Chamber Music Connection, Columbus

Catherine — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 23:31:20 +0000

The Linden Quartet spent the evening in Columbus, Ohio giving chamber music coachings to a group of eager and talented students through Chamber Music Connection. Eager indeed! When we arrived at 4pm there was no question that we were in the right place — just follow the swarm of instrument case laden bodies walking into St. John’s Episcopal Church! At the door, we were greeted by a group of busy little ants organizing the well-oiled machine; there were billboards with the names of all of the groups and who was coaching them, a dry erase board layout of the building with room assignments (akin to a sport coach’s play board), and a box ‘o scores in binders, numerically ordered.

Each of the Lindens wandered down the wonderfully noisy hallways to find our groups. My first group played an energetic rendition of the Bax String Quartet, a work new to me, and fresh to them, so we worked on sorting out a few sections of the movement. Next, Felix and I listened to the Dell Arte, a string orchestra made up of young chamber musicians fresh out of a quartet or quintet rehearsal. Again, the love for chamber music was so apparent in these students. The conductor-less group gave a sensitive, yet exciting rendition of the first movement of Mendelssohn Op. 13, demonstrating highly developed listening and chamber music skills. My last group was a quartet of charming young girls, who were working on Bohemian Dance by Dvorak. We had a great time working on off-beats — so hard!! Clare, you got it, girl! Next rehearsal I’m sure you’ll be able to hit the “that was easy” button!

Kudos to Debbie Price, the Artistic Director of Chamber Music Connection — you have a fantastic program! Thanks for having us!

Please visit Chamber Music Connection’s website at www.cmconnection.org.

West Side Catholic Center

Catherine — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:34:37 +0000

The Linden Quartet had a wonderful time playing Beethoven Op. 59, No. 2 at Cleveland’s West Side Catholic Center (WSCC). It was a great experience to play for such an exciting and attentive audience — the audience really helped us to feel like Beethoven ‘came to life’. After the performance, we discussed the significance of Beethoven’s music to eager audience members, one of whom commented on the complexity of Beethoven’s writing and wondered if there is such powerful music being composed today. He also mentioned that he appreciated us trying to help him have a greater understanding of the music. Another talked about how he heard Beethoven’s rebellious nature in the music and likened the work’s first movement to rock music. It was fun to talk with the audience members after the performance, discussing with them what they had heard and liked. We so rarely get the chance to go back onstage (or in this case, simply stay seated) after a performance and say “so, whaddya think?” And it was pretty special to feel like our audience was truly affected by the music of Beethoven. Certainly a memorable afternoon! To see a clip from the performance, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp2TRyMK8Yk.

Thank you WSCC for having us today and we can’t wait to return!

For more information about the WSCC, please visit their website at www.wsccenter.org.