It was a cold night, but we had a rewarding reading session on Friday, January 15.
People:
- Marc Temkin
- Bjorn Villesvik
- Phillip Serna
- Jacque Harper
This was great for me. Phillip and I have crossed paths a number of times over the years. At separate times, we were both students of Stephen Tramontozzi at the San Francisco Conservatory. But to my recollection, we had not played together. So it was good to do that. Marc is someone I met briefly many years ago at one of our early performances, but hadn’t seen since. He encouraged Bjorn to join us, and I’m glad he did. I’m always happy to expand my circle of colleagues.
Repertoire
- Tomas Luis de Victoria, arr. Cameron – Three Spanish Motets
- Tony Osborne – Sonnet for a Summer’s Day
- Ernst Mahle – Quartet
- Marc Temkin – work in progress
- Serge Prokofiev, arr Serna – March from The Love of Three Oranges
- Joseph Lauber – Quartet
- Hindemith, arr Harper – Six Chansons
- Wasserman – Pieces for Basses
The ensemble has read or performed all of these–except for Marc’s sketch, Tony Osborne’s ‘sonnet’ and the Wasserman piece–in the past, so I don’t have a lot of new comments on them. As always, it was energizing to be able to make music together.
I look forward to the opportunity to perform Sonnet for a Summer’s Day, in the hopes that I can encourage my wife to sing the soprano part. Rob Wasserman’s piece I’ve attempted to get through several times, but it seems to require more preparation than a pick-up reading session. I’m also not fond of the gimmick of the first movement being for a solo player, the second a duet, the third a trio etc. If I’ve gone to the trouble of finding five players, I want to make use of them. Marc’s work, completely and somewhat abashedly incomplete, shows promise. Always happy to read through something to give a composer a chance to hear ideas.
My only regret for the evening was that I failed to print out the parts for David Heyes’ work The Last Poppy. I really meant to. My apologies, David! Next time for sure.
