Last time we gave you an update on our teachers and their quarantine activities, it was April 2020 and virtual life was our brave new world.
How have things changed after a year in quarantine? Music trains you to be a great multi-tasker, creative, and resourceful - so it’s no surprise that many of our coaches have been keeping up with their musical activities despite the isolation and distancing that Covid-19 has brought into our lives. Read below for just a few of the ways that our amazing teachers have been keeping busy outside of teaching for our virtual programs!
Emily Call (Prelude Director, Elemental Strings, Bergmann Project)
While Covid-19 canceled Emily’s trip to perform as an invited artist at the Thailand New Music and Arts Symposium in summer 2020, she and her husband, composer John Eagle, were still able to participate virtually by recording a performance for the festival. Their performance was streamed in Bangkok for festival attendees and also premiered virtually in December 2020 as part of the Seeing Sounds program.
article image from The Wire story
Morgan Gerstmar (Elemental Strings, Academy Philharmonic, Bergmann Project)
Remember when everyone wanted a Nintendo Switch to play Animal Crossing at the start of the pandemic? Well, Morgan’s Animal Crossing explorations led to an experimental music project! The Ensemble Whose Name is Uhhhhhmm (formerly Lil Jürg Frey) is an experimental music ensemble within the world of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Members are Los Angeles based artists Dicky Bahto, Erika Bell, Morgan Gerstmar, and Stephanie Cheng Smith. They’ve performed multiple concerts online (like this one!) and even got reviewed in The Wire!
Mak Grgić (Elemental Guitar Director)
In addition to teaching and performing virtually, Mak launched the Virtual Guitar Orchestra! This global guitar community initiative was born originally out of an idea to create a new audience development tool, and ended up being a necessity to keep the guitar community alive and active during the Covid-19 pandemic. It has been gaining worldwide attention and has been featured on many leading classical guitar publications and organizations, including Gendai Guitar Magazine, Classical Guitar Magazine (online edition), Guitar Foundation of America, Guitar Salon International, This Is Classical Guitar, and dozens of guitar societies around the world. The Library of Congress has selected and archived this initiative as culturally and socially significant for the times of the pandemic.
The VGO team is now helping music ensembles throughout the US keep up with virtual music making, having been awarded a generous grant for the work by the Augustine Foundation. Elemental Music was proud to serve as a fiscal receiver and supporter of the project.
Susan Rishik (Bergmann Project)
Susan is a violinist and longtime member of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO). With LACO, she has kept busy making virtual performances as part of their Close Quarters series. We love this video of Susan performing music from Central and South America, mostly Baroque.
Peter Senchuk (Elemental Band Director, Academy Philharmonic Director)
Though in-person performances may be on hold, Peter has been busy composing. He recently finished a commission for Dr. Pam Youngblood of the Texas Woman’s University. “Hiraeth” is a piece for flute and piano. This Welsh word translates to “deep longing for home” or deep nostalgia. Pam is of Welsh heritage, and was planning to play it in Wales on a concert tour that was cancelled because of Covid. Peter looks forward to the premiere of the piece, whenever live performances are possible again!
Erin Wells (Academy Philharmonic)
Since the start of the pandemic, Erin and her boyfriend Christian have been keeping busy learning new music and playing together. They have especially enjoyed learning some gypsy jazz tunes! Click the video to watch their version of “Les Yeux Noirs,” inspired by the group Coco Briaval, guitarist Django Reinhardt, and violinist Stéphane Grappelli.