May Violin Class

Hey, guys, this is a full circle moment. Guess who my practice helper is this summer at the Jacobs School String Academy at Indiana U? It’s Gaia Ramsdell who became my student in St. Paul at the age of nine. She has finished her undergraduate work here with Jorja Fleezanis and a performance diploma. She’ll be moving to Oberlin to study in the fall. What a kick. She’ll be using her old marked-up Carl Flesch Scale System from which I taught her all those years ago.

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Yesterday three students and Bruce gave a house concert culminating a week-long intensive study of the Brahms a minor quartet. Here are a few photos from the week. The project was a success by any standard, filled with joy, hard work and a performance that moved us to our cores. And at the days’ ends, great food, Monopoly, and Fictionary.

Our spring break project is Quartet Lab: Intensive Study on Warwick Neck where we are housing three serious students for one week to learn the Brahms a minor Quartet. We’ll host a house concert next Sunday. Those of you from my Minnesota class remember Meriel Bizri who lives in Providence and studies in Boston. Bruce is the coach and cellist six hours a day, Meriel’s parents are the cooks, and I am the “upper strings fingering doctor.” We’re having a blast.

Violin pedagogue Yuri Yankelevich wrote an extremely detailed treatise on shifting that has now been published in English by Oxford University Press. I’ve left a few thoughts in the comments.

Source: Intermediary notes are unnecessary for shifting – Russian violin teacher Yuri Yankelevich

I am thrilled to announce that I’ll be returning to Indiana University Jacobs School of Music Summer String Academy in the summer of 2017!

Apply soon! Here is the link:

http://music.indiana.edu/precollege/summer/string/faculty.shtml

Please join us! I’ll be in town reading from Blond Boy on the
Midstream Reading Series 🌉

When: Thursday July 7, 2016, 7:30–8:30pm.
Where: Blue Moon building, corner of 39th and (3820) East Lake. Upstairs. Entrance just west of the Blue Moon coffee house; up the stairs and to the left. Not wheel-chair accessible. Plentiful street parking.

Best to arrive 10-20 minutes early to get coffee and food/dessert from the Blue Moon, and to be seated by 7:30 so we can begin on time. And, the venue will easily hold about 30; after that, standing or floor-sitting room only. The early bird gets the seat. Please occupy the close seats first. Be an up-front person.

Special Song Prelude 6:45-7:15 Jess and John Wenstrom have been playing and singing country and Appalachian songs together for as long as Jess can remember (John being Jess’s dad). Their current name for their band is 39 Brackets. 🎵

Original poems and stories read/performed by their creators:
Jim Bohen, Lucia May, John Wenstrom, Jasmin Ziegler

2016 Lucia May Violin Class SPRING RECITAL.pdf