{"id":106299,"date":"2015-12-08T10:36:35","date_gmt":"2015-12-08T15:36:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=106299"},"modified":"2015-12-21T10:53:28","modified_gmt":"2015-12-21T15:53:28","slug":"from-practice-to-performance-uconns-concerto-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2015\/12\/from-practice-to-performance-uconns-concerto-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"From Practice to Performance: UConn’s Concerto Competition"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the conclusion of \u201cGet Back,\u201d the last song on his band\u2019s final studio release \u201cLet It Be,\u201d John Lennon of The Beatles says sardonically, \u201cI hope we’ve passed the audition.\u201d<\/p>\n

His comment was a reference to the times when what became one of the most influential rock \u2018n\u2019 roll groups failed auditions while trying to gain a recording contract, in the days before \u201cAmerican Idol\u201d and \u201cThe Voice\u201d could jumpstart a successful career in music.<\/p>\n

Auditions continue to be part of the music profession \u2013 from pop and rock to jazz and classical genres\u00a0\u2013 including\u00a0UConn’s annual Concerto\/Aria Competition<\/a> which provides the opportunity for students in the music department to perform as soloists in concert with the University’s Symphony Orchestra.<\/p>\n

\"Myles<\/a>
Myles Mocarski ’16 (SFA) plays solo violin during a rehearsal with the University Symphony Orchestra. One of the winners of the concerto competition, he will perform at von der Mehden Recital Hall on Dec. 10. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This year\u2019s concert takes place at 8 p.m. on Dec. 10 at J. Louis von der Mehden Recital Hall, featuring performances by graduate student Hyejin Bae, who plays flute, and undergraduates Samantha Lake \u201916 (SFA), a tuba player, and Myles Mocarski \u201916 (SFA), a violinist.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a real celebration of the achievements of these particular students,\u201d says Eric Rice, head of the Department of Music. \u201cFor all of their professional work as performers, they will have to perform auditions, which can be very stressful. The students who learn not only how to overcome that stress but to perform exceptionally well have the potential to do well in the music business. Our Concerto\/Aria Competition audition is a fairly high pressure environment, with three judges sitting in the audience listening to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Twenty students participated in the auditions held in von der Mehden Recital Hall on the afternoon of Halloween, ranging from mezzo-soprano and baritone vocalists to various instrumentalists performing on the piano, trombone, tuba, flute, and bassoon. Each prepared a solo work no longer than eight minutes in length to perform, and could have an accompanist. Often students select a familiar work, one that they have performed for many years.<\/p>\n

\"Graduate<\/a>
Graduate student Hyejin Bae plays flute\u00a0with the University Symphony Orchestra during a rehearsal. On Dec. 10, she will perform as a soloist. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In some instances, however, the work may be one more recently determined, as was the case for mezzo-soprano Jordan Swett \u201916 (SFA), who began singing “Que fais tu, blanche tourterelle?” from Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette<\/em> just over a year ago. Swett said\u00a0she spent a lot of time in the practice room.<\/p>\n

She noted that her voice teacher, Meredith Ziegler \u201902 (SFA), \u201904 MM, adjunct professor of voice, emphasizes the importance of emotion for a vocalist. \u201cMeredith always says if you don\u2019t have the emotion in it, nobody\u2019s going to buy what you\u2019re selling. Singers don\u2019t have the instrument to hide behind. We are the instrument, so we\u2019re providing the story for you with words and expression.\u201d<\/p>\n

Swett, who last year won the Rhode Island Civic Chorale and Orchestra competition, was satisfied with her performance at the audition: \u201cI think it went pretty much as well as it could have gone,” she said. “I was as prepared as I could have been.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clarinetist Sam Beckwith \u201915 (SFA) performed Mozart\u2019s Clarinet Concerto in A major,<\/em> a piece he first played as a high school student.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a challenge,\u201d said Beckwith, who also performs as part of the popular Conn-Men a cappella<\/em> group. \u201cIt has to sound effortless and free; there can\u2019t be any edge to it. Mozart has to be virtuosic without sounding virtuosic.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his audition, Beckwith swayed and bent his knees as he played the clarinet, matching the range of sounds he produced during the performance. In the backstage area of von der Mehden, he offered his evaluation of how he did: \u201cNo train wrecks. I played a couple appoggiaturas wrong. There were some nerves, shaky fingers. The ending was alright, which is important.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Samantha<\/a>
Samantha Lake ’16 (SFA) plays tuba with the University Symphony Orchestra during a rehearsal. On Dec. 10, she will perform as a soloist. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rice says students who participate in the annual competition benefit from it in several ways, from making the decision to compete, to intense rehearsal and preparation for the audition. Just preparing for the audition is an opportunity for improvement and confidence-building, he says,\u00a0whether or not the student wins.<\/p>\n

The competition also offers the chance for an independent evaluation by judges not affiliated with the music department.<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of our job in the Department of Music is preparing people to perform professionally,” says Rice. “This competition is an area in which other people corroborate our work … Every individual studio, every teacher thinks about which of his or her students should be sent to compete. It\u2019s always good to have goals.”<\/p>\n

The judges for this year\u2019s competition were three accomplished musicians and teachers: Irina Muresanu, an internationally acclaimed violinist who is assistant professor of violin at the University of Maryland School of Music; soprano Patricia Schuman, who made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera with James Levine and has performed internationally; and Lt. Commander Adam R. Williamson, a tenor saxophonist who is the director of the U.S. Coast Guard Band.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost [of the students] are following the score very well, and they have a lot of technical ability,\u201d Schuman says. \u201cI look for that feeling when I want to put my notes down and start to really just enjoy it. That\u2019s when I find they have a special talent. When their heart and soul is in it and their own personality is so strong that you start to enjoy a performance, that\u2019s when I think the magic is there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bae says going through the preparation for the competition playing Mozart\u2019s Flute Concerto in D Major<\/em> has added to her confidence as a performer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt a little nervous when I was playing, so I was not able to deliver 100 percent of what I prepared,\u201d she says of her performance. \u201cI was mostly satisfied because I could keep my focus and composure much better than before. I remember that I struggled with stage fright time to time. I feel more motivated toward my goals. I have no doubt that this kind of stage experience will become a great foundation for my journey to become a professional musician.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bae\u2019s performance on Thursday will be the third time she has performed as a soloist with an orchestra.<\/p>\n

Mocarski is playing Sarasate\u2019s Carmen Fantasie,<\/em> Op. 25, for Violin and Orchestra, the music that inspired him to first take up the violin.<\/p>\n

\u201cI absolutely love how exciting the music is,\u201d he says. \u201cI think it’s a very difficult piece that gives the player an opportunity to display their technique. I thought I played well after the audition. I was happy with my performance and thought I did everything how I had practiced. Rehearsing with the orchestra has already taught me a lot about how to be a strong soloist, as I am used to playing in the orchestra. I am extremely excited to perform as a soloist for the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lake says she decided to perform Bruce Broughton\u2019s Concerto for Tuba and Orchestra,<\/em> even though she was not very familiar with the work.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are quite a few great sonatas and concertos for tuba, but only one or two are widely known,\u201d she says \u201cI didn\u2019t know much about the Broughton, but when I listened to it I liked that it had moments of playfulness, beauty, and vigor. Also the orchestra accompaniment is interesting and surprising, and features my friends who play the clarinet and bassoon.\u201d<\/p>\n

There’s an added benefit for a tuba player selected to perform as a soloist, she adds: \u201cI look forward to being front stage and all dressed up. Normally I am in the back row.\u201d<\/p>\n

The program for the Concerto\/Aria Competition also will include the UConn Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Harvey Felder, associate professor of music and director of orchestral studies, performing selections from Tchaikovsky\u2019s Nutcracker Suite,<\/em> Op. 71a and \u00c9douard Lalo\u2019s Overture to Le roi d\u2019Ys.<\/em><\/p>\n

The performance will begin at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 10 at J. Louis von der Mehden Recital Hall, located at 875 Coventry Road, Storrs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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