GVO eNewsletter - January, 2007
Alex Mastrando
The Greenwich Village Orchestra
Celebrating Our 20th Anniversary Season
Concert #3 - “Neighbors”
Sunday, January 28, 2007 – 3:00pm
Washington Irving High School Performing Arts House
16th & Irving Place – NYC
Program:
Tartini – Concerto in D Major for Trumpet and Orchestra, Warren Wernick,
Trumpet
Chavez – Sinfonia India
Dvorak – Symphony No. 7
This newsletter will regularly bring you insights into the music-making and activities of the GVO. In this issue, we discuss the upcoming "Neighbors" concert on January 28, 2007, 3:00pm at the Washington Irving High School Performing Arts House. For more information as well as directions, log onto our website at http://www.gvo.org/audience.
From The Podium – Notes from Music Director Barbara Yahr
With the coming of the New Year, the GVO newsletter will now bring you not only musings on the upcoming repertoire but also news about our orchestra. This past November, we celebrated our 20th anniversary with an exciting concert at NYU’s Skirball Center for Performing Arts. We played the Concerto Fantasy for Two Timpanists and Orchestra by Philip Glass with soloists Gerard Gordon and Steve Weiser. We were very fortunate to have sponsorship for this program generously donated by the Group Santander and the Sovereign Bank and to have the composer, Philip Glass, appear at the concert to say a few words to the audience about his extraordinary music.
Our orchestra has been attracting some
wonderful new players over the past few seasons and I would like to take this
opportunity to introduce you to a few of them We will begin with the
violin section where you may have noticed several new faces this season. Susie
Kang hails from California. She’s a Stamford grad and has a
Master’s in Education from Harvard. She teaches 9th
grade science in the Bronx and has been playing the violin since she was 5.
Christine Foster is from Canada, studied violin at the Menuhin school in London
and works at EMI developing music sales over the internet. Yaniv Segal is a
native New Yorker, has studied the violin since he was 4 and is a graduate of
Vassar College. He comes from a musical family (his mother plays in the New
York Philharmonic) and in addition to playing in the violin section, he also
serves as the GVO as Assistant Conductor. He divides his time between
playing in and conducting the Chelsea Symphony, the GVO and working his
father’s violin shop. Robert Hayden who, when asked about his feelings
about playing the violin had the following to say: “The violin has given
me so many memorable experiences in my life - from performing in the Mozarteum
in Salzburg to playing in the Young Artist's Orchestra at Tanglewood. I
love being in the GVO because everyone plays with the same level of
professionalism and dedication, which makes each performance yet another memory
for me to cherish.”
Our concert this Sunday, “Neighbors,” features music by Carlos
Chavez, Tartini and Dvorak.
I first heard the Sinfonia India by
Carlos Chavez about 20 years ago and have been looking for the right moment to
program it ever since. Chavez may not be a household name but was an
extremely prominent and important composer from our neighboring country,
Mexico. The Sinfonia India is a short work of approximately 12
minutes. Chavez artfully combines sophisticated 20th century
compositional technique with the sounds and melodies of the pre-Hispanic
Mexican culture, making use of numerous Indian percussion instruments. The
piece was written in the 1930s and the post-revolution government supported
bringing nationalistic art to the people. Although the piece is metrically
complex and difficult for the orchestra, it is wonderfully accessible for the
audience and recalls the sounds of other composers of that time - Copland and
Stravinsky.
As we all know by now, Antonin Dvorak was a onetime neighbor of Irving Place,
having lived and worked in the immediate neighborhood in the late 19th
Century.
.
Although his Ninth Symphony, written while living in this country, remains his most famous, there are those who feel the Seventh Symphony is his greatest. I love Dvorak’s music and will not commit myself to favorites. However, I will tell you that the emotional depth of the Seventh Symphony is striking. It is a work which while clearly written in Dvorak’s own voice, recalls the music of Brahms as well as Bruckner and Wagner. Strange musical bedfellows for sure but when synthesized through the musical language of Dvorak, the result is this profound and moving work.
It is interesting that this most Germanic of Dvorak symphonies was the centerpiece of a disagreement between the composer and his German publisher, Simrock. It seems that there was some problem about the price Dvorak would be paid for the work but also about what language both his name and the title would appear in: German or Czech. In 1885, Dvorak wrote the following:
“…..But what have we two to do with politics; let us be glad that we can dedicate our services solely to the beautiful art! And let us hope that nations who represent and possess art will never perish, even though they may be small. ….an artist too has a Fatherland in which he must also have a firm faith and which he must love.”
Dvorak’s sincerity and loyalty come
through in this letter as well as in all of his music. Apparently Simrock
got the message. They settled on his name appearing as “Ant.”
so that it could be an abbreviation for either the Czech Antonin or German
Anton. The title appeared in both languages.
The neighbor in the Tartini concerto is our own Warren Wernick, principal
trumpet of the GVO.
Meet the Soloist – Warren Wernick, trumpet
What made you pick the trumpet
and when did you get serious about it?
Actually, the trumpet
picked me. In sixth grade, in the elementary school I attended on Long Island
the band director passed around a form to every able bodied young man and woman
soliciting interest in the music program. What instrument did I pick? The
bongos (drums) of course (hey, it was the early 1970s, everybody wanted to play
the drums.) Interestingly, and unbeknownst to many of us who filled out the
form, there were a limited number of instruments – drums, flutes,
clarinets, cornets, tubas, etc. Who knew? Not only that, we discovered that the
instruments were being doled out in alphabetically. Seeing as my last names
starts with a W, I wasn't even chosen, Sadly, yet prophetically, the guy before
me who's name started with "Wa" got sick and couldn't play in the
band. [He probably went on to co-found Microsoft or something but I digress]. I
was the next guy on the list. They issued me a standard issue mouthpiece and
cornet (trumpet) and the rest is history. I think I got serious about it when I
realized it was something I felt good about and excelled at. That was a great
feeling. And it propelled me further into the breach.
Did you enjoy playing overseas in the New Philharmonia of
Portugal?
It was the first job I auditioned for and won after Juilliard and it was a
life changing experience. I was a wild man in those days. What more could I ask
for? I got to travel, experience other cultures and play the trumpet. I
even fronted the band playing the Haydn and Hummel concertos to appreciative
audiences around the country. It was also a chamber orchestra and since I
consider myself a "finesse" player it was the perfect situation for
me. Most trumpet players don't like chamber orchestras because it doesn't
give them the opportunity to play higher, faster and louder than everyone else.
Not that there's anything wrong with that . . . it’s just that I believe
in using my instrument as a musical instrument and not a weapon.
What do you like about orchestral playing and how does it differ for you
from playing as a soloist?
Aside from the fact that it is what I was trained to do, the reason I like
orchestral playing is because it is a visceral experience. The orchestra is a
living, breathing ferocious organism with its own personality and
idiosyncrasies and culture, and I love that. From the first rehearsal to the
final concert, there is no feeling in the world like being a part of a process
where a large group of people come together and share an experience that is as
powerful as this. As a trumpet player, it can be a very athletic experience and
when the time comes for you to lead the brass section in a solo you then get to
feel the power and glory of what it might be like to as a professional athlete
who makes the big play. It's awe inspiring when it all comes together. .
It’s always an honor to be a rank and file member and then be able to
step out in front of your friends and colleagues and play a concerto. The only
thing that differs is my expectations become higher. I want to make sure
that the orchestra is inspired respects me and feels like they want to
take the journey of, in this case, the Tartini Concerto , much in the same way
as we respect and trust Barbara to get us from point a to point b and out
through the other end of the tunnel with, in the case of this concert, the
Chavez Sinfonia India or Dvorak Seventh Symphony - with all
our arms and limbs intact
Tell us something about playing the piccolo trumpet- when did you discover
that talent?
I love playing the piccolo trumpet because it allows me to explore the
music of the late renaissance and baroque. Especially works by Bach,
Handel, Vivaldi ,Corelli and other composer of that era. Time and space
limitations prevent me from expounding on the history of the trumpet and how
advances in pedagogy, technique and technology led to this unusual and
fascinating instrument. Playing the piccolo trumpet, for most modern players,
is simply a necessity to execute parts that are higher in range and more
precarious on standard trumpets. It can have a very strident and piercing sound
that really cuts through the orchestration and many composers of the twentieth
and twenty first centuries have employed it to great effect. For example, the
high D trumpet parts in Stravinsky The Rite of Spring come to mind.
Finally, how did the Tartini violin concerto come to be transformed into the
current trumpet concerto?
I believe we have the amazing French trumpet virtuoso Maurice Andre to thank
for that. Maurice Andre simply took the art of trumpet playing to a new level.
Actually, he was more than just a “trumpet player”, he was a
virtuoso instrumentalist who happened to use the trumpet as his medium. He
toured and recorded extensively in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. One must realize
that there are a finite number of works originally conceived and written for
the trumpet, I can only assume that Mr. Andre needed more music to play.
Perhaps anticipating this, he expanded his repertoire to include violin
concertos, oboe concertos, flute concertos and anything that made sense for him
to play. Some of the works, mere mortals like myself actually try perform, even
to this day.
This Tartini concerto, although a trifle, is a delightful work and I believe if
Tartini had written a trumpet concerto, it would have sounded like this. Even
though purists may cringe at the idea of a trumpet player playing a violin
concerto, and I make no apologies for this, well, what can it hurt? You
know it took me 20 years to learn that this piece wasn’t a trumpet
concerto I was so convinced it was a trumpet concerto perhaps I didn’t
want to know. It just works . . . and it’s enjoyable to
listen to and perform.
Musical Chairs
The Greenwich Village Orchestra has launched its first ever Musical Chairs program. We are looking for sponsors to support each and every musical chair in the orchestra. All the funds generated through this campaign will be used exclusively for direct expenses of our musicians such as sheet music rental and purchase, equipment maintenance, rehearsal and concert hall rental.
The level of sponsorship depends on the musical chair in question:
Music Director's Podium
$1,000
Concertmaster's Chair
$500
Principal Chairs
$400
All other Chairs
$200
Your support and participation in the Musical Chairs program will make it possible for the GVO to continue to provide our musicians with an increasingly exciting music-making environment. This program allows us to use our other limited financial resources to obtain leading guest artists and offer complimentary tickets to those who may never experience a live symphony orchestra performance on stage.
Your contribution towards ensuring a
successful Musical Chairs program will help us achieve our mission of providing
great music at affordable prices. We are dedicated to serving Lower Manhattan
as a vital cultural and
educational resource.
Visit http://www.gvo.org/musicalchairs.html
if you are interested in participating in our Musical Chairs program
We greatly appreciate any help you can give us.
Alex Mastrando
The Greenwich Village Orchestra
Celebrating Our 20th Anniversary Season
Concert #3 - “Neighbors”
Sunday, January 28, 2007 – 3:00pm
Washington Irving High School Performing Arts House
16th & Irving Place – NYC
Program:
Chavez – Sinfonia India
Tartini – Concerto in D Major for Trumpet and Orchestra, Warren Wernick,
Trumpet
Dvorak – Symphony No. 7