Musikiwest & The 3 B's

Musikiwest musicians filled many hearts in the region with the Cello2Cello program. It was a dream team of generous and uber talented musicians who traveled from near and far to be here in Monterey County: violinists- Siwoo Kim, Anna Lee, violist Danny Kim and cellists Michelle Djokic and Jeffrey Zeigler. Our musicians shared their scripted open rehearsals on the nature of positive collaboration with hundreds of Monterey County school children from Big Sur to Seaside. The students shared some wonderful insights from their perspective with everyone about how to be empathic and supportive colleagues as we explored the dynamics of collaboration. To cap off a rich and productive week our musicians gave a closing concert at SandBox on Thursday, March 2nd to a sell out crowd of children and adults. Our program was comprised of two works dating from the late 18th and early 19th centuries that may very well have had their West coast premier! The first composition was by Luigi Boccherini, The Night Music of the Streets of Madrid. We were able to access the manuscript of the original realization of this programmatic work as Boccherini had originally conceived of the work. Our version included the lesser known final movement that had been eliminated when it was published after Boccherini passed away. Enjoy this little snippet of the tune you may recognize was used in the film Master and Commander.

The evening's featured composition was the Kreutzer Sonata of Ludwig van Beethoven arranged for quintet. The arrangement was made in Beethoven's lifetime so some argue that he himself penned the arrangement. However, the edition of the score by Simrock differs greatly from the individual parts and as we discovered, was full of errors. We spent much of our rehearsal time fixing the errors in order to successfully present this monumental work in this formation. It was well worth the effort as our audience members and musicians can fully attest. Perhaps one day, we can take this program into a recording studio and lay it down for posterity. The excitement of hearing this for the first time was exhilarating for the audience who were on their feet already after just the first movement. The standing ovation at the close inspired our performers to share one last selection. Which brings me to the 3rd B in our program, Let is Be by the Beatles. Anna Lee, is a stunning violinist also possesses a rich and beautiful voice. She shared her gift and spontaneously the audience joined in as we continued. The laughter and tears shared in this profound evening will live on in our hearts forever.

Let it Be

Dancers Move Us

On Sunday afternoon, Jan. 8, during a brief pause in the rain and wind, chemistry ignited passion and emotions in all that were present in SandBox. The eMotion in Music program was a collaboration between the musicians: Oboist Gabe Young, violinist, Yuri Cho, violist David Samuel and cellist, Michelle Djokic and the 5 of the fellows of the first Carmel Dance Festival. Guggenheim fellow and Stanford professor, Alex Ketley created the choreography. The main collaboration was based on the music of Latvian composer, Peteris Vasks in his "Castillo Interiors" for violin and cello. The young dancers brought Ketley's vision to life breathing as one with each other and with the musicians. Given the intimacy of SandBox, not a gesture, expression or breath was missed. To end what felt like a deeply profound and spiritual journey shared by everyone present the musicians were joined by singer Malinda DeRouen for a reading of Stevie Wonder's Village Ghetto. A fellow from the Carmel Dance Festival improvised as Malinda sang the very powerful song. The experience was made even more impactful upon learning that our young dancer had recently found herself homeless and living out of her car until she could get her feet on the ground, so to speak. The walls of SandBox are still awash with the glorious sound of Gabe Young's virtuosic oboe playing. He was equally comfortable improvising the cadenza of the Mozart oboe quartet as he was improvising in Village Ghetto, such versatility! The ensemble playing seemed effortless from our musicians and complimented the physical and artistic flexibility of the young dancers. We look forward to future collaborations that inspire us all!

George Li stopped time in SandBox

Thanks to the Carmel Music Society and Musikiwest today's Bach's Lunch event with guest artist, George Li left us all hungry for more. George shared wonderful stories of his adolescent years, his approach to working and understanding music. We also learned so much about the various ways George finds to paint so much color into everything he plays. In addition to sharing some solo works of Lizst and Chopin George and I read through a couple of pieces together after having just met for the first time. This video taken today was a reading of Spiegel im Spiegel by Arvo Part. With young artists as generous and genuine as George Li I would say the future of classical music is in wonderful hands.