September 2011
2 posts
Goodbye violin, hello fun stuff
Last night’s composition session with Kyle, also known as Composer/Performer Therapy Session 2, was awesome.
Kyle has a great home studio setup in his basement; last night we recorded Kyle’s piece WHAT WOULD KILL ME, inspired by Zachary Schomburg’s poem of the same name. (Zach uses all caps in his titles — I don’t mean to yell!) Manual Cinema is going to use the...
Composer/performer therapy session 1
Monday night was our first composition workshop with Kyle Vegter and Manual Cinema, in preparation for our February collaboration, FJORDS. I’m going to go out on a limb here, and say that this workshop was awesome because of the ways in which it required all parties to leave their egos at the door (of Aimee’s new, awesome Bucktown apartment). Sometimes I think performers and composers...
August 2011
4 posts
Behind the scenes: the beginnings of FJORDS
Ever since I got into self-producing concerts, I’ve been really curious about how other ensembles do it — and really grateful for other organizations, sharing what they know with us. I’ll be sharing behind-the-scenes process and insights, in the hopes that they’ll be interesting or useful. Holler at us with questions. - Ellen
A couple nights back, Q met up with our...
Myrmyr gives a masterclass in awesome
Last weekend, Tyler and I went to see the Oakland-based electroacoustic duo Myrmyr at Enemy, a tiny secret-type venue on the third floor of a building right near the buzzing intersection of Damen, North & Milwaukee in Wicker Park. I’d seen a photo of Myrmyr, along with a recommendation from Peter Margasak, in the Reader that day.
Their photo made me instantly excited. I can haz women...
A career services office that rocks.
So, have you noticed that many music schools are failing to prepare their students for the reality of musical careers and musical life? We have too. And we find it a tiny bit … frustrating.
More on this later.
In the meantime, let’s focus on the positive — New England Conservatory! They have a GREAT career services office! Their career services guru, Angela Myles Beeching, even...
Turtle Island Quartet in Chicago: Our shirts are...
Turtle Island Quartet has had a long and awesome career. The group was founded in 1985 (ahem — the year that two Chicago Q members were born — and BEFORE their newest member, Jeremy Kittel, was even conceived). In my mind, they’re giants and pioneers of crossover. They blur the boundaries between classical, rock, folk, and world music; they play original compositions and...
July 2011
3 posts
The journey of students and teachers
If there’s one thing that being at the WCMS Festival this summer taught me, it’s that every musician is on his or her own journey. Teachers, mentors, parents and friends are there with us, nudging us this way or that way, exposing us to an idea, a piece of music, or a person who could change our trajectory forever. But at the end of the day, it’s really no one else’s...
Chamber music words of wisdom.
One of the people I learned the most from during my master’s degree was my orchestral conductor, Cliff Colnot. In Chicago and around the world, CC is well-known as a master of the art of rehearsal. He prepares all his ensembles to perform at an extremely high level of unity and detail. His scores are full of post-it notes, marking particular places that need rehearsal. After the DePaul...
June 2011
1 post
We're blogging .... somewhere else!
Chicago Q Ensemble is guest-blogging over at the Worcester Imagineer Network for the next few weeks, as we gear up for our stint as the fellowship quartet at the Worcester Chamber Music Society. Cellist Liz has a great post up today. Enjoy!
May 2011
1 post
The lofty goals of our training -- and then,...
After our first major performance of Beethoven’s Opus 18 no. 5 last Thursday, Chicago Q got the wonderful opportunity to perform it again last night, as part of Kate’s final DMA violin recital at Northwestern. It’s always great to perform a major work for the second time — knowing for certain that you’ve done it before, successfully, is a liberating feeling. (P.S....
April 2011
2 posts
On Generosity: All the People Who Made Q Possible.
This amazing post on generosity in the arts (specifically in theater) is an inspiring and amazing way to start the day. My absolute favorite part is this:
Regardless of where you are in your career as a theater maker, seek to mentor. Recognize that you have a responsibility to foster the passions and dreams and aspirations of others and there is almost always someone who has less experience...
Letter to eighth blackbird
What I Learned Watching eighth blackbird’s YouTube Channel on a Saturday Night:
1. They use the metronome. A lot. And it is hooked up to an enormous amp.
2. They sometimes don’t rehearse with a score and have to run around looking at each other’s parts to figure out what is happening. Like us!
3. They appear to be willing to do almost anything, including spend a lot of time...
February 2011
1 post
Welcoming the newest Q!
This winter, we here at Chicago Q said a fond farewell to two of our founding members: violinist Adrienne Watkinson and clarinetist Yevgeny Dokshansky. Yevgeny’s travels have taken him away from Chicago, and both Yevgeny and Adrienne want to dedicate more time to their own individual artistic paths. Yev and A are our dear friends and colleagues. We couldn’t be more honored or humbled...
December 2010
1 post
A big thank you.
Last night, Chicago Q Ensemble (and a packed house of sixty listeners) enjoyed the wonderful hospitality of Dixon Strings at our performance on the Ravenswood Concert Series.
Jeff Dixon runs a truly awesome violin shop, staffed by a crew of friendly, knowledgeable, approachable musicians and crasftmen. Our friend (and Dixon’s sales & acquisitions man) Christopher Ferrer honored Chicago...
September 2010
2 posts
Have you met our Ontologist yet?
Meet Patrick Liddell, aka Ontologist, one of our featured collaborators during the 2010-11 season. Patrick is a composer and video artist. We were so excited about his work that we asked him to write a piece that “talks back” to Beethoven — quite a daunting request for any composer! His work will be featured on our spring concert. Excitingly, members of Chicago Q will also be...
Keeping music relevant
Today, several Chicago Q members had the pleasure of chatting with cellist, educator and friend Jill Collier. Jill earned her Master’s degree in a wonderful and unique program at the Guildhall School in London, which provides a kind of training in musical creativity and leadership that most conservatory-trained musicians have never experienced. The training involves improvisation,...
August 2010
7 posts
4 tags
Musicians, getting savvy.
The Chicago Q Ensemble blog wouldn’t be complete without mentioning David Cutler’s wonderful book, The Savvy Musician, which helped get our ensemble up and running.
The book is full of awesome tips for marketing, press relations, building a website … even the all-important people skills that can often make or break a career in the arts. Most importantly, this book empowers all...
What is it about twentysomething ... musicians?
The New York Times featured this interesting article, What Is It About Twentysomethings?, in its magazine last week. The article is about a new movement brewing in the brains of some psychologists: a movement to classify our twenties as its own “developmental stage.” The article points to the enormous range of maturity and life experiences that, for example, a twenty-five-year old...
When a critic gets too ... critical
Chicago Q’s clarinetist, Yevgeny, spotted this interesting article. It’s an editorial about the recent music critic controversy in Cleveland. Donald Rosenberg, music critic at the Plain Dealer, apparently became negative enough about the Cleveland Orchestra and Franz Welser-Most that he was taken off the orchestra beat. He recently lost a lawsuit appealing that decision. The author of...
Should we give our art away for free?
An article by Deanna Isaacs in today’s Chicago Reader talks about a local theater company, Oracle Productions, that’s completely revamped the way they do ticket revenue. They’re billing themselves as a “public access theater.” Oracle will no longer charge for tickets; instead, they’ll offer alternative payment structures like subscriptions ($5 per months gets...
How Fifth House Ensemble found a great...
One of the Chicago musical groups we most admire, Fifth House Ensemble, devoted their whole subscription series last year to a collaboration with graphic novelist Ezra Clayton Daniels. Chamber musicians and a graphic novelist! The result of their collaboration was called Black Violet, and it garnered lots of press interest and great reviews.
In poking around the archives of 848, one of my...
Chicago Q discovers a new band: Victoire
Have you heard of the all-female classical-crossover band/ensemble Victoire? I hadn’t, until today. But their website and blurb were so interesting to me, I turned out on eight hours’ notice to their free concert in Millennium Park. Their press photos are interesting and fun, they’re got hipster and classical cred, and the all-girl angle is awesome.
Victoire is doing something...
