It was a great opportunity to have had masterclasses with Mr. Isaac Malkin, faculty member of the Manhattan School of Music (USA), during my participation in the Euro Music Festival held at Vienna, Austria.
The place we have our lessons at – a music school in Klosterneuburg, Vienna.
At the end of all classes, there was a class concert held at the music academy, where most of the students of Mr. Malkin played for, including myself.
We were also able to catch concerts by other classes and by Professors Eszter Haffner (violin, Austria), Erika Lux (piano, Germany) and Jan Gottlieb Jiracek (piano, Austria). In all, a great learning experience!
I also took the chance to travel about Vienna, and then on to Salzburg, Hallstatt and Innsbruck after the Festival. Some of my trip highlights:
Hi, I’m now in Klosterneuberg, Vienna, for the Euro Music Festival. I’ll be moving around Austria after that, but will have access to the Internet. If you need to contact me, please drop me an email at violin@jaycheng.com or use the contact form, and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can!
Meanwhile, enjoy a melange, wiener schnitzel and a little Pleyel piece by the Resonance Violin Duo!
On another note, Wen Jin from Resonance Quartet will be performing solo for part of the all-time favourite classic – Vivaldi’s Four Seasons – with the SMU string ensemble, Obligato. Here’s your chance to listen to the complete Four Seasons, live, in one seating!
August 25 · 7:45pm – 9:00pm at the Esplanade Recital Studio. Tickets are at $15. Contact Maybelline at 96391891 for tickets or email to obligato@sa.smu.edu.sg for details.
Fellow musician and teacher Iris Koh is conducting a Vocal Workshop: Caring For Your Voice, for anyone to learn simple and effective ways to take care of his/her voice, so as to communicate and perform more effectively.
Iris is an experienced performance and vocal coach, choral conductor, music composer/arranger and pianist, and the Director of Athenarts Pte Ltd, a company that is dedicated to developing Musical Talents. In her career, she has groomed many young performers to fame and was herself the Musical Director of School House Rockz ( a Kids Central Musical) and the Artistic Director of the launch of President’s Challenge 2006. You’d be sure to learn something! ;P
Click on the flyer below to see details. The first workshop is on 6 Aug and places are limited, so register fast!
A very backdated post considering the week of Pierre Amoyal and the performances by New York Philharmonic were in October, but better late than never, I suppose.
A very ardent fan I was, travelling all the way to the Conservatory Concert Hall at NUS, 3 days in a week to catch violinist Pierre Amoyal perform with the Camerata de Lausanne; perform at his solo recital; and conduct a masterclass for students of the YST Conservatory of Music.
The Camerata de Lausanne led by Pierre Amoyal, performed Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik – clean, light and tight. What really blew me away that night was Nino Rota’s Concerto Per Archi. The hauntingly beautiful melody line in the first movement tugged at the heartstrings. With such fine musicians, Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings was yet another moving account.
Their September performance of Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings, at Moscow:
Nino Rota’s Concerto Per Archi, performed by Frankfurt Strings:
A change in timing caused me to miss the first hour of the masterclass that Pierre Amoyal conducted, but even then, it was an interesting 2 hours, all the way up to the time he had to leave to catch his flight, though the Strad stayed in the case throughout as well. (fortunately I caught his lunchtime recital the day before). Some snippets (non-verbatim of course!):
Dynamics – differentiate between p and pp
Romanticism – French vs German vs Roumanian etc. The French kind is the controlled, speaking (with reference to the beautiful French language), intellectual type
Bach – seriousness
Bow – use of bow all the way to the frog; bow speed >> projection (ah, very familiar words from Mr Foo too, who studied at the Conservatoire de Lausanne with Amoyal)
Dvorak – simple, down-to-earth
Left hand fingers – use finger tips for fast passages to get cleaner sound
The New York Philharmonic’s coming to Singapore was almost celebrity-like. Thanks to Kyong again, I attended the full-house concert featuring violinist Frank Zimmermann. With Brahms Violin Concerto and Mahler 1 in the programme, it was a heavy affair but the audience lapped it all up. Long standing ovations were given for the Mahler performance, which was monumental. Read review by Lynne Huang.
Attended another performance by re: mix. This time, with Offshoots, re: mix shows that they are not just about “crossover” music, yet, still not all “traditionally classical”. What with minimalist John Adams’ Shaker Loops’ hynoptic sonic effects, and Kelly Tang’s 2 Contrasts for Solo violin and String Orchestra that was – if I could say so – a fusion of classical and jazz/blues! (which brings to mind Kelly Tang’s Tang-ology heard at the Jeremy Monteiro with T’ang Quartet concert earlier this May). Mr Foo’s Devil’s Trill was safe but totally enjoyable. Much more detail in Mr Chang’s review (I especially agree with the annoying electronic keyboard and Mr Foo’s rather entertaining terpsichorean moves .
Cancelled the night’s classes to watch Ms Tang Tee Khoon’sPORTRAiTSrecital. With the popularKreutzer, Brahms’ heavy and romantic A major and one of Ysaÿe’s challenging and violinistic Solos, it was a good evening of sonatas which attracted a fair bit of audience, who also came to hear the fresh new recipient perform on the nation’s Guadagnini. Mr Chang’sreview.
With all that “serious” music, it was refreshing to have caught JUMP (thanks Kyong again!), a Korean comic martial arts performance that is just plain hilarious and impressive. Do catch it if you have the chance!
Been rather busy teaching, practising and rehearsing, and got chided by ex-colleagues for not updating. Haha. Anyway, managed to catch 3 concerts in May.
Went to support my students Hui Yee and Shu Qi. As per last year, MKu prepared some “additional entertainment” for the audience. I recall for last year’s concert, MKu threw the baton off the stage. This year’s antic was a MKU remote control that could control a live ensemble like a machine, i.e. change tracks, increase/decrease volume, among a host of other things. Well-executed and the audience was very much amused.
This time it was to listen to my teacher Mr Foo Say Ming’s and my colleague-friend Lim Shue Churn’s piano quintet – Take 5. Grabbed the front row seats this time and did not regret a single bit – the intensity was immensely satisfying. A sold-out concert as per previous ones. Read Mr Chang’s blog for the review.
Indulging in another favourite genre of mine – jazz – I caught the Jeremy Monteiro Trio & T’ang Quartet concert. Not much featuring of the quartet though – the limelight went to the guest artists instead. Was particularly thrilled by Ernie Watt’s prolific display on the saxophone, moved by Jeremy Monteiro’s composition “Life Goes On”, and surprised with Kelly Tang’s jazz(!) composition – Tang-ology. Found a sampling of the collaboration between Monteiro and T’ang Quartet on YouTube:
I'm Jay Cheng, a full-time private violin teacher, teaching violin lessons in Singapore to kids above 10 to adults. Check out what my students have to say about me. I also play in Resonance Quartet which performs for weddings, events and functions. Contact me!
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