After a wonderful journey exploring Europe, an intense return with fascinating updates!

Wednesday, April 29, 2015, Forest Hills, NY

Dear Readers,

       I did not realize how much time has passed since I last left an update.  April has turned out to be an incredible month, and it is still not quite over!
       My last few days in Europe were fantastic.  Leipzig is an incredible and magical city, enchanted with a rich musical history, and a vibrant atmosphere.  I only had a chance to stay there for about 24 hours, exploring the Thomaskirche (where Bach was Kapellmeister for the last 27 years of his life), the home of Felix Mendelssohn, and a live performance of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra.
       From there I returned to Berlin, for one more night, getting a chance to explore the Bauhaus Gallery and Museum, and the Berlin Philharmonic performing Hector Berlioz's Damnation of Faust.  One thing to keep in mind, Americans, when visiting European ensembles, is that you must purchase a concert program, and they usually only accept cash.  I used the last of my cash on hand at an Indian Restaurant and had difficulties finding an ATM before hand.  Berlioz's masterpiece was performed in French, and the supertitles that were presented on the far ends of the concert hall were of course in German, and my long distance eyesight is not quite what it used to be.  This proved to be a bit of a challenge, but what a powerful work!
        From Berlin, I made a gradual return to New York City, making a second stop in the charming city of Oslo, where I had a chance to tour the home of Henrik Ibsen (Norwegian playwright who wrote A Doll's House, and Peer Gynt, among other works).

         To catch you up over the last few weeks, I collaborated with Dr. Esme Allen-Creighton in a pair of Masterclasses on April 15 and 16.  On Wednesday, April 15, I had the honor of giving a Masterclass to three viola students at the University of Delaware, while Esme gave a riveting Masterclass to three viola students from the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College.
          I had a chance to pair up with violist Nicholas Pauly, performing Douglas Townsend's Duo for Two Violas.  This was part of a concert honoring the recently deceased New York Composer, Douglas Townsend on April 19.
          In between, I have conducted two performances through St. Francis Preparatory School's Music Department:  the first took place on Saturday, April 18, at PS 115Q, the Glen Oaks School, conducting my elementary beginning students.  The second took place on Friday, April 24, at St. Francis Prep, where I conducted the String Orchestra, as well as a combined performance of the Chamber Orchestra and the elementary beginning students form PS 115Q and St. Kevin's Elementary School.
           That brings me to yesterday.  I was successful in my audition for a spot in the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, and will be part of their viola section starting this Fall.  This was an exciting accomplishment for me, and one that I am really proud of.  This was a great milestone after a year of intense adjustments and refinement in my technique, a renewed vigor in my practicing, and greater focus on excerpts.  (Particularly over the course the past weekend, where there were a few days where I topped 6 hours of practicing.  I will likely follow up post in the coming days on lessons learned from this Audition.)

       The month is not quite over.  Tomorrow will include a performance by the viola students from the Aaron Copland School of Music, (a patchwork of violists from several studios) who will be performing works by Bach, Schumann and Von Weber.
       In short, this month has arguably been one of the most exciting months of my adult life, and giving me a catapulted boost to aim higher and go farther in my musical pursuits.  Onward to May!

Humbly,

Greg Williams

PS- I will continue to publishing this blog on a fairly regular basis.  I encourage you to keep reading when you are able!

Loving Leipzig (A Freitag Followup)

Hello Readers from Around the World,

      My original hope was to write on this blog every day that I have been abroad, but that appears to have been overly optimistic.  However, there is so much to fill you in on from the last few days.  

      Wednesday started out as a morning where I could catch up with an old friend, composer Gilad Hochman.  Gilad is a fine composer, who originally hails from Israel, and has been living in Berlin for several years.  It was a chance for us to discuss world politics, culture, the musical landscapes on both sides of the Atlantic, war and peace, and life at large!  

       After spending the morning on the outskirts of Berlin, Wednesday turned into a bit of historical exploration day, traveling out to Potsdam, Southwest of Berlin.  Potsdam was the home of the summer castles of Prussian Monarchs, among them Frederick II, who built Sans Souci, and the incredible grounds that surround it.  The palaces, built in the mid-1700s were absolutely stunning.  The park was beautifully designed, and there are still some trees that still stand that were planted by Frederick II himself.  (One that was so large that was tilted sideways due to its heft, was planted in 1753, THREE YEARS BEFORE THE BIRTH OF MOZART!)  What is stunning about the reign of Frederick II was how brilliant his reign was, not only in terms of being such a fine musician and being such a proponent of the arts, but in terms of his sense of enlightenment.  (Old Fritz, as he was often referred to after his reign, had Voltaire stay at his court for about 3 years.)

         Thursday was a day of physical endurance!  I started out with a 5 mile run around the Zehlendorf area of Berlin in the morning.  Shortly thereafter, I returned to the home of Fredrik Pachla, curator of the Günter Raphael archive and collection. We explored some of Raphael's viola sonatas in depth, and read through his Duo for Violin and Viola, which was a fun read. (I want to try it out with a violinist or two when I get back to New York! Summer project, perhaps?!)

The afternoon was spent catching up on a bit of correspondence and practicing, but I was able to spend the night in the city, exploring Schöneberg, and going to a Turkish restaurant by the name of Hasir.  From there I hoped on the U-Bahn to East Berlin, wandering along the Spree.  When I was in Berlin close to three summers ago, I stayed with my friend Claire from BU in Friedrichshain.  When I was there the evidence of the communist side, long stretches of the Wall were clearly demarcated, and there were many parts of that neighborhood that looked languished.  The signs of the DDR are clearly waning, as investments are being made, and new, sterile buildings are going in up in its place. I wandered for a good couple of hours, crossing the Spree into Kreuzberg, an edgy neighborhood in East Berlin, that has a vibe akin to Bushwick, Brooklyn.  The U1 at about 22.00 hours is about as packed as the L train at Union Square, with the signage at many of the U-Bahn stops harder to see, and the announcements harder to hear given that they were not translated into Tourist-English at most of these local stops.  By the time I returned to the apartment I was staying in, my pedometer claimed I took nearly 37,000 steps yesterday!  My feet are still feeling it!

       This morning I had to say goodbye to the cozy apartment in Zehlendorf-Berlin, and had a train adventure to Leipzig!  I love meeting new people on long rail trips; today was no exception!  I reserved a seat in one of the cabins in 2nd Class, and was surrounded by a car-full of Septagenarians.  I believe there were 13 in total, and the women in this group- a crowd of friends from the Hamburg area that travel one weekend each year to sight-see and play cards.  This year they were off to Leipzig, and were a ton of fun to travel with.  They shared their candy, fine beverages, and a bit of a clementine, as well as fun stories in German.  Although I have only been here for a few days, I have become a bit more comfortable listening to people converse in German.  I still would not consider myself proficient, but I can admit to being at least a little bit more comfortable with the language.  I sense that if I had a few months to immerse myself in the language, in a setting where I had to interact and converse regularly in German, my proficiency would improve immensely!

         Leipzig is an incredible city, that is flush with musicality, and a rich history.  Had I known how incredible of a city it would be, I would have pushed to stay here longer.  The center of the city is rich with two important churches, Nikolaikirche (which was a locus for peaceful protests right before the German Re-Unification in late 1989), and Thomaskirche, where Johann Sebastian Bach served as Kapellmeister for 27 years.  Although the inside of the church has been remodeled and does not contain the original organ, the essence of Bach can be felt here.  (His final resting place is in fact inside the church.)  The acoustics (as I heard in the Motett service) were incredible, and gave me chills.  I had the opportunity to explore the Bach Museum afterwards, which was incredible.  

         I topped the evening off with an intriguing performance of the Gewandhaus Orchestra at the Operhaus, (Opera House), performing a rendition of Mozart's Requiem with a twist, as a Ballet.  I went in skeptical, but was treated to a raw visual interpretation of Mozart's masterful Requiem mass.  The work of the ballet dancers, their choreographers, and those involved with the stage design and lighting did a fantastic job bringing the piece to light with a unique lens.  The dancing was not what I am used to with ballet, (perhaps because I do not get to see enough non-Tchaikovsky or Stravinsky ballet) BUT was jagged, jarring, and juxtaposed, reimagining death and suffering in ways that the orchestra and choir alone can't always express.  The movements of the mass (with texts all in Latin) were also interrupted by poetry in Italian and German, further removing me from my normal reality.

         Tomorrow afternoon I head back to Berlin for one more day of adventure and excitement.  Before I do, I plan to take a run around Leipzig, check out Coffee Baum, the Mendelssohn house, and a quick peak at the Schumann house, hopefully.  When I go back to Berlin, I will be staying near Potsdamerplatz, a train station in close proximity to the Berlin Philharmonie, which I will get to hear tomorrow night!  Depending on what my afternoon brings, I will hopefully be able to explore a few more loose ends in Berlin before the concert!  Güte nacht!

Montag in Berlin!

Good Evening Ladies & Gentlemen,
      I am writing from the fair city of Berlin, in the Zehlendorf section of the city.  From what my AirBNB host Werner has told me, the neighborhood I am staying in was part of the American Zone after World War II.  This may explain some of the names of the streets such as Clayallee, and Uncle-Toms-Allee, both of which are intriguing.   I had a chance to visit the Günter Raphael Archive, which is a music nerd's dream come true. Complete with an antique piano that belonged GR's grandfather, Albert Becker (composer/pianist/organist) which was played upon by none other than Franz Liszt, this house has all of Raphael's manuscripts, along collections of antique scores, early publications (including a complete set of J. S. Bach's Works dating from the 1890s.) There were also letters on the wall composed by Edvard Grieg and Max Reger (to Becker), and Jean Sibelius (to Raphael). I plan to spend much more time there tomorrow, and promise to get at the very least a few photos of everything. The afternoon took an interesting turn when I was invited by Fredrik Pachla to join him and a few friends for a sampling of wine and exotic cheeses, which also turned into an impromptu performance of part of Raphael's Sonata. This also gave me a chance to test my conversational skills in German, a skill that always needs a little more practicing. (Well, perhaps a lot more...)

Looking back over the weekend, I thoroughly enjoyed the duo performance of Anthony Green and Kho Lanny, a Dutch pianist living in the Hague. Together they performed works by Saint-Saens, Rachmaninoff, Chopin and Milhaud. Yesterday (Sunday) was my chance to perform in Anthony Green and Itamar Ronen's home, playing works for solo viola by Anthony Green, Gilad Hochman (who I plan to have coffee with on Wednesday), and Günter Raphael. (Plus Bach!) The performance was intimate, for a small but appreciative crowd of Anthony and Itamar's friends and neighbors, and received an appreciative compliment by the sweet and inquisitive Juiliana.

I have enjoyed observing the contrasts in the culture, language, architecture, and pace in Oslo, Leiden (and the Hague) and Berlin, over the last few days. It will become even more interesting as I explore various parts of Berlin over the next few days.

Time for an early night, and perhaps catching up on yesterday's episode of Madmen!

The First Steps On an Incredible Journey

Terminal One, JFK, Day One

    The journey begins media res.  My flight is slightly delayed, by a good 90 minutes, so I am trying to unwind after an intense week.  The week has been a bit of a cliff hanger in my normal week, interrupted by what promises to be a fantastic journey.
     To catch YOU up, the week that I am wrapping up here in New York City has been a fantastic one.  I gave a small run through performance on Tuesday Night, which I billed "All By Myself," at the Aaron Copland School of Music in Queens College.  The attendance was small, but the room contained a smattering of people who I admire greatly.  This included a few colleagues, students, my parents, and some dear friends.  I will admit, there were moments where I was nervous.  Some notes didn't speak the way I wanted them too, a few string crossings didn't as well as I would have liked, and a couple of chords were, well... funky fresh to say the least.  It was not a perfect performance, but there were moments that were expressive, and I felt relieved to get through the entire program.  I am even more relieved that Sunday's performance will be better prepared.
    I also realize that the time I have spent teaching over the last few years, speaking freely in front of rooms filled with students, has made me a better, and calmer public speaker.  I stayed more on message- my pacing was more fluid, and my knees did not wobble while talking!  This is huge progress, because they tend to shake when I am more panicked.

    The rest of the week has been tying up loose ends with students, trying to get a few more lessons in with some of my students, the last few rehearsals with my High School and Elementary kids, and a piano and Dictation class with my students at Queens.  I tried to get most of my grading done, and was at least able to get the Quizzes taken care of.  I sense a few people were frustrated with the fact that I didn't get through all of the Homework, but that will happen when the time is right.  (After the trip...)

    I have arrived, ready to begin an incredible week and a half.

Greetings from Leiden

Hello World,
    I am writing from Leiden,  a very inspiring city in the Netherlands,  complete with impressive canals, windmills, and bikes.  I have barely been here for about 14 hours, but I am thoroughly impressed with the city.  I will be traveling to Den Haag  (the Hague) to hear composer and pianist Anthony Green perform.  Anthony  and Itamar Ronen have been incredible hosts, making my stay very relaxing.

    I meant to finish a post while at Kennedy Airport Thursday night,  but discovered an old friend, clarinetist Emilio Borghesan, who was on my plane to Oslo.  It is always great to have someone to chat with in airports, as it helps to shorten the journey  (particularly when the airlines add delays.)  Emilio has a fantastic blog that explores the inner workings of clarinet technique, and can be found at www.EmilioBorghesan.com.

    I will be giving a House Concert at Anthony and Itamar's home tomorrow evening at 17:00, (11:00 AM EDST), performing two of Anthony's pieces, plus works by Bach, Gunter Raphael, and J. S. Bach.  Stay tuned for more details! (And photos)