Registration is open for 2016-2017 Violin, Viola, and Cello. Slots are filling fast. Contact us via Facebook for information on scheduling a sample lesson. Happy practicing!

The Music House: JOB's Victorian on 5th; Spring Series

The Music House: Spring 2013 Series

Saturday, January 26, 7:00 p.m.  Ensemble Vermillian

Frances Blaker, recorders, David Wilson, violin, Dan Smith, theorbo

Barbara Krumdiek, cello, John O’Brien, keyboard

Ensemble Vermillian was founded by sisters Barbara Blaker Krumdieck and Frances Blaker to explore the potential for color and texture possible in the virtuosic compositions for cello and recorder written in the seventeenth and eighteenth century. Based in Davidson, North Carolina and Berkeley, California, the members of EV have traveled to meet, research, rehearse, and perform together since 2000. Having studied at conservatories in Denmark, the Netherlands, Ohio, and Indiana respectively, they use a blended approach to rearrange and reinterpret Baroque music to create a sound that's both resonant and relevant.

Saturday, February 9, 7:00 p.m. The Kickin’ Grass Band of Raleigh, NC

Jamie Dawson, mandolin-Lynda Dawson, guitar and lead vocals- Hank Smith, banjo,

Pattie Hopkins, violin and vocals and Patrick Walsh-bass and vocals

The Kickin Grass Band takes the stage, and suddenly you’re captivated by pure, strong voices telling true‐to‐life stories spiced with innovative bluegrass instrumentation. You fall in love with the rootsy, Americana style, and can’t wait for more. In 2012, they released their fourth album, Walk With Me which represents an exploration of life’s passages, a close-to-home chronicle of heartbreaking loss and hopeful beginnings. “There were life-altering events for all of us, both individually and as bandmates and close friends,” explains Lynda Dawson. “We felt strongly that we needed to capture and express the emotional journey we had endured through our music, especially now that we’re on the other side looking back.”  To take in the album as a singular experience is to travel with the group from a questioning uncertainty to an understanding acceptance. The message: the big answers may be beyond our grasp, but our communal search for them binds us together. If you look hard enough you may just find an answer—and a comfort—in the people who walk with you.

Saturday, March 2, 7:00 p.m. Carol Ingbretsen-Jazz singer

Carol Ingbretsen , a Raleigh native and ECU School of Music graduate, is a highly talented and versatile vocalist who performs in a variety of musical situations and styles.  Carol has been a featured soloist with The North Carolina Symphony, The Carolina Ballet, The Cary Community Choir, and the Sandhills Community Chorus. Professional chorus appearances include Fred Waring & the Pennsylvanians, The National Opera Company, and The Raleigh Oratorio Society.  Carol is a member of the North Carolina Master Chorale’s 22-voice professional chamber choir.  An accomplished jazz vocalist, Carol has appeared with many of the best jazz musicians in North Carolina and is the featured singer for The Tar River Swing Band of Rocky Mount, and The John Brown Jazz Orchestra.  

Sunday, April 7, 3:00 p.m.  Beverly Biggs and Elaine Funaro, harpsichords

Elaine Funaro, harpsichord, is a frequent performer at international early music festivals and Artistic Director of Aliénor, a non-profit organization that sponsors a world-wide competition for new harpsichord music. While she is regarded as one of the leading performers of new music for the harpsichord, Funaro’s repertoire spans the entire history of the instrument. Funaro has premiered pieces on five continents, performing in Amsterdam, Rome, Manchester, Berkeley, Boston and Tokyo. In addition to her many solo recitals, including concerts at the Smithsonian Institution and the Library of Congress, Funaro has played with numerous symphonies and chamber music ensembles. She has recorded for the Arabesque, Centaur, Gasparo, Wildboar and the Classic Concert labels.

Beverly Biggs, harpsichord, is Artistic Director of Baroque & Beyond – North Carolina, a period music concert series based in Chapel Hill. Prior to moving back home to North Carolina, she lived for many years in the Pacific Northwest where she was founding artistic director of two period music organizations. Biggs has recorded CDs from the baroque, classic and early romantic periods on harpsichord and fortepiano, with other instruments, exclusively for the Bravura Discs label. She has toured throughout the western United States and Canada in solo and duo performances, played with symphony and chamber orchestras, and performed hundreds of concerts with period-music ensembles. Biggs owns an Italian virginal, Flemish and French harpsichords, and several period pianos

Saturday, May 4, 7:00 p.m. Patrick Ball/Shira Kammen

Patrick Ball is one of the premier Celtic harp players in the world and a captivating spoken word artist.
In playing the ancient, legendary brass-strung harp of Ireland with its crystalline, bell-like voice, and in performing marvelous tales of wit and enchantment, he not only brings new life to two cherished traditions, but blends them in concert to create “a richly theatrical and hauntingly beautiful performance.”

Multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Shira Kammen has spent well over half her life exploring the worlds of early and traditional music. A member for many years of the early music Ensembles Alcatraz and Project Ars Nova, and Medieval Strings,   she has also worked with Sequentia, Hesperion XX, the Boston Camerata, Kitka, as well as the Oregon, California and San Francisco Shakespeare Festivals. 

Sunday, May 19, 5:00 p.m. Je t’aime!...An Afternoon of French Song

Serena Hill-LaRoche, soprano-Michael LaRoche, baritone-Catherine H. Garner, piano

Je t'aime!... An afternoon of French Song is a program designed to explore the rich history of the mélodie, from the early romantic composers through the turn of the century and well into the mid-20th century.  Song groups, cycles and individual selections will demonstrate the progression of styles and settings that have defined this treasure of western culture.  Performed in the ideal space for musical intimacy, you will experience the marriage of text and music in the manner that it was originally conceived by these French masters. South Carolina based soprano Serena Hill LaRoche (Coker College faculty member) and baritone Michael LaRoche (ECU graduate) collaborate with pianist and ECU faculty member Catherine Garner in duets and songs by Chausson, Fauré, Liszt, Poulenc, Dupont, Boulanger, Chaminade, Debussy and Satie.  

Suggested donations:

$20 per concert/$100 for the series

Seniors-$15 per concert/$75 for the series

Students-$5 per concert/$25 for the series

All concerts include a wine tasting.

Reservations Required!

Email (themusichouseingreenvillenc@embarqmail.com) phone [(252) 367-1892]

DBR Grill Out and Improv Workshop: Nov. 9, 2012

Improv Workshop and Porch Cook-Out @ The West Side Cello School in West Greenville

Where: 104 Manhattan Ave.
             Greenville, NC 27834

When: 5:30pm,  Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Vote. Then energize West Greenville. Play and Eat with DBR and other area strings. DBR will be talking music and helping us all become more comfortable with using our many diverse voices.

Happy Halloween!

No lessons on Wed. 10.31.12 in observance of Halloween.

Reminder: Students on the half semester payment plan, the remainder of your balance is due Nov. 1, 2012.

Happy practicing!

104 Manhattan Ave.; Violin House Update; DBR Events

The year is off to a great start. We're running cello lessons in the violin house as renovation work is winding down at Paris Ave. One of our violin teachers, Azusa Chapman, is busy getting her studio up and running in the front room @ the Violin House. We welcome Ms. Chapman to our family as she settles into her 9 to 5 as managing director of The Four Season's Chamber Music Festival in Greenville. She'll be giving violin lessons in the Violin House as time permits and as her studio grows.

We have a number of students participating in the DBR Connecting Crossroads event @ East Carolina University the week of November 5-9. We'll have a cookout/porch event at the Violin House on Nov. 6th starting at 5:30. Please come out to eat and to meet DBR while he discusses what music might mean for west Greenville and Higgs.

Registration and Brief Spring Update

We have a few spots opening up for the Summer and Fall. If you're interested in a free sample lesson, please drop me a line at chris.nunnally@gmail.com.

Congrats to our senior Charlie Hill for his acceptance to UNC-Charlotte and N.C. State. Decision pending. The gaming world is about to get a brilliant mind, while we lose a very fun cellist. We'll miss you Charlie.

Congrats to all of the Eastern Youth Orchestra auditionees. Everyone did an excellent job.

Check us out on facebook and "Like" us to follow our West Greenville Project. Things are moving right along. Won't be long before music once again fills 108 Paris Ave.

Cheers!
-CWN

Finally on the West Side

Well, we've finally moved. Although the physical studio is still coming together, we are excited about our new space located above Gawlick Violin Co., @ 402 Evans St. in Greenville, NC. The studio is above the shop and should provide our parents, students and siblings an exciting place to gather before, during, and after the lessons. I will soon post on places to visit, to shop, and to eat Downtown Greenville.

Happy Practicing!

Congrats Students!

Congrats to all Students and Parents for a wonderful recital last Sunday. I am very proud of how everyone performed...especially proud of those good cello positions!

Thanks again Dr. O'Brien for allowing us into your beautiful home and for being such a great accompanist.

Now, back to practice...

St. Lawrence String Quartet

The St. Lawrence String Quartet plays this Thursday night, January 28th @ 7:30 pm, as a part of the ECU S. Rudolph Alexander Performing Arts Series. These guys really rock. If you haven't planned on it yet, and you're free, try to make it out.

Tickets are available through the East Carolina Central Ticket office.

For more info on tickets and the show, click the address below.

http://www.ecu.edu/cs-cfac/SRAPAS/4.cfm

Four Season's Music Festival

Residency III Performances:
East Carolina University
A.J. Fletcher Recital Hall
Thursday, January 14, 7:00pm
Friday, January 15, 8:00pm


Performers:
Thomas Sauer, piano
Ara Gregorian, violin
Colin Carr, cello

Program:
Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Trio in B Flat Major, Op. 97 “Archduke”
Antonin Dvorak’s Piano Trio in E Minor, Op. 90 “Dumky”

Come out and support our great chamber music community and watch three of the best perform two of the best. Beethoven's "Archduke" and Dvorak's "Dumky" are on the docket.

For cello fans, this concert should be special. Colin Carr is one of the most imaginative and interesting cellists on the circuit.

The Four Season's Teachers and Students program allows me to reserve gratis student tickets on a first come first served basis for members of the studio. If you would like your child to attend, please email me as soon as possible. Parents, if you would also like to attend, which I strongly encourage, you will need to purchase tickets individually.

Please spread the news.

A link for more information is below.

http://www.ecu.edu/cs-cfac/music/fourseasons/performances.cfm

Winter Recital 2009-2010

The West Side Cello School's Winter 2009/2010 studio recital will be held at The Music House on West 5th St. in Greenville, NC on February 28, 2010 @ 3:00pm. Family, friends, guests, and music lovers are welcome to attend. Please RSVP to chris.nunnally@gmail.com for directions. This will be fun!

Practice smart.

Fall Registration

Welcome back parents and students! This year is shaping up to be exciting for music and cello in Eastern North Carolina.

Fall registration begins today. Returning students, time to turn on the practice switch. Be sure to brush off any summer rust by practicing your long bows, scales, and etudes S...L...O...W...L...Y..., paying careful attention to your bow hold and cello position. The fastest way back from a layoff is disciplined slow technical work. Old habits die hard, so resist the temptation of picking up your favorite piece from last year and playing it through over and over in an effort to shape up. Doing so reinforces your habits of a year ago. We all have bad habits, and it is important to focus on developing good ones. Leave those bad ones for last year. Lets make sure your first steps this year are steps forward.

If you have an interesting story about your summer experiences, whether related to music or not, type up a short paragraph or two and I'll post it on our studio blog for all to see!

For prospective students, please contact me for scheduling of your gratis sample lesson. It is my hope that you will be able to join our family @ TWSCS.

A cello teacher weighs in...

Re-post from a NY Times comment posted by the author on March 5, 2007 in response to “How to Grow a Super-Athlete,” by Daniel Coyle published in the March 4, 2007 NY Times. See hyperlink to article below.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/04/sports/playmagazine/04play-talent.html?_r=1

Comment updated and abridged, 3/9/2009.

A cello teacher weighs in…

We are all prone, to a degree, a certain lack of clarity in the evaluation of our own abilities and performances. As a result, the opinions we draw from our performances and that of others based on these assessments are generally flawed. What we perceive as our failures are not in their determinative construct so simple. Neither are our “triumphs.” "Talent" as a word, the description of a presence or lack thereof, is used to explain those dark corners of achievement that are too complex for simple day to day explanation. There are far too many variables to reduce learning to a simple set of formuli. But, it is through understanding of just a few of those variables that an individual may achieve more than her predecessors. The great teachers and coaches of the world know this intuitively. They lay the path for greatness more so than any inborn “ability.” I feel the article in question does a fine job of demonstrating this.

The choice of using the athlete as an example is illustrative of the great capability of disciplined training to change how a body will react under certain circumstances. A body and mind can be trained, but must be done so properly. The maxim, “proper practice makes perfect performance” is a shibboleth of “talent” teaching. But, as applied in professional sports, it is not deniable that certain body types will be able to achieve greater speed, size, and strength. Amongst efficiency equals in sport, those who’s bodies conform to a socially determined preferable type will always prevail in a controlled performance test. Therein lies the difficulty in athletics used as a pure test for “talent” evaluation. The logical conclusion that the better body wins misses the fundamental point. What does that proper body type DO to reach the pinnacle of performance? It is the answer to that question, what the body does- that preparation and performance- which is the measure of pure ability. If the smaller body type moves the same, but on a smaller scale, and yet that body’s motion is just as efficient relative to the larger, wider, or differently built one, the level of “talent” required for the beneficial motion would seem to be the same. The difference of performance then is not in “talent” or the ability of the person in question, but perhaps more accurately in the social construct of what class of body participates in a given event.

Most real failures in ability come from improper learning and/or the misapplication of acquired knowledge. Those who triumph are those who learn, from one source or another, how best to practice an activity and how best to apply that practice. As I myself strive toward self betterment, I attribute any short-falling mostly to a misapplication of knowledge, lack of effort or improper practice on my part. My focus is directed inward on the approach and method. My failures are not blamed on an inherent lack of ability…even though that may make me feel better in the short run.

-CWN

The West Side Cello School

By emphasizing intelligent listening, proper practice, development of music theory fluency, and confident performance, all with an eye toward the teachings of the late Dr. Shinichi Suzuki, The West Side Cello School aims to develop not just outstanding young musicians, but also model citizens. Your child will benefit socially and academically through the balanced discipline and creative rigors demanded by the study of classical music.

Please contact me via email (address located in the Complete Profile View) if you are interested in taking a prospective lesson free of charge.

If the cello is not for your child, please contact a local music instructor who will, with your help, put your child on the path to a lifetime of success and love of music.