OCTOBER Sincerely, Kimberly Syvertsen Editor-in-Chief, NJ Strings ASTA/NJ BOARD

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2 OCTOBER 2011 ASTA/NJ BOARD OFFICERS ERIKA BORAS TESI President FRANCES ROWELL Past President LONI BACH President-Elect LISA MILLER Secretary NAOMI YOUNGSTEIN Treasurer DIRECTORS CHRISTOPHER KENNIFF Executive Director, Chamber Music Institute, Webmaster MARGARET ZUFALL ROBERTS Artistic Director, Chamber Music Institute Solo Competition Chair LESLIE WEBSTER Certificate Program Cadet Teachers RONA LANDRIGAN Sharon Holmes Scholarship Certificate Program LONI BACH Quartet Competition SANDRA DACKOW Composers Competition MARILYN LUPCHINSKY Solo and Ensemble Festivals MIMI BUTLER BETSY MALISZEWSKI String Symposium SHEILA MENDEL Nominating Committee Private Teacher List KIMBERLY CHIESA Student Chapters EDWIN BLACK Historian BARBARA VIERSCHILLING National High School Honors Orchestra KIMBERLY SYVERTSEN Editor-in-Chief MARY ANN MUMM NJ Strings is published three times a year, in January, April, and October. Happy Fall, and welcome back-to-school! I hope your summer was restful and enjoyable in spite of the hurricane. Our theme for this issue is Double Trouble ---or perhaps better still--- Good Things Come in Pairs. Many of our articles for this edition are complimented by two perspectives. In Lifelong Learning, discover how two string teachers in different stage of their careers benefitted from summer professional development experiences. We hope you will be delighted with Something To Try and Pedagogy Corner, as two formidable studio teachers share some thoughts on introducing advanced bow techniques. In a new Dear NJ Strings featurette, trail-blazing high schooler Rebecca Damante makes a difference building an inter-school music lending library, while in My Favorite Teacher a young musician shares her literary gifts to honor that teacher who made all the difference. Lastly, in Vivace Assai I ll share some inspiring words from two different Essex County moms who have made at-home practice culture into something of an art form! Our other October supplements include traditions new and old. The annual Youth Orchestra Directory is back once again, with updates for the academic year. As always, please consider sharing your insights by submitting an article for publication to njstrings@astanj.com. Thanks for all you do to make this another year of outrageous string playing and teaching in the Garden State! Sincerely, Kimberly Syvertsen Editor-in-Chief, NJ Strings

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11 Our Annual NJ Youth Orchestra List This list is for informational purposes only. While this list is quite extensive, it is volunteer-researched and by no means exhaustive. ASTA/NJ, NJ Strings and their members are not responsible for any inaccuracies, nor do they not endorse any one artistic organization. Parents and teachers are responsible for any due research as to the quality of these programs. If you are aware of any other youth orchestras, please send us their contact information to and we ll gladly add them to next year s annual list. Atlantic/Cape May County Atlantic Youth Orchestra Ages: through High-School Rehearsals: 3:30-5pm on Sundays at Central Methodist Church, Linwood Auditions: Sept 18 Contact: Ms. Miller, through website form Bergen County Bergen Youth Orchestras BYO Symphony Ages: Grades 8-12 (advanced) 6:30-9:45pm on Wednesdays BYO Philharmonia Ages: Grades 7-10 (intermediate) 7-9pm on Tuesdays BYO Junior Strings Ages: Grades 4-8 (lower intermediate) 7-8:30pm on Tuesdays Rehearsals: St. Paul s Church, Englewood Auditions: Contact or auditions@bergenyouthorchestra.org The Fine Tuners Ages: Grades 3-12 Rehearsals: 4-6:15pm on Fridays at Grace Lutheran Church, River Edge Auditions: Sept 9 Contact: Arlene Locola, Director Strings201@aol.com or JCC on the Palisades Thurnauer School of Music Thurnauer Symphony- advanced, all ages 5-6:30pm on Wednesdays Thurnauer Philharmonia- intermediate, all ages 5-6pm on Wednesdays Thurnauer Camerata- beginners, all ages 4-5:30pm on Mondays at the JCC Thurnauer School of Music, Tenafly Auditions: Contact or thurnauer@jccotp.org Ridgewood Symphony Orchestra Festival Strings Ages: Grades 6-9 Rehearsals: Winter, TBA Auditions: Dec 3 Contact: admin@ridgewoodsymphony.org

12 Burlington County South Jersey Youth Orchestra Rehearsals: 12:30-2:30pm on Wednesdays at Immanuel Orthodox Presbyterian Church, Bellmawr Auditions: contact Amy Weckesser or a.htm Essex County Greater Newark Youth Orchestras Youth Orchestra Ages: 12 to 18 Chamber Orchestra Ages: Violin Ensemble 9:30am-12:30pm on Saturdays at Bradley Hall, Rutgers-Newark campus Auditions: Sept 10 Contact: Stacy Beltran, Assistant of Education and Community Engagement x268 or Index.htm Montclair State University Youth Orchestras Cadet Strings Ages: all ages, approx. Suzuki Bk 2-3 Saturdays, 11:45am-12:30pm Junior Orchestra Ages: up to age 13, approx. Suzuki Bk. 4-6 Saturdays, 11:45am-1pm Youth Orchestra & Chamber Sinfonia Ages: all ages, advanced Saturdays, 11:45am-2pm Rehearsals at the John J. Cali School of Music, Montclair campus Auditions: rolling from Sept 10th-Oct 1; Spring auditions in mid-jan Contact: Dr. Marla Meissner, Preparatory Center Director or Youth Orchestras of Essex County Overture Strings Ages: Elementary & Middle, intermediate level Mondays, 4-5:30pm Junior Symphony Ages: All ages, advanced intermediate level Mondays, 4-5:30pm Essex County Symphony Orchestra Ages: Middle & High School, advanced level Mondays, 7-9pm Chamber Ensembles (Jan-May) Ages: based on musical abilities Mondays, 5:45-6:45pm Rehearsals at South Orange Middle School, South Orange Auditions: Sept 12 and early Jan (for Spring semester)- see contact Contact: Debra Courtright, Executive Director or Gloucester County Rowan Youth Orchestra Ages: Grades 6-12 Rehearsals: at the campus of Rowan University, Glassboro Auditions: Contact Mr. Warren E. Gardner, Music Director or Hudson County The Hudson Symphony Youth Orchestra Auditions: Contact or chestra.htm njstrings 12

13 Hunterdon County HAA Youth Orchestra Auditions: Contact Hunterdon Musical Arts Beginning, intermediate, and advanced string ensembles; chamber music; fiddling; group violin classes. Ages: students, adults Auditions: see contact Contact: see website Mercer County Greater Princeton Youth Orchestra For High School students: Symphonic Orchestra 6:30-9:30pm on Tuesdays Concert Orchestra 7:45-9:45pm on Mondays Wind Symphony 8-9:30pm on Tuesdays For Middle School students: Middle School String Ensemble 6-8pm on Mondays Middle School Wind Ensemble 6-7:30pm on Mondays Rehearsals at Montgomery Twp High School, Skillman Auditions: Sept 7, 8 Contact: Stretto Youth Orchestra Ages: school-aged musicians Stretto Young Musicians, High School & Adv. programs 6-7:30pm on Fridays Rehearsals at Princeton Friends School, Princeton Auditions: Contact Sherri Anderson, conductor or sma175@aol.com Youth Orchestras of Central Jersey Symphonic Orchestra Ages: mostly grades 9-12 Pro Arte Orchestra Ages: mostly grades 7-10 String Preparatory Orchestra Ages: mostly grades 5-8 Tuesdays, 7-9pm Wind Symphony Ages: mostly grades 9-12 Tuesdays, 7:30-9pm Brass and Woodwind Choirs; Percussion Ensemble Ages: mostly grades 7-12 Tuesdays, 7-7:30pm Saxophone Choir Ages: mostly grades 9-12 Tuesdays, 6:30-7pm Rehearsals at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North, Plainsboro Auditions: Sept 13 Contact: info@yocj.org Middlesex County NJBCC Buddha's Light Chinese Youth Orchestra Rehearsals: 7:30-9:30pm on Saturdays Auditions: Contact or fgsnjbcc@yahoo.com Rutgers University- Mason Gross Preparatory School Ensembles, etc for school-aged children and adults Contact: extension@masongross.rutgers.edu or Monmouth County Freehold Multigenerational String Orchestra Ages: all ages Fridays, 3-4:30pm Rehearsals at the Applewood PAC, Freehold Auditions: contact Marjorie Stine, Manager

14 or Manalapan Battleground Prep Orchestra Auditions: Contact township website, New Jersey State Youth Orchestras Senior Youth Orchestra, Concert Youth Orchestra, Preparatory String Orchestra Ages: 2 nd grade & up Thursdays, 6:30-8:30pm Rehearsals at St. Mary s Church, Colt s Neck Chamber Music Ages: grade 7-college Sundays, 1pm Rehearsals at Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, Holmdel Auditions: Sept 15, 22 Contact: njsyo@njsyo.org Morris County Delbarton School Abbey Orchestra Ages: approx. 7 th grade- adult Wednesdays, 6:30-8:30pm Abbey Young Musicians Ages: approx. grades 2-9 Thursdays, 7-8pm Rehearsals at the Fine Arts Center Auditorium, Delbarton School, Morristown Auditions: Contact Lakeland Youth Symphony Lakeland Strings, 5:15-6:30pm on Tuesdays Symphony Strings, 7-8:30pm on Tuesdays Youth Ensemble, 7-8:30pm on Wednesdays Modified Suzuki program on weekends Auditions: Sept 6 Contact: Pam Heinrich, Business Administrator or info@lakelandyouthsymphony.org Ocean County Garden State Philharmonic Youth Orchestra Symphony Orchestra Ages: grades pm on Tuesdays at Toms River Intermediate North, Toms River Concert Youth Orchestra Ages: grades :30pm on Tuesdays at Toms River Intermediate East, Toms River String Ensemble, Ages: up to Grade 7 6:30-8pm on Tuesdays at Toms River Intermediate East, Toms River Auditions: Contact or info@gardenstatephilharmonic.org Toms River Multigenerational Orchestra Ages: all ages Mondays, 7-9pm Rehearsals at Toms River Intermediate East, Toms River Auditions: Contact Mildred Zitt, conductor or mlzitt@verizon.net Passaic County All Wayne Orchestra All Wayne Orchestra Ages: intergenerational Tuesdays, 4-5pm Advanced Wayne Strings Ensemble Ages: Middle & High School students Tuesdays, 3-4pm Rehearsals at Wayne Hills HS, Wayne Auditions: see contact Contact: Sheila Mendel, Director (201) , or ssmendel@earthlink.net njstrings 14

15 Sussex County Skylands Youth Symphony Ages: Thursdays, 7-9pm Rehearsals at Glen Meadow MS, Vernon Auditions: Contact Sussex County Youth Orchestra and the New Jersey Ambassadors of Music Youth Orchestra Ages: Grade 8-college Preparatory Orchestra Ages: Grades 3-7 Rocking Strings Orchestra Ages: Kindergarten-Grade 3 Rehearsals: see website Auditions: Oct 1 Contact: Dawn Tedesco, Director or dawnscyo@earthlink.net Union County New Jersey Intergenerational Orchestra Ages: all ages Rehearsals: Full Symphony, 7:15-9:45pm on Tuesdays Intermezzo String Orchestra, 5:45-7pm on Tuesdays Prelude Orchestra, 4:30-5:30 on Tuesdays at the Judith Wharton Music Center, Berkeley Heights Auditions: Contact or info@njio.org New Jersey Youth Symphony Youth Symphony Ages: Grades :30-9:30pm on Tuesdays Youth Orchestra Ages: grades :15-9:15 on Mondays Philharmonia Ages: Grades 6-9 6:15-8:30pm on Thursdays Sinfonia Ages: Grades pm on Tuesdays Junior Strings Ages: Grades 5-7 6:15-8pm on Wednesdays Preparatory String Ensemble Ages: pm on Wednesdays Auditions: Aug Contact: NJ Workshop for the Arts Ensembles Rehearsals: Matinee Orchestra 2:30-3:30pm on Saturdays Simply Strings, 8:30-10am Auditions: Contact Dr. Ted Schlosberg, Director njstrings 15

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21 Teachers come in many places. Like many of you, I m trying my darndest to get the practice momentum going amongst my students. Some students practice with little encouragement, while for others, it s more challenging to establish a routine. As I start the year on a hopeful note, working to cultivate a culture of practice with my students at the various places I teach, I find teachers in new and exciting places. Two parents, to be more specific. Meet Rhoda, who has an eighth grade son working on the gems of the standard violin repertoire and Connie, who has two children (one in kindergarten and one in elementary school) working on Suzuki Book One. Both are musical laypeople with different personalities, family backgrounds and daily schedules. There are similarities, too. In both families, practicing is both routine and creative. The children progress consistently in their musical studies, and there are even moments of joy and inspiration in at-home practice sessions. There is an appreciation for each stage of the musical journey and a respect for a solid technical foundation on the violin. In addition to the many credits due to each family, both mothers remain humble and keep perspective about this musical education which has enkindled a magical joy in every member of the household. In short, they re doing it right. I simply had to pick their brains. The below exchanges are what I learned from Rhoda and Connie. I look forward to sharing and incorporating their insights into my discussions with other my other students parents this year. K: Your child(ren) clearly love(s) to play the violin! What do you do at home to encourage and inspire this love of music? R: I think our child enjoys playing the violin for many reasons We play music in the house a lot, and we play everything from classical to rock. We also have made an effort to take him to concerts and to the theatre. He has gone to classical recitals, operettas, and has heard modern music played in lots of different types of events, including two violinists

22 playing in a show called Black Violin. I think those experiences made him more aware of how much music is all around, and the various things you can do with the instrument. C: The kids seem to have a love of music on their own. We don t feel that do a lot to encourage it but have music on in the house (often the Suzuki Violin CDs!) that they like. K: How much are you involved in the practice time? How much is unsupervised practice time? R: When our son first started playing the violin, we were strongly encouraged to sit in on lessons. The teacher felt that, that way, we could provide useful support and encouragement when he was practicing. I think that approach worked. While having me in the room might have been a bit distracting when he was younger, the benefits outweighed the harm as he was certainly more interested in picking up the violin to practice when I stayed with him. Once he turned twelve, he became much more independent both in terms of not having me sit in on his lessons, and not needing me to be with him when he practices. When he was younger, I offered help in terms of correcting position, positions and properly holding the bow. As he became older and more advanced, I was not really able to provide much advice. My role turned to more of providing support and listening for proper intonation. I don t think there is a magic age when young students are ready to practice on his/her own. I think it depends on the child. Another of my children who is twelve is not at the point where practicing alone is effective. C: We re very involved in the practice time. We try to practice about 5 times a week, always with an adult involved. Sometimes they might be practicing while I m cooking dinner, but we always have an adult in the room so that there is some input. I find at this young age that they can t guide themselves well yet in practice. K: Your child has really exceptional posture. What would you attribute this to? Is it something you ve stressed in at-home practice sessions? R: My son s posture when he is playing the violin is something he should be proud of. He actually struggles with low strength in his upper body. Playing the violin has really helped those upper body muscles develop and has dramatically improved his hand/eye coordination. We haven t had to emphasize posture at home--- it really came naturally in learned to play the violin since maintaining good posture makes it easier to play the instrument. K: Your children are different ages and at different stages of their musical journey. They really seem to embrace each other's experience level and rather than compete. How do you cultivate this spirit of patience and appreciation for each child's uniqueness? C: We generally handle their practices separately, but sometimes we ll do practices at the same time where they take turns or do a playdown where they play songs together. It makes the lessons a little more fun! We sometimes look to our older daughter to help and demonstrate for her younger brother, especially if he s having trouble with a piece. Luckily, she likes to do this and he s receptive to it!

23 K: Your child(ren) studied through the Suzuki Method. What aspect of this method has been helpful to you in at-home practice? What practice strategies have worked for you? What encouragement would you offer other parents who are interested in signing up their children for music lessons [regardless of the learning method]? R: The Suzuki Method has been great for our son. First, he has genuinely enjoyed all of the music in the program. Second, the program introduces the techniques in a fun and developmentally appropriate way. It has also offered him opportunities to play with other children who play at the same level, and that group experience has been great in terms of meeting people, maintaining his level of interest, and getting to see where it is all leading. C: Since my husband and I don t play an instrument and can t read music, our ability to help the kids is somewhat limited. Listening to the Suzuki CDs has been really helpful. We created a playlist and usually have it playing most days during breakfast. Even though my husband and I can t play the songs ourselves, we definitely know what the songs are supposed to sound like! This has been helpful, and the kids start to develop their favorite songs on the CD. My son loved Allegro and couldn t wait to play it. Now his new favorite is Happy Farmer he s not playing it yet, but he goes around the house humming it! The other interesting thing is that the kids enjoy going to the group performances and solo recitals. I think it s motivating to see other kids getting up there to play difficult pieces. Though they re a little nervous about playing their solo piece, I think they feel pretty special in the end, especially with all of the thunderous applause! K: You child makes consistent progress at the violin. How important is it to create a structured, regular practice time? What benefits have you found with this? R: Establishing practicing time as a non-negotiable part of the day when he was younger proved to work. It was just understood that he would spend a certain amount of time practicing every day. As he got older, that was not always feasible. Sometimes school work or other activities had to take precedence. However, having established a routine when he was younger enabled him to develop a system where he could plan for each week s demands and effectively make up practice time from the days he had skipped practicing the violin. K: How do you keep practicing fresh? R: We keep practicing fresh at home by making sure that no matter what his violin homework is for a particular week, he is also working on something he finds fun, whether it be a piece that he is learning for orchestra, something that he is playing for the school play, or a favorite Beatles song. C: Honestly, consistent practice is tough to do! We found this particularly hard in the beginning where the kids were just learning. They balked at practicing, and I tried to enforce it any way I could with incentives, a point system, etc. It was actually pretty rough for about the first four months, but then at some point we seemed to get over a hump once they started to feel that they were making some music. The kids definitely don t love practicing now, but we don t have many disagreements about it anymore. We also try to keep our practice sessions to minutes. I d love to have longer ones, but beyond that it starts to get more difficult for us.

24 K: Do you have practice performances at home? If so, what do they entail? R: We do not have practice performances at home, but when he is preparing for a recital or an audition, he will pretend that I am his audience and he will enter the room and play through the piece as if it were the actual recital. C: We don t do a lot of practice performances at home. We ve done a couple in the past where the kids have brought down all of their stuffed animals and created an audience. That was fun, but we don t do that as often as we probably should! K: What advice would you offer other violin parents? R: My advice would be: don t start too young, make sure it s fun but also an integral part of the day, and sit in on lessons and practice session until the child is able to practice effectively unsupervised. C: Violin, in my opinion, is a difficult instrument to learn. I think it s hard for kids to start to enjoy it until they are really playing some songs, but that means that you have to stick with it through the first few months of practice. I think the only advice that we can give is to use the CDs so the kids hear the music, then really commit to 3-4 months of regular practice. Hopefully after that you ve gotten into a good groove K: What thoughts would you offer violin teachers who struggle to get some of their students to practice regularly? R: Our son s teacher gives him a homework sheet each week. That has always been a great tool to help structure practice time. Making sure he is always working on something he enjoys has worked well too. C: That s a tough one. I think the commitment has to be there from the parents, especially if the kids are young and need help/support.