JAVS Spring 2013

W ITH V IOLA IN H AND T HE R OCHESTER V IOLA C ONGRESS : C HILEAN P ARTICIPANTS D ESCRIBE I T IN T HEIR O WN W ORDS

We were thrilled to learn that another former Catholic university precol lege student, Sergio Muñoz, a student of Kim Kashkashian’s at New England Conservatory (NEC), was a semifinalist in the young Artist Competition. Thus, on every day of the congress a Chilean violist performed. Revelations for me included performances by Wolfram Christ, Kashkashian (a privilege to be able to hear a live performance of the entire Kurtág cycle), Atar Arad, Dimitri Murrath, the

From left to right: Penelope Knuth, Georgina Rossi, Noemí Alegría, Mariel Godoy, Carlos Brito, and Sergio Muñoz

by Penelope Knuth

wonderful works of Nicolas Bacri, the concerto per formance by Cynthia Phelps and Rebecca young, meeting local luthiers, stocking up on music and CDs (Rodland’s among them), and the superb per formances at the young Artist Competition.

When I learned that the Rochester viola congress was offering students the opportunity to play in master classes, I urged several of mine to send recordings. One was my daughter, Georgina Rossi, a former Catholic university of Chile pre-college divi sion student, now a sophomore at the Manhattan School of Music (MSM) studying with Karen Dreyfus. The students were nonplussed when they received invitations to participate in master classes with faculty from Korea, China, London, and New york. I warned them to get visas immediately, and their reply was: “ Profe , we don’t have passports!” They speedily got their paperwork together, and, with a lot of goodwill from Carol Rodland and her colleagues, they (and my daughter) attended the unforgettable congress.

What the Chilean players had to say:

“Hearing the world’s finest violists daily was highly motivating! I found the master classes fascinating. When it was my turn to perform in Karen [Ritscher’s] master class, it was a big challenge to play for a hall filled with excellent violists. Happily I felt eager to play, and the experience was really use ful. I constantly keep in mind the suggestions she gave me. It was wonderful to attend the young Artist Competition, in which Chile was outstandingly rep

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