JAVS Spring 2014

W ITH V IOLA IN H AND Meet the ¡Voila! Viola Trio

by Alexander Peña

¡Voila! is a prize-winning viola trio devoted to the expansion and awareness of ensemble repertoire for the commonly left out “middle child” of the string family—the viola. Trio-mates Benjamin Magruder, Alexander Peña, and Samantha Rodriguez seek to provide audiences with a fresh understanding of the soloistic possibilities that the viola has to offer by programming varied repertoire while upholding a spunky disposition that kindly waves “goodbye” to old-fashioned assumptions found in any “viola joke.” Jokes aside, our group is a serious ensemble of conserva tory-trained musicians who began to forge a path never explored quite like it before. Emerging in 2012, ¡Voila! embarked on rehearsals, coachings, and recordings lead ing to winning accolades in two national string cham ber-music competitions as possibly the first viola-only ensemble in competition history. After winning the Eastern Chamber Music String division of the 2012–13 MTNA Chamber Music Competition, we placed sec ond in the Nationals, and we competed in the finals of the 2013 Coleman Chamber Music Competition. Besides not fitting into any traditional ensemble config uration or instrumentation, our group battled to con vince the judges that the viola was not just an instru ment of modest harmonic support but also an instru ment of unique beauty and poetic voice, deserving of showcase! In addition, programming music, or locating music suitable for prestigious competitions, proved to be another challenge. Like most emerging bands or ensem bles, there were plenty of other hurdles along the path. Meet the members of ¡Voila! and uncover our story about taking chances in the chamber-music competition scene. As young professional musicians in between col lege and career, each member of ¡Voila! has a story that can relate to many young musicians considering the pro fession, especially those nearing the end of their studies.

The ¡Voila! trio, from left to right: Samantha Rodriguez, Alexander Peña, and Benjamin Magruder (photo courtesy of Anjali Bermain Photography)

Samantha Rodriguez , twenty-seven years old, is a native of Mastic Beach, New york. She came to Eastman with a dream to win an orchestral job. Achieving that dream while pursuing graduate work, Sam has nearly five years of professional playing experience with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. In addition, she serves on the faculty of SUNy (State University of New york) Geneseo while enjoying a vivid freelance career.

Alexander Peña , twenty-five years old, was born in Southern California, although he began and contin

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