JAVS Fall 2011

The Internet has been a fantastic tool for Deubner to reach composers and conductors nationally and inter nationally. “Most of my orchestra engagements have resulted from my contacting conductors or orchestras on Facebook or Myspace,” Deubner states. youTube has allowed him to create a dossier of his work (250 video clips to date!) and allowed him to supply a viola/piano version of a concerto to a conductor to persuade him to program the work. Being persistent has also paid off. “If a conductor says ‘no thank you,’ then I will periodically send them a news flash about upcoming performances I am doing.” Many times those same conductors will eventually be persuaded to work with Deubner. In his role as an educator on the faculties of Temple university (PA) and Kean university (NJ), he encourages his students to create websites, compile catalogs of their performances, and creatively use social networking. he believes that drawing audiences into the process of rehearsing and getting to know new works (see the aforementioned youTube videos) is also a way to reach out to the pub

lic. Rejecting the idea that audiences are not interested in new music, he posits that maybe it is a failure of presentation and access rather than content. he also points out that today’s music is perhaps more accessi ble and less strident than much of contemporary music composed fifty years ago, and it will have appeal if it is well-written. historically, the commissioning process has allowed for a great deal of input from the performer into the final shape of the work (think of Joachim’s contribu tions to the Brahms concerto, including the cadenza). Deubner also enjoys the collaborative process that is part of the birth of a piece. In addition to his intense personality and drive coming through in the perform ance of the work, he also feels he can “enhance the clarity of musical ideas.” For example, he provided the solution to composer Andrew Rudin’s frustration about how to end a movement of his viola concerto by suggesting a “quick scherzo” as an effective contrast in mood. Other times, he has influenced the orches

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