments was to play improvisation games and create our own music so that everyone was able to play together, regardless of experience or age.
In 2020 they had passed this hurdle, however they still didn’t want to play any of the ‘normal’ pieces that I gave them. We had a disrupted week of term 2 and so instead of their usual lessons I had everyone in small groups, and we did an activity based on their favourite foods. We turned this into short musical ideas. Then over the course of numerous weeks I collated all the music and created their own piece, a 3 movement work called “Joey’s Feast - Entree, Main and Dessert”. Every week before rehearsal I would add another ‘piece’ of the ‘feast’ and we would discuss and play the composition in rehearsal. For the students, this lead to much discussion, practice, individual responsibility being taken, and pride in our work. At the end of the term, after working on this project over 9 weeks, we gave two outstanding performances, one for the school gala and one for the student assembly. The growth of these students and the program overall grew so much from this experience. For myself, I had so much joy working with the students, and I was thrilled by their enthusiasm and musical progress. It is a reminder as a teacher to bring the unique skills one has and to encourage young people to engage with their creativity and curiosity for learning.
Preparing for the first orchestra performance in 12 months
Over this year, the world has gone silent, concert halls closed their doors and people continue to live under the shadow of this pandemic, the suffering, sadness and disconnect has seeped into all of our lives. Today, December 30 2020, waiting for the first rehearsal this year with orchestra I felt trepidation and uncertainty: so many things have been cancelled, somewhere my heart had given up on music. To be a musician is a daily process of self courage and belief in the goodness of art for humanity. Being musicians, we have all been to the dark night of the soul, and it is often coming back from this that we find the hidden nugget of beauty, that perfectly bowed note that rings right into our hearts, and makes the world whole again. This year, so many freelance musicians have faced this and packed away our instruments so that we can help support our families and loved ones, and so that we can afford to live. It felt so isolating, and even more so by the amazing teams of orchestras and ensembles around the world who were able to have coffee over Skype and to do video concerts with their colleagues. To be a freelancer is often to be alone, we turn up to gigs sometimes not knowing the other people on stage, although from long car trips with quartet members I have made many lasting friendships and memories. The pressure of being a musician can create as much anxiety in one’s life as it does joy and fulfilment. Rehearsing with the Queensland Pops Orchestra today, and in our home of QPAC was the biggest blessing. I felt wonder, I felt joy, I felt freedom. I felt teamwork, concentration and deep love and support of each other fellow people and musicians. I hadn’t known if I would ever be back on the QPAC stage performing, and with collective courage, hope and love, we were.
“The mind cannot see when the imagination is out of focus.”
September 2020
I have been feeling very separated from my self, and today crying with mum over a beautiful documentary made by students across Australia about corona virus, I feel the poetry from inside me brimming out. Throughout this time everyone has had to do things they wouldn’t usually do. In the past, if I didn’t practice a certain amount of hours I would feel that the entire day was wasted. This has been necessary to be able to be a professional violist, however at this time, this way of thinking hasn’t done me well. During the pandemic my role has shifted, previously my practice time was sacred and I was supported by others to practice. Now I have taken on roles in my family to care for elderly grandparents, support my parents working full time, emotional care for friends family and my partner, as they also do for me. I have also taken on work as a teacher and in a shop to support my family and to save for the future. I forget that these things are important. I do need to get back into the practice room, and fast for my own sanity, but this is no reflection as to whether I am a worthy musician or not. In fact I hope that it will give me a new perspective. For any time this quote is true “The mind cannot see when the imagination is out of focus.”
It has been a true blessing to be a teacher in this time and to give back to the community. I started at a new school after the lock down ended and it was a rewarding challenge to reinspire primary aged students to get back into music and the violin. Most students hadn’t played for 3 months and some had even forgotten everything. One break through that I had was with a student who had grown really fast and was playing a violin two sizes too small. After a few weeks of frustration at the attitude in this group class I really tried to tell the girls that it is never too late to practice and to improve at the violin. The next week this same student arrived with her new full size violin and hasn’t looked back since. The quote of the week was ‘since I got my new violin I practice every day and I never practiced at all for mrs x!’
My other big break through happened late in the term. I had two cellists in a group class, one extremely gifted student in grade 3 and a late learner in grade 6. The grade 6 student never practiced, brought her cello to class, remembered the book or came to orchestra. The grade 3 student was always early, could sightread the music on first go and was exceptionally keen. This pattern repeated and despite my attempts to contact the parents I had nothing until the last week when the mother wrote to say her child wasn’t coping, as I had said weeks before. I had been ready to say that the lessons wouldn’t be suitable, even though I have never once turned a child away from a music lesson. In this class I decided to run masterclass style, and it was also an exam day. The grade 3 student played well as usual and I was able to get more refinement from his playing easily. The grade 6 student sat there, borrowed cello and music. I have never seen such terrible posture and her arms we just about glued to her body holding the instrument. I told her, pretend that you are a rich and famous movie star, travelling the world to play the cello professionally. Instantly, we fixed her posture, she held the cello as the cello is meant to be held, and the sound she made was in tune and with a real full bodied cello sound. I think that this is my biggest lesson. When we believe in ourselves (or even pretend to believe until the true belief comes) then we can fully step into who we are and bring our light into the world.
Blodwen Hill, the mysterious violist
For my masters I researched and performed the Alfred Hill Viola Concerto. This took me to interviews in Sydney and I even uncovered the original program notes in Hill’s library collection. One piece of the puzzle I haven't been able to solve is the mystery around the premiere of this work and the violist who performed it. Miss Blodwen Hill (no relation of Alfred), was a member of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and played in the second viola position (a highly regarded place in the viola section). She performed the Alfred Hill concerto in 1946 in a concert of his works conducted by Krips. I was able to find the date Blodwen died as 1968.
I was able to find an article that included Blodwen:
From the Sydney Morning Herald Thursday 4 February 1954
“They Will Play Before The Queen To-day
THE Phyllis McDonald Players, who will present a musical programme at the women's lunch which is to be attended bv the Queen to-day. They are ROSAMUND CORNFORD ('cello), MURIELLE LANG ('cello), DIANA NACCA CHIAN (2nd violin), PHYLLIS MCDONALD (leader), JOYCE HUT- CHINSON (piano), and BLODWEN HILL (viola).
THE Phyllis McDonald Players, who will present a musical programme at the women's lunch which is to be attended bv the Queen to-day. They are ROSAMUND CORNFORD ('cello), MURIELLE LANG ('cello), DIANA NACCACHIAN (2nd violin), PHYLLIS MCDONALD (leader), JOYCE HUTCHINSON (piano), and BLODWEN HILL (viola).
TWO women have replaced two men in the musical group as the Phyllis McDonald Players for the programme to be presented at the State Women's Lunch at the Trocadero to-day for the Queen.
"It is a woman's lunch, you know," Miss McDonald said yesterday. The ensemble will include Miss McDonald herself, a violinist who established the, group about eight years ago; Miss Diana Naccachian, second violin; Miss Blodwen Hill, viola; Miss Murielle Lang, 'cello; Miss Rosamund Cornford, 'cello; Miss Joyce Hutchinson, piano. Misses Hill and Cornford have replaced Messrs. lan Ritchie and Charles Hill. The Players, who comprise an A.B.C. unit, have just completed an engagement of 42 weeks.
Miss McDonald, who is a teacher of the violin at Sydney Conservatorium, said yesterday that the "sweet music" to be played during the luncheon for the Queen would be "light, but good dinner music." The musicians will play just before the Queen's arrival, and during the lunch a twenty minute programme which will be recorded and later broad cast.
For more than 21 years Miss McDonald has been heard on programmes for the B.B.C. and the A.B.C. She went to London on a two-year Royal Academy. of Music Scholarship, which was extended three times. She remained in England for 11 years, and was studying at the academy at the same time as the now-famous Griller Quartet.
In addition to leading her Players in regular programmes for the A.B.C. Miss McDonald also leads the Fred Hartley Show, which will start again on March 4.
"Although we have to play for nearly half an hour, at least, at the lunch all of us hope to get a glimpse of the Queen," said Miss McDonald.”
I am a musician, what can I do?
What can we do to make our little patch a place that reflects us - our beliefs, values and dreams?
The current situation with a government that doesn't value art culture and education, that commits human rights abuses including the racist incarceration of aboriginal people and locks innocent refugee people in prisons - this situation is dangerous.
One can feel powerless and I don't know what to do. We can't change the whole world, but what can we do to improve our own little patch and to contribute good into the world instead of suffering, ignorance and pollution?
I was thinking that we should do something collaborative here in Brisbane to highlight this... if you are reading this and would like to contribute please write to me!
What we can contribute as artists and musicians is a great deal. If isolation has taught me anything, it is how important the arts are. Stretching the imagination by reading a good book, listening to a soloist at the Philharmonie or joining a paint class are things that bring so many people joy. To live life in worry and anxiety about the future is a terrible thing. The arts can give us expression and suspension of these worries.
The arts can also challenge people’s ideas and perceptions. If we are stuck in a negative mindset that is only focused on material things that is when we can feel powerless to stand up for what we believe in/ or to ignore these problems entirely. Music and the arts bring so much richness and a depth to life that is such a powerful force for good. Individually or as a community we can make music and experience music. As a musician I may never know how the piece I recorded touched a listener, and that is part of its magic.
I am a musician, yet who am I?
The rollercoaster of Covid-19 has brought so many emotional spaces to every person. It feels self centred to dwell on the landscape for one’s self, however these emotions do need to be expressed and felt. With so much focus on the impact the this pandemic has had on the arts there is s feeling that one needs to defend arts, to defend music.
How can you tell someone to listen if they are deaf or to value health foods if they have only ever eaten MacDonalds? The special thing about music is that it is interpreted differently by each and every individual. When I play the viola I do not know exactly how another person is hearing it or interpreting it. I can however talk about how music has helped me and defined my life. My family is full of professional and amateur musicians, this is what brought my grandparents together and in such difficult times I think that music had a big part to play in both of their lives. I have never been a prodigy, however I have always loved to sing. As a tiny girl I would sing all day and this is why my piano teacher grandmother suggested I play the violin rather than the piano. I have struggled and persevered for the past 20 years on my two string instrument and one could ask why. I think the answer is that when I don’t practice I forget who I am. Music lets me express things that one cannot find the words to say, or even things I didn’t know were in me. Performing the works of composers I have in insight into people, into emotions. I can travel time and space. Going to a concert to listen I am transported from whatever I am experiencing and have been moved to tears by beauty.
I guess the answer I have been looking for over this pandemic is that we will always have music and I will always be a musician. A musician isn’t someone who is paid to perform music, it is anyone who feels and hears and expresses in sound. The other answer is to turn off the news and have the courage to keep practicing. Being a professional musician allows me the time to practice and the platform to collaborate and to perform however in the end I know it will all be ok and to keep persevering.
Competition in Isolation
Something strange happened to me today. I had a miraculous flurry of successful cleaning, posted some work online and had a great positive response. Two days later however here I am looking at everyone else’s posts and I wonder - am I succeeding at isolation? What started as a free and positive search for inspiration and creativity is now turning into a big winners reel. And who can blame it, with jobs uncertain and so much forced positivity, no wonder everyone is clamouring to be seen as a success in the face of devastation.
What of the stoic side, the nod to early generations that made it through war, depression and worse. Although it does seem a step in the right mindset direction to think ourselves lucky, it doesn’t cover that sinking feeling of dread and dissolution in the face of uncertainty. I am not sick, however just being in isolation I seem to have taken on some of the lethargy and numbness that actually happens when sick. I worry, maybe I have it, or maybe I will starve with no access to food and toilet paper… these thoughts spiral and the winners reel becomes unbearable.
Finally something happens, a friend calls, and then another, and by the end of the day I have spent 4 happy hours on the telephone. I haven’t made any cakes, faced any dangerous supermarkets or made a new business in a day, I have however made connections with some of my nearest and dearest and surely that is what matters in the end.
Maybe tomorrow I will post that photo…
Who are we as musicians in a crisis
Throughout history musicians have continued to shine their light, despite war, hardship and censorship. One only needs to hear Shostakovich’s String Quartets to understand the intense need to express and give voice to his inner feelings and the feelings of utter despair, misery and hope around him under the Stalin Regime in Russia.
Today in 2020 we are experiencing a world wide pandemic and for my community in Brisbane, Australia, music performances was one of the first things to go. It felt as though music was dispensable. Funding for freelance artists feels so impossible to describe and it certainly doesn’t fit into a Centrelink form. It is a time that many of us feel powerless. As a musician one always has a burning fear at the back of one’s mind, “maybe I should train in a sensible career” and now more than ever the dreams, hopes, goals and years of dedicated practice seem to drift away. One is left with a feeling of numbness and a concern for how many biscuits are left in the house and a mysterious sense of loss. I can’t even vocalise my feelings in this situation. In a community not used to doing without, where insurance claims are made and refunds are given, it seems impossible that we should have to stay in our own homes and be restricted in any way to the life we desire, even for this indefinite, short time. What would Shostakovich do?
I exhale and look round me. I have been so busy running for so long, catching up to the rat race, its about time I clean my room. With family members working from home this space is valuable. I can only practice in short bursts when there are no teleconferences happening in different parts of the house so I really can’t do anything except for clean.
Paper. I am surrounded by paper and memories, music and melodies. Just. so. much. paper. I begin to sort through 28 years of music learning, study and life, and I find a sense of completing the circle. Those projects in started in 2008, I can do them now! I miss music terribly. For so long I have taken it for granted or used it as a measure of my own worth, but now, as they say distance makes the heart grow fonder. I tune in to the radio, and rediscover the magical beauty of listening and hearing the unexpected. This isolation isn’t so bad. I am grateful to the bottom of my heart that we are not hiding in our homes from bomb treats or terror and that I have a safe home, a home where I am happy, respected and free to be myself.
In times of crisis our strong suits come rearing up and for me the goddess of creativity indeed has left her mark. I sometimes think that my music or art isn’t professional, and who am I to demand an audience! However I know that anything I do is wholeheartedly from within me so let’s put that worry to rest. Sometimes I wonder if Music chose me and not the other way around.
Only for now, not forever: self isolation is not about ourselves, it is about the collective and it is about love. Let’s put that to music and dance our worries away in a grateful symphony of love across the world .
Practice Hacks for my students / or anyone who needs a practice boost :)
Practice Hacks for my students / or anyone who needs a practice boost :)
Set a timer
Practice at the same time each day
Practice while your parents are cooking dinner and you can play for them
Perform for your family, friends and pets at every opportunity (everyone loves a musical happy birthday)
Make a practice chart and tick it off each day
Listen to a recording of the piece to hear how it goes
Record yourself and give it a rating each time to see how you improve
Posture for professionals (you don’t want to be picked out as a student!)
Open heart, feel your chest open and shoulders confident (not hunched over), you could almost fly you are so confident
Feet directly below your hips, knees supple (not locked), you are a karate master, a tennis player, a dancer ready to show the music and pass it between you and the other musicians
Instrument parallel to the floor (not falling down), resting between your shoulder bone, clavicle and jaw - it should be called a jaw rest not a chin rest! Instrument should be poised and powerful. This will give the best sound and means the bow can work properly. Just think of the physics…
Alignment exercise: fold your body in half and shake you fingers, arms, head, what ever feels tight. Very slowly, mover from the bottom of your spine, rolling your body up, each vertebrae on top of each other, until the very last thing is your head. Reach up with you arms and reach as far as you can from your fingers and tippy toes. Settle back into your professional confident and relaxed playing position.
Listening
The best musicians are also the best listeners. Expand your skills by listening to music in all different styles and genres. You can add to this by researching a bit about the composer or performer and their place in history. Another way to focus your listening is by drawing what you hear in the music. Consider starting your own listening diary.
Pieces we have been listening to include: Vivaldi’s Four Seasons (Baroque, Italy 1723), Piazolla’s Four Seasons of Buenos Aires (Contemporary, Argentina 2011), Max Richter’s Vivaldi Recomposed (Contemporary, Germany 2011)
Other recommendations: Vaughn Williams Lark Ascending, Mendelssohn Midsummer Nights Dream, Sheherazade
Famous Violinists: Nigel Kennedy, Joshua Bell, Julia Fisher, Hilary Hann
Famous Violists: Tabea Zimmerman, Yuri Bashmet, Garth Knox
Famous Cellists: Yo-yo Ma, Jacqueline du Pre
Famous Orchestras: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra for the Age of Enlightenment (baroque), Sydney Symphony Orchestra
Composing and Improvising
The exciting thing about making your own music is that you can experiment and really express yourself through music.
Ways to notate your music: record on a phone, write on sheet music, draw a musical map with colours (this is called a graphic score), just write the letter name and rhythm on a sheet of plain paper
Start from your experiments and then shape like a story (beginning, middle, end)
Try textures like pizzicato, different bowing styles, harmonics, even singing and playing at the same time
Remember:
What you put in to your music with practice, listening and research comes back to you in abundance! It is limitless what can happen once you get into the rhythm of working hard. It might be you performing in Germany Austria and China one day! Remember to work hard and follow your heart, good things will always come to you when you are in action.
Baroque Melodies
I have always loved baroque music however I have never had the opportunity to focus on this performance practice. As an experiment I recently put gut strings on my viola to see what it would sound like. I am amazed by the resonance and added overtones when I play on my lower two strings. My A and D strings are raw gut so they are a bit more difficult and I am discovering how to make a sweet sound. It is really teaching me to remember to have patience and to listen as I am always re tuning the strings and in some ways re learning and discovering how to make sound with my bow.
The Joy of Playing in a Youth Orchestra
It was with a very heavy heart that I handed in my red Youth Orchestra shirt in for the final time. I have played in the Youth Orchestra for the past 7 years and I finally reached the age limit. Coming off stage after the final performance I wondered - had I made the most of that final performance? I played well but did I savor it enough? Looking back I know that I grew up in the orchestra, made life long friends and kept aiming higher with my music. I am also grateful to have reached the age limit because sometimes we need to be pushed out of the nest to keep growing and developing. It is time for me to learn how to fly on my own.
Finding that performance calm any time of the day
A thought for my students getting into study mode:
If you are feeling stressed and anxious why not use all of your experience as a musician and find the same calm that you try to find before a performance.
When one is under pressure one often forgets to breathe and then there is no oxygen for your brain so everything feels harder than it is.
- Take deep breaths and visualise yourself getting the assignment done
- Think of a mantra for yourself. Eg: 'Today I will do my very best and that is more than enough'
- Try this AMAZING podcast - I could not have got through my masters without it!!
Meditation Oasis http://www.meditationoasis.com/podcast/
- #6 is just music and perfect to have on low when you are doing an assignment
- #31 for stress and pressure is also really good
- also #36 for a mini break
Good Luck!