JAVS Fall 2008

and preparing her for a career as a violist has indeed been a gift and a unique opportunity. She has taught me that music knows no bounds. Barbara Sudweeks is Associate Principal Viola of the Dallas Symphony and has been a member of that orchestra since 1976. A for mer member of An die Musik, she has recorded and concertized exten sively throughout the U.S. and Europe. Before coming to Dallas, Ms. Sudweeks was Principal Viola of the Hamilton Philharmonic (Ontario, Canada) and a member of the Utah Symphony. She also teaches viola, chamber music, and orchestral repertoire at Southern Methodist University.

tests will now be archived in Austin, Texas and will be available for future blind student/musicians living in the state. To date, Rebecca has won or placed in many international and regional competitions alongside her sighted counterparts, and she has upcom ing performances, including one with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. Rebecca’s path to my studio has been a colorful one. Her desire to play the piano at a young age and being rejected by innumerable teachers is heartbreaking; her first teacher was the family's Austrian piano tuner because no one else would take a young blind child! But slowly, she has been recog nized for what she is, a dedicated and determined musician. The piano led her to chamber music, which led to the viola. She states, “I am a violist because it is the lush contralto of the viola that stirs my imagination and touches my heart." Those of us accustomed to and reliant upon print music in our daily lives can experience a reawak ening when confronted with a new way of experiencing music. Our professions and our lives become so entrenched in routine we often forget that music is indeed from the soul. I would encourage each and every violist/teacher to embrace an opportunity to work with a blind or disabled individual committed to music in order to experience music from a new per spective. Working with Rebecca

Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra. Little adaptation was needed to insure her keeping up to pace with the orchestra. I requested that the conductor obtain the music in advance so that I could record the viola parts for Rebecca. I was amazed at the rate at which she could memorize her parts, as orchestral viola music is often diffi cult, not always carrying the melody. For example, Rebecca accomplished memorizing Mozart’s “Haffner” Symphony in an afternoon. The quality was indeed adequate to take to rehears al, where it could be refined along with the rest of the section. During rehearsals and performanc es, Rebecca asked her stand part ner to gently tap her foot to cue her as to when to play parts after particularly long rests. Rebecca had no trouble following the conductor either; she indicated she could easi ly tell passages in the music by his breathing and motions, and even the expressions she could hear him convey with his face! Although music theory is impor tant in Rebecca’s work with me, I am currently working with her only for performance. Rebecca took AP Music Theory in her school as well as studied theory in conjunction with her private piano studies. She is the first blind teen to take the Texas Piano Theory Tests in Braille at high school lev els. Permission to have the tests administered in Braille required significant effort since they did not yet exist in that format. Rebecca is pleased to have paved the way. The

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