Monthly Archives: August 2008

Update for Vocal Students

By Melanie Alpert | Studio News , voice

Voice lessons will resume the day after Labor Day, Tuesday, September 2. If you have a Monday lesson time, your lessons will start on Monday September 8th. I am doing a lot of reorganizing of my studio and I need this extra week. All lessons will remain at the same time if I have not heard from you and/or you have not requested a different time. I am still working on scheduling and should have new schedules ready some time next week. I will email them out to you, plus a list of phone numbers in case you occasionally need to switch a lesson with another student. If you do not want your phone number on that list please let me know right away. If you need to change a permanent time slot you must let me know asap.

Hope you all had a wonderful summer. Now it’s time to get back in the swing! I look forward to seeing and hearing all of you!

An Evening at Disney Hall

By billalpert | Studio News

A cast of hundreds including studio student Cesar Quintero perform at Disney Hall

You couldn’t help but be inspired. The dramatic sweep of Vaughan Williams‘ 20th century cantata, Dona Nobis Pacem, covers the range of emotions from tender to majestic. To be in the middle of hundreds of soaring voices and full orchestra in the acoustically perfect setting of Walt Disney Concert Hall is an experience not to be forgotten.

Indeed, studio student Cesar Quintero was in the middle of it all, along with the Festival Choir and Orchestra of the Idyllwild Music Festival. It was a performance worthy of any concert hall in the world. And it was more impressive in light of the fact that this young ensemble of students could create such a polished performance of what is a very complex and technically brilliant concert piece.

Kudos to Cesar, along with the Idyllwild faculty and student body for their efforts. It was truly in inspirational evening.

In the News

By billalpert | New Category , Studio News , voice

Alpert Studio student Mercedes Machado, picutured with Melanie Alpert, as featured in the local press. Photo: David Bauman

After attending a special summer program at the Idyllwild Arts Academy, Mercedes Machado is making waves in the regional newspaper, the Press-Enterprise. Mercedes attended the musical theater program on a recent scholarship award from the San Bernardino County Music Educators Association.

We’re proud to see yet another studio student recognized for her accomplishments. We invite you to read the full article online. Kudos, Mercedes!

Finding Inspiration

By billalpert | violin , voice

Our trip to Canada brought scenes of splendor at every turn. The magic of a mountain sunset, the brilliance of a hillside covered by wildflowers, the misty spray of a waterfall all bring me into the “moment of now.” It is a visceral, physical sense of joy and completeness.

For me, music is fully another element of nature. It shares nature’s power to inspire. In peak moments it provides the same visceral sense of being at peace with myself and my world. These sometimes fleeting moments are more than enough motivation to keep me focussed on the day to day practice.

After taking in the Fiddle River (in Alberta, Canada) I wanted to bring its sense of perfect flow to my own playing. Does the river have a negative internal dialogue? Is it plagued by physical tension and performance anxiety? I just wanted to be there making music, letting a musical drama unfold in its own perfect sequence. Isn’t that how the great performers capture our imagination?

And yet finding the path to the moment is elusive… what is the key to unlocking it nature?

That is the journey, I suppose, that all musicians must embark upon. And I suppose that finding the true essence of the music I play is part of that key. A thousand notes taken together form their own sense of completeness and perfection.

Saying it more practically, I want my performance to be about something. Not necessarily a physical something, but something felt physically. Maybe it’s about the faint scent of Jasmine during an evening stroll. Maybe it’s the symphonic grandeur of glacial mountain shrouded in clouds. Or the perfectly happy feeling I get from a tiny yellow flower stealing a bit of sunshine from underneath the shadow of the trees.