Classical jazz

The classical equivalent of a jam session is a play through, I guess.  I was asked to cover for a session playing the Trout last Thursday evening in someone's house with just family and dog as audience.  The request just came on Thursday morning so I had a sight read at home with a recording and revisited a few of the harder passages that weren't such easy reads (not least a lovely jazz-like diminished run).  Then the run through that evening.  The musos were very capable.  We got pulled up a few times, repeated a few other times (I was responsible for some of each) but mostly it worked well (perhaps only in my "good enough for jazz" hat).  I was happy because I should know the Trout.  It's one of a popular few chamber pieces with double bass.  Two similar others were mentioned: a Beethoven septet and a Schubert octet.  I've played each of them, as I had the Trout, but a regular run through wouldn't hurt.  And then a chat and a drink.  First bowing for the new year and with such a capable crew.  What a treat.  Thanks for the invitation.

The lineup for the Trout was by George Chan (piano), Georgina Tran (violin), John Gould (viola), Rita Woolhouse (cello) and Eric Pozza (bass).

Family matters

And great matters they were: Vaughan Williams and Beethoven; Lark ascending and Emperor concerto. The theme of our latest Maruki concert was Keeping it in the family. The solos were played by daughter Georgina Chan on violin for Lark ascending and her father George Chan on piano for the Emperor concerto. They both did wonderfully well. Georgina is studying music at UQ so expected, but fabulous none-the-less. George is a doctor, so this is a hobby, but again this was wonderfully convincing. But that's not all. Maruki concerts can feel like steak knives in their extent: that's why I enjoy them. John Gould has us playing the repertoire: all the names and seriously demanding stuff. The added works for this concert were Brahms symphony no.3 and Borodin Polovtsian dances. It would be a demanding program for a professional orchestra let alone a community orchestra, but Maruki takes it on. Yes, there were times our intonation and timing could have been better, but we've learned four major pieces and playing them is so much more instructive than just hearing them, however many times you do that. So, congrats to George and Georgina who truly did themselves proud, and thanks to John and the orchestra for expanding my experience of the repertoire. And to add, the story of the basses. We were four on the day so satisfyingly present in the mix. Jennifer had been around for the term so she was a mainstay. I only returned from Europe shortly before and arrived with Melissa, of CYO and ANU, for the final two practices. Then once-Maruki bassist, Naomi, literally arrived unexpected on the day to play (!) . And yet the basses sounded and sounded well. Congrats to a capable crew!


Maruki Orchestra performed Beethoven, Brahms, Vaughan Williams and Borodin at the Albert Hall under John Gould (conductor) and Melvyn Cann (concertmaster). Soloist Georgina Chan (violin) played Lark ascending and her father, George Chan (piano) played Beethoven piano concerto no.5 Emperor. The bottom end coagulated over the weeks and days leading up to the concert: they were Jennifer Groom, Melissa Fung, Naomi Barber and Eric Pozza (basses).