Visit from Maestro Alexander Shelley

by | Mar 26, 2017 | Teacher's Corner

Teacher’s Corner:  by Nan Laurenzio

On Monday, March 20, Ottawa Suzuki Strings had the distinct pleasure of hosting the music director of the National Arts Centre, Maestro Alexander Shelley. Maestro Shelley carved time out of his extremely busy schedule to come to OSS and meet the children in our school, from the beginning Book 1 students to our advanced performance groups. It was quite special to see Maestro Shelley work his magic.

I had the privilege of watching Maestro Shelley as he led some very engaging discussions with the Rhythmic Reading students, singing with them to help them understand how vital phrasing is. He spoke about the role of the conductor and how a conductor’s role is like being the driver of a race car as well as the mechanic who has to fine tune and tweak the engine to get it to go where he wants it to go. He explained how a conductor can help the orchestra create something unique and beautiful by studying and understanding what the composer intended for the music. Maestro Shelley met with our guitar students and with a violin group class and the Fine Tuners before joining Stellae Boreales on stage with more of his dynamic conducting.

The National Arts Centre and, in fact Ottawa, is very fortunate to have someone like Alexander Shelley at the helm who is inspired to make music accessible and is interested in youth being engaged in music. 2017 will be an awesome time to introduce your children to one of the upcoming NAC concerts. You will see concerts built around themes, and visuals complementing music, there will be opportunities to hear modern Canadian composers and beloved classical composers as well as combinations of all genres of music.

I have included a link to an excellent Ottawa Citizen article that includes not only an interesting biography of Alexander Shelley but also a great explanation, with video clips, of his task of conducting (Conducting 101) and a little about his philosophy of music and his vision for music in Ottawa.

https://www.google.ca/amp/ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/local-arts/measure-of-the-modern-maestro/

Northlands School and a Visit to the Canadian Ambassador of Argentina

by | Mar 15, 2017 | Uncategorized

We woke up today realizing half of our trip had already passed. The Stellae gang woke up and had the usual breakfast at the hotel. After breakfast we went to Northlands School for our second performance of the trip. When we arrived, we were surprised to see hundreds of little students, squirming through the auditorium into their seats. Since the auditorium was stuffed to the teeth, we were all very hot. With sweat streaming down our arms and legs, our hands were extremely sweaty. They were so sweaty that when we tried to shift to second position, our hands resulted in slipping to 8th position. Despite the odds, we managed to pull it off, and the crowd of primary and senior students thoroughly enjoyed it. Northlands School then kindly had us for lunch. Many Stellae members enjoyed pasta, chicken, and rice. During lunch some Argentinian chicos asked us to do a quick interview on the northwest passage in Canada. Joel volunteered to do the interview partially because he was the only one who knew the answers to their questions.

After lunch at the first school, we bussed to the second location of the Northlands School. We enjoyed playing cards and socializing on the bus. We were then guided to our warm up room to prepare for our second concert of the day. Before we played we got the opportunity to hear Northlands School orchestra play a few songs. It was really interesting for us to hear another ensemble from the other half of the world. Then it was our turn to play. The concert was a success! The crowd was very supportive and enthusiastic. After the concert there was a brief Q and A. The students were able to ask us questions about us and the violin. Some of the questions were: “when did you start learning the violin” “how do you feel when you play the violin” and “how long do you practise a day”. The questions allowed us to further understand ourselves as a violin player.

After the concert we headed by bus to the Canadian Ambassador to Argentina’s house. On the bus ride, many Stellae members sang a Capella style to our Stella repertoire. I could say we harmonized nicely, and it was a fun time. The bus ride also included a game of president and the braiding of Devon, Sofi, and Jezlyn’s hair. We finally arrived at the house, and we discovered it was incredibly beautiful. The inside was decorated with elegant furniture, but the backyard stole the show. It was equipped with a swimming pool, a trampoline, a soccer field, and badminton and volleyball nets. Truly a kid’s paradise. Stellae enjoyed using these activities, eating a delicious meal, and mingling with the ambassador and his family. Sadly it was time to go back to our hotel. When we got back to the hotel we all played some cards against humanity which was a hoot to say the least. Then we all went to bed, thinking about the great day we had.

A.I.