top of page
Writer's pictureChloë Dickens

November Update 🍁

Not long after Coren left for home, Mum and Dad arrived! We got up to so many lovely things, so it's high time for a blog post!


Before I begin with all the family antics, I do want to document that I got to go and see Wise Children open their US tour of 'Wuthering Heights'.🎭 I saw the show about this time a year ago at Bristol Old Vic, so I knew the treat I was in for. I brought my housemate Sara along, and I'm so glad I did! She loved it, and I got to introduce her to the lovely Ian Ross and some of the cast (they're an absolute riot). I had an extra proud mum moment, as my best friend Mary worked on this show as a trainee composer, and her name was in the programme! 🥹



This is Sara and me enjoying the amazing views from Dumbo that night 😍


And me enjoying some scran at the press night after-party 🤭



That week I had an amazing lecture on Tuning and Temperaments. I've had a fair few in my time, but none that went into this detail. (It was three hours long 😬). It was more maths than I've had to do in.......longer than I'd like to admit.😉 But it was genuinely fascinating! Thinking about the concept that all over the world, 🌏we all agree that if you start at one note, and then go up or down a certain distance, you reach the same note (the concept of an octave in Western terms). That's amazing! We didn't hold a global meeting one day to decide this, it just is. Whether you do it by feel, or you work out the maths.🤓 I like to be reminded of this perspective of music sometimes. We're just making the air wiggle, 〰️and the vibrations have the power to make humans feel joy, or nostalgia, or anguish. It really can be a science if you need to think of it that way, and it's why music can be the basis on which to build a civilization. 🎶


(yes that's a hershey's kiss on a music stand....)

Now! The arrival of my parents, hurray! The first thing we did was go to Brooklyn Botanical Gardens 🌷





The next day was my first trip to Carnegie Hall! 🎟It was a free concert - The Senior Concert Orchestra of New York. They're an orchestra of volunteers, and many of the players have come through the major professional orchestras of New York.🗽 What a stunningly beautiful hall the Stern Auditorium is. Just gorgeous. It's no surprise that a mere three days later, we already back at that wonderful hall. This time to see Gustavo Dudamel 😱with the LA Philharmonic! Wow. What a programme. We heard two NY premieres! A piece by Gabriela Ortiz - 'Kauyumari', and Fandango for Violin and Orchestra by Arturo Márquez. And the soloist? None other than Anne Akiko-Meyers. 🤩A hero of mine since I watched her rendition of Arvo Pärt's Fratres on Youtube, for the Phillips Collection in 2017. Mum and I were especially moved by seeing the composers come up on stage to recieve applause after their performances🥹. The second half was Aaron Copland's Symphony No. 3. Not bad ey?

Then it was my turn! My parents got to come and see me perform as assistant concertmaster with the Queens College orchestra.🎻 What a treat for me! We started with Roman Carnaval Overture by Berlioz. After that we nipped offstage for a scene change, as the next piece (Suite No. 1 for small orchestra by Stravinsky) was to be performed standing up, without a conductor and from memory.😵‍💫During the break, I handed my violin and bow to a friend so that I could rid myself of my violin mute (when not being used it buzzes, so wherever I can get rid of it, I do). Then I came back, retrieved my violin and bow, and we proceeded to perform the Stravinsky. I had the strangest feeling in my bow hand.🤔 There was this acute awareness of the feeling of the grip against my finger. During the performance I adjusted my hand again and again, and nothing seemed to help. 'Must be some sort of new performance nerve' I thought to myself, and this strange awareness in my forefinger lingered for the whole performance. The second half of the concert was Beethoven Symphony No. 4. And STILL my bow hand was wreaking havoc. But there's nothing that can be done, you have to let the music take you, and only stop to analyze after the fact. I still really enjoyed myself, and I was so pleased my parents could come. 🥳


It wasn't until the next day, that my friend gave me a call and told me 'I have your bow! And you have mine!'. That explains it!! 😮We laughed for ages at how we'd both just gotten on with it, assuming it was ourselves, how could it possibly be anything else? And exchanged bows again. 😂


That weekend, we went to Coney island! It was beautifully sunny, and mum and I took a trip up the Ferris Wheel. Don't tell anyone but it was actually really scary 🤫. That night we went to Queens Night Market and it was AMAZING. We had Columbian food, Tibetan food, Portuguese food, and Indonesian! That was the last one of the Summer, so I'll have to wait till next year for more deliciousness! 😋





As mum and dad's visit was coming to a close, they asked me what I'd like to make for dinner. Of course, I had to say a Roast! It's my favourite food! 🍽So we cooked up a proper British storm, and ate in the traditional fashion - swapping endless stories and spilling gravy down our shirts. 🥰




On the last morning, we made brunch and ate it on our balcony - something I'm very grateful to have on days like that☀️. Then I took my parents to the airport and waved goodbye🛫. Back to the grind!


That night, Sara and I went to see the Musicians from Marlboro🎟 perform in the Weill Recital Hall - another stunningly beautiful hall. The quality of chamber music that I witnessed that night was outstanding🤩. I was truly blown away, and performances like this, the ones I've already described, and the ones I'm about to, have really proved to me that living in New York is really an invaluable experience for a musician. Essentially I'm very glad that I'm here.


That weekend I met an old friend of mine, one I hadn't seen for over a decade! We were friends at school and neighbours too, when I lived in Virginia Beach, Virginia as a ten year old🇺🇸. We got Japanese food, then went to see an Electronic/Folk gig, followed by a trip to Ornithology in Brooklyn🎷! Without doubt the coolest room I've stepped foot in so far. It made me want to be able to play in a jam so badly! One day...Anyways this is me and Sean 😊


The next day I had my first shift as an usher🎭, and I loved it! I got to see a production celebrating Día de Muertos, and even got to dust off some very rusty Spanish to help some of the audience members. Sara is going to test me so I can do a proper job if the opportunity should arise again 🇪🇸


In the week I went to see a big hero of mine perform a duo set at Smalls. His name is Zach Brock, and he is the violinist 🎻for Snarky Puppy. I discovered his ways listening to him speak on a podcast by Tracey Silverman, and I've been interested in his approach to music ever since. The gig was awesome, and hopefully, if all goes to plan, I'm going to get some lessons with him 🤩



Thee following weekend I did my next few shifts for KCA (Kupferberg Center for the Arts). This time as a backstage hand! I had the best time. The show was a live music and dance💃 performance of five original songs commissioned by composers/musicians. Three of the songs were inspired by the life, speeches, and writings of civil rights activist James Forman (1928-2005), whose personal archives are housed at the Queens College Rosenthal Library; and two were about social justice issues in America today. This original work was the culmination of the first-ever 'Kupferberg Arts Incubator' initiative, an artist residency program launched in 2020. The director of KCA told me this week was the first time the artists all got together in one room, and you could feel it. There was electricity in the air. ✨



The next week I had the most amazing lesson ever, and things on the violin front are going better than I could have imagined🎻! On the weekend I met up with Madeline again. She took me to the Cathedral of St John the Divine, an amazing Hungarian bakery🍰 and we walked through Columbia University. Madeline knows so much about the city, and I always have the loveliest time with her. 😊





That evening I went to see a concert of music🎟 by Eric Chernov at the Juilliard School. He is a professor at Aaron Copland, and now a great friend of mine. The concert was dedicated to his mother, who passed away on that date some years ago. I was hugely inspired by the concert, particularly as his dad was there too. Eric's compositions had people quietened, curious and even laughing out loud😄. That is a great power.


The next day I went to see Daniel Phillips' quartet the Orion Quartet at Lincoln Center🎟. I love the sentiment behind their name. It is as follows "The Orio String Quartet was established in 1987 and takes its name from the Orion constellation as a metaphor for the personality each musician brings to the group in its collective pursuit of the highest musical ideals"🌟. This concert was another first for me, my first trip to a Lincoln Center Hall. They performed in the Alice Tully Hall, and it was truly, truly exceptional. I'm going to have to re-iterate here how lucky I feel 😍to get to witness such excellence in music making, every week. Even every day there is something to see, that will certainly inspire and influence my next practice session. 😊



Yesterday I got locked out of my apartment😖....So I had to go to downtown manhattan to pick up Sara's keys, to then go home and get my keys, to then be able to get my violin from my locker! (That evening I was performing in Baroque class, so it was a necessary trip). And what's the point of travelling all that way without stopping to smell the flowers right?🤭



My plant collection is growing (pun intended) 🪴. I now have a Prayer Plant from mum and dad, and a Begonia kindly gifted to me by a student at college.



I've successfully performed twice in String Rep class🎻, which fills all necessary requirements for this semester! I sort of accidentally filled my requirements in Baroque class by happily playing as a part of other people's presentations, and I have my final presentation for that next week! The only other things left this semester are the Chamber final on Dec 6th, and Orchestra concert on the 7th! Lots to look forward to. 🎶


This is me performing the second movement of Sibelius violin concerto. I'm quite proud of this as my first go, next stop, third movement! 💪








38 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page