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MASTER CLASSES

The mice from the CMJO have come to the masterclass

Pinchas Zukerman masterclass. Sydney, Australia. August 31, 2000: - Renowned violinist/violist Pinchas Zukerman, visiting Australia as part of the 2000 Olympics Arts Festival, presented masterclasses in three cities. Students from around the country auditioned by tape for the chance to participate and four were chosen to perform at each class. In Sydney, the students were all violinists; most were prize winners of local and international competitions with impressive resumes and all were about 18 years old and currently undertaking tertiary training. Of course, violin and viola students and teachers came from near and far to watch, learn and take the rare opportunity to ask questions of the master.

The selected students played:

1. Concert fantasy on Bizet's Carmen, op 25 by Pablo de Sarasate
2. Polonaise in D, op 4 by Henryk Wienawski
3. Tzigane by Maurice Ravel
4. Violin concerto no 2 in g minor (first movement) by Sergei Prokofiev

Zukerman opened the class with a sometimes-humourous introduction, explaining to the large audience that although this was a public lesson for advanced students, he would focus on fundamentals of technique, rather than on the music they played because he believes that before one can make music, one must learn to make the sound. None of the students played his or her entire piece; Zukerman listened carefully for about five minutes before interrupting to discuss what he had observed. Here are some of those observations:

Bowing:
The former Galamian student obviously has great respect for his late teacher's bowing methodology. All four students were shown Galamian exercises [there is a method book available] designed to improve bowing, from open string exercises and slow bowing to finger flexibility techniques. While 20 minutes a day for six months of, say, an open-string bowing exercise might seem like an incredibly boring chore, it's vital if one aspires to make music at the highest level and there is no magic substitute, he advised those in attendance. Zukerman repeatedly emphasised the importance of bowing technique because, he said, 85 per cent of the sound comes from the right arm. "The right arm is your bank account," he joked at one point. Even the bow hold itself came in for special attention. "Bend the fingers, bend the thumb," he repeatedly told one student. Keep them flexible, if you move your fingers apart on up bow, move them back on down. Use the whole bow, "you've paid for all of it", he told another student, with whom he demonstrated effective bow division. (In the Prokofiev, the student had to play four short-bowed, down-bowed quavers starting at the tip of the bow, followed by a long bow beginning at the frog. Zukerman advised him not to play all of the quavers at the tip. He suggested the student divide the bow into four and move down with each note, that is, play one quaver on each quarter of the bow so that he ended at the frog, ready for the long note that came next.)

Vibrato:
Zukerman praised one student's use of both arm and wrist vibrato to achieve different objectives. The student had been learning wrist vibrato for only about six months, so welcomed some suggestions on how to improve this technique. Zukerman believes the down motion is the most important in wrist vibrato, because the up motion will occur naturally if the down is correct, that is, the hand will bounce back up of its own accord. Rather than the "wave to yourself" analogy familiar to many beginning vibrato students, he used "knocking" with the back of the hand to demonstrate. He seems to favour a wide vibrato, but silky smooth. He showed the student an exercise to help with control of vibrato: divide a long bow into four beats, vibrate once for each beat; the next time, vibrate twice for each beat, then three times, then four... When vibrating on sharps, start just a little sharper than the designated note, he suggested to another student.

Movement:
A student who dipped and swayed while playing was scolded. "That's a Julliard thing. Something all the Julliard students seem to have started doing in the last 10 years or so. I hate it. Don't do it," Zukerman said. Swaying the violin was also out. All this movement was unnecessary and energy-wasting because the sound comes from the bow, not artificial movements, he said. One student was also advised that good posture is the key to overcoming nervousness. "Where do nerves come from? Adrenalin. We need to control that and use it for the performance," Zukerman said. Controlling the adrenalin was easier if the posture was correct and confident. Plant your feet, hold your violin up, look straight down the fingerboard...

Equipment:
He suggested a student, and others in general, discard a well-known brand of shoulder rest in favour of home-made padding moulded by the individual for comfort - foam or a folded cloth. The only commercial shoulder rest he thought was okay was the Play On Air, which could be adjusted individually. His argument against the well-known brand and others was that they don't place the instrument in the proper playing position on the shoulder and that the resulting angle of the instrument is incorrect when using such a rest. An audience member asked if he recommended the use of French bows (obviously thinking about expensive Tourtes, etc). Zukerman said he owned one French bow which he rarely used; his own preferred bows were from a contemporary bowmaker. Surprisingly, no one asked him about strings...

Suzuki method:
"These tiny kids watch and listen to other people playing, then pick up these pieces of wood and string and out comes ... [plays the opening bars of the Bach double]." This drew an appreciative laugh from the audience. But joking aside, while some leading performers are detractors of this popular teaching method, Zukerman is a Suzuki fan, believing it provides an excellent foundation to violin playing.

While Zukerman has some well-defined ideas on how certain things can be achieved, individual players of course must try different ideas in order to discover what works best for them. But his advice certainly held substance for the first student, who went backstage and practised what Zukerman showed her, then came back later to demonstrate what she'd accomplished using his ideas. In only about 20 minutes, there was a noticeable improvement in her bowing and the resulting sound quality. And the students in the audience were buzzing with enthusiasm after the class, keen to get home and try some of the tips for themselves.

A final note:
Masterclass students should expect the unexpected and have something extra from the standard repertoire prepared. While Zukerman was discussing technique with each of the four students, he "put them on the spot" by asking them to play from a piece other than the one they'd prepared for the class. For example, the first student was asked to play a bit of the Bach g minor solo sonata, another the slow movement of the Tchaikovsky concerto (Zukerman had noted from the student's bio that he'd played this with an orchestra two years ago). Of course, in the circumstances, they had to play these from memory without prior notice. The girl who was asked to play Bach didn't hesitate, but the student who'd been asked to play the Tchaikovsky had an uncomfortable minute before admitting he didn't trust his memory and asking if he could do the slow movement of the Sibelius concerto instead.
Contributed and written by © Lee Anthony

Violinist, violist and conductor Pinchas Zukerman was born in Tel Aviv in 1948. He began his musical studies with his father, first on recorder and clarinet and later on the violin. At 8, he entered the Israel Conservatory and Academy of Music, studying with Ilona Feher and in 1961, with support from cellist Pablo Casals, went to the United States to work with renowned pedagogue Ivan Galamian at the Julliard School. Zukerman won the prestigious Leventritt Foundation International Competition in 1967, which launched his stellar career as one of the world's finest violinists. He is also well-known as a chamber musician, performing on both violin and viola with colleages including Itzhak Perlman, Isaac Stern, Daniel Barenboim, Vladimir Ashkenazy, the Tokyo String Quartet and the late Jacqueline Du Pre. As a conductor, he has worked regularly with the St Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and the English Chamber Orchestra. In 1998, he was appointed as musical director of the National Arts Orchestra of Canada. Zukerman, who records exclusively for BMG Classics/RCA Victor, has an extensive discography which has earned him 21 Grammy nominations and two awards. Biography written by © Lee Anthony
Suggested Etiquette
1. Arrive on time - do not disrupt the proceedings by making a late entrance.
2. Usually a ticket is required or at least a sign-up. Master classes fill up quickly and may have a limited number of spaces. Arrange to attend early.
3. Do not expect to play unless you have been asked.
4. Before attending, find out who the violinist conducting the masterclass is and read about him/her. Listen to some of his/her recordings.
5. Find out ahead of time the music that will be used , if possible the edition, and become familiar with it. Take a copy of the music with you, and a pencil.
6. Take a notbook to take notes in, a taperecorder is nice, HOWEVER! you must ask permission to use it and they may be prohibited.
7. It is not a social period. It is a class. Sit where you can give your full attention to the teacher and student, not with your buddies so you can comment on happenings.
8. There is usually a question and answer period. Have your question written down either before the class or about something during the class. After the question is answered take written notes on the answer.
9. If you are one of those who has been chosen to play, have your solo MEMORIZED, but also do bring the music to write things on afterwards.
10. Remember different teachers interpret different music and technique differently. And that is a good thing ;o)

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