JAVS Fall 1995

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ABOUT VIOLISTS

Daniel Foster was appointed principal vio list of the National Symphony Orchestra beginning April 1995. Foster was the 1989 winner of the Primrose Scholarship Com petition and first prize winner in 1991 of the Washington International Competition. He succeeds in the NSO position Roberto Diaz, who has been appointed principal of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Paul Neubauer performed the new and revised Bartok Viola Concerto with the American Symphony at Lincoln Center on 5 November 1995. Neubauer has also enjoyed recent performances of the same work with the Cincinnati Symphony, the Rochester Philharmonic, and the Virginia Symphony, and is scheduled for another appearance soon with the Stavanger (Norway) Symphony. The revised orchestral score and parts are already available and the viola and piano parts should be published soon by Boosey & Hawkes. P ublic viola activity in the summer of 1995 was somewhat somnolent in Southern California, except for a spasm in July. On Monday the 24th, Dale Hikawa-Silverman and Zita Carno, Los Angeles Philharmonic violist and pianist respectively, played Hindernith's Sonata, Ope 11, no. 4 at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre. The next night, visitors from Russia-Maxim Vengerov (the Siberian violinist) and Yuri Bashmet (frequent viola soloist with the L. A. Orchestra)-played the Symphonia Concertante by Mozart with Carlo Rizzi conducting a reduced Philhar monic in the Hollywood Bowl. Both perfor mances were "under the stars," at sites literally across the freeway from one another. There might have been other viola performances, but they were not widely publicized. Late in June, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra performed Bach's Brandenburg Concerti (including the 6th) at the Bowl, which is described variously as capable of holding 13,000 to 14,000 concert-goers. All is amplified, of course. What a strange experi ence that must have been, for both audience and performers! October 1995 produced a flowering of viola action in L.A., the intensity of which is not sustainable! First, there was Marlow Fisher on October 8 in one of his Viola Plus series. Mr. Fisher is a transplanted East-Coast violist who works as a freelance commercial

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musician in Los Angeles. He presents these programs "as a hobby" in a 1920s church located in an area of Santa Monica called Ocean Park, hard by the surf The neighbor hood is full of restaurants, boutiques, and gal leries, accurately described as "Trendy West Los Angeles." Despite some sentimental stained glass religious allegory windows, the building would be hard to identify as a sanc tuary, what with its stage, improvised (prob ably non-code) lighting, and movable theater seating. The acoustics are superb. The ambiance is relaxed, informal. The program ming is refreshing and nontraditional. The performance standard is lofty. There have been at least five of these programs, subtitled "Marlow Fisher & Friends" given in 1995. The October program consisted of Miniature Suite for Clarinet and Viola by Gordon Jacob with Fisher and clarinetist Bronwen Jones, a minimalist solo viola piece called Music for Viola by John Steinmetz (who made intro ductory remarks), and The Plot against the Giant for Flute and Two Violas (1995) by Ron Sappington, which enlisted the help of Janet Lakatos (violist) and Rachel Rudich (flutist). The evening ended with Marlow Fisher giving a convincing and solid viola per formance of the Bach Chaconne. The following Saturday afternoon, at California State University, Long Beach, John Scanlon, violist with the Pacific Symphony,