The Waitiki 7, a born-in-Honolulu ensemble loaded with virtuoso talent, updates the classic exotica mood on Adventures in Paradise (Pass Out)—a 13-track excursion that pays respect to the venerable music’s roots while charting its own distinctive course . . . The contributions of woodwind player Tim Mayer, trombonist Mike Dease and violinist Helen Liu provide Waitiki 7 with substantial improvisiational firepower. Laka, the Hawaiian goddess of song and dance, should be smiling.—Mark Holston

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The first rehearsal seemed to last forever, in my opinion.  The guest conductor for this concert is JoAnn Falletta, resident conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic, who had very efficient rehearsal technique, but had a unique conducting style that took me a couple rehearsals to get used to.  I noticed instantly that she likes to conduct ahead of the beat in very quick gestures that somehow delineates that shape of phrases, a style that is very appropriate for Beethoven, especially the Ninth.  The pressure of randomly sitting in was lessened when I found my seat in the back of the second violin section, but that also has its disadvantages–the large distance from the conductor increases the risk of lagging behind the rest of the section, waiting for the “passing” game of bowings, directions, etc. from the principal, and others.  Fortunately, it was a good seat to be in to observe the players in front of me and learn the “language of communication” between the members of the orchestra.  Speaking of members, I had a very peculiar stand partner who ended up missing most of the rehearsals (because of her non-musical career).  So the only times I saw her were the first rehearsal and the concert!  It was the weirdest experience to play next to her because I immediately sensed her awful attitude and lack of congeniality.  I mean, she would make small talk but all without eye contact and facial expression.  It was like talking to a plain wall, which is not very fun.  After some discussion with several other members, I learned that she has had an unfortunate past with music and all I can say is, never be bitter and never live with regrets.   She did, however for her sake, apologize to me during intermission for her stinky attitude, but I really hope I never have to deal with this person again.  Did I say “never”?  You betcha.

The next couple of rehearsals went well and I was beginning to soak in the sounds and little quirks of the orchestra.  Prokofiev sounded really good, but Beethoven still lacked the precision and flexibility it needed to be dramatic.  Falletta kept telling us to play lighter and have direction in our phrasing.  Yes, I completely agree.   I just hope my arm doesn’t fall off in the Scherzo.

One could feel the energy and all the hype for this concert because the Blaisdell lanai was covered with people with more an than hour left before the show.  Pretty good turnout so far, I have to say…  While I was warming up backstage, I made some mental comparisons of various pre-concert moments like for example, to Indian Hill or New Bedford Symphony.  Just the enormous amount of free space backstage and the somewhat private warm-up rooms gave Blaisdell a few extra points above the other venues.  I also have to say that the seats for the orchestra members are excellent!  Brand: Wenger.

Right before the concert started, there were great speeches given by various people including Ms. JoAnn Falletta (Buffalo Symphony).  I am truly grateful that she was able to step up and give her time to make this concert happen.  Without her patience and energy, would we really deserve to have 5 standing ovations?  That’s right… the concert went superbly and I’m glad I was a part of this significant event.  Hopefully the donations will trickle in and be put to good use; we shall see within the next year or so.

with Ira Wong (percussionist) for HSO benefit Concert

I don’t know if it’s because of the holiday spirit or the emotions that come with the “end of the year,” but I am truly grateful for each person at Atrium: Beatrice, Randy, Michael, Linda, Susan, and Larry.  When we arrived at Atrium in the morning, I was relieved to find all the student violins lined up in order.  This made my job easier to tune and put the shoulder sponges on each of them, which did take about 20 minutes.  Randy (the tech guy) worked on the PA system and setting up the two video cameras, one floor and one roaming.  Michael made sure the each child has a foot chart and place on the risers.

After everything was all set up, Randy asked Larry and I to say a few words in anticipation of the event.  We had a good time, doing different takes and speaking from different angles.  We even got to interview a violin parent who was nervous but super excited about the performance.

The program opens up with the Explorers, and I could tell that they were really excited as we stood in line to enter the Hall.  But when they got to their violins, they immediately sat down (they still need to work on their listening skills as we told them to stay standing).  After a few minutes, they held their violins in rest position and started filing on the platforms.  I was a little nervous for them because they had no idea was going to happen in the next few minutes.  Larry, Randy, and I had made some changes to our performance because we wanted to show the PROCESS of what we are going to do.  So Larry opened with vocal solfege warmup with scales and short call and response segments.  The kids responded and sang very well (they have such sweet soft voices!) and to my surprise and delight, Larry took the assessment one step further: instead of having them imitate what he sang, he pointed to syllables on the matrix and they sang the melody back.  Amazing.  Next, I did my segment with the rhythm cups and explained to the parents the purpose of this.  The culmination activity was to sing Re and La in different rhythms shown by the cups along with a recording of Pachelbel’s canon.  It was a great 3 minute show and we ended with the parents singing along to a Re scale and ending with a ringing “Cha….”  I loved their finishing choreography!

I think some cool ideas to expand on this would be to split the group into teams and have each one sing a different rhythm that ties in with the symmetry unit.  Larry also suggested having them pluck Re-La but sing the scale to Pachelbel.  I want them to march so their inner rhythm is strong.  So many things to work on and so very exciting!  Next year we will definitely tackle the bows.

This will be a compilation video made by Randy this week which will summarize and zoom in on the key points of the violin pilot program.   I think it was a big hit with the school, teachers, and parents.  We look forward to more violin-ing next year!

Following the symmetrical theme, we introduced the idea of a symmetrical melody — a melody that sounds the same when sung both forwards and backwards.  For homework we asked each student to create their own symmetrical and asymmetrical composition, which will be sung in class next Friday!  Maybe all of them will end up on the hallway walls in school!  It’s so exciting….

I really enjoyed the “crazy practice” because I could do something the wrong way and then fix it.
I liked doing the animal rhythms and marching the beat. It was fun.

We then asked them if they had any specific questions, and it was obvious that they had answers to everything! These kids are so smart! Next we had them talking about their drawings they made the week before about how playing the violin makes them feel. One boy said: “Playing the violin is like being sucked into a black hole. The black hole is actually music and whenever I play music, I feel like it’s powerful.” Wow, that’s all I have to say to that.

I know little kids love to do things with their bodies so we came up with the idea of marching the beat or pulse.  We made sure to start at a slow tempo (speed) so that when the rhythms got more complicated, it was slow enough to understand and perform them.  We mostly used animal rhythms: zoo, monkey, and alligator, and interchanged them with the African/Indian system: cha, taki, takadimi.  The hardest part was marching the beat and clapping or singing the animal rhythm on top of the marching.  It was tested their coordination skills but incorporating their bodies at the same time.  Will they go home and practice this exercise?  I sure hope so.

Talk 23: Good and Great from David Finckel and Wu Han on Vimeo.

As you can imagine, things got pretty hectic soon enough.  We started off well with the first two kids, then slowly kids started popping out due to curiosity.  They were all good and well-behaved kids but we made to sure to be firm about not touching the instruments and materials.  It was also nice to work with Beatrice and figure out which sizes worked for each kid.  I think we’re going to be successful in the “posture” area, which is sooo important!  To quote her, they “already look like Paganinis.”

While Beatrice worked on the fitting of violins, I helped each kid make their own foot chart.  Foot charts are important, especially in a group setting, because it centers their attention and maintains personal space.  We used manila folders and drew their different feet positions: rest position in blue, “unzip” position in red, and playing position in green.

After all the kids are done, we made sure to fit the adults and classroom teachers too.  I even got a chance to hold a violin using a sponge (size 6) and surprisingly, it was very comfortable.  I would have to try to play with it before I rave about it.  I’m honestly starting to get tired of my Wolf Secondo rest.  Anyways, this a good learning experience for me and the excitement is contagious. I’m looking forward to this Friday when the school experiences the first day of violin class :]

Please check back for updates on this new teaching project as there will be photos and videos to come!