Hello from the woods.
For 5 days in late December, we performed music for a wood burning stove, a freezer of venison, and a Shetland Sheepdog named Oscar. We were in northern Michigan for a winter rehearsal retreat at the Reynolds’ family hunting cabin. While there, we discovered that we much prefer this setting to pretty much any other.
Our daily schedule looked something like - wake up; drink coffee; rehearse; eat lunch; rehearse; watch “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”; eat dinner; rehearse. There was no mail, no errands to run, and nothing else to pull our thoughts away from music (though we did the dishes and kept the place relatively neat). There was hardly even a reason to go outside, especially at 4 degrees.
You might be surprised how rarely an ensemble gets together in this fashion. Perception might be that ensembles like Akropolis spend gobs of in-person time together. Perhaps the image of a song-writing get-together on the floor of a tour van comes to mind. In actuality, very few classical ensembles can afford to do this. Akropolis spends a lot of time on Skype or Google Hangout, and we have a text message chain longer than we’re proud of.
Cherishing such uninterrupted time together, we set many goals for the winter retreat: polish off the music for our upcoming NYC showcase concert; introduce 4-5 new pieces into our repertoire; read through several new arrangements; record a few new videos; handle our end of the year taxes and close the books on our 2014 finances; engage in a spirited banter on the theme of our third album; and have a local brew or two.
One piece we're particularly excited about introducing is the transcription of Jacob TV’s "Jesus Is Coming," adapted for Reed Quintet. Along with TV’s piece, we refined our 2013 Calefax Composers Competition winner, John Leszczynski’s "Variations in the Reeds," and introduced Ryan Brown’s "Pinched" (written for the Kronos Quartet) into the equation. These three works will be featured in our 15/16 concert programs and will be highlights of our third CD to be recorded this coming May.
We had a great time working on several recent (and one veteran) Akropolis commissions, including Vladimir Tosic’s “Medial S,” David Heetderks’ “Pitchblende,” Jean-Christophe Rosaz’s “Sound-Traveler-Angels-Sound,” and more. We also tackled several arrangements and transcriptions: three Mahler songs which were arranged by Trevor Cramer, and Kapustin’s "Variations, Op. 41" arranged by fellow chamber musician Cornelia (Nellie) Sommer.
To avoid cabin fever, we did go outside occasionally. One afternoon, we headed to the nearby town of Alpena and recorded a video of Charles Ives’ “Variations on ‘America’” for an upcoming web premiere, and Debussy’s “Doctor Gradus Ad Parnassum” from his Children’s Corner Suite. Thanks to the generosity of the local library and some help from our top notch camera crew (Ryan’s dad), we are excited to release some new videos from the middle of nowhere as a reminder of our rehearsal retreat success.
Over the winter rehearsal retreat, the five of us each had some favorite moments:
Kari: Apart from the breathtaking wilderness, spending 5 interrupted days with my dog, and the basket of assorted Trader Joe’s coffee (courtesy of Tim), my favorite experience was a realization. Being together and playing constantly makes the music-making effortless. Each time you pick up your horn, you get better and better, tighter and tighter. It almost becomes second nature when it’s what you are doing for an entire day. Being in the woods and being alone wipes the slate clean. There are no distractions, only your instrument. I hope to recreate this every time I pick up my clarinet.
Tim: As much as I love waking up to the theme music of Where We Live on New Haven's NPR station, having a dog greet you with a loving snout is unbeatable. Oscar would jump on our beds every morning (accompanied by Matt, who did not jump on the beds) and wake us up to let us know that it was time to get up and help make breakfast...and also that rehearsal was in an hour. It was great wake up together with everyone in the same place day after day.
Matt: There’s a saying about how fire was man’s first television set, or something like that. I don’t have a TV, so I really appreciated that Ryan let me oversee the wood burning stove. I chose the best logs, started the fire, checked up on it regularly, and tried not to kill everyone with toxic fumes.
Andrew: My favorite parts of the retreat were Oscar’s snout and having spiritual revelations romping through the woods.
Ryan: It was nice to have everyone up in my neck of the woods (aka Up North). The last couple years, I've had fun taking everyone around Alpena and sharing some childhood memories with them - Thunder Bay Junior High, Take 5 Deli, the hunting camp’s many trails... Tim and I took a nighttime spin on my grandpa's new "Kubota" (yes he has a Kubota, pictured here), and driving along the back of the property through the massive red pine grove with a friend that was seeing it for the first time was special.
Stay tuned for more information about the upcoming Ives Web Premiere performance, and let us know your thoughts on how isolation can recharge and invigorate your practice as an individual or ensemble.