Okay world, so I've decided I am going to post every day about my DMA audition journey from now -September 5, 2021 until the date of my audition, hopefully in February 2022 6 months from now! DMA stands for Doctor of Musical Arts- it is the highest level of college training for musicians. I am applying to go back to school to continue my training as a cellist and my audition for acceptance requires performing a full concerto (mine is by Gerald Finzi and is 16 pages) - by memory, a full Bach suite (mine is #6)- by memory, and at least one other piece (I'm still confirming this one)... Posting will help me with accountability/celebration/ideas for my daily progress. Articulating in writing what I need to do/am doing will help me organize and pay attention to my process, for myself and for teaching... 

I started around Christmas of 2021 identifying repertoire... I had already been working on Bach 6 during covid some and before so I decided to focus on that... I curently can play most movements with three about 50% memorized... chose Finzi... played through it very roughly... started learning bits of Kodaly... fingering mostly...almost all of it in a basic version so far... had a lesson on Kodaly and a lesson on Bach prelude... In August I went backpacking on the Long Trail in Vermont... and now....

Here Goes! 

Special thanks to Steve Lester for his kind article in the Lake Placid News. You can read it here: 

http://www.lakeplacidnews.com/page/content.detail/id/529308/ARTIST-PROFILE--Cellist-Esther-Rogers-Baker-brings-music-to-the-community.html www.lakeplacidnews.com/page/content.detail/id/529308/ARTIST-PROFILE--Cellist-Esther-Rogers-Baker-brings-music-to-the-community.html

I recently sent a relative to my Christmas wish list on Amazon. The first entry said 'Roomful of Teeth' and I had to explain... Roomful of Teeth is by far the most exciting artistic thing I've heard all year... and I was introduced to them in a roundabout way through a BBC post on what style of singing is the most challening to learn; the ensemble used for teaching consult was this group and I thought maybe I could google them... and from my very own kitchen via technology I was totally blown away and inspired. Later when friends in a band came for dinner I had to play them a song and they also sat stunned. I can't wait to hear them live. Christmas present? Someone out there? Their website is Roomful of teeth . org if you want to be excited and challenged and feel like art is real to you again... Take a Listen! 

In May I finally got started.

I decided to use the long distance runner training method for beginning marathoners.

The basic  idea is that to increase distance endurance you need short, middle, and long distance runs that increase over several months. You also need rest days to recover from the long runs. For mental health I added very short distances.

Each had four practice time lengths. One very short, two short, two middle, one long = 6 days of practicing, 1 day off.  



Week One:
Very Short .10 minutes
Short .20 minutes
Middle .45 minutes
Long 1 hour and .25 minutes

For eleven weeks I gradually added time... 

I learned in running that after you've built up distance for awhile to slow down adding miles and focus on building the middle distances. That way you get stronger overall through-out the week and are less prone to injury or burn out. I also learned for myself that somewhere along the line you will need a week or two of lower mileage either because of fatigue, personal circumstances, or motivation. This was also true for practicing. I could have planned for it- I learned that lesson already! Instead I had to re-adjust my schedule for a break week.

There were some other adjustments along the way too; for example on week five I found that I couldn't move forward so I repeated week four. On week nine I skipped the middle distances and decided to continue on anyway with week ten. I also started physical therapy for my right shoulder. I have a lax tendon that has given me trouble since a volleyball injury. When it is very bad I will have a partial dislocation. One night after a gig I was carrying my things in from the car and twisted a little bit and the shoulder gave way and I dropped my cello and bags onto the driveway. It was scary and then painful. I sat on the car bumper and cried. As I went to therapy to strengthen the shoulder muscles that I wasn't activating on my own, I had to balance the practice regimen with the amount of fatigue/mild pain I experienced. Each week I would plan out where to place the various practice distances, adjusting where necessary based on work, therapy, etc. 

My final week before the festival started my schedule said:
Very Short .45 
Short 1  1/2 hours
Middle 2  1/2 hours
Long 3  1/2 hours

That week I did my one long, one middle, one short and then three very short. 

I didn't quite make it to my goal of four hours but I was ready for the festival! I was so proud of myself for all those practice sessions from .10 minutes a day to 3  1/2 hours! I was also grateful to have access to professional care to help me stay healthy along the way. 

If you'd like a copy of my entire plan plus tips send me an email!  [email protected]

Quick update... I am still out here!
I live in the Adirondacks, where there is not a lot of work, but some good things are happening here. I'm most excited currently about playing for Loon Lake Live ! Check them out at Loonlakelive.org.
I am also excited about applying for grants for a lot of ideas that I have. Below are a few, with more details to come. I recently received my first grant ever! $500 towards Adirondack Sound Performance.
Its summer! Get outside!
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Adirondack Sound Performance ; Preserving the natural sound of the Adirondacks through recording, composition and performance. 
Collaboration with Composer/musician Will Northlich-Redmond and Gene Baker ; Gene and I have been asked to perform one Will's recent compositions about the brain and music.   
EZ; MRI+3 Cellos ;  Raising money to present more performances of the piece I wrote with artist STERZ
SCODE duo with Greg Whittemore ; school tour around Scodanibbio's Western Lands, and recording session
String Orchestra Project ; an in-the-works project to create a string orchestra in the Adirondacks with paid positions for professional musicians, and open to string players of all ages from absolute beginner on up. 
FIGURES; a composition project in the works incorporating skate sounds with cello and electronic manipulation.
​Dance Project TBA 

I went looking for Boismortier cello duets to buy online... typed everythingcello . com, found danieldelaneymusic.com and now, as an excuse to stop my blah practicing and as a diversion from the reality of my current cello chop weaknesses, I'm listening to Skye and Folk Suite. So many cellists are finding their own personal bands now. They record and layer their own sound; the cello, their voice, their own rhythmic accompaniment of chopping... A perhaps easier and more satisfying band experience for the contemporary cellist trying to fit into a band; a way to avoid the stereotypes... token cellist as a sex icon in a traditional band filling out harmonies, cello as the new electric guitar, cello as the new double bass, cello as the bridge between classical, folk and rock. Perhaps this last the most authentic in its recent roles even if it still fills a stereotype. Delaney sings well in tune with rich chords and choppy rhythms, intimate personal words. His piece September is interesting because it has more jazz than rock influence and isn't so stuck where cellos have landed even with the chop and hand slaps reminiscent of Julie-O. I could do without the full-out arco chords. What I like is the jazzy 'bach-ness' of September and this makes me listen to it again, and again. It is thick and dexterous with a swing. Edit, Delaney and we'd be cool! 

7/8/16 Just watched Maya Beiser on Tiny Desk Concerts NPR. She also creates her own ensemble through her own sound. I enjoyed her piece but have to say I reacted to the girl cellist stereotype image despite huge respect for her career. 

I just wrote a blog for Spectrum Creative Arts about science and art as equals. You can read it here:
Blog

Just found out last week that I was accepted into the Aldo and Leonardo Wilderness Science and Art Collaboration. I will be working with a team of scientists and artists during the month of September in the Canyon of the Ancients, Colorado. Together we will be exploring and responding to the things we learn... I will be blogging about the project here:
http://aldoandleonardo.blogspot.com/ 

Today I found a blue sticky note sideways posted in between Yampolsky scale studies, Haydn, Britten, Melinda Wagner parts and other random papers on the sofa chair next to where I practice. The little reminder note said: HANK ROBERTS  
GENTLE GIANT
I don't recall who told me about Hank Roberts, or why I wrote down both his name and the 1970 band Gentle Giant. I wonder if they are connected in some way, but my initial look at Wickepedia didn't give any clues. Gentle Giant was formed from the music of three Scottish-Jewish brothers who lived in Portsmouth, England. Hank Roberts is an American electric cellist about ten years younger than the brothers and said to have 'emerged with the New York Downtown jazz scene in the 1980's.'

'Ultimate Music Store' labels Roberts as part of the jazz genre and has his album  With Marc Ducret & Jim Black-Green posted and available for a pre-listen. I'm listening to it now. Mr.Roberts covers quite a range of musical ground I'm not quite sure how to label... blues, funk, experimental, folk, pretty, ugly, bracing, soothing, out-there, intricate classical string voicing, wailing guitar chops, contemporary extended technique, quirky, jarring... clearly a cellist with ears for a wide expanse of stylings and meaning.

Wickepedia states:
"In the early '80s he made a number of recordings for the defunct JMT label, was a featured member of the Bill
Frisell Quartet, and was an important voice in many groups of saxophonist Tim Berne. He also recorded three discs with the Arcado String Trio, an improvisational chamber group featuring Mark Feldman, violin, and Mark Dresser, double bass. In the early '90s he left Frisell's group and stopped touring widely. Roberts continued to release recordings, if sporadically, including with the progressive folk group, Ti Ti Chickapea. In 2008 Roberts' was again touring and performing regularly, releasing Green (with Jim Black and Marc Ducret) on Winter & Winter, Stefan F. Winters subsequent label to JMT. In December 2011, Winter and Winter released Roberts'
Everything Is Alive, as well as re-releasing Roberts' entire JMT catalogue."

The photos on Mr.Roberts website are oddly familiar and I wonder if I've seen him perform somewhere. In London? No... where? Maybe I just looked him up once... but I never listened, and I think, that here is something any cellist can appreciate and learn from. Just listen to these reviews from his site! It was a good sticky note...
er

 Nürnberger Zeitung: 
the American cellist [Hank Roberts] dares to present
magical musical field tests, which sound as delicate as a moribund musical box
or intoxicating emotional like a pop song. Grumpy, but yes, ingenious.“      
January 10, 2012

 Südkurier: “From the beginning this music opens the horizon. […] Since
the 80s Hank Roberts has achieved for his instrument […] a completely new
position that he keeps on strengthening. Genre limits are too narrow for him,
important is his own fusion of elements, which are brought together in an
improvisational way…

 Music full of air, lightness and delight in playing, characterized by
listening and reacting to each other, sustained by a natural sound and elevating
the listener to comforting spheres.”            January 13, 2012

http://www.hankrobertsmusic.com/