Category: Music

Clarinet students can connect with others while learning techniques for free, thanks to the live stream workshops offered by the Academy’s Mason Summer Clarinet Academy co-director, Ms. Catina Franklin Sweedy.

Ms. Sweedy is running weekly live-streams in support of those young clarinetists who have lost access to their band programs due to school closings.

Through her YouTube channel, The Clarinet Project, Ms. Sweedy offers three different workshops: Bass Clarinet Basic, Ask A Clarinet Teacher, and Pop Song Tutorials. Audiences in the live stream sessions can ask questions about the instrument and learn basic clarinet techniques and songs such as “Into the Unknown” from “Frozen II” and “Duel of the Fates” from “Star Wars.”

 

 

Through those live streams, she hopes to provide teaching continuity for those students’ clarinet studies and an opportunity for them to maintain a social connection with the outside world while being quarantined at home.

“The Pop Song Tutorials are my favorites,” said Ms. Sweedy. “It’s always fun to learn how to play songs that make us happy, but it gives me an opportunity to teach strong fundamentals and technique. I am also excited about Bass Clarinet Basics because there aren’t many resources out there for young bass clarinet players, so I enjoy adding more videos to help.”

Serving as an educator, lecturer, and adjudicator in the Washington, D.C. area, Ms. Sweedy is the founder and co-director of Academy’s Summer Clarinet Academy. She was a former orchestra member for several groups in Florida and Prince William County and performed nationally and internationally as a solo artist.

 

 

Ms. Sweedy said The Clarinet Project YouTube channel provides a space for her audiences to share their feelings with COVID-19 and its impact on a personal level, and she values the opportunity to be a listener and mentor who helps navigate their struggles along the way. She reminds us to use this time to slow down and care for one another.

“We are experiencing upheaval, fear, grief, anxiety, loneliness, and disappointment among many other emotions right now,” said Ms. Sweedy. “As musicians, we have an opportunity to play and create music for healing and joy, for ourselves and for others.”

For aspiring musicians, Ms. Sweedy encourages them not only to focus on technical studies but remembering to share their music with friends and family.

“We are lucky that we have music to help us through this time,” said Ms. Sweedy. “Pull out your favorite pieces, learn a song that you love, even if it isn’t written for your instrument. Let’s share it with others if we can.”

The Clarinet Project’s live stream is open to everyone.  To join the next session, visit Ms. Sweedy’s YouTube channel HERE. Upcoming workshops include:

• Bass Clarinet Basics, Mondays at 4 p.m. EST
• Pop Song Tutorial Live, Wednesdays at 4 p.m. EST
• Ask a Clarinet Teacher, Fridays, at 4 p.m. EST

The Patriot Violins visited Peabody Institute of the John Hopkins University along with their families and teacher, Claire Allen, on Saturday, February 22. They observed a chamber ensemble coaching, a violin masterclass, played in a group class co-taught by Ms. Allen and two preparatory teachers, Ms. Maya Shih and Dr. Elizabeth Adams, and participated in a masterclass taught by Ms. Allen’s former teacher at Peabody, Professor Keng-Yuen Tseng.

“It’s always important to seek inspiration when you’re studying music, and perspectives outside of one’s own ‘bubble’ are so valuable,” said Ms. Allen, Violin Teaching Artist at the Academy. “Peabody is where I studied pedagogy and began my own teacher training, so I have a strong connection to it. I feel really lucky that my own teachers and the other teachers at Peabody were so generous with their time and talents to give my students and me a glimpse into their program.”

Ms. Allen attended Peabody from 2011 to 2013, and received her master’s degree in violin performance while studying with Professor Tseng. She also studied pedagogy with Rebecca Henry, co-chair of the Peabody Preparatory String Department, and with whom she continues to study violin and pedagogy. 

Inspired by her own time at Peabody, Ms. Allen planned the visit while teaching for Peabody’s Allegro strings camp in summer 2019. She worked with many teachers at Peabody in both the Preparatory and Conservatory divisions to make the visit happen, including Ms. Henry, Lenelle Morse, Ms. Shih, Dr. Adams, Dr. Tremblay, and Mr. Tseng.

 

 

Upon their arrival, the Academy families witnessed an advanced level chamber group rehearsal, performed by high school string students from Peabody’s Preparatory Performance Academy, followed by a masterclass with Boston Conservatory Professor, Katie Lansdale.

“We had a wonderful time at the Conservatory,” said Jinah Gwon, a Patriot Violins student parent. “Joshua really enjoyed watching the advanced string quartet. He was writing a lot of notes on his notebook while listening and compared his thoughts with the professor’s comments.”

Gwon said observing other performers in concerts, recitals, and music competitions benefit her son’s instrumental learning in a different way. “Joshua loves to be on the stage, and watching those talented students’ performance boosts his passion to music and makes him want to practice more.”

 

 

Besides class observation, students joined violinists from Peabody Young People’s String Program for a group class with Ms.   Allen and Ms. Shih on fundamental techniques before the group took an in-depth analysis with Professor Elizabeth Adams on bow strokes and performance interpretation of “Humorosque” by Dvorak. After an insightful session, the Patriot Violins played “Tango” by Michael McLean, side-by-side with the Oistrakh and Kreisler group.

The Patriot Violins continued their visit and toured the Athur Friedheim Music Library, where an extensive collection of sheet music, scores, recordings, and books are collected, preserved, and made available to Peabody students and faculty for their studies.

 

 

The group ended their visit with a masterclass with Allen’s former teacher and Peabody professor, Keng-Yuen Tseng, who offered practical tips on playing the instrument and shared stories of building a healthy relationship with the instrument.

“The first part of training is the hardest,” said Professor Tseng. “String instruments, like violins, are extremely difficult to learn, and it tak es years to build a solid foundation. You shouldn’t rush to learn new pieces at the beginning of your study. You must spend time perfecting your techniques and finger position; otherwise, you will never achieve greater performance.”

Besides the students received new knowledge on their musical study, Allen loved seeing other teachers interacting with their students and learn new perspectives and methods on teaching.

 

 

“It was fascinating to see highly effective teaching approached in many different ways,” said Ms. Allen. “One of the Peabody teachers, Maya Shih, led our students through an open string martele exercise and inspired me to share it with my private students. I’ve been practicing it myself ever since the class, and it’s been really helpful.”

The Patriot Violins is designed to provide serious violin students with training and experiences that support them in becoming skilled musicians. It also gives them an opportunity to be in community with other like-minded violinists. Ms. Allen intentionally creates curriculum, activities, and performances around these core believes. Since being established in fall 2019, the Patriot Violins have performed at Arts By George, the MasonARC research conference, and the Academy winter recitals. They have played alongside the Green Machine at a Mason men’s basketball game, where they also performed The Star-Spangled Banner. The visit to Peabody was the most recent experience for these students.

 

 

“I loved seeing my students’ eyes light up during an observation when they heard incredible playing and just to see their excitement as we toured the school,” said Allen. “I can’t wait to see how the new ideas and inspiration influence my students going forward!”

The Patriot Violins are continuing their work digitally online, and we hope to see more creative projects from them very soon!

Hello Fellow Academy Music Parents,

I hope this finds you safe and well during this unprecedented time, which continues to change daily. As I’m sure you know, the Academy has shifted to online lessons until at least Saturday, April 4th.

I know this is new and different territory for some people. One of my kids has done online lessons with the Academy during snow days for years with great success. The other has never done an online lesson. As a parent, I find myself approaching the policy with both confidence and uncertainty.

My 12 year old violinist can do the online lessons independently. I make sure the session gets started okay and then I don’t see her for an hour. It’s pretty wonderful, and I realize a privilege compared to a parent of a 5 year old who still needs a lot of direction. Is it as good as an in-person lesson? Nope, but an online lesson is better than no lesson. We have found online lessons to be quite effective in allowing her to progress through her material and to move on to new things each week. If nothing else, that provides a small feeling of normalcy right now.

I’m less confident about the sound distortion of a trombone over the airwaves for my 10 year old. However, I’m still willing to try.

Here’s why I recommend online lessons:

• We have experience with other elements of the online lesson and they have worked fine.
• I trust his teacher will make any adjustments he can think of to make it work.
• This might not suit my personal needs perfectly, but it’s a small sacrifice in the overall world picture.
• Weekly contact with his teacher is better than a several week vacuum of no instruction.

I encourage you all to hang in there and give the online lessons a try. Please do not immediately call the office demanding a refund for lessons that can’t be held in person. If the Academy grants refunds, that means they can’t pay teachers, who likely count on the lesson income to live. This is a national safety issue beyond everyone’s control – ours, the teachers’ and the Academy’s. It requires all of us to change our daily habits to stay healthy. What we can do is be kind to our fellow humans and be willing to make some sacrifices in the short term until we are on the other side of the curve.

If you have any specific questions about online lessons or have your own experiences to add, please email me at masoncommunityparents@gmail.com If we get enough useful input we can consider putting it together in a blog post to publish to the Academy community so all parents can benefit.

I hope you all stay safe and can enjoy some beautiful music in your homes during the next several weeks.

Best,

Jen Gibson

Mason Academy Parents

 

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Additional Resources for Online Lessons
For Parents   |   For Students

Back for its sixth summer, Violin Bootcamp will once again offer intermediate and advanced violin students the opportunity and space to hone their musical craft, from examining at the basics of violin technique to reaching for new heights of musical artistry and maturity. The focused learning environment, expert instruction, and supportive peer group will help each violinist grow as a musician.

The faculty strongly encourages students to apply for both weeks of Violin Bootcamp for the most integrated and immersive experience possible. (Students are also welcome to apply for only one week. Please consult your private teacher and our directors if you have questions about which week would be the right one for you this summer.)

 

 

Week 1 will focus on strengthening fundamentals and developing more advanced techniques in the context of scales, etudes, and exercises. Topics covered may include posture, left-hand frame, shifting, vibrato, basic and advanced bow strokes. Workshops will teach various approaches to organizing and strategizing practice as well as audition preparation techniques.

 

 

Week 2 will focus on honing the skills needed to bring music to life in front of an audience. Students should come with a polished, memorized piece so they can focus on creating their performance (not learning the notes!) this week. Students will learn techniques for developing their stage presence, crafting a musical interpretation that goes beyond the notes on the page, and managing performance nerves and anxiety. Daily piano rehearsals with professional collaborative pianists will enable students to study their entire piece and prepare for a confident and artistic performance for family and friends at the end of the week.