mas·ter·class (noun): A class, especially in music, given by an expert to highly talented students
As an added value to their weekly lessons, advanced students at Hochstein periodically have the opportunity to participate in masterclasses with visiting artists. These are often arranged by their instructors – through their connections with area musicians – as a supplement to the learning experience.
During the masterclass, each student plays a short piece of music, and then the guest instructor will pick out one or two things for the student to work on. It might be a specific technique or fingering, posture, dynamics, phrasing, etc. It is usually a small group so the visiting instructor can go into much more detail and the other students in the class can learn from the instruction provided to each student.
In October, there were three masterclasses with visiting artists.
As part of the Gateways Music Festival, two of their performers came to Hochstein to give masterclasses on October 17. Brendon Elliott, a member of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, worked with the violin students and Thapelo Masita – a South African musician, founding member of the Uhuru String Quartet, and an Eastman School grad – worked with the cello students.
With one cello student, Thapelo danced around the room to demonstrate the lively rhythm of the Bach gigue she was playing. With another, Thapelo encouraged the student to play as if he was making the instrument sing; and with a third, he had the student focus on projecting his sound all the way to the clock at the back of the room. Each student received instruction that was customized to their needs.
On October 21, three cello students took part in a masterclass with Cora Swenson Lee, a former Hochstein faculty member who is now Professor of Cello at Illinois State University. Lee holds a Doctorate of Music in Cello Performance and a Bachelor’s degree in Cello Performance from the Eastman School of Music, and a Master’s degree in Cello Performance from Boston University. According to Hochstein cello instructor Kathy Kemp, “They all worked on bowing techniques and using the bow for expression, articulation, and musical phrasing, especially in Bach.”
Then on October 25, five students took part in a masterclass with Natasha Farny, who is a member of the Ekstasis Duo, which performed on that day’s Live from Hochstein concert. Farny studied at the Curtis Institute of Music and Yale College during her undergraduate years and completed her master’s and doctoral degrees at the Eastman School of Music and The Juilliard School. She is Professor of Cello at the School of Music at the State University of New York in Fredonia.
Natasha worked on different topics with each student, focusing on things like posture, releasing tension, vibrato, fingering techniques, and dynamics. She encouraged the students to think especially about the character of the music they were playing – was it bold, soft, shy, etc.? For one longer Bach piece that had many sections, she suggested visualizing it as a house with many rooms and each room would have a different personality.
See below for pictures from the individual classes and a list of participants.
Students in chamber ensembles in Hochstein’s Chamber Music Connection (CMC) program also have the opportunity to participate in masterclasses with visiting artists during the school year. Read more about a February 2023 masterclass with David Ying of the Eastman School on the HochStories blog by clicking here.
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Brendon Elliot violin masterclass:
YouYou Wu, student of Katie Worley
Miles Warren, student of Marcos Kreutzer
Joshua Lin, student of Marcos Kreutzer
Julian Chumacero, student of Pia Liptak
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Thapelo Masita cello masterclass:
Roman Shaw, student of Hilary Glen
Will Byrne, student of Hilary Glen
Ben Doyley, student of Christopher Haritatos and CMC student of Hilary Glen
Helena Dixon, student of Kathy Kemp
Rebecca Camilleri, student of Kathy Kemp |
Click on Flickr album below to scroll through photos:
Cora Swenson Lee cello masterclass:
Christian Chan, student of Kathy Kemp
Kaia Behr, student of Hilary Glen
Joanna Frank, student of Christopher Haritatos and Principal Cello of Hochstein Youth Symphony Orchestra
Natasha Farny cello masterclass:
Carlton Cabra, student of Hilary Glen
Alex Whowell, student of Hilary Glen
Helena Dixon, student of Kathy Kemp
Felicia Garnot, student of Kathy Kemp
Nathan Bellinger, student of Kathy Kemp
Click on Flickr album below to scroll through photos:
