String Quartets in Action

This is Monica Davis, Assistant Dean and first-time SPA attendee. It is hard to believe that SPA is almost half over! The past two nights have been treats for our SPA students. Last night the Resident Quartet, including faculty Jessie Montgomery, Jannina Barefield, Karlos Rodriguez, and Dean Chris Jenkins gave a rousing performance of works by Piazzolla and Dvorak. In addition to the teaching and mentoring that we provide, I think that the chance for the students to watch us perform is almost as instructional.

A major portion of the students' time here at SPA is spent working in their assigned string quartets. While some of our students, like a group of four who came from the same music school in Puerto Rico, have worked in a string quartet before, many have never rehearsed on their own in a chamber music setting. To watch a string quartet, like our Resident Quartet or the Harlem Quartet live in action is an opportunity they might not have very often.

Day 3: Attention to Detail

This is Melissa White, violinist in the Harlem Quartet. I'm excited to be here to mark our third year of coaching chamber music at SPA!

Today is day 3 of SPA, and there's already been progress which is extremely exciting!! For me I always feel like I won't know where to begin with coaching my chamber groups on the first day. It's hard to arrange chamber groups before the kids get here because we only know their ability based on repertoire they've rehearsed and prepared for an audition months in advance. Therefore, I step into my room and it's like a box of chocolates....I never know what I'm going to get. Luckily this year, I've got eight good players who seem to be eager, and ready to do things over and over again until we get them right!

One of my groups I was super picky with today and we worked on one line for about an hour! I knew they could get every eighth note together with convincing dynamics in the correct part of the bow and for their sake, I was not going to let them move on until they heard the same "togetherness" I heard in my head for them. Therefore, we dissected the first line, drilled every detail and rehearsed it for 60 minutes!! In the end, I think (and hope) it created a new standard of playing for each of them individually as well as for them collectively as a group. My goal is to make sure each player takes responsibility for their part at all times in their chamber piece, so ultimately the end performance is the result of their own thought and musical decision. That's something which they can be extremely proud of!

SPA 2009 Kicks Off!

Welcome to SPA 2009! We've just gotten through the first day, and I think it was a fun-filled and exciting time. This is Chris Jenkins, Dean of SPA and viola faculty this summer. Throughout our two-week program, I'll be blogging with updates about our daily activities, with help from faculty, staff, and SPA students, in order to keep you up to date on the latest news from SPA.

Our first day began pretty early. Some of our kids were practicing this morning at 7 am! We had a full morning of lessons and practicing until lunchtime at 12:30 pm, and then had a little break until 2:30, when students had a chance to meet the other members of their chamber group and begin rehearsing. I got to coach a few of the chamber groups, and everyone seemed to be having a lot of fun.

Tonight we watched the Sphinx documentary, and then our students had free time until check-in and lights out at night. We still have almost two more weeks of camp, so I hope that they're getting a lot of sleep!

Welcome to SPA 2009 @ Walnut Hill

The Sphinx Organization warmly welcomes all SPA students and faculty to Walnut Hill School in Natick, Massachusetts. Founded in 1893, Walnut Hill is one of the premier, independent arts boarding high schools in the world. The School is located near Boston and is affiliated with the New England Conservatory of Music.

Join us for the next two weeks as students and faculty at SPA post about their exciting lessons, performances, master classes and field trips!

Happy Practicing!