I am writing this from the comfort of my couch in Queens, but savoring all of the adventures that I had over the past few days at the University of Northern Iowa!
On Thursday (Halloween 2024), I had the privilege of flying to the Waterloo Airport (by way of O’Hare) for a residency at the University of Northern Iowa, which is in the heart of Cedar Falls, Iowa, a small city of about 40,000 residents. It was a cold shocker of a day, contrasting the balmy high 70s (plus) that New Yorkers were experiencing (in fact it got down to 27 degrees Thursday night!) I was invited earlier this year by Dr. Tyler Hendrickson, viola professor at University of Northern Iowa, and a dear old friend of mine from a summer spent at the Aspen Music Festival!
Shortly after my arrival on Thursday, I got right to work, getting to teach a few of Tyler’s viola students, and then giving my second installment of the Postcards Recital Tour! The performance included works by Donna Doyle; A. Leilahua Lanzilotti; Anthony R. Green; H. I. F. Biber; LJ White; Dennis Bàthory-Kitsz; Günter Raphael; and Lev “Ljova” Zhurbin. Several of these works were Iowa premieres (notably the Lanzilotti; Bàthory-Kitsz; and Zhurbin). I had the chance to perform a Davis Hall, a beautiful space that was acoustically pleasing for the viola, and easy to respond to, with an appreciative audience.
On Friday, I had the chance to work with several more viola students. The students I got to work with were an eclectic mix of bright and talented musicians, several of whom are music majors (including Music Education and Composition), and a few that were non-music majors who were committed to continuing to improve their viola chops! Afterwards, I had a chance to explore a bit around downtown Cedar Falls, getting to hang out in one of the park spaces a long the Cedar River.
On Saturday, I had the distinct honor of being a Guest Artist at the UNI Viola Festival, a day-long exploration and celebration of all things viola! The day from start to finish was a ton of fun! I got to work with the senior viola ensemble, a group of about a dozen students (which included some talented Middle Schoolers, High Schoolers, and UNI students to assist), playing one of Bèla Bartok’s duos (the Ruthenian Folk Song), a four-part arrangement of the Trèpak from the Nutcracker Suite; and an arrangement of the theme from the second movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7! I also had the honor of giving a masterclass to one of the UNI violists who is giving his senior recital in a few weeks. He performed the third movement of Schumann’s Märchenbilder, which is admittedly one of the more daunting movements. The afternoon culminated with a concert that included both Viola Ensembles– (the Junior Ensemble was conducted by Dr. Spencer Martin, who is the viola professor at Luther College); I gave an encore performance of Lev “Ljova” Zhurbin’s Cynhops, a jazzy and rollicking piece, and Spencer performed two works by Lillian Fuchs. The performance culminated with J. S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 6, helping to fulfill a bucket list goal of performing this masterpiece live. It was wonderful getting to perform the Viola 1 part (and collaborating with Tyler on the second part), and getting to collaborate with Spencer and Kathi Angeroth playing the Viola da Gamba parts on viola; Alexander Wemmie on cello; and UNI faculty William Yager on bass and Vakhtang Kodanashvilil on piano. As the grand finale, the combined festival viola ensemble performed the Theme for Vitula by Gale Lesemann, a composition major (and viola student) at UNI. (Vitula is the studio mascot, a stuffed panther that doubles as a support animal for the violists in the studio.)
I left Iowa early on Sunday, to return for a rehearsal with the Palisades Sinfonietta (our performance, conducted by Audrey Edelstein, takes place next Sunday, November 10th at the Broadway Presbyterian Church in Manhattan), and to gear up for a few exciting projects taking place later this week (including a workshop I am giving at tomorrow’s NYSCAME conference, as well as two more installments of the Postcards Solo Viola Recital tour, one on Saturday, November 9th at 3pm, in Long Island City at the Multimodal Roastery; and the other on Sunday, November 17th, at 4pm, at the Lilypad at Inman Square, in Cambridge, MA.
Gregory K. Williams 