April 4, 2008

From David:

For me, having James Dunham in town was like reconnecting with long lost family.  The Cleveland Quartet shaped my musical education during my most absorbent years as a student.  At that time, I was in a wonderful quartet that was able to learn from them throughout our undergraduate careers at the Eastman School of Music.

The list of things I took from my time with the Cleveland Quartet is endless, really.  Among them were: inspiration, instrumental mastery, compelling musicianship, musical sensitivity, how to blend sounds, study a score, and rehearse ensemble and intonation.  They also taught us practical human skills, like how to resolve conflict, how to treat one's colleagues with respect, and how to give one another personal space while still meeting the necessary time commitment a string quartet demands.

Now fast-forward fourteen years.  Having James Dunham in town for the week was like peeling away the veil of time to rediscover all of these happy lessons.  In the week he was here, James taught several lessons, presented two masterclasses and a pair of performances with our quartet.  His positive energy, inquisitive mind, sense of humor and musicianship were an inspiration to students and professionals alike.  It was truly wonderful to reconnect with this particular member of the Euclid family! 

February 4, 2008

from Jacob:

Getting older is so feared these days.  But getting older is precisely what brought us one of the biggest thrills of the past month.  We were invited to visit Oberlin Conservatory a few weeks ago -- a place where Jamie and I spent a lot of time in the early days of the quartet, getting violin lessons and quartet coachings.  Being there again was a great thrill, because this time we were on the other side of things, teaching a masterclass and performing.  And we could look at an old familiar place, but from an entirely different perspective.  Thanks to getting older.  (And maybe a little wiser, too.)

However, the greatest thrill of that visit was seeing my old teacher, and an influential mentor of the group, Gregory Fulkerson.  We even got him to pose with us for a picture in front of some imposing piece of machinery.   Still the teacher to us, in spite of our being so much older now, it was wonderful to hear from him that we've come a long way since then.  And that we still have a few ways to improve... 

All the emotions of that visit to Oberlin didn't diminish the fun times we had collaborating with our good friends in the Degas Quartet, for what surely won't be our last rendition of "The Octet" (Mendelssohn, of course!).  Thanks to Paul and all the rest in Charlotte.

Best,
Jacob

January 8, 2008

New year, and a new approach to our journal.  In order to show off each member's personality a bit more, we'll each be taking a turn at the journal entries.  Jameson was the lucky one to get first crack at it:

No rest for the Euclid (or not much anyway).  After flying back from a trip to balmy England on New Years Day, Jacob picked me up at the airport in South Bend in a horrendous snow storm.  In search of warmer climes and our two partners in crime, we both flew out the next day to Newark to get ready for our showcase at the Chamber Music America National Convention in New York.  We didn't find much warmth, but Luis and David were lurking in New Jersey just itching to rehearse our program of Mendelssohn, Ades, Bartok and Ravel.  We were all treated to wonderful hospitality at Martha's parents' house in Pennington, NJ, where we stayed and rehearsed.  In true EQ style we rewarded ourselves for our hard work with a trip to the local brewpub (Great Stout!!). 

Once in New York at the convention we were lucky to meet lots of old pals (great to see you Armando, Ella, Maia Quartet, Quartet San Francisco, Calder Quartet, etc, etc.).  David and Luis even got to squeeze in a somewhat leisurely lunch with their wives (Martha and Carrie) and snapped this shot:

(Luis and David are so tall that framing photos well is often difficult. Carrie's there, really! Can you find her?)  Anyway, the showcase went very well - we got a good crowd, and we all enjoyed our latest adventure in the big apple.  Thanks George, thanks Ruth!!

'til next time, Jamie

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