JAVS Fall 2007

SIROTA

By Matthew Dane

first impressions? JS: I attended Greenwood the summer of 1990, cl1e first of four summers. I had visited the summer before and had been toraJJy impressed by aJI of these people seeming to have such an intense and fun rime with music. I remember hearing a concert and then seeing people up at the main house afterwards gathered around a piano, singing Beacles songs and other things- but doing it reaJly well, with the pianist acmaJly play ing the real harmonies. I should have probably been the most impressed by the concert- bur I think the fact that the concert was really great, plus the fact that everyone seemed to let the spirit of their performances permeate their entire lives together, was amazing and new to me. MD: What did you immediately learn from being there? JS: Before my first year there, I had hardly played any chamber music. Every piece I played was a revelation. I didn't even know enough to know what pieces I was supposed to want ro play! The first week I played 4rh violin in the slow movement of the Mendelssohn Octet. Not a bad way ro start! I will aJways remem ber that experience--eight of us crowded into a smaJI practice cabin and trying to create some semblance of baJance (I think a counselor in the group kept

JAYS and the AVS website are pleased to welcome Jonah Sirota as our new online Travelogue writer. Jonah is the violist of the Chiara String Quartet, ensemble-in-resi dence at the University of Nebraska and recently chosen as Blodgett visiting artists-in-resi dence at Harvard University for 2008. As a soloist, he has won sev eraJ solo competitions, including 3rd prize in Naumburg last year, performed concertos with severaJ orchestras, and commissioned many new solo works aJong the way. It is his life experience in chamber music however that te11s his story best. The interview focus es on the two most significant aspects of chamber music in Jonah's life: his deep-rooted con nection with Greenwood Music Camp, and the evolution of the Chiara Suing Quarter culminating in their most recent performance focus, "Chamber Music in Any Chamber." Greenwood is a cham ber music camp in Cummington, Massachusetts of long tradition, with two summer sessions of approximately fifty campers each: a two-week "kiddie camp" for ages 8-13, and a five-week "big camp" for ages 14-18. Jonah's experience as camper, counselor, and faculty are aJI as a part of cl1e latter.

Photo by Anthony Hawley.

reminding us that the melody rarely belonged ro most of us!). Every moment of that movement made me want ro cry. I sri11 feel that way about it. MD: What inspiration has lasted longer and become part of your musicaJ beliefs? JS: It's amazing how much of what first seemed important at Greenwood has stayed important on further reflection. The idea that a group can become some thing more than the sum of its parts; more specificaJiy the idea that in chamber music, interac tions themselves are more impor tant than any one voice. I believe

MD: When did you first attend Greenwood, and what were your

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