Oxford Chamber Course: Millie aged 14

Thank you again to Thomastik-Infeld Vienna for the bursary which allowed me to go to the Oxford Chamber Course. I learnt a lot over the week, from playing the cello in the bass clef to learning how to read the tenor clef (which I had to learn in five days)! I also got to attend a masterclass which gave us lots of information about Baroque music, instruments and bows. We even got to use the actual bows themselves which were much easier to use than normal bows as they naturally fade out the sound. Being around other musicians, especially those of a higher grade, was beneficial to me as it pushed me out of my comfort zone and made me strive to work hard in my grades. From this experience I am also part of a quartet where our aim is to go busking in our local town. Already this alone has helped my listening skills! My knowledge of chamber music has greatly improved after the Chamber course. for example, when and where dynamics are used within a chamber group is very purposeful. the tune/s are always the loudest as well as ascending scales whereas the bass line and the accompanying tune is usually quieter. I had a great time. Thank you Thomastik.

Millie (14)

 

National Strings: Kayla aged 15

I had a fantastic four days on National Strings this summer and I am most grateful to Thomastik-Infeld Vienna and JDCMF for helping me to take part in this course.

I played in 3 chamber groups; I played 1st violin in the 1st movement of the Mendelssohn Octet, which is one of my all-time favourite pieces, and it’s amazing that I could finally get to play it. My second piece was Haydn’s G Major quartet. I hadn’t played much Haydn before the course, so I think it was good to learn about his sophisticated style. As my third piece, I had the brilliant opportunity of playing the viola in Mendelssohn’s 2nd quintet. This was quite enjoyable. As a second study, I don’t get many chances to play viola in high standard chamber groups. So this was definitely a challenge for me. With the help of William Bruce and Simon Smith as my tutors for this ensemble, they helped me through this challenge and the performance was a great success in the concert.

In my Haydn quartet we experimented with ways to play precisely with each other. We tried watching each other’s bows, and tried moving in the same directions. We also tried starting the piece with our eyes closed, which seemed impossible, but we did manage to get it spot on a few times. I think this helped a lot with teamwork and I feel you play a lot better when there is a good connection with the group. It is quite vital in all aspects of music to be able to collaborate well in chamber music just as much as solo performances with a pianist or orchestra.

I also had the opportunity to play Arnold’s concerto for two violins with orchestra, which was an amazing experience.

During the four days I worked with one of the tutors on my technique and posture as I used to get quite a lot of aches and pains in my back and shoulders. This has really helped me a lot as I feel quite comfortable when I've been playing in ensembles recently.

I am very grateful to Thomastik-Infeld for their support and to JDCMF for awarding me this sponsored bursary.

 

Kayla (15)

 

Young Grittleton: Mathilda aged 14

Thanks to Thomastik-Infeld Vienna and their kind bursary I was able to attend Young Grittleton this year, for the second time. Once again, I really enjoyed everything about it!

I enjoyed meeting new (and old) friends, playing music with them, having fun and laughing a lot, singing, improvising….everything!

I sight read through a lot of chamber music on the first few days and then worked on the first movement of the Schubert String Quintet in C major for the concert (second cello part).

I would never have imagined being able to play that piece but I did, and now it is my absolute favourite piece of music. I learnt, particularly, how important it is not to worry about the notes more than the ensemble - the playing together bit is the crucial part of chamber music. When I (we all) concentrated on the music, everything else started to find its place, the tricky rhythms, the difficult notes, the big shifts and the overall structure of the piece.

Thank you so much to Thomastik for their generous support and to the inspiring coaches and also to the JDCMF - I am really grateful to them!

Mathilda (14)

Young Grittleton: Jenny aged 12

Thank you to Thomastik-Infeld Vienna for allowing me the opportunity to attend the Young Grittleton course this year. During my time on the course, I sight-read a lot of different chamber music, such as the Brahms Sextet in Bb and the Borodin Quartet in D Major, and spent half the week preparing the Schubert Quintet in C with four other excellent musicians, for performance at the concert at the end of the week. Throughout the week, we also played a variety of different orchestral pieces, some written especially for the course. These were interesting to play alongside working on the chamber music. We also had the chance to play with some of the seniors on the Grittleton course- this was fun as we were able to pick up a lot from how they played; for example, their techniques as a chamber group and the way they all listened to each other to make sure that they were making a unified sound. Attending the senior concert was another highlight of the week. It was inspiring to watch them play and it helped me understand how I could play better with my chamber group in the quintet. The Schubert Quintet was quite a hard piece to put together well compared to other chamber music I have played before but it was worth it in the end as the result, which we performed in the concert, sounded incredible. I really enjoyed the week and would love to go again. Thank you Thomastik.

Jenny (12)

 

Concorda: Poppy aged 16

A huge thank you to both Thomastik-Infeld and JDCMF for giving me the opportunity to attend the Concorda Chamber music course. Alongside enjoying spending time with so many lovely people, I have learnt so much on this course, a day in and the results already become clear.

Watching the Heath quartet and Ophelia quartet was truly an inspiring experience, seeing the communication and the balance between every member of the quartet transformed how I lead my chamber groups on the course. I became much more aware of the importance of listening and knowing everyone else’s parts, feeling as though every member is as important as the other in making a piece of music, like an artwork, that has been contributed to by everyone.

As well as the chamber music, the improvisation and expression sessions contributed to aspects of chamber music playing too. Through these sessions we worked on communication and responding to other players as well as the individuality of each part influencing the others: one person would come up with an idea and others would take that idea and respond to it and develop it further. I felt that these sessions really made me and everyone aware of the other players and then improved the eye contact and passing of musical lines in our chamber music sessions.

Poppy (16)