It is hard to believe that my time at the American Viola Society Festival in Los Angeles already zipped by! As tempted as I was to write about everything while it was happening, it made more sense for me to wait until I returned home to Queens to give myself a bit more perspective!
This was 8th Viola Festival (or Congress) having made pilgrimages to several over the last 12 years: 2012 AVS/IVS (International Viola Society) Congress in Rochester, NY; 2014 in LA; 2016 in Oberlin; 2018 in LA; 2019 was the IVS Congress in Poznàn, Poland; 2021 was online (delayed a year due to COVID); 2022 in Columbus, Georgia; and back in LA again! Each Festival or Congress has its own unique flavor and character, and the adventures vary from year to year.
I arrived in Los Angeles on Tuesday morning, and unlike previous trips (in 2014 I rented a Toyota Yaris and snuck around to see relatives in Anaheim, and made it to Malibu, and in 2018 Diana and I stayed with my brother-in-law Louis) this time I was carless and mostly relied on walking, the LA Metro system, and an occasional Lyft late at night. On Tuesday night I had the chance to meet up with Corinne Olsen, an LA-based freelancer on violin and viola who I knew from our Brookhaven Youth Orchestra days (24+ years ago), and I probably haven’t seen her in person since around that time.
On Wednesday, I had the privilege of judging the final round of the American Viola Society Senior Competition (for high school-age students), and was blown away by such incredible talent). It was stunning to see the poise, preparation, and hard work that each of these students exhibited. I was stunned by their abilities to perform several works flawlessly, and from memory! I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the violists that performed will be household names (at least among other violists) in the not-to-distant future!
There is a joke that quite often several of the NY-based violists have to travel across the country to see each other at these festivals, and this conference proved to be no exception. It was great catching up with so many amazing musicians (not just violists, and not just NYC-based people): Jay Julio; Wendy Richman; Hillary Herndon; Kimia Hasabi; Sakari Dixon Vanderveer; Karen Ritscher; Daphne Gerling; Ames Asbell; Christina Ebersohl; Tony DeVroye; Hannah Levinson; Katrin Meidell; Melissa Matson; Michael Larco; Kate Lewis; Dwight Pounds; Kenneth Martinson; and Jessica Meyer (and several others!). I was blown away by Jessica’s stunning performance of her compositions, which really inspired me in profound ways.
On Thursday morning, I had the distinct honor of presenting and performing the solo viola music of Anthony R. Green. I played three of his works: Nachtspiel (2006); Two Pages for Kara (2011), which was written in memory of my younger sister Kara Lynn Williams; and on/Zeker (2012, rev. 2018). The presentation included excerpts of an interview I had with Anthony earlier this week. I will do my best to share the recording of the presentation when it is available.
I also had a free consultation with the folks from Connolly Music and have the chance to try out the new Dynamo strings made by Thomastik Infeld. I have been a longtime user of Evah Pirazzi strings (usually with a Larsen A), and was blown away by how alive my viola was sounding after they were put on! I may be a convert!
It is amazing to see two hundred something violists from all across the country and from around the world coming together to dork out for a few days, with the youngest violists barely entering their double digits to some of the oldest participants well into their late 80s, and everyone in between.
I am back home in Queens now, but plan to catch up on several of the online presentations at the American Viola Society Festival in the coming weeks! I am humbled by the inspirations, with fresh thoughts and ideas that I hope to begin putting into practice in the weeks and months ahead. Until then, happy belated Juneteenth, happy Summer Solstice, and stay tuned for more fun happenings to come!
Gregory K. Williams 