Paris SYLFF Chamber Music Exchange

View from the Parc de Buttes Chaumont

I just returned from Paris, France, where I participated in a chamber music exchange between Juilliard, the Conservatoire National Supérior de Musique, and the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Wien. The exchange is sponsored by the Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Fund and each year one of the three schools hosts its participants. It was my first time in Paris, so naturally I fell in love with the incredible beauty of the city and its amazing food!

Inside the Cathédrale Notre Dame

The Thinker, Musée Rodin

Musée d'Orsay

Inside the Louvre

A rainy evening stroll through the grounds of the Louvre with the other students
from Juilliard

With Katy, my friend and Colburn roommate, who came to visit me on my birthday
from Lyon, where she is completing her studies as a Fulbright recipient

Théâtre des Champs Elysées for a performance by the Vienna Philharmonic
(what a string sound!)

Tarte au Citron from one of the many neighborhood pâtisseries

Macarons from the legendary Pierre Hermé

Our concert poster

Le Grand Salon in Musée de l'Armée at Invalides, pre-performance

Invalides

View of the city center from our dressing room

I was incredibly fortunate to study and perform two beautiful works: Ravel Introduction and Allegro, as well as Jolivet Chant de Linos. I performed with students from Paris and Vienna, as well as our coach, cellist and CNSM faculty member Diana Ligeti. As a musician, we speak about the "French sound" and style, and for me it was extraordinary and something completely different to approach this after experiencing the architecture, artwork, food, and culture. It was also wonderful to get to know students of varying backgrounds, as well as get to know my fellow Juilliard students (stumbling over a foreign language together is quite the bonding experience!).

I'm very grateful for the dose of Parisian refreshment and inspiration upon returning to New York for my final semester as a Master of Music student (when did that happen?!). There are some exciting performances and experiences coming up, and I look forward to sharing them soon!

Until next time,
Francesca

Long Overdue Updates!

Well, I'm finally sick with the cold that's been threatening for a couple of months now. Which means, I have time to update! My apologies for the hiatus until now. The beginning of the semester was a frenzy of scheduling, e-mails, starting my teaching assistantship, and practicing like crazy. It was a big adjustment going from teaching 1 1/2 hours to 12 hours a week on top of my own practice, classes, and rehearsals! I'm absolutely in awe of how much I'm learning from this process and it's been a true joy to work with the students in Mr. Perlman's studio. 

Some highlights of the past two months include Perlman Music Program trips to Stanford, CA (a return to my Music@Meno stomping grounds!) and Stowe, VT, becoming my niece Juliette's godmother, baking multiple loaves of pumpkin chocolate chip bread, and experiencing Fall in New York (friends, it's a beautiful thing). I've also been spending a good deal of time ruminating on my future, both short and long term, something which has led to moments of giddy excitement, sheer panic, glimmers of faith, and joy.

With Radu at the PMP in Stanford reception in CA

Pumpkin chocolate chip loaf!

Pumpkin carving and general autumnal merriment

Gorgeous colors in Central Park

Snowy Stowe, VT

From the drive home after our concert in Burlington, VT

Next up on the concert prep list is the Juilliard Orchestra Shostakovich program with conductor Vladimir Jurowski, for which I will be sitting Concertmaster. In addition to the first symphony, we will be playing excerpts from Shostakovich's silent film score (who knew?!) New Bablyon, as well as his Hypothetically Murdered suite. Off to drink Emergen-C and read some ledger lines!

Until next time,

Francesca 

Music@Menlo

Greetings and my apologies for the lack of updates recently! My experience at Music@Menlo was absolutely incredible, but very time consuming. Immediately thereafter, I traveled to Saratoga Springs, New York to visit my boyfriend and my mother, who were there for music-related work. Since then, I have been busy getting settled in NYC and figuring out scheduling for the upcoming semester.

Masterclass with Wu Han
Photo courtesy of Music@Menlo

I wanted to write a post on Music@Menlo and my experiences there for awhile now! I'm not sure I can adequately sum up the sheer amount of inspiration and knowledge acquired during my time there. The schedule was very intense, usually running nonstop from 8am-12am or later. Our days were filled with coachings, rehearsals, informal lectures and discussions, formal lectures, masterclasses, and attending the performances of the Young Performers program, our fellow colleagues in the International program, and the senior artists of the festival (the quality of which was outstanding), as well as going to the parties and donor events hosted afterwards.

Coaching on Dvorak American with Jorja Fleezanis
Photo courtesy of Music@Menlo

While I was there, I gave two performances each of Dvorak Piano Quintet in A major, Beethoven "Ghost" Piano Trio, Dohnanyi Piano Quintet no. 2, Dvorak American Quartet, and Mendelssohn Piano Trio no. 2 in C minor. We had anywhere from 2-5 days to put together these works, receiving numerous coachings from many different artists (I think we saw 7 different people for the Dvorak Piano Quintet prior to our performances!).

Performance of Beethoven "Ghost" Piano Trio
Photo courtesy of Music@Menlo

In addition to all things musical, we also had lots of development related sessions, including time with the marketing, events, and public relations staff. We even were lucky enough to work with the photography interns to receive new head shots!

Photo credit: Diana Lake

I will always be grateful for my experience at Music@Menlo. I learned so much about myself, what it means to sit down and interpret a work, and how to deal with such a busy schedule and still be the best version of myself as a musician and as a person. To hear more about my experience, check out the video Music@Menlo "To Be an IP", put together by the talented videographers at Music@Menlo.

Until next time,
Francesca

PMP and Vacation in Romania

Hello there! My apologies for the month-long hiatus. The first two and a half weeks of June was spent at the Perlman Music Program Chamber Music Workshop, marking my third summer of attendance. My experience there was amazing as always...sight-reading with friends and faculty, performing with Mr. P, sitting on the dock watching the sunset, bonfires on the beach, and hours of rehearsal spent with incredible people.

View of the campus from the Lauder Fiddle House

Sight reading with Mr. P

View of the sunset with the moon

PMP was extra special for me this summer, because my boyfriend Radu also attended! He went to the Littles program in high school and this was his first summer back. If it weren't for PMP, he would not have attended Colburn and we would not have met. After the workshop ended, the two of us went to visit his family in Romania. I have visited the country twice before and this time was even better. We spent the first day or so exploring Bucharest before traveling to Radu's home town, Drobeta Turnu Severin. I loved seeing the architecture and colors of the houses and buildings, as well as experiencing the food!

with Radu and my mother in front of the Danube 

view of Drobeta Turnu Severin from the water castle tower

view of Drobeta Turnu Severin from the water castle tower

view of the Danube

Tismana Monastery! Romania is famous for its monasteries, and this
small one in the mountains was gorgeous

Now I'm back in the states and, after a few days of frustrated phone calls to locate my suitcase from its Parisian vacation (read: it was left in Paris during my layover between flights), I'm ready to kick into high gear preparing for Music@Menlo! See their recent announcement of the International Program participants here.

Until next time,
Francesca

Juilliard Global in São Paulo

I spent the last ten days participating in the Juilliard Global and Santa Marcelina Cultura residency of teaching, coaching, and performing in São Paulo, Brazil. Santa Marcelina Cultura is the government-funded program which runs GURI and EMESP, which provide group lessons and orchestra for over 50,000 kids in Brazil. In addition to performing concerts and interactive performances, we also played in orchestra rehearsals, ran orchestra sectionals, and taught solo masterclasses. I always find any kind of educational performance and engagement incredibly rewarding, but being apart of something this special in a completely different country was amazing. The kids were all so enthusiastic, respectful, and very dedicated.

View from the hotel room: concrete and lush greens

Hanging meats at Sancho Tapas in Rua Augusta

Rehearsal! Note our creative hotel room set-up

Hanging lanterns, graffiti, and foliage at Exquisito 

On our way to perform at a CEU, the community centers

Up front and personal with the Queen of Samba at Ó do Borogodó

Rehearsal space for the GURI Orchestra

With Kimayr, who heard me perform the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra, 6 years ago in São Paolo! 

Collage of photos from our Interactive Performances at the CEU community centers. Photo credit: Claire Bryant

News coverage of the residency

Aside from the enriching musical experience, I also had a fantastic time in São Paolo learning how to speak broken Portugeuse, eating cheese and bread at practically every meal (!), dancing to choros, drinking caipirinhas, and meeting wonderful people. Next, I'm off to Shelter Island for the Perlman Music Program Chamber Music Workshop. Please check my website events page soon for more information on concerts (I am performing with Mr. P this summer!).

Until next time,

Francesca

Exciting News!

This has been an incredibly exciting week for me. I've had the great pleasure of working with renowned pianist Robert Levin this week for our Colburn Chamber Music Society performance of Haydn Piano Trio in C Major HOB 27, 3:00PM this Sunday February 19 at The Colburn School. Additionally, it was announced that my performance of Dvorak Violin Concerto will be broadcasted on the Los Angeles TV station KCET March 1 at 9:00PM! For  the official press release, click here.

Last but certainly not least, I have passed the DVD pre-selection round and am a quarter-finalist for the 2012 Queen Elisabeth Violin Competition! The competition will take place April 30-May 29 in Brussels. For more information on the competition, visit the official website.

Until next time,
Francesca