JAVS Spring 2025

Youth Corner

From Cincinnati to LA: Reflections of the 2024 AVS Festival by the CCM Prep Viola Quartet by: Grace Yu, Maeve Henderson, Ben Truong, Isabella Wang—under the guidance of: Joyce Chan Grabell, University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music Preparatory Department

Introduction This past June, the American Viola Society Festival at The Colburn School in Los Angeles was an eye opening experience for many violists, especially some of the younger students who were expanding their viola horizons. The CCM Prep Viola Quartet from the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music Preparatory Department—including four high school-aged members: Grace Yu, Maeve Henderson, Ben Truong, and Isabella Wang—was selected to participate after auditioning for the Ensemble Invitational. Attending the American Viola Society Festival was not a new experience for all the members, as Maeve and Grace had been involved in the solo competitions for AVS in years prior, but they had never participated as an ensemble. To prepare for the competition, the ensemble chose to learn Aragonaise from Bizet’s “Carmen,” arranged for viola quartet by Cincinnati based violist Kevin Nordstrom, and rehearsed weekly until the video audition deadline. When news arrived that we were one of the few groups invited to the festival, we were all excited to experience the upcoming events that would come because of it. The overall experience of being in Los Angeles, working with the Settlement School Viola Choir and their director Shelley Beard, and being immersed in chamber music and the viola challenged and motivated the students beyond opportunities available to them locally. Below are the accounts of the members.

(L-R) Isabella Wang, Grace Yu, Maeve Henderson, and Ben Truong of the CCM Viola Prep Quartet. Photo Courtesy of Joyce Chan Grabell.

Reflections from the CCM Prep Viola Quartet Our viola conference in LA was a great experience, especially as a team with other people from CCM. Me and three others performed a movement from Carmen as a quartet and met with other viola groups from around the US to form a large ensemble. During our time there, we rehearsed every day, listened to performances, and got feedback from different teachers/conductors. From this trip, I believe most of us were able to learn how to better communicate with others within a performance setting. We worked on cueing and being in sync with one another as a whole. In the end, AVS helped our group to bond more and play more collectively. But besides the viola aspect, we also had a great time as tourists. We visited Grand Central Market, Little Tokyo, and enjoyed the short time we spent in LA. Grace

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Journal of the American Viola Society / Vol. 41, No. 1, Spring 2025