Journalists worldwide have been swept off their feet by a flurry of idioms bursting upon the scene. Unwilling to tackle the problem like a rugby player or box of fishing equipment, they have instead long-grassed it, much like the process of photosynthesis that leads inexorably to the growth of grass. As a result of their cloudy-sky thinking and light-switch-behind-the-bed methodology, they have effectively kicked this cup-of-tea problem for six, opening a Pandora’s box of speech figurines.
Police everywhere are asking the public to stay calm. “We’ve blue-skied this as an actionable problem event, and hope to resume going forward as soon as we can. Whatever you do, don’t dimension this, not even a little bit.” Ripping Babushkin, famous music critic and concert promoter, was disturbed by the outbreak. “It is all we can do to keep these horrible expressions contained. Where are the bums on seats? What is a new audience, exactly? How do you curate a creativity hub to dialogue with communities? These are the sorts of things I interrogate, like a detective.”
John Man, journalist and cleaner of think-tanks, has been collaborating inwardly on solving the problem. “This is the iconic problem of our age,” he said, “and I mean ‘iconic’ in the sense of a small Russian painting of religious significance unadorned with the illusion of three-dimensional perspective but rather infused with the direct embodiment of the Light of Tabor. We must deliver a vision, or something.”
Now that these phrases are running amok, we can expect to see a lot more men in tweed jackets strolling across fields intoning the word “flourished” while discussing some shit like poetry in the middle ages or Flemish steel-craft. “It’s a diarisable phenomenon for the collective for sure,” said Sally McNally, as she drank her latest edition of totemic, artisanal coffee. “Things like this give us many learnings.”
Police are urging people to approach the idioms cautiously, if it all. “There are just so many dangerous pleonasms out there,” said Sergeant McGruff. “We urge people not to be caught where the hand of man shouldn’t set feet with its mouth.”
Who or what inspired you to take up the violin, and pursue a career in music?
I have liked the sound of the violin as long as I can remember. Also, my parents are both musicians but neither play the violin, so by choosing this instrument they couldn’t tell me what to do…
Who or what were the most important influences on your musical life and career?
My parents, who have both had a life in music and made me believe that it is possible to have a life in music; my teacher at Juilliard, Sylvia Rosenberg, who has been a great influence in shaping how I think of music; and pianist Joseph Seiger, who encouraged me to always find more colors in music.
What have been the greatest challenges of your career so far?
Just playing the violin… I find it very challenging. Also I find that combining physical relaxation with musical tension while playing is a constant challenge.
Which performance/recordings are you most proud of?
I really try to avoid listening to recordings of myself (except ones I make for myself in the practice room), so I don’t know… So far I’ve only released one commercial album, my debut CD Portrait, (released August 2014 in Europe and February 2015 in the US).
Which particular works do you think you perform best?
There seems to be a gap between what I think I play well and what other people think… I think I play Brahms well, but others think Schubert fits me very well.
How do you make your repertoire choices from season to season?
I’m always trying to find a balance between new works that I want to learn, keeping enough works that I already know in my repertoire so that I don’t overbook myself, and putting together what I think are interesting programs. Also, it is important for me to include new works in my programs, and lesser known works, especially from the 20th century, which I think deserve to be heard.
Do you have a favourite concert venue to perform in and why?
I absolutely love Suntory Hall in Tokyo and the Seoul Arts Center, because of their acoustics. I feel that these halls add new colors to my sound, which are not possible to find in a practice room. The auditorium at the Israeli Conservatory of Music is very special for me though, because I grew up in that institution, and so is the Israel Philharmonic Hall in Tel-Aviv, because as I child I dreamed of performing there.
Favourite pieces to perform? Listen to?
There are some pieces that I just feel privileged to play. Ones that pop into my mind at this moment are Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, Mozart’s 5th Concerto, Prokofiev’s 1st Concerto and Cesar Frank’s Sonata. I usually prefer not to listen to violin music, so I listen mostly to piano music and sometimes orchestral music. Late piano pieces by Brahms are a particular favorite.
Who are your favourite musicians?
Has to be composers – Schubert, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Ravel, Ligeti and many others…
What is your most memorable concert experience?
Hearing Ravel’s Sonatine for the first time, at a student’s concert at the conservatory in Tel-Aviv. The beauty of this music brought tears to my eyes instantly.
What do you consider to be the most important ideas and concepts to impart to aspiring musicians?
Playing an instrument and making music is not easy, and I don’t know anyone who doesn’t encounter hardships on the way. One has to work hard in order to improve, and I somehow find that understanding that the process isn’t supposed to be easy, and that everyone is going through difficulties, is quite comforting. Also, on stage always try to make music, no matter how nervous you are. The audience is there to enjoy and to feel, and if one plays in order not to miss a note, it doesn’t mean much to the listeners, and one tends to miss more, in my experience…
Born in Tel-Aviv in 1985 to a family of musicians, Itamar Zorman began his violin studies at the age of six with Saly Bockel at the Israeli Conservatory of Music in Tel-Aviv. He graduated in 2003 and continued his studies with Professor David Chen and Nava Milo. He received his Bachelor of Music from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance as a student of Hagai Shaham. He received his Master’s of Music from The Juilliard School in 2009, where he studied with Robert Mann and Sylvia Rosenberg, and received an Artist Diploma from Manhattan School of Music in 2010, and an Artist Diploma from Julliard in 2012, studying with Ms. Rosenberg. Itamar Zorman is currently a student of Christian Tetzlaff at The Kronberg Academy.
A big screen adaptation of writer Alan Bennett’s celebrated memoir, directed by long-standing Bennett collaborator Nicholas Hytner.
The film tells the true story of the relationship between Alan Bennett and the singular Miss Shepherd, a woman of uncertain origins who ‘temporarily’ parked her van in Bennett’s London driveway and proceeded to live there for 15 years. Their unique story is funny, poignant and life-affirming. What begins as a begrudged favor becomes a relationship that will change both their lives. Bennett’s play has echoes of the story of Anne Naysmith, former concert pianist, who lived in a car in Chiswick after falling on hard times and being evicted from her home.
British pianist Clare Hammond will appear as the younger version of Dame Maggie Smith’s character, Miss Shepherd. Clare performs in a number of flashback scenes recreating a Proms concert in the 1930s, and enacts Miss Shepherd’s experiences as a novice nun some years later.
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Clare’s recording of excerpts from Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1, with the BBC Concert Orchestra, is featured throughout the film. The slow movement of Chopin’s concerto and Clare’s performance of Schubert’s Impromptu in G flat major are included on the soundtrack alongside music specially composed for the film by George Fenton, due for release by Sony on the 6 November 2015.
Filmed on the street and in the house where Alan Bennett and Miss Shepherd lived all those years, acclaimed director Nicholas Hytner reunites with Bennett (‘The Madness of King George’, ‘The History Boys’) to bring this touching, poignant, and life-affirming story to the screen. The film is due for release in the UK on 13 November 2015.
Overthinking a piece of music can kill it – just as overpractising can. We’ve all done it – and we all continue to do it: thinking too much about the details – articulation, dynamics, voicing, pedaling. Often ‘overthink’ occurs when a piece is known well, but we don’t feel confident enough to let the music take flight or to simply allow the music to “be”. It can also create problems which aren’t really there.
Overthink is driven by the logical, self-critical left side of the brain: the hemisphere which is on the look out for errors, hyper-sensitive to any slips, however small, and always ready to send in the committee of corrections to tick us off for our mistakes. Our mind, specifically the left side of the brain, is the biggest obstacle to reaching peak performance – whether at the piano or on the tennis court. Overthinking will result in a boring, lifeless sound and, potentially, a performance riven with errors – because our left brain thinking has set us up for them in advance. The Inner Critic works for the left brain and can do a great deal of damage to our music and our self-esteem and emotional health as musicians. Unfortunately, western societal mores encourage far too much left brain thinking. From the moment a child goes to school (this is true in the UK, at least), they are encouraged to get things “right” (and be rewarded with stickers, or other signs of approval from the teacher). Mistakes are regarded as “bad” and to be discouraged. I come across this mindset time and time again with my students, who want their pieces to be note perfect. I encourage them to put aside thoughts of “perfection” and to instead strive for expression, musical colour and vibrancy in their playing, but such results are hard won and take a lot of encouragement and positive affirmation on my part.
Over the summer I had encounters with two inspiring teachers who highlighted the need to allow right brain thinking to take charge, to allow one to see the bigger picture of the music, as a whole, and to free oneself from negative self-talk and criticism. In one group lesson I found myself, before I’d even played the piece, justifying why I was going to employ a certain range of dynamics, what my intentions were for the opening phrase and a whole host of other reasons why. Instead, the teacher said, “just allow the music to be. Play with conviction and self-belief and your ideas will come through”. The resulting round of applause from the other members of the masterclass proved her point. In standing back from the details, I had allowed the true character of the music, and my response to and belief in it, to speak, and the resulting sound was convincing, vibrant and, most importantly, natural.
When we have been working on a piece or pieces for a long period of time, it can be hard to see the wood for the trees, as we become obsessed with making sure all the details of the score are correctly observed. Of course we must do this detailed work and it is important that we do it in an intelligent and methodical way as this ensures a tiny margin of error in performance and enables us to play with a confidence founded on the knowledge that “I know my pieces” (Horowitz). But if you are always thinking deeply when you are playing, you may find yourself suffering from “paralysis by analysis” (a term often used by athletes who fail to meet their potential ahead of a big game or race because of overthinking). If we have overloaded ourselves with detailed information about our music, and have drained ourselves mentally and physically by doing so, we have no resources left for the performance. Music which, in performance, is still undergoing “overthink” can sound lifeless, lacking in excitement and too safe or polite.
The best performances often come “in the moment”, where right brain thinking is allowed to take over. It banishes the inner critic and the continuous commentary of the left brain (“you missed that chord”, “you smeared that scale”), and frees us to be spontaneous, imaginative and creative as we play. Unfortunately, this is not something which happens automatically and is in fact the result of many hours spent meticulously practising and refining the music. Armed with good and proper preparation, one can walk onto the stage and know that a spontaneous “in the moment” performance is possible. In this instance, the final moments before the first notes are sounded can become the most important of the entire performance.
Psychologists and performance coaches talk about “centering”, the act of entering a state where the mind is focused yet relaxed. Observe a top tennis pro such as Roger Federer preparing to serve and notice how he allows himself time to prepare, rather than rushing into his serve. In the moments before we perform, whether in public or at home for friends, family or just the pets, take time to centre yourself. I call this “thinking myself into the music” and this process begins before I arrive at the piano. I imagine myself walking across the stage, sitting down at the piano and preparing to play. At the piano, I hear the opening phrase in my head, imagine the kind of sound I want to create, visualise my fingers moving across the keys. I also try to put myself in a “safe zone”, in my imagination at least, by pretending I am playing at home, on my beautiful Bechstein grand, to my family, or to myself. Or I recall a good public performance and try to take myself back to there, to recreate the emotions, and the sounds.
I have of course experienced left brain interference during a performance, the inner voice interrupting the flow of the music with comments such as “you always play that chord incorrectly and you’re going to do it again now”. But with good preparation during practising I have learnt to banish this voice, usually by using deep breathing techniques. Employing habits learned from mindfulness, allowing myself to perform “in the moment” and banishing damaging post-concert analysis all help to create a performance which is, I hope, convincing, committed, expressive and exciting.
The Bulletproof Musician – a wealth of articles on performance anxiety and how to perform at your best on stage
Charlotte Tomlinson – performance coaching for musicians and creator of Beyond Stage Fright, a series of interviews with well-known musicians on dealing with performance anxiety
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