JAVS Fall 2008

Mass Viola Ensemble Session, Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture. The launch of the English Viola Society at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester.

I represented the EVS at the International Viola Congress held in Tempe, Arizona from June 4 to June 8, 2008, delivering a paper on Hindemith’s Sonata for Viola and Piano, op. 11, no. 4. Many more plans are afoot, particularly more events in 2008-2009. Please visit our website at http://www.englishviolasociety.com for more details; we are only just getting started!

tary and treasurer, contemplating a website, and beginning the arduous hunt for members.

Suddenly, a wave of congratulatory e-mails started fill ing my inbox from the various sections all over the world. The EVS website was very kindly designed and is still maintained by my very dear friend Liam Abramson (a cellist dare I say!), who lives in Boston, Massachusetts and faithfully updates and adds information whenever needed. The dedicated treasurer and secretary, Amy Macpherson and Thomas Foster respectively, are two of my senior viola students at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester where I teach. We are still very small, but extremely enthusiastic, and growing a little every day. The official launch of the English Viola Society occurred at the Royal Northern College of Music on April 27, 2008, as part of the Annual Viola Day. Simon Rowland-Jones gave a recital of all English viola music, including some of his own compositions, to kick off the launch. We managed to quadruple our membership numbers dur ing the day! I am also delighted to announce that a member of the Nigerian Viola Society flew to England especially for the launch of the EVS and joined me for a week at the RNCM to discuss collab oration and viola-teaching methods. Our newsletter is due to come out in the fall, and we hope to showcase a few of the society’s initial eminent members.

– Louise Lansdown President, English Viola Society

NigerianViola Society

Kindly help us to say a big thank you to the president of the English Viola Society, Louise Lansdown, for inviting the Nigerian Viola Society’s president, Titus Ogunyemi, and vice president, John Bello, to be part of the official launch of the English Viola Society in Manchester on April 27, 2008. It was a great oppor tunity and exposure for us to be part of viola activities in other developed countries. Unfortunately our vice president was unable to attend because of his work load in school. But thanks to Louise Lansdown for all her kind support, ensuring that I was at the event. I was given the privilege of observing classes and meeting some of the students as a way of bridging the divide between the two viola sections. I was also

J OURNAL OF THE AMERICAN VIOLA SOCIETY 14