{"id":14880,"date":"2018-08-21T09:00:43","date_gmt":"2018-08-21T16:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/?p=14880"},"modified":"2018-08-21T09:16:51","modified_gmt":"2018-08-21T16:16:51","slug":"debrief-willamette-valley-chamber-music-festival-week-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2018\/08\/21\/debrief-willamette-valley-chamber-music-festival-week-two\/","title":{"rendered":"debrief – willamette valley chamber music festival, week two"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This viola plays more correct notes if it is given wine. Photo: Charles Noble<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Week two is in the bag! Week one was tons of fun, and also tons of WORK. Two different works of Joan Tower made for some epic rehearsal schedules. This week was a bit quieter – for me – because I didn’t play every work on the program this time. Rare for a violist! It was also a bittersweet time after our final concert of the weekend, because it marked the wrap for Greg Ewer’s stint at this year’s festival, and also the end of our time at J. Christopher Wines’ wonderful barrel room. I brought five bottles of wine home over the two weeks, so at the very least I’ll have those to savor as I remember the fun times spent there.<\/p>\n

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Megumi Stohs Lewis and Sasha Callahan rehearsing Prokofiev’s Sonata for Two Violins. Photo: Stephanie Noble<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Violinists Megumi Stohs Lewis and Sasha Callahan gave a virtuosic performance of Prokofiev’s truly epic Sonata for Two Violins<\/em>. It’s one of those rare duo pieces that gives the impression of more than two instruments. It also has no ‘dead’ spots where you can sense that the composer is filling time before the next good idea. It’s first rate Prokofiev.<\/p>\n

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Sasha Callahan, Greg Ewer, Leo Eguchi, Kenji Bunch, and Charles Noble play String Circles by Kenji Bunch. Photo: Stephanie Noble<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sasha, Greg Ewer, myself, and Leo Eguchi were next joined by violist and composer Kenji Bunch for a rollicking performance of his string quintet\u00a0String Circle<\/em>. As Leo noted in his introductory remarks on the program, it’s a immensely approachable piece that also has real compositional meat and depth. The central slow movement, based upon the folk tune Wayfaring Stranger<\/em>, was written partially in response to the death of Johnny Cash, whom Kenji admired as a person and as a musician. Loads of fun to play, and based upon the responses of our audiences, loads of fun to listen to as well.<\/p>\n

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Greg Ewer, Sasha Callahan, Leo Eguchi, and Charles Noble finishing the Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel Quartet with a grand flourish. Photo: Stephanie Noble<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The last piece on the program was the lone known string quartet by Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel. It’s been played more and more in the past few years, not least because of the wonderful recording by the French quartet Quatour Eb\u00e9ne. It’s a quartet that is slowly entering the repertoire – and given that Ms. Hensel wrote over 400 pieces of music – there are surely more hidden gems awaiting our discovery! In any event, it was a thrilling piece to play, with the virtuosic leadership of Greg Ewer on first violin – he has a virtual concerto to play in the finale – and as always, making music with Sasha and Leo was meaningful and a total blast!<\/p>\n

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Charles Noble, Sasha Callahan, Greg Ewer, Kenji Bunch, Leo Eguchi, and Eve Callahan after the concert in J. Christopher’s fantastic barrel room.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Week two is in the bag! Week one was tons of fun, and also tons of WORK. Two different works of Joan Tower made for some epic rehearsal schedules. This week was a bit quieter – for me – because I didn’t play every work on the program this time. Rare for a violist! It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[136,503,138],"tags":[3896,3892,3893,2810,3877],"class_list":["post-14880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chamber-music","category-string-quartet","category-summer-festivals","tag-fanny-mendelssohn","tag-j-christopher-wines","tag-kenji-bunch","tag-prokofiev","tag-willamette-valley-chamber-music-festival"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-3S0","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14825,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2018\/08\/04\/preview-willamette-valley-chamber-music-festival-week-one\/","url_meta":{"origin":14880,"position":0},"title":"preview: willamette valley chamber music festival – week one","author":"Charles Noble","date":"August 4, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"A bit of backstory: for the past twenty-odd years or so, my summers have followed a pretty stable pattern of festival-hopping. Some years I've done five festivals in a summer. I spent much more time on the road and in a homestay or dorm room than at home. I'd come\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "chamber music"","block_context":{"text":"chamber music","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/chamber-music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/WVCMF-FB-cover-2-500x270.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14871,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2018\/08\/14\/preview-willamette-valley-chamber-music-festival-week-two\/","url_meta":{"origin":14880,"position":1},"title":"preview: willamette valley chamber music festival – week two","author":"Charles Noble","date":"August 14, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"After a well-deserved day off, the musicians of the festival are back this morning for the first rehearsal of week two. What's on tap for this weekend? Some really tasty music, that's what! Works for two instruments are some of the hardest pieces to write effectively. There's no much time\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "chamber music"","block_context":{"text":"chamber music","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/chamber-music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/KenjiBunch_Photo-credit_Meg-Nanna_3-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14894,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2018\/08\/23\/preview-willamette-valley-chamber-music-festival-final-weekend\/","url_meta":{"origin":14880,"position":2},"title":"preview – willamette valley chamber music festival – final weekend","author":"Charles Noble","date":"August 23, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"This weekend the festival moves from the warm embrace of the J. Christopher Wines barrel room to two new locales. On Saturday, it's Sokol Blosser, and on Sunday, Elk Cove Vineyards. The program is a nice mix - some newer music, music by a female composer, and a big, old\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "chamber music"","block_context":{"text":"chamber music","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/chamber-music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/IMG_8563-300x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14902,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2018\/08\/27\/denoument\/","url_meta":{"origin":14880,"position":3},"title":"d\u00e9noument","author":"Charles Noble","date":"August 27, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"With a luminous octave 'C', it was over. Not just the magnificent 50 minute long String Quintet of Franz Schubert, but my season with the Willamette Valley Chamber Music Festival. The music was of course vital to the experience, but not necessarily central to it. Because chamber music is, above\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "chamber music"","block_context":{"text":"chamber music","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/chamber-music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/IMG_8563.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/IMG_8563.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/IMG_8563.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/IMG_8563.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/IMG_8563.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/IMG_8563.jpg?resize=1400%2C800 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14865,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2018\/08\/13\/postlude-willamette-valley-chamber-music-festival-week-one\/","url_meta":{"origin":14880,"position":4},"title":"postlude: willamette valley chamber music festival week one","author":"Charles Noble","date":"August 13, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"What a week it's been! Five intense days of rehearsal, four fantastic pieces of music, and six musicians who not only play well together, but like each other as friends, too. It's magic, really, this festival. One of the highlights for me was getting to work with the distinguished composer\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "chamber music"","block_context":{"text":"chamber music","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/chamber-music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/IMG_4541-500x375.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":19178,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2020\/07\/28\/cellist-leo-eguchi-featured-on-music-podcast\/","url_meta":{"origin":14880,"position":5},"title":"cellist leo eguchi featured on music podcast","author":"Charles Noble","date":"July 28, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Festival co-founders Sasha Callahan and Leo Eguchi. The co-founder and artistic director of the Willamette Valley Chamber Music Festival, cellist Leo Eguchi, is featured in this edition of Robert Hunt Simonds' podcast Performing Labor. I can't wait to be performing with him again this year!","rel":"","context":"In "summer festivals"","block_context":{"text":"summer festivals","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/summer-festivals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/IMG_8561.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/IMG_8561.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/IMG_8561.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/IMG_8561.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/IMG_8561.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/IMG_8561.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/303"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14880"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14880\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}