JAVS Spring 2010

At this Viva la Viola concert, I met up with Malcolm Mawhinney, a former viola student at a school where I taught in Auckland, New Zealand, for many years, who was in the audience with his wife. Malcolm is presently a music teacher and professional violist who has been living and working in Shanghai now for the past six years—it certainly is a small world! Later that evening a celebration dinner was held for Professor Shen at a restaurant, where about two hun dred violists and other guests attended (many coming from other parts of China and overseas). The many presentations and speeches given reflect the high regard in which she is held. The internationally acclaimed Japanese violist Nobuko Imai was the principal guest artist. She pre sented a master class, spoke about the Viola Space Competition, and gave a recital among other things. For me her master class was most informative. She not only tackled technical problems (holding the viola, shoulder rests, and the way we stand), but included time on interpretation and feeling—playing from the “heart and soul”—observing the period style, the composer’s wishes, and importantly, what we as violists (performing artists) feel. All this is needed for a truly musical interpretation/performance. And true to her philosophy, her performance concert on

the last day of the festival was Music from the Heart that moved the audience to a standing ovation and three encores. She played: Shostakovich’s Adagio & Spring Waltz , Schubert’s Four Lieder (arranged for viola), Schumann’s Violin Sonata in A Minor, op. 105 (on viola), Takemitsu’s A Bird came down the Walk , and Brahms’s Sonata, op. 120, no. 1. Another master class I attended was conducted by Hong-Mei Xiao, who presently is the viola professor at the University of Arizona and who has recorded on NAXOS, playing both the Serly and Peter Bartók/Neubauer versions of Bartók’s Viola Concerto plus Serly’s Rhapsody for Viola and Orchestra . She expertly conducted a master class emphasizing interpretation differences for sections of the movements presented and skillfully explained how to achieve the desired results. A stimulating presentation indeed. It was a pleasure to hear the “Outstanding Students Concert,” where the violists came from the conservatories of: Shen Yang (Peng Xu and Dan Liu), Tian Jin (Yao Li), Shanghai (Yi Wen Zhang and Yu Cheng Shi), and Guangzhou (Bo Cheng Chen); the arts academies of: Nan Jing (Guan Liang Zhong) and Shen Zhen (Han Duo He); and the Tainan National University of the Arts (Shi Xian Cai). The composers

Participants and attendees from the Nobuko Imai master class

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