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Laura
Wichers
Moderator
Posts: 1074
(7/23/01 2:21:05 pm)
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Encore
update
The fifth week of Encore has started! Time flies when you are
practicing your butt off in 90F practice rooms...
Encore is
an intensive summer school for violin, viola and cello students; the
director is David Cerone (CIM Pres.) and much of the Encore faculty
hails from CIM (a big CIM student contingent, too). I HIGHLY
recommend this program for anyone who is either majoring in music or
is very involved in music outside their other pursuits. The age
range here is about 12 - 25 years old, the majority of students
being college age. Many students come from big-name music schools,
including Juilliard, Eastman, CIM, Peabody and Curtis. Many of the
high school and middle school students come from music prep schools,
including Temple Prep, Curtis, CIM Young Artist and Colburn. There
is also a large group of students from various state and private
schools. Some students are from outside the USA, in particular a
group of Korean cellists who came with their teacher, Min Ja Hyun.
My roommate, Hye-sun, is a member of the "Korean posse" (my nickname
for them). The playing level at Encore is stellar and the faculty
expects hard work from everyone.
As for myself, I haven't
gotten through many pages of music (maybe 20), but my practice
technique has been completely overhauled with great results.
Possibly the best thing about Encore is that you have at least 4
hours of completely uninterrupted time every day for practice. There
are some people here who practice >8hrs a day, everyday, though
most people aim for 5-7hrs (that's me). After the WCCIII last
spring, I had so much new information and ideas to try out I hardly
had time for them all. Encore provides six weeks of new information
and ideas, and the bonus is they also provide time to assimilate it
all! Playing Popper 13 in my lesson today, all the way through,
having only had it four days, hit home how my practice "practice"
has changed.
Another wonderful experience has been chamber
music. I was assigned to a string trio with a violist from Bowling
Green and violinist David Russell, who also happens to be a faculty
member. We've been working on Beethoven Op. 8 Serenade. Having a
faculty member in the group was a bit intimidating at first, and
inspiring after the first rehearsal. For one thing, I definitely
make sure to learn my part very well before rehearsal! Mr. Russell
is an absolutely wonderful teacher and coach and both the violist
and I have learned a lot about playing chamber music. Bow speed. Bow
speed!!! BOW SPEED!!! (We have so much BS in our
music...)
There are at least 2 student concerts each week,
one on Sunday afternoon and one Thursday evening. Starting the third
week, Monday evening concerts were also added. It is so much fun and
dare I say it, educational, to watch my friends and co-horts
perform, not to mention the amount of repertoire I've heard. Violin:
Tchaikovsky, Barber, Prokofiev, Weinawski, Beethoven, Brahms. Viola:
Bartok, Hindemith, Walton. Cello: Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, Saint-Saens.
Chamber: Brahms & Tchaik Sextets, Beethoven Op 8 and Op 56,
Ravel, Debussy, to name a few. And that's just at the concerts! Most
faculty members also have performance/studio classes and there are
masterclasses almost every week.
About the living situation:
Encore is held at Western Reserve Academy, a hoity-toity prep school
in Hudson, Ohio. The buildings are old but very well-maintained; the
grounds are beautiful. Don't come here if you want to go "out on the
town" every night, because the town is about 3 city blocks. There's
a drug store, a few general stores, a couple clothing/jewelry
places, and a GAP. The GAP must see a 100% profit increase while
Encore is in session... The one thing that sucks is that none of the
dorms are air-conditioned, except the college guys' dorm, and the
weather has been over 80F for most of the program. I lucked out and
got a practice room assignment in the campus library, the one
building on campus that has AC. There are lots of recreational
outings, including canoeing trips, Six Flags & Cedar Point,
movies (pay $5 for the movie, but go only because the theater is
AC), Fun 'N Stuff (outdoor batting cages, bumper cars, etc) and
more. Hal, our recreational director, is the coolest guy you'll ever
meet. It's worth it to come here just to hear Hal's description of
how the sole purpose of batting cages is for guys to show off their
lack of batting skills. Dorm rooms are mostly doubles, there are a
few singles but the cost is the same and you cannot request a
particular arrangement. The cafeteria is pretty good, for a
cafeteria... the best part being the potato salad and the daily
surplus of garbanzo beans and black olives. And anyone who comes
here should make sure to make a good impression with Midge Karam,
the executive director who is also a faculty member of WRA, and who
Knows All and Sees All.
Encore is GREAT!!!! and I'll be
coming back next summer. Melanie and Marissa wouldn't have it any
other way. M&M are Mr. Uchimura's kids (I study with him at WMU
and at Encore), and I baby-sit them on Sunday nights. They are
precocious banshees (and I mean that affectionately) and are
celebrities on campus. My only regret is not coming during previous
summers.
For those of you who have read this whole thing and
want more information, you can check out Encore's website at www.cim.edu/encore/default.html
.
Laura, who FINALLY has a thumb callus and now knows how
Blazing Saddles can be inspiring for performing Schelomo in cello
class.
Edited by: Laura
Wichers at: 7/23/01 2:26:02 pm
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dennisw
Registered User
Posts: 224
(7/23/01 5:00:57 pm)
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Re: Encore
update
My goodness, why WRA??? Since it's sponsored by CIM faculty why not
have it at the institute itself? There's plenty of dorm space @WRU
in Cleveland. Or how about Kent State? They have better facilites,
as does Baldwin-Wallace College (suburbs of Cleveland).
Maybe
they chose Hudson, Ohio so you would be encouraged to keep your
minds on the music? If so, they couldn't have made a better choice.
I think Hudson is even boring to the people who chose to live
there.
There is the Blossom Center, if you can get a ride,
and, of course the bowling alley up on Route 8.
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me4cello
Registered User
Posts: 125
(7/24/01 3:03:31 am)
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sounds
great..
but exactly HOW did your practice technique change?? Did you just
approach it differently or did you plan out what you were gooing to
do before you started?? Would be great if you could pass on a few
tips.
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Laura
Wichers
Moderator
Posts: 1076
(7/24/01 7:09:37 am)
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Re: Encore
update
There are usually about 3 Blossom concerts that Encore students are
required to attend, and then if you have a car you can go to as many
others as you like. So far, I've been to two, including one with
Zimmerman playing Brahms Violin Concerto (plus Dvorak  and the
other with Jian Wang playing Saint-Saens (plus Scheherazade). Both
concerts were good, but not particularly exciting.
I think
part of the reason for choosing WRA was the distraction-free
environment.
Haven't been bowling, but can vouch for the
wonders of Wal-Mart's extremely cold
air-conditioning.
Laura
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