In the blog of last week, called “More recordings”, I tried to put the links to several recordings of the Valerius Student Orchestra. I used the links from the YouTube playlist, copy/pasting them, and during the writing of the blog post I got the right links (they had different names and when I clicked them, I got the right YouTube video). But when I’m visiting my blog, there is only one link posted +- ten times. When I click “edit blog post”, I see the different links to the right videos again… Who could help me to solve this?

Many thanks! 🙂

… but still upside down…

…

A list of all the available recordings, at home, on YouTube etcetera. For the reference recordings (not the same as the ones listed below): see the blog of last week.

– Valerius Student Orchestra performing pop songs (bad quality):

– Valerius Student Orchestra, January 2010: Tchaikovsky Symphony 1 and more

– Valerius Student Orchestra, October 2010:

– Valerius Student Orchestra, 28 May 2010: Die Moldau by Smetana, Songs of Travel by Vaughain Williams, Dvorak Symphony 8

– Valerius Student Orchestra, 23 January 2011, Jubilee Concert: Ouverture Nabucco by Verdi, Violin Concerto by Tchaikovsky (soloist: yours truly), Mahler Symphony 1

– Valerius Student Orchestra, 17 December 2011:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xz-cAMw5X9I&list=PLoFRTMvq6l4WnSW4HEcfPX9cL1ApbdNRo&index=4

– Valerius Student Orchestra, 11 May 2012: Boléro by Ravel, Tzigane by Ravel (soloist: yours truly), Sylvia by Delibes, Pelleas et Melisande by Fauré

– Valerius Student Orchestra performs at the Haags Uitfestival, Dr. Anton Philipszaal, 2 September 2012: Tzigane by Ravel (soloist: yours truly), second movement of Sheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov

– Valerius Student Orchestra, 9 February 2013: The Enchanted Lake by Liadov, Aladdin Suite by Nielsen, Sheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov (yours truly again)

This is a list of optional steps I’d like to take to get started with my research.

– Interviewing people from my network. Names:

* Igor Gruppman, concertmaster of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra

* Charlotte Potgieter, principal of the second violins of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra

* Cécile Huijnen, concertmaster of Het Gelders Orkest

* Tjeerd Top and/or Liviu Prunaru, concertmasters of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

* members from the Valerius Student Orchestra: how do they feel when I’m leading?

* conductor of the Valerius Student Orchestra and North Sea Symphony Orchestra (led by the same conductor): do I lead the orchestra in a good way? What does he like in my leadership and what can be improved?

* Hayato Ishibashi, second year Master student who does a research about concertmaster

* Ian …, second year Master student who does a research about concertmaster

* It might be interesting to speak with a conducting/leading concertmaster: his/her leadership might ask for a different approach!

– Analysing old videos (or recordings) from concerts of the Valerius Student Orchestra and North Sea Symphony Orchestra, where I’m concertmaster. See the blog of last week for the recordings I’ve got at home and for the YouTube link of our last concert, which was broadcasted on television both in The Netherlands and abroad.

– Watch recordings from other orchestras and take a note of the leadership of the concertmaster.

– Do exercises with my orchestra and try several ways of leading to find out what is clear and what isn’t and to see the reaction of the members.

Here are some recordings of the most recent concert of Valerius, The Hague’s Student Orchestra. The concert took place at the 28th of September, at the Lucent Danstheater in The Hague under the baton of (replacement) conductor Joost Geevers, and was in collaboration with Avishkar, a group of Hindustanian musicians under the baton of Ronny Bhikharie. The repertoire, Indian Bollywood songs, is not usual for the orchestra (normally we’re performing classical music), but it’s the most recent recording of myself working as a concertmaster (I’ve got other recordings as well). The concert was broadcasted on NPO 2 and on television in Suriname, the Fiji Isles and the USA.

http://www.npo.nl/ohm-magazine/25-10-2014/POW_00913665?start_at=1141 (starting from 19:00)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=folZa9vnmXA&feature=youtu.be (me playing the Indian violin solo at the beginning)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTTeFs-SsQE

Just a few random thoughts that popped up in my mind last week.

–  An important aspect of being a leader is the attitude towards the group: a good attitude can build a team, but a negative one can destroy a group. Recently I took part in a sectional rehearsal in which everybody was asked to play alone in front of the whole group – not being (mentally) prepared for this. In my opinion this is definitely a very bad idea. Many people will be able to do this, but some people will feel overtaken and won’t play as well as they’re capable off. In the worst case this creates gossip.

– An interesting video of Igor Gruppman, concertmaster of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, about being a leader: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3J5JyBDKGo

(Note that he’s speaking about the psychological aspect of leadership as well!)

– Cécile Huijnen, the concertmaster of Het Gelders Orkest, offered me a lesson. I could ask her some questions for my research!

– As far as I know, a tutti player needs to play like a “mannequin”: (s)he doesn’t give any personal imput to his/her playing. But being a leader means you have to add a certain glance/glow to the group, says Charlotte Potgieter (principal of the second violins at the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra).

– A book that could be of interest to me and that was recommended by a fellow student, Jacobus: Leadership – the Power of Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Coleman.

– And last but not least, a temporary research question might be:

Being a concertmaster consists of many aspects. How can I help myself improving two of these, namely the psychological/mental part of leadership and playing concertmastersolos (in musical and mental sense)?

What does it take to be a leader? Being a concertmaster involves several concepts, which are discussed below. It could be interesting to think about the aspects of leadership in general, or to try to find out if there is a difference between being a concertmaster and, for example, being the leader of the second violins.

Several concepts:

1) Psychology, the mental aspect. Does a concertmaster need to prepare him/herself mentally? Is it different from being a tutti player, and if yes, in what sense? Could things like Alexander Technique be of help?

2) Playing solos. How to play them: as an orchestra member or as a soloist? How can a concertmaster express him/herself? How to deal with the mental part involved, meaning switching between tutti playing and solo playing within a very short amount of time?

3) How to create a group? This consists of several aspects as well: the musical aspect – how can a group of 12 violinists sound as “one”? The leader might need to work on sound. Secondly, creating a group also means creating a group sense, a group feeling. What does a concertmaster need to do and what is absolutely not done? Interesting things might come up here, since the personalities of both concertmaster and group members can be quite decisive.

4) How to prepare from a musical point of view? Does the concertmaster need to be able to help his/her collegues? If yes, how? And is that socially acceptable/accepted?

5) How to prepare physically? Does a concertmaster need to train him/herself on this? Are there exercises or possibilities to improve the physical part of leadership?

6) How to create good bowings? Why is it that bowings sometimes work individually but that they don’t make sense in a group?

7) How can a concertmaster form the connection between a conductor and the orchestra?

8) Does a concertmaster get involved in the organisation of an orchestra? Does he need to?

9) Does the concertmaster of an amateur orchestra need to behave differently in comparison to the concertmaster of a professional orchestra? Does the amateur orchestra need a teacher (i.e. the concertmaster)? Are there differences in what to expect from these two types of concertmasters?

10) How to deal with stress, pressure, expectations, studying more scores at once?

11) How to lead a good group rehearsal?

It might be interesting to:

1) do interviews with concertmasters of orchestras such as the Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra (the concertmasters, the leader of the second violins), or to speak with a conducting concertmaster (this might turn out to be completely different when compared to concertmasters of orchestras with a conductor!).

2) watch recordings from concertmasters, or make recordings of myself when working as a concertmaster.

3) do tests with my orchestra: several ways of leading, how do the members react?

4) describe group rehearsals led by the concertmaster of an orchestra, what did work for some members, but didn’t work for others (here the influence of different personalities becomes part of the discussion)…

After the clinic and the first AR design class, formulate 3 questions related to your research and the course.

– How could Artistic Research help you in a musical sense?

– What forms could you give your research? Blog, portfolio, written thesis, playing a concert? Are there any resources for it, and how long should it be/what size should it have?

– Are there any differences between writing a thesis and doing Artistic Research? If yes, could you mention (some of) them?