JAVS Spring 2011

APC: How can we take advantage of the arts culture in America?

APC: Lastly, what kind of advice do you give your students pursu ing orchestral careers? KK: The issue with orchestral careers is that what you do to get the job is something different than what you’ll do when you get the job. You have to hone your skills to perfection while remain ing musical. KK: Instead of bringing in études, you’re going to bring in a move ment of a Beethoven quartet or a Bartók quartet so that when the opportunity comes knocking, you’re there and you’re ready. KK: Students get their first crack at teaching in our performance class. They get three minutes to help this person, and then we’ll correct it. We do this over a peri od of three years. I make sure that they go to every other great peda gogue in the school and take notes. You’ve got to have diagnos tic skills and the ability to demonstrate. The public master class you give to get a teaching position requires a certain skill— you have to react to the player and cover in the space of an hour and a half all the things that you think are important and will make the school believe you will be a good pedagogue. That’s a dif ferent skill than the one you use once you get a student and know that you will have four years to work with them. APC: Teaching careers? APC: Chamber careers?

Adam Paul Cordle is Media Coordinator and Newsletter Editor for the American Viola Society. He is a member of Pocket Philosophy, an ensemble dedicated to promoting the accessibility of traditional and contemporary music through per formance, education, and collabora tion in a variety of venues and set tings. In addition to his work as a teaching artist, Mr. Cordle is Artistic Director of the Olentangy Festival for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio. He received his Master of Music degree in Viola Performance from the Eastman School of Music and his Bachelor of Music degree in Viola Performance from Baldwin Wallace College.

KK: Why look for specific oppor tunities? Aren’t we looking for a creative musical life? People should be asking themselves if they’re good at what they’re doing and what environment will nour ish and amplify what they are able to give. It’s not always Lincoln Center. I think it’s time that more of us stop thinking in terms of the pyramid and more of us start thinking in terms of the circle. APC: How do you feel technolo gy has changed the field of classi cal music? KK: That goes way back. The radio allowed the possibility of passive lis tening into many households. That meant not everyone had to play. The end result is that we as receivers of music and art are allowed to be pas sive in a way never before possible. KK: I think it’s in my blood. Both my parents were gifted teachers. I started teaching my peers who were having specific issues while I was in school. I began teaching before beginning a master’s program, and then I was Karen Tuttle’s assistant. For me, it’s a very important part of my life—helping people figure out how to get through their own walls. It’s about the music and the craft, but also about the personal level. That’s what makes it chal lenging. APC: How did you begin teaching?

J OURNAL OF THE AMERICAN VIOLA SOCIETY 18