{"id":7758,"date":"2012-08-03T14:56:17","date_gmt":"2012-08-03T21:56:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/?p=7758"},"modified":"2013-02-07T21:09:49","modified_gmt":"2013-02-08T05:09:49","slug":"music-from-methow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2012\/08\/03\/music-from-methow\/","title":{"rendered":"music from methow"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Violinist Jing Wang, pianist Craig Sheppard, and cellist Kevin Krentz perform at the 2011 Methow Festival.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I’m nearing the end of my week at the Methow Valley Chamber Music Festival<\/a>, and it’s been a fantastic week on all counts. First of all, if you don’t know about the Methow Valley<\/a> (prounouced MET-how), it is a scenic and bucolic river valley that spans a roughly southeast to northwest diagonal on the eastern side of the North Cascades National Park. If you’ve never been, you should definitely think about planning a visit sometime. In the summer, it’s a dry and warm place, with lots of places for road cycling, mountain biking, rafting, boating, hiking, and fishing. In the winter, it’s a mecca for Nordic skiing, with the largest network of Nordic ski trails in North America. There are two small towns in the middle portion of the valley – Winthrop, with its western-themed main street, and Twisp, its more utilitarian cousin.<\/p>\n

When you’re asked to play a festival, most often you don’t have any idea what you’re in for. You can look at the bios of the other performers, and the repertoire, and photos of the venue(s), but that only gives you the barest notion of what the experience is going to be like. So when I showed up last Saturday evening and proceeded to the barn which housed the concert and rehearsal spaces, I was little prepared for what a wonderful operation the MVCMF would be.<\/p>\n

First of all, the setting. The concerts are given in a large barn at the Signal Hill Ranch, which is halfway between Winthrop and Twisp on Hwy 20. Set on just over 400 acres of land owned by festival board member Howard Johnson, the barn has been outfitted with lighting and acoustical improvements that make it a wonderful and comfortable place to play chamber music. It is also high up on the slopes of the west side of the valley, providing panoramic views of much of the middle part of the valley. Horses and mules graze in pastures nearby, while hawks, eagles, and other raptors wheel overhead for much of the day.<\/p>\n

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View of the barn with the North Cascades in the background. Photo: Methow Valley Chamber Music Festival<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In addition, the quality of the festival musicians<\/a> is incredible. Festival director Keven Krentz (himself a wonderful cellist) assembles players of all ages and from all musical walks of life (and from around the country – and the world) that somehow all seem to share the same basic working habits, easygoing attitudes, and an extraordinarily high level of playing. So when I heard the sound of the venue, saw its location with my own eyes, and heard the incredible concert – I was experiencing a bit of trepidation about being able to integrate into this wonderful assemblage of artists! But, I needn’t have worried myself too much. My fellow musicians were so welcoming, laid back, and downright professional, that it was like meeting up with long lost playing partners again.<\/p>\n

The pace of the festival is fairly brisk. My concerts are on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday of this week. There are essentially two days of rehearsal for each concert – two rehearsals the day before, and a dress rehearsal the day of the concert. So having the music well in hand is essential, as is being a quick study! For example, for last night’s concert, my group played the Beethoven String Quintet, Op. 29. On Wednesday morning, we read through the piece initially, then went back and picked out the places that needed some clarification. That afternoon we played two of the movements for a wine-tasting concert preview event at the Lost River Winery in Winthrop, and on Thursday morning we had an open rehearsal which was essentially a run-through in front of a small audience in the barn. That’s it! But wouldn’t you know, the performance went better than any of us had the right to expect. It was rhythmically very tight, and there were so many wonderful musical moments – many which were spontaneously generated in the heat of the moment.<\/p>\n

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My Beethoven Quintet group – with Wenting Kang, Rowena Hammill, Serena McKinney, and Elisa Barsten.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Similarly, the Tuesday evening concert, on which we played a wonderful arrangement (supposedly dating from 1808) for string sextet of Mozart’s sublime Sinfonia concertante<\/em> for violin and viola and orchestra. When we first read through the piece we thought, even with three rehearsals plus a dress, it might not fly – it’s such a tough piece to put together with all of its chopped up solo lines passing through all of the instruments – but it went very well indeed when concert time arrived. Go figure.<\/p>\n

The last two days are my ‘workhorse’ days. I’m the last violist left standing – my fellow alto clef compatriots, Mara Gearman, Wenting Kang, and Amber Archibald had all completed their performances and had left for other festivals and gig obligations, so my group is doing the Debussy String Quartet and Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet on the final concert. I don’t mind, though, they are two masterpieces of their respective genres, and a joy to play.<\/p>\n

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With the amazing young violist Wenting Kang after a Methow performance.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ultimately, what I have gained from this week in this far-flung valley in northern Washington State is a renewed love for both music and my instrument. It has been inspiring to hear Mara and Wenting play their solo pieces by Shostakovich and Schumann with such artistry, and to feed off of the enthusiasm of my fellow ensemble members and their new ideas, ways of approaching music, and their generosity of spirit. It really has been a musical oasis for me. I wish it didn’t have to end!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m nearing the end of my week at the Methow Valley Chamber Music Festival, and it’s been a fantastic week on all counts. First of all, if you don’t know about the Methow Valley (prounouced MET-how), it is a scenic and bucolic river valley that spans a roughly southeast to northwest diagonal on the eastern […]<\/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":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[136,1189,135,503,138,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chamber-music","category-northwest","category-soloists-recitals","category-string-quartet","category-summer-festivals","category-viola"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-218","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13809,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2015\/07\/30\/methow-festival-wrap-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":7758,"position":0},"title":"methow festival wrap up","author":"Charles Noble","date":"July 30, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Whew! I'm back in Portland again, after an action-packed five days at the Methow Valley Chamber Music Festival. I played three big pieces, two of which were brand new to me, and one which I hadn't played in at least ten years. After three years of playing here, I can\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\/2015\/07\/DSC_0650-e1438316712345.jpg?fit=640%2C426&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/DSC_0650-e1438316712345.jpg?fit=640%2C426&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/DSC_0650-e1438316712345.jpg?fit=640%2C426&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13796,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2015\/07\/18\/methow-preview-part-one\/","url_meta":{"origin":7758,"position":1},"title":"methow preview, part one","author":"Charles Noble","date":"July 18, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The only piece on my Methow Valley Chamber Music Festival swing this year that I've performed before is Robert Schumann's gorgeous Piano Quartet in E-flat major, Op. 47. I think that it's at least the equal of his famous Piano Quintet (also in E-flat major). Schumann had a chamber music\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\/2015\/07\/Robert_Schumann-cadr%C3%A9.jpg?fit=465%2C543&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13800,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2015\/07\/21\/methow-preview-part-two\/","url_meta":{"origin":7758,"position":2},"title":"methow preview, part two","author":"Charles Noble","date":"July 21, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Another work (in fact, the first of the three)\u00a0that I'm performing at the Methow Valley Chamber Music Festival is Dvorak's great E-flat major Piano Quartet. If you're a cellist (as in the Schumann), you're loving this piece, especially the slow movement. Dvorak doesn't really get his due in the chamber\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\/2015\/07\/p01bqhjb-e1437505221952.jpg?fit=500%2C281&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12875,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2013\/07\/24\/cellos-at-methow\/","url_meta":{"origin":7758,"position":3},"title":"cellos at methow","author":"Charles Noble","date":"July 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"IMG_9885, a photo by nobleviola on Flickr. Pictured here are three of the cellists who are playing at this year's Methow Valley Chamber Music Festival. From left to right: Paul Wianko, Kevin Krenz (festival artistic director), and Armen Ksajikian. Accompanying them in David Popper's Requiem is festival pianist Craig Sheppard.","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13802,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2015\/07\/22\/methow-preview-part-three\/","url_meta":{"origin":7758,"position":4},"title":"methow preview: part three","author":"Charles Noble","date":"July 22, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The final work that I'm performing at the Methow Valley Chamber Music Festival is John Harbison's Piano Quintet, written in 1981 for Georgia O'Keefe and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. John Rockwell, then music critic for the New York Times, wrote this in his review of the premiere performance\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\/2015\/07\/20120112162024-1-e1437610857728.jpg?fit=500%2C227&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12855,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2013\/07\/13\/slack-tide\/","url_meta":{"origin":7758,"position":5},"title":"slack tide","author":"Charles Noble","date":"July 13, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"It's been an uneventful week, with the exception of the dental surgery, and I'm looking forward to completing this downtime to get ready for my next gig. That happens to be the Methow Valley Chamber Music Festival in the north-central reaches of Washington State. I played there once with my\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\/2013\/07\/7696205290_27911bff12_z.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/7696205290_27911bff12_z.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/7696205290_27911bff12_z.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7758","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=7758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7758\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}