Date: Fri 26-Jan-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Illustration: C

Quick Words:

Bjaland-WSO-Discovery-Concert

Full Text:

(Waterbury Symphony Orchestra's Discovery Concert Series, 1/26/96)

With Maestro Leif Bjaland & The WSO-

Discover How Much Fun Classical Music Can Be

(with photos)

By Shannon Hicks

WATERBURY - The setting is familiar: a concert hall. Specifically, the Main

Stage Theatre at the Fine Arts Center at Naugatuck Valley Community Technical

College in Waterbury, where the Waterbury Symphony Orchestra performs many of

its concerts.

On this particular Sunday afternoon, although the setting is familiar and some

of the players are also familiar - they are, after all, members of the WSO -

there is an air of casualness as the musicians on stage begin tuning up their

instruments. The cellists, violinists and oboists are all wearing T-shirts,

and the audience entering the auditorium is dressed nearly as casually.

Welcome to the second of this year's Waterbury Symphony Orchestra "Discovery"

concerts. The Discovery Concerts are a series of hour-long, informal concerts

in which WSO music director and conductor Leif Bjaland leads the audience on a

wonderful journey of music and education. The best part is, the audience has

so much fun during these mini-concerts, many leave the concert hall not even

realizing how much information they have just gained.

When Maestro Bjaland was hired as the new music director and conductor of the

WSO prior to its 1994-95 season, he brought with him not only a desire to lead

the orchestra in the same strong vein of concert programs it has provided for

over half a century, but also the urge to help the well-respected orchestra

grow.

It was this dedication to holding onto already established WSO fans, and the

desire to attract more, which led Mr Bjaland to work with the WSO to create

the Discovery Concert Series.

"The process of going to a concert, of being a part of the large music family,

is very important," the conductor said last Sunday afternoon. Mr Bjaland was

sitting in the front hall of the Fine Arts Center, still in his overcoat and

unwrapping his scarf from around his neck as he spoke with the undeniable

passion for music that has probably driven him most of his young life.

"I think everybody should be given the opportunity to be touched by music," he

continued. "I feel those who come here, their world is a little more

interesting, a little richer, for coming."

Mr Bjaland inaugurated the Discovery Concert Series last season. The hour-long

presentations present new ways for audiences to listen to, understand and even

get a better feeling for classical music, which can sometimes intimidate new

listeners just by the complicated presentations many associate with this

musical genre. While regular season concerts are performed on Saturday

evenings, the Discovery series is held the following afternoon.

There are three Discovery concerts scheduled this season, the third of which

will be presented May 19. The Discovery Concert last weekend, on Sunday,

January 21, was titled "What Is A Concerto?" It featured many of the stringed

instrument musicians of the WSO, along with the orchestra's guest artist of

its Saturday evening concert, violinist Scott St. John.

Discovery Concerts generally tie in with the orchestra's full concerts in that

some of the same music is performed and the guest artist is again featured in

the Sunday afternoon program. However, attendance to the Saturday concert is

not required to understand or enjoy a Discovery Concert on Sunday.

The goal of last Sunday's program was to explain to the audience - which

ranged in age from children too young to walk on their own to seniors enjoying

the musical program, and everyone in between - the history of the concerto,

from its roots in the 17th Century to Mozart's five violin concerto pieces,

the fifth of which was written when the young composer was just 19 years old.

A concerto is described as a work in which a solo instrument, or group of

instruments, contrasts with an orchestral ensemble.

The afternoon began when concertmaster Alyce Cognetta Berta took her seat -

the rest of the musicians had been making their way to the stage for the

better part of an hour, talking with each other and presumably discussing

Saturday evening's concert. Then came the entrance of Maestro Bjaland,

followed by Scott St. John, and the stage was set.

Because the featured piece of the program was to be Mozart's Concerto for

Violin and Orchestra, No. 5, in A Major, K219 , Maestro Bjaland and Mr St.

John took time to talk with the audience about the violin, demonstrating old

playing techniques versus more contemporary playing (which features more

vibrato), the differences between newer bows and old (early ones were made

with cat's hair and were stringed much more tautly), and even where the name

for a "bow" originated.

The program also included excepts from Vivaldi's Four Seasons , with Bjaland

reading a segment of the poem Vivaldi based this masterpiece on, followed by

an excerpt from the last movement of "Summer," and Mr St. John offering bits

and pieces of a cadenza for the piece.

Bjaland's speaking techniques immediately set the tone for the hour: relaxed,

yet upbeat; humorous, but not silly; entertaining, informative and most

importantly, friendly. He does not speak at his audience, nor does he attempt

to go over its collective head. Instead, Bjaland gives his program an easy

give-and-take, around-the-dinner-table feeling.

Seeing the musicians not as the staid, stodgy serious people stereotypes would

have us believe "classical musicians" should look like, Maestro Bjaland and

the musicians present a highly enjoyable program. Unlike a concert, the

Discovery programs are unrehearsed - Bjaland admitted he still was unsure of

exactly what he would say on stage when he arrived at the concert hall 30

minutes before the show.

But that is part of the magic he hopes to convey to new, or young, or just

inexperienced classical music listeners. Music can be as spontaneous as wit;

it can make mistakes, laugh at itself and still come out entertaining,

beautiful and awe-inspiring. Classical music can be a bit intimidating when

first trying to understand all parts of an orchestra, the different movements

of a particular piece, the different roles musicians play in its presentation.

Music is intended to be heard and re-heard; classical music - all music, says

Bjaland - should be easy to understand and enjoyed by everyone.

You do not have to enter a concert hall with all these answers. That is what

Maestro Bjaland is there for: He wants to help everyone understand the

wide-reaching world of music, from its inner complexities to its outward

enjoyment.

"Once you have the opportunity to see music's inner working," he believes,

"you have a much more heightened appreciation of the phenomenon, of the whole

event."

Attendance to Discovery Concerts has already risen 15-20 percent over last

year's figures. The inaugural season saw the WSO present two Discovery

concerts last year; the number has already increased to three this season,

with steady increases in the number of people attending.

"We knew it would take a little while for people to find out what this is all

about," Maestro Bjaland said. "But they're really catching on.

"Our primary passion is to pass the enjoyment and love of music on to the next

generation," he continued. "It is our duty, and an honor. Music is wonderful!

[Introducing people to music] is like opening the door on a beautiful and

fantastic garden.

"Our job as musicians is to invite them in."