Young musicians get tips from the masters
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A six-member student orchestra composed of (from right to left) Mike Schneider, Trevor Fowler, Tom Holden and Scott Lesser have been practicing at the Killington Music Festival. Cristina Kumka / Rutland Herald |
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By Cristina Kumka Staff Writer - Published: July 10, 2009
KILLINGTON — The next generation of classical music cometh to Killington.
The soothing sounds of violins and cellos filled the ski lodge, where minutes earlier a six-member group of up-and-coming classical violinists and cellists and about 60 other student artists listened to a different tune — 13 accomplished musicians told the youth they would have to think outside the box if they wanted to make money playing music.
It was one part of the summer-long Killington Music Festival, where musicians young and old come together to share their passion for performance in what some of the musicians called a sliver of a market of aging classical music lovers.
There were only a few indicators that the performers were learning rather than playing professionally — their casual attire of shorts, jeans and sandals and the constructive criticism of Lynn Chang, an esteemed Juilliard School violinist and Boston Conservatory faculty member.
Not to mention their youthful faces — all the students practicing and mentoring through the summer-long festival are between the ages of 8 and 29.
Chang did more than direct musical play, he also offered advice.
"You have to be creative," Chang told the students, and think of ways to attract a younger audience to the classics.
One of his former students invented the musical video-game series "Guitar Hero" after a conversation they had about combining music and video games and his daughter was part of a team of employees at Google who came up with the idea of people auditioning for Carnegie Hall via YouTube.
And while Chang was backstage with Yo-Yo Ma, the cellist told him, "Everybody's fighting for that same little sliver," of classical music lovers.
Some artists told the students they could make their own business from music or teach younger kids to love music.
Others said students should aim for a degree in musical performance and have a "plan B" — like a second degree in musical education or business or economics.
"When I went to college, nobody told me that I'm going to have be too good at writing a resume, marketing, promotion, financing, all that stuff," said Austria-born violinist Christof Huebner. "Study music but as a minor but you should study a whole different field … I think that's a really good idea."
After the lecture, students said they weren't in it for the money and said they had plans to balance doing what they love with providing for their families.
"Historically, art has been there no matter what the economy is like," said 21-year-old cellist Sabina Ahmad-Post of Tucson, Ariz. "As musicians, your goal is to get music out there."
Ahmad-Post and her friend, Matt Smith, 18, of Phoenix, said they were no strangers to hearing about struggling musicians — in a year's time the Tucson Symphony Orchestra cut their players' pay by 10 percent and now, the lowest-paid Juilliard-educated performer makes $6,000 a year.
"Art programs are being cut in schools and conductors are being fired," Smith said. "I'm doing music education and performance and a business major (in college).
"Music is a backup."
cristina.kumka@rutlandherald.com
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