MUSIC, DRAMA, and just a little History
 | In 1987 I found myself committed to performing Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, but somewhat out-of-shape as a violinist. Presenting program notes could only cover the opening of the recital and my need was to rest my arms between Concertos. So based on my research into pedagogical history, including Vivaldi’s mysteries, I wrote this play. The first version, under the auspices of the Allentown Community Music School, required the keyboard player to be Vivaldi’s Teaching Assistant. Since I wanted this role for myself, I rewrote The Secret Life to allow the violinist to play the spirit visitor.
I like this version much better and have now performed it three times, in Napa, California, as a fund raiser for the Napa Valley Music Associates (1994), in Vacaville, California, because we wanted to do it again (1997), and in Easton, Pennsylvania, as a fund-raiser for a fledgling music school (2004). I do have video for the 1994 and 1997 performances but the quality is less than ideal. Now it is time for a new production and a professional recording. |
SETTING THE SCENE
Brenda, a popular, suburban, piano teacher, has managed to purchase the last extant copy of Vivaldi's Method book. To mark the occasion she has assembled an audience, most of whom have been, or still are, her students, so that she can announce the expansion of her teaching studio to include strings. But her presentation is interrupted by the sudden appearance of Vivaldi's Teaching Assistant, - Sister Sylvia dal Violone, intent on repossessing the Book.
WHY I WANT A HIGH QUALITY RECORDING
First of all, I know that an audience will find the plot compelling. I have checked the tapes for coughing and have found none. We did not wear mikes and the cameras were, on both occasions, behind the audience. I admit that Sister Sylvia's 300-year stint in Purgatory may suggest that we rethink the value of the method book, but there is more to her motives than faking a publication. I do, however, want to open the question of how we have arrived at the systems that we use to teach music.
Then there is the "mountain" challenge. The Play is "there" and waiting for documentation. I love the idea of producing film and want/need to launch another project. Yes, I am using a camera and editing clips in hopes of producing a children's how-to for strings. But, as you can see below, paying - or trying to pay - the bills by teaching has taken precedence.
Then there is the "mountain" challenge. The Play is "there" and waiting for documentation. I love the idea of producing film and want/need to launch another project. Yes, I am using a camera and editing clips in hopes of producing a children's how-to for strings. But, as you can see below, paying - or trying to pay - the bills by teaching has taken precedence.
My List
The following list will give some idea of my production experience. I do now have a Youtube Channel, (Doesn't everyone?) "nowfretless" where you may learn all about violin technique!
Instructional Video: VIOLIN FOR YOUNG CHILDREN
EXPENSIVE HABITS a violinist’s search for the right instrument.
LOOK WHAT THEY'VE DONE TO MY SONG: the state of the art of string teaching in California.
RANGE: Four singers, a violinist and an octopus introduce pitch and notation.
Latchkey project: technology and magic unite to help a teen Rocker learn to play the violin.
Oral history: Recording life in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the year of its 250th Anniversary.
- 2000: SECRET WEAPON VIDEO: VIOLIN FOR MUSICIANS, Finalist, New York Festivals, 2000: Reviewed, THE STRAD, May, 2000; MAESTRONET, 2000.
- Created series: MUSIC A LA MODE: Produced two thirty-minute segments, cablecast in San Diego, 1989, 1988.
- ARE YOU READY TO DO THE WORKOUT? Humor. A Fonda-inspired look at practicing, 1986.
- CULTURING GENIUS: Home-schooling, an escape from conformity? (:30)
- THE RUSSIANS ARE HERE: A Russian émigré violinist/teacher seeks to "build the machine" while preserving and nurturing the individual voice of each of his students. (:20)
- LARK ON LANTA: Americans searching for home in the Lehigh Valley, Pa. (:29)
- A CHILD'S GARDEN OF VERSES: Christopher is playing in the Garden but is he safe? (:04)
- THE CURSE OF COUNT DER POINTE': Humor. (:04)
- THE PIANO CLASS OF MARILYN PINSCHMIDT. (:05)
Instructional Video: VIOLIN FOR YOUNG CHILDREN
EXPENSIVE HABITS a violinist’s search for the right instrument.
LOOK WHAT THEY'VE DONE TO MY SONG: the state of the art of string teaching in California.
RANGE: Four singers, a violinist and an octopus introduce pitch and notation.
Latchkey project: technology and magic unite to help a teen Rocker learn to play the violin.
Oral history: Recording life in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the year of its 250th Anniversary.
MY OTHER LIFE - AS A MUSICIAN AND TEACHER
For the record, here is on of my usual blurbs.
Teaching is Helen Martin‘s primary focus. She has worked with students in both public and private schools as well as in conservatories here in the U.S. and in London (UK). She taught String Techniques at Moravian College and was Head of the String Department at the Community Music School in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Her studies under Edwin Gordon at Temple University have led her to restructure her teaching approach, highlighting the language aspects of music, and to expand her curriculum to include foundation classes (Music Play) for parents and younger children. Helen Martin’s teaching features an emphasis on Chamber Music. She has programmed works by Vivaldi, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Bartok, and Shostakovich during her Studio’s first four years.
Helen Martin grew up in Philadelphia where she studied with Jasha Brodsky at the New School and Jani Szanto at the Philadelphia Musical Academy. She began her college studies as a scholarship student at The Eastman School of Music, but transferred to Indiana University in Bloomington, there joining the class of Josef Gingold. During her junior year, Martin was the Principal Second Violin in the I.U. Opera Orchestra.
Helen Martin presented her play, THE SECRET LIFE OF ANTONIO VIVALDI in Allentown, and in Napa and Vacaville, California. Her videotape, VIOLIN FOR MUSICIANS, attained Finalist status at the New York Festivals in 2000, - with the DVD version now selling in Europe and Australia as well as the U.S. She plans to publish FOREVER FRETLESS, a string method plus DVD, in 2012.
More: Visit my Teaching Site. Hear me play: /performance-highlights.html
The photo - the view from the deck at the rear of my apartment in Easton, Pennsylvania - is a snapshot from my Flip camera.
Teaching is Helen Martin‘s primary focus. She has worked with students in both public and private schools as well as in conservatories here in the U.S. and in London (UK). She taught String Techniques at Moravian College and was Head of the String Department at the Community Music School in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Her studies under Edwin Gordon at Temple University have led her to restructure her teaching approach, highlighting the language aspects of music, and to expand her curriculum to include foundation classes (Music Play) for parents and younger children. Helen Martin’s teaching features an emphasis on Chamber Music. She has programmed works by Vivaldi, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Bartok, and Shostakovich during her Studio’s first four years.
Helen Martin grew up in Philadelphia where she studied with Jasha Brodsky at the New School and Jani Szanto at the Philadelphia Musical Academy. She began her college studies as a scholarship student at The Eastman School of Music, but transferred to Indiana University in Bloomington, there joining the class of Josef Gingold. During her junior year, Martin was the Principal Second Violin in the I.U. Opera Orchestra.
Helen Martin presented her play, THE SECRET LIFE OF ANTONIO VIVALDI in Allentown, and in Napa and Vacaville, California. Her videotape, VIOLIN FOR MUSICIANS, attained Finalist status at the New York Festivals in 2000, - with the DVD version now selling in Europe and Australia as well as the U.S. She plans to publish FOREVER FRETLESS, a string method plus DVD, in 2012.
More: Visit my Teaching Site. Hear me play: /performance-highlights.html
The photo - the view from the deck at the rear of my apartment in Easton, Pennsylvania - is a snapshot from my Flip camera.
NEXT
Now the work begins, starting with a budget. I do have production companies in mind but they may already be booked so I am open to suggestions.
Brenda is cast and ready. It would be ideal to add off-stage musicians..
Brenda is cast and ready. It would be ideal to add off-stage musicians..
