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Fall 2008 Dear Friends, I would like to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving! For those of you who have been following my professional career, I would like to update you on recent changes in my life. As of September, 2008, I have assumed the Assistant Concertmaster position with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, located in the beautiful city of Birmingham, Alabama. I moved down here from New York City at the end of August and so far it has been an amazing experience working with other musicians, performing in concerts every week, and learning a vast orchestral repertoire. There are many great things that fascinate me about this orchestra. I think its history serves as wonderful example of why I am so delighted to be part of it. For more information about the Alabama Symphony's history, it's concert season and information about orchestral musicians please visit www.alabamasymphony.org. Aside from my wonderful new job I am exploring the Birmingham area. I am driving a lot. However, I am also a fairly new driver. In New York I was almost always taking the subway, and in other places I was usually given rides by others. Now I am responsible for driving myself. I like to study maps and when I go to a new place like a new shopping center or a museum I make sure to follow up with an extensive study of all different ways how to get there, so I don't get lost and get to learn about the area. I must admit that like so many other people from the North, I did not think much of the South at first and had my doubts about living down here. Little did I know how wrong I was; little do so many northerners know how wrong they are in their prejudices. Birmingham has turned out to be one of the best places I have lived. And I have traveled all over the world. It is truly the best kept secret of the South. It is a fairly a small city, well that is compared to something like New York City. The population of the greater Birmingham is about 1 million. The city is famous for having one of the best schools of medicine nationwide which is part of the University of Alabama - Birmingham (UAB). Our beautiful Jemison concert hall which is the official home of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra is part of the UAB campus, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alys_Robinson_Stephens_Performing_Arts_Center. For those of you who are gourmet food lovers Birmingham offers just about every cuisine of the world from Indian and Mediterranean to French and Italian. Among many other exciting things Birmingham has a fantastic art museum, gorgeous botanical gardens, a spectacular zoo, and a marvelous library system. So now when I hear someone speaking poorly about the South I do not believe them and instead encourage to come and visit this beautiful and historic part of the country. I am enjoying myself immensely. Yours,
July 2008 The summer is typically a slower time in the classical music world. I have just returned from a three-week vacation in Russia. Some of the places I visited in the Greater Caucasus mountain range include the Karachaevo-Cherkessia and Kabardino-Balkaria regions, majestic Elbrus, the highest mountain in Europe (standing at 5,642 meters/18,510 feet), and some ancient cities of the Scythian and Alanian people, with their beautiful but seldom (if at all) used churches and other architectural landmarks dating back to the ninth and tenth centuries. In Kabardino-Balkaria I visited a breathtaking blue lake in the absolutely mesmerizing Chegem Waterfall area. In some areas the blue lake goes as deep as 365 meters. That is about 1100 feet! I was told by the experts that because of its depth and frigid temperature swimming in this lake would not be the smartest idea (one would probably be committing suicide) though in all fairness there were cases in the past when some brave native Caucasian people would take the risk and swim across it. The temperature of the lake remains the same throughout the year, at 9.3 degrees Centigrade (approximately 48 degrees Fahrenheit). Not warm enough for swimming, by my standards. The Karachaevo-Cherkessia area was inhabited in ancient times by the Alans, a warlike nomadic people, who spoke an Indo-European language akin to Iranian. Supposedly they inherited their territory from the Scythians, whom they probably drove out and/or assimilated. Part of the Alan people eventually settled in the Caucasus around the seventh century. By about the ninth century, the kingdom of Alania had arisen and had been converted to Christianity by Byzantine missionaries. An archbishopric was established in western Alania under the authority of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, and many large churches were constructed. I saw some of these ancient churches, some in good condition and others barely archaeological excavations, in Arkhyz, Shoana, and Senty. After its conversion, Alania eventually became a powerful state in the Caucasus, profiting greatly from the legendary Silk Road to China, which passed through its territory. From the Middle Ages onwards, Alania was beset by external enemies and suffered repeated invasions. The invasions of the Mongols and Tatars in the thirteenth century decimated the population, whose descendants are now known as the Ossetians. Islam was introduced in the seventeenth century through the Kabardians, a Muslim-Caucasian people. Military incursions by the Tatar Khanate of Crimea and the Ottoman Empire eventually pushed Alania/Ossetia into an alliance with Russia in the eighteenth century. North Ossetia was among the first areas of the northern Caucasus to come under Russian authority, starting in 1774, and the capital, Vladikavkaz, was the first Russian military outpost in the region. By 1806, Ossetia was completely under Russian control. In some way, shape, or form all people of the modern Caucasus, myself included, have Alanian blood – a testimony to the historic regional importance of the Alanian/Ossetian people. The next stop on my journey was a place where one can see the face of Christ carved on top of a high crag in the mountains. The legend of how the face of Christ appeared on the rock was related to me as follows: In the eighth and ninth centuries there arose in the Byzantine Empire the Iconoclastic movement, possibly as the result of Islamic influence. Iconoclasm saw most Christian iconography as a violation of Old Testament precepts against carving graven images of the deity for use in worship. The Iconoclasts gained influence at court and agitated for the deliberate destruction of Byzantine Orthodox culture's unique artistic and spiritual iconography. The Iconoclasts were bitterly opposed by the Iconodules, the defenders of icon veneration, who were accused of worshipping the images as idols. During the persecution of icons and their devotees, there was a monk who escaped the empire and settled somewhere in the Caucasus. Because he could not bring any icons with him at that time, he instead made an image of Christ by carving it in the rock. I wanted very much to see the face with my own eyes. This meant that I had to climb up about one whole mile! I had practically no experience climbing rocks or mountains before. As you can imagine the amount of stress was enormous. The major part of the way was not that difficult. It was the last three meters (about 9 feet) where the climbing became especially difficult for me. There it was practically vertical, requiring skillful use of one’s hands to continue ascending. There was grass growing on top of the rocks and I was initially holding on to it to stay attached to the crag. Big mistake! One should only use the rock during climbing, lest the grass come out of the soil it grows in and leave you in a nasty situation: my advice for you future mountaineers. Finally I made it to the very top and after spending about ten minutes climbing that last three meter distance. After I venerated the image the worst part awaited me: climbing down! Until then I always thought that the hardest part of climbing was the ascent. Apparently that is not so. Coming down is by far the hardest. As you can well figure out by reading all this I made it safely down to the bottom. The remaining part of that busy day was spent putting myself back together. In the end, I had no regrets and was happy to be able to climb this high upwards, with God’s help.
Spring 2008 Although there are many things deserving of change in the world, the one I would focus on is one which I could realistically have some impact on: the way children – and people in general – are educated about classical music. It seems that many children of various ages are having little if any exposure to great classical music. Often they grow up writing off the music of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, and others as something which has nothing to do with their lives, and which is only for very special people. They ultimately find it boring and miss out on the wealth of emotions and ideas which the music conveys all because they were never exposed to the music and never learned how to listen to it. As a career performing artist who has
been exposed to classical music since childhood, I find the lack
of consistent and complete education in this area, if only on the
level of appreciation, to be disturbing. It is not simply a matter
of the fact that if we do not recruit a new generation of classical
music lovers, then our whole art, to say nothing of our professions,
will collapse. It is a tragedy in itself to see great art which
is both timeless and yet speaks to every particular experience of
the human condition so sadly ignored. However, this is only a start, and effort must be undertaken on a broader level. Conservatories could conceivably encourage such community involvement by more musicians as a means to this end. Furthermore, the curriculums of grade schools and high schools need to receive increased funding for the arts to teach children to appreciate various kinds of art – an appreciation from which they and society would only benefit. It is sad to think that, for all their imperfections, the Middle Ages and Renaissance were times when people believed that to possess no skill in music showed signs of incompleteness and poor education. Today such illiteracy is all but institutionalized. If the performing arts – particularly classical music – are to have a successful future, we must all do something to ensure that people understand and love them. Otherwise we risk consigning them to an ultra specialized niche for which the demand will be small, and which will mean nothing to the rest of the world.
Winter 2007 When I started the process of putting my website together I naturally had to make some important decisions such as what should be the website’s general outlook? How many pages it should have? And what kind of pages do I want to have? I knew right from the start I wanted to have a “Journal” page. I’ve always enjoyed writing and found it an extremely creative and powerful form of mediation. My husband Nathan, who is a talented writer, has been a tremendous inspiration in that respect. I was absolutely convinced in the beginning that I will be able to deliver an issue of the journal every month but unfortunately this has not been the case due to various reasons and life circumstances. However, I promise from now on to be more regular in my writing and not to miss so many months! So here we go. How about some childhood memories to make up for a long silence? I am sure every musician has their own personal story about how they began their musical formation. I have my own unique one. I was about five years old. One day in my birthplace, the city of Kishinev, my mother, grandmother, and I were walking by a music school which happened to be the Special Music School under the State Conservatory. What happened next was a brief consultation between two adults after which they decided to check my musical aptitude and see if I had any kind of special gift, or an “ear” for music. “At least the child’s time would not be wasted being on the street all day,” was my grandma’s comment. I was met in the school by a piano teacher who checked my ear, sense of rhythm, and other necessary skills for a musician. It was quickly determined by her that I indeed possessed the whole range of musical gifts. The next step was to decide what instrument I should take up. Well, since my mother is a professional pianist, the piano was first on the list. However, this grand instrument was quickly ruled out due to my small hands. The cello, although quite a strong candidate, was also rejected. This time the reason was that the cello is quite a heavy instrument to carry around. There is a saying that third time is the lucky one. So that was the case with my third choice: the violin.
Here is a good moment to mention that throughout my professional life as a violinist, until I recently started teaching students myself, I had always wondered why my old teacher was so impressed by the fact I could put the violin correctly under the chin all by myself! Let me tell you it is not easy! In fact the proper placement of the violin can take some people (kids particularly) quite a bit of time. It is very crucial that the correct hold of the instrument is acquired from the start of the learning process. I cannot stress enough the importance of this fundamental technique every time I teach a beginning student. Less than a year had passed from the moment I had my first violin lesson till my first public performance at the age of seven. By then I could read the music quite well and was starting to explore the bass clef. The very first performance I had was with the Moldavian Folk Orchestra which included many native instruments. I was one of the soloists playing Romanian/Moldavian folk songs. I remember wearing a Moldavian national costume which was especially made for me (I was the only child performing at that concert and the orchestra did not have my size dress so they had to make one). That moment has been very memorable for me ever since: minutes before going up to the stage for the first time in my entire life, mom is asking me if I am nervous and whether I will be okay on stage. I tell her not to worry about it and assure her that if something were to happen I will be just fine and in case I make a mistake I will find my way out of it and nobody will even notice it. Wow! I wish I was that free and confident now. I wish I would never get nervous going on stage; wish I never was bothered by the thought of making mistakes or actually making them. Music and art in general, unlike some types of sports, are really very subjective that there is no one correct way to do things. It is a blessing and a curse at the same time. One is faced with infinite possibilities and decisions creating the danger of becoming too free and undisciplined. There are so many performers nowadays who, although technically brilliant, lack a certain amount of musical taste. Too often a performance becomes mannered and chopped up into little pieces, showing off the performer’s instrumental skills and virtuosity but articulating no musical ideas as a whole. It is a life-long goal of mine to strive to conquer these challenges and achieve the right balance in musical interpretation. Until later, Summer 2007 On Teaching a Master Class Teaching a Master Class is an art. It is not easy. It is definitely not like teaching a regular lesson. One has to think not only about a performer on a stage but about the audience as well. It is sort of a concert where both player and “master” get equal attention and judgment. Many times in my professional life I attended master classes given by reputable musicians and—unfortunately—experienced extreme boredom. This was either due to the lack of a certain presence on stage and or because the class simply was not inspiring. In a few cases the teachers spoke so softly to the students that the audience had to guess what they were saying to the students. I have to admit I felt quite irritated by not hearing a word. There have also been incidents when a teacher would start philosophizing about an idea relating to this or that methodical/historical/mathematical/artistic approach. This can be very overwhelming to some people who are not quite ready yet for a ‘lecture’ on their performance (I personally do not mind this). I remember one time at a festival’s master class one very well known and respectable violinist who was giving a master class spent about good 10 minutes putting rosin on a student’s bow hair. He was convinced that by putting a huge amount of rosin into the hair the sound would get much greater. This he did during the master class in front of a large audience while the poor student was totally dumbfounded. This episode is rather an exception and belongs truly to the category of a joke. There are cases when teachers try to work on too many technical details—even suggesting that students change their fundamental technique and attempting to get them to do it right then and there, thus spending the entire class on things that are more appropriately done in regular lessons instead of at an annual master class. Unless you know that student very well and have actually taught him or her in the past these kinds of things take a little more than half an hour. Instead of turning it into a lesson one can simply inspire students with artistic ideas, give direction and guide to practicing difficult passages and even work on some of them. However it is important not to forget about the audience who in turn are there to enjoy, learn and be satisfied. After all, they are the ones who buy tickets to the class and maintain the level of interest. I was recently giving a master class myself for the first time. It was not easy. I tried to incorporate all the points I discussed above based on my own observations of other people’s classes and make it enjoyable for both student and audience. J.S. May 2007 Even though this is not my personal writing I share the same point of view about the discussed issue with the author of the article below. Please take time to read it in its entirety. It is worth it! Yours, The world has changed enormously over the past 100 years, and piano playing with it. It is no surprise that in a world dominated by technology and efficiency, musical priorities have changed. Fidelity to the printed text has taken pride of place over freedom, intellect over imagination, structure over spontaneity, objectivity over emotion, and analysis over intuition. Today it is far better not to get too involved with the music, but instead to present it with a certain “respect”. I occasionally give lectures on the differences between 19th century piano playing and that of today. Never intending to convince that one style is better than the other, I instead present the best from both eras and let people decide for themselves which they prefer. To my surprise, I invariably find that the non-professionals in the audience greatly prefer the historical recordings (to some they are a revelation) whereas the professional musicians, academicians and critics often find reasons to dismiss the “old-fashioned” performances. This divided response has left me wondering if the public is really getting what it wants or is simply accepting what is being fed. Out of all the piano recitals I’ve attended over the past fifteen years I can count on one hand the times where I have been truly moved or heard a sound so hauntingly beautiful that I could never forget it. When I say ‘moved’, I refer not to the excitement and electricity of a virtuosic reading, but to those rare occasions where one is deeply touched inside, those moments where one feels great joy or suffering along with the artist, and those elusive instances where time comes to a standstill. And on those momentous occasions, was I in the presence of one of the world’s most highly regarded artists – an E.Kissin, a M.Argerich, or an A.Brendel? Sadly not. There was a time when people went to concerts especially to experience such feelings. They wanted to be transported to a higher plane, to forget the horrors of the world or the mundane nature of everyday life. But today we’ve either settled for – or set for ourselves – a much different standard. In times past, a Josef Hofmann recital could leave its audience emotionally drained. Recitals by Vladimir Sofronitssky were described as spiritual events, and those who heard Edwin Fischer play often left feeling more in touch with their own humanity. While their sort of piano playing may have become a lost art, what worries me even more is whether we are slowly becoming oblivious to such playing or even unable to recognize it when exposed to it. So many times have I attended competitions only to see pianists who have something to say eliminated in favor of more routine competitors. Upon seen the juror’s decisions I often ask myself in disbelief, ‘what are they hearing?’ Now that I have sat on a few juries myself I have experienced this sort of thing first hand – competitors that show signs of true artistry are frequently dismissed out of hand while the first prize is awarded (over the strenuous objections of myself and perhaps a couple of other frustrated jurors) to someone with almost nothing to say emotionally. The situation is unfortunately not going to improve if we continue to accept from today’s performers the sort of uninvolved, objective reading that admires the music from afar. I sometimes wonder what Beethoven would say if he heard his music interpreted this way: ‘What’s the matter? Don’t you like my nusic?’ Why does music have to be unemotional because it has structure? Beethoven didn’t break pianos through his desire to convey a work’s structural architecture. Chopin didn’t admire Liszt’s pianism because of its reserved intellectuality, and it wasn’t a calculated detachment meant to “let the music speak for itself” with which Anton Rubinstein moved people to tears. What made their performances legendary and unforgettable was an overwhelming emotional impact. We as listeners need to demand more from our performers. Maybe if interpreters showed a little less ‘respect’, and a lot more involvement and feeling then new life could be injected into the classical music world before we completely forget that music should be – first and foremost – an emotional experience. FARHAN MALIK April 2007 "We are close to witnessing an immense historical event. This will, for sure, be part of the history books and it has been long-awaited (for seventy years) by people who are not witnesses to it today. The upcoming re-unification of the Russian church and its branch, the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia is something that has practically no historical precedent. The overwhelming majority of schisms and splits, if we look back to history, did not lead to unity. This split, on the other hand, will be mended by unity. The way it all began was when about two million Russians were forced to emigrate from Russia . They loved their country deeply and brought with them their Orthodox faith, traditions, and keen intelligence. They were the reason Orthodoxy spread in the West: through their life, mainly, and their contact with many other people. So, you see, God has His ways of making something bad – a split in the Church - into something wonderful – introducing people to Orthodoxy. This migration created many churches and clergy in the Western world. At one point, the bishops of the West decided to create their own Synod. This was a straightforward challenge to the Mother Church back in Russia and the beginning of the schism. Metropolitan Sergius (Starogorodskiy), who directed the Russian Church in absence of a Patriarch, forbade them to serve. Some of the Western bishops became angry and some wanted to unite and keep close to the Russian Church . It was a big divide – those who prayed for Metropolitan Sergius and those who didn’t. The three barriers, as stated by ROCOR, to Liturgical unity with the Russian Church after this were: 1. ROCOR canonized and venerated the Royal Family as saints much earlier than ROC did. 2. ROCOR canonized and began venerating the new martyrs of the Russian Orthodox Church much earlier as well. 3. ROCOR could not accept the policies and tactics of Met. Sergius (his “compromise”, seen as softness, with regard to the Soviet government). Now, the Russian Orthodox Church has canonized the New Martyrs of Russia (in 2000) and the Royal Family and not without the efforts of St. Tikhon’s University. We currently have an immense database (30,000 New Martyrs and their fate) which is only becoming larger every day. We have published books about them as well, including a six volumes just about the New Martyrs of Butovo. Thousands and thousands of sufferers were brought to Butovo, just outside of Moscow , and shot there. Then they were thrown into the ground and bulldozed over. Our University, back then only an Institute, was the first to erect a large wooden cross at the site. We were also the first to serve Liturgy in the small wooden church, which was built later. Two years ago Metropolitan Laurus and Patriarch Aleksey put in the first stone of the cathedral, which is now ready to be consecrated (on June 19th). Its main Altar will be dedicated to the Resurrection of Christ. But also, because of the union of the two churches, the second Altar will be dedicated to St. John of Shanghai. He was canonized by ROCOR, but not yet by the Russian Orthodox Church. So this is another wonderful part of re-unification – we get new saints to venerate and pray to. Finally, Communion with each other, Westerners coming to Russia , will bring us all closer and perhaps Westerners will see the beauty of Russia and Russian Orthodoxy once more. Seventy years of separation has brought us back, through a miracle of God, to re-unification!" JS January 2007 The first month of 2007 went by quite fast. I spent most of my time practicing, playing concerts, teaching and working on future projects. Well, that’s the typical life of a present day musician. In the midst of all this busyness I got to play for the first time in the New York Philharmonic. What a fantastic and rewarding experience that was! The New York Philharmonic is by far the oldest symphony orchestra in the United States, and one of the oldest in the world. It is among the five “big” orchestras in the US. The history of this orchestra goes back to the nineteenth century when, in 1842, it was founded by a group of local musicians led by American-born Ureli Corelli Hill. The Orchestra currently plays some 180 concerts a year. In fact, on December 18, 2004, the Philharmonic gave its 14,000th concert — a milestone unmatched by any other orchestra in the world. The concerts in which I was fortunate enough to participate happened in the last week of January—the renowned Italian Maestro Riccardo Muti conducting. He brought the house down for the three consecutive nights. The all-Italian program consisted of works by Martucci, Verdi and Respighi. All three nights in a row there were long standing ovations from the audiences. Gerhard Oppitz was the soloist featured in the Martucci’s Piano Concerto. Most interesting in the context of these concerts was the fact that one of Martucci’s composition students was Ottorini Respighi, whose Feste romane was also in the program. I’ve always known that the New York Philharmonic could be counted on to give a top-notch performance. Now that I’ve seen them from the inside and have worked with them I know just how great they really are. I hope to continue working with them in the future. J.S. December 2006 Happy New Year 2007! I have noticed that the Christmas and New Year celebrations in the United States are quite different from those of Russia. They differ in terms of emphasis on their importance, and the general spirit or energy with which the holidays are celebrated. For instance, here in America Christmas tends to be much more important than the New Year; in Russia the situation is reversed. Christmas in America is a largely secular holiday for many people, centered on buying and giving gifts. Both religious and non-religious people celebrate it this way. Russian Christmas, or any religious holidays for that matter, are hardly celebrated except by practicing Orthodox Christians and other religious people. Taking the place held by Christmas (for Americans) is the New Year for Russians. The New Year is a very festive time in Russia. It is probably the most celebrated and beloved holiday of the year, and is celebrated by all in a secular way similar to the widespread observance of Christmas in the United States. There are different ways people celebrate the New Year in Russia. It tends to be a family holiday with lots of food, drink (alcohol too of course J), great toasts, jokes, and laughs. I have also found this in America, but the emphasis seems to be far less widespread on the New Year overall. In Russia, television serves as a major form of entertainment during the event. There are many different kinds of television shows scheduled for that night, usually culminating in some kind of pop concert. It is a tradition to stay up the whole night or at least most of it. In contrast, while many Americans seem to stay up late, I don’t find quite the same will to stay up the whole night celebrating. Here in America people also tend to leave the television on I have noticed, usually tuned to whatever is going on in New York City’s Times Square, where a ball is dropped at the top of a building. But the ball dropping seems to form the high point of the night here in America. In contrast with America’s tradition of a monthly preparation for Christmas, Russians don’t usually start preparing for the New Year celebration until a few days before the event. December 31st itself is a big day. Sometimes it’s even bigger than the actual New Year’s Day. It is interesting how our respective cultures differ in their observances of the same holidays; how differing values shape our celebration. America’s monetary success has created a highly commercial Christmas; in Russia our emphasis on the New Year is a legacy of over 70 years of enforced atheism, and thus our Christmas, celebrated on the Julian calendar on January 7th, is much less commercialized and preserves a very spiritual meaning, fresh from the times when open religiosity could ruin one’s life. However one celebrates these holidays though, I will close with the following: Warm holiday greetings and best wishes to all! Yours, November 2006 Dear Readers, Welcome to my online journal. Some of you might remember me having the website for quite a while now; however, it needed a major update. So finally I was able to put together all the materials, and was lucky to find SDeSign,
a wonderful webmaster from Lithuania who speedily created and built this site. The rest is history. For other examples of his work please visit: Thank you for visiting my site! More soon, |