And Again!

It's Saturday, and we are back at the Marlboro Music Festival rehearsals, but this time, Katie and Savanna have joined us! Our morning got off to a somewhat anxious start, however. It started at Subaru - a place I seem to have spent a lot of time lately! Since we picked up the car last Tuesday, we have been having a lot of trouble with the engine stalling. Not all the time, but often when we would come to a stop at an intersection, or even gear down to first gear going up the driveway. Last night, Ellen and I got to talking about the fact that she was driving to Swarthmore tomorrow, and we got to thinking about what that problem would mean in a situation like bumper-to-bumper traffic on the New Jersey Turnpike! We decided that she should not drive that car to PA! What to do? I checked and found Subaru Service is open on Saturdays. I called them and left a message describing the problem and warning them that we were showing up at 8a.m.! So we got up early and were there at the stroke of 8. And they took us in without a scheduled appointment. We went into the waiting room and called K&S to warn them we might be late at Marlboro. But 20 minutes later, Shayne the service guy came out and said, "You are all set." The problem was a dirty throttle! And that indeed has taken care of the problem. Whew!

Right now we are listening to Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring.

Strings and winds playing Copland

The first violin in the Copland is Scott St.John. He is a faculty member at the Colburn School in Los Angeles. We've noticed several students and graduates of the Colburn school are among this year's musicians.

"Violinist Scott St. John is the Director of Chamber Music at The Colburn School in Los Angeles. He leads the chamber music programs in the Colburn School’s Conservatory of Music and pre-college Music Academy. Scott is Concertmaster of the innovative ROCO Chamber Orchestra in Houston, Texas, and a frequent participant at the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont. Born in London Canada, early violin success gave Scott a path to the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia and the chance to work with David Cerone, Arnold Steinhardt and Felix Galimir. After winning the Alexander Schneider Competition and playing a Carnegie Hall debut, NYC pulled Scott into its orbit, where Young Concert Artists gave him fabulous opportunities for performance. In addition to a magical year of working at the Disney Store in Times Square, Scott has been Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, and Artist-in-Residence at Stanford University as part of the St. Lawrence String Quartet. He has received an Avery Fisher Career Grant and won a Juno Award for recording Mozart with his sister Lara St. John. He has founded two chamber music awards for students: the Felix Galimir Award at University of Toronto and the Ida Levin Award at the Colburn School. Scott loves chamber music, Dvorak, new music, music by less-known composers, and a great espresso. He has been to all the Canadian provinces, 49 of the United States, and would prefer to travel by train when practical. He is married to violist Sharon Wei and they have a spirited daughter named Julia."

Scott St. John

The flautist is Marina Piccinini (born 1968), "an Italian American virtuoso flautist. She is noted for her performances of compositions by Mozart and Bach, and has performed with many of the world's top orchestras and conductors. Piccinini was born in the United States to an Italian father and a Brazilian mother. Piccinini became interested in the operas of Mozart as a young girl at the age of 7, and began playing the flute at the age of 10. She grew up in Newfoundland, Canada and did not have formal flute lessons from a teacher until she was 16. In Toronto, she won First Prize in the CBC Young Performers Competition^. She later moved to New York City to commence studying at the prestigious Juilliard School and won First Prize in New York's Concert Artists Guild International Competition. She was awarded a scholarship by the Concert Artists Guild in 1986, winning First Prize in their international competition. In 1991, she became the first flutist to receive an Avery Fisher Career Grant from the Lincoln Center and was named Young Artist to watch by Musical America. She has studied under mentors such as Jeanne Baxtresser, Julius Baker.and Aurele Nicolet."

Marina Piccinini