Academy mentors young musicians
Students conquer challenging repertoire in learning how to play with an orchestra
Music education programs are an intrinsic, if occasionally overlooked, part of the summer months, with choices ranging from grand programs like the VSO’s Orchestral Institute at Whistler to a number of smaller scale grassroots projects.
A relatively new endeavour is the Kessler Academy for Strings, an innovative project produced by the Microcosmos String Quartet in co-operation with Music on Main.
It celebrates two Kesslers: violinist Jack Kessler (1906-86), a noted teacher and the longtime concertmaster of the CBC Vancouver Orchestra (as it was in his day); and his wife Susan, one of Vancouver’s most indefatigable music connoisseurs. The Kessler Academy grew out of 2015 celebrations marking her 100th birthday.
Marc Destrube, leader of the Microcosmos String Quartet, has been at the centre of the program. He teaches in several more formal contexts and is associated with the
Oregon Bach Festival’s prestigious Berwick Academy program for historically informed performance.
He wanted to do something a bit different here at home.
“I’ve always been interested in teaching outside the academic box, to help fill the holes left in the students’ real world experience,” Destrube said earlier this month. “I also have a missionary zeal to help audiences to hear the serious music of our own time. We decided to honour Susan with a mentorship program, putting on concerts with young performers in a professional environment.”
Quartet members sit with the advanced students as they master a demanding and often unconventional repertoire.
“Not using a conductor gives everyone a special impetus to concentrate on the music, getting performers out of their own little musical ghettos. There are hundreds of tiny competencies you need to learn to play in an orchestral context, and which you can’t really teach in any other way than playing together.”
Destrube considers his quartet the academy ’s producer. Music on Main is the academy ’s concert presenter. Beyond a small registration fee there are no further costs to the chosen string players.
“There are 19 this year, some still in high school, some with master’s degrees.”
Though he’s not able to participate this summer, violinist Bruno Cavalca was featured as both performer and composer last year and found the entire Kessler Academy experience everything he could have wished for.
“There was a broad range of experience among the players, but we were all very serious about it. The heavy repertoire was basically a joy,” says Cavalca, who just finished his first year of post-secondary study. “The program mentors were very good about helping us through it. You get six hours of rehearsal a day, then you play the concert, and then you look back on it with great fondness and backache.”
Cavalca had the unnerving experience of having one of his own works on the academy’s docket.
“As a player, the focus was completely different . ...
“I found the role of the composer more difficult. I had never before been in a position where I could have my musical ideas carried out. I didn’t know how to communicate that, and they were very good about coaching me how to get what I wanted from the other players.”
This summer, Destrube has opted for works by Igor Stravinsky, Alfred Schnittke, Valentyn Silvestrov and Arthur Lourie: wonderful stuff, but not the conventional fare of more conservative programs. Which is very much the point: innovation, quality and commitment.