From:
By Joseph Dalton Special to the Times Union
Published 12:01 a.m., Thursday, September 29, 2011
Until he was 18 years old, Christopher Vuk played only classical music. That's because nothing else was possible on the violin, or so he thought.
"It was in college that I first played rock and pop and African music," says Vuk, 26, "and now that's what I do."
Popular music and world beat styles are at the heart of the Boston String Quartet, which will be performing on Saturday night at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall. But an equal part of the quartet's mission is education, and so the BSQ is sharing the program with approximately 100 local high school music students, who will play as the Ethno-Urban Orchestra.
Vuk and his colleagues arrive in town on Friday for two days of intensive training sessions with young players from 14 different high schools across the region, sharing the good news that the music heard on the radio can also be produced from traditional string, woodwind and brass instruments.
"Ninety-nine percent of music we hear is pop and rock, but 95 percent of music education is classical music. I'm a great lover of classical music, but it doesn't reflect the listening trends of society," says Vuk. "Our purpose is to provide students with the opportunity to play music that they wouldn't normally have access to."
The most traditional item on Saturday evening's program, which is split between performances by the quartet and the orchestra, will come from George Gershwin. Otherwise, there's Michael Jackson's "Beat It," Carlos Santana's "Oye Como Va," Stevie Wonder's "Superstition," and Harry Chapin's "Cat's in the Cradle," plus a number of pieces inspired by folk styles of Europe and Asia, as well as a suite of Hollywood themes and music from the video game Mario Brothers.
"You can take any kind of music and make an exercise out of it," explains Vuk. "We'll take an idea from contemporary music, just as a classical teacher would take something from Beethoven, and then ask: 'Are you accurate in rhythm and holding the instrument right? Are you communicating within the ensemble, and is it a singable voice?' All these same concerns apply."
In other words, structure and standards are not lost on Vuk, who's a graduate of Boston's Berklee College of Music and the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, Mass.
Since starting a musical academy where teaching is based on popular styles -- named the School of Groove -- he's encountered plenty of aspiring music teachers from the popular realms who are a little lax in their approach.
"I've interviewed close to 400 different teachers running this music school, and 90 percent come off as not thinking of how to get the kids to practice," he explains. "There's a lot more discipline in classical training than if you play rock, where it's like 'Here's a couple of chords and now go express yourself.' That's not how it should be."
At the same time, Vuk does believe a greater freedom comes from what he calls contemporary music. This weekend will include sessions on improvisation and at the School of Groove, it's not uncommon for students to write their own songs.
"That's something we hope will come out of this, for students to think that this is something I can do," continues Vuk. "When you're improvising, you're creating your own musical ideas out of your head and on the fly. Writing it down is a logical sequence after that."
Finally, having a good time with the music is not to be discounted.
"It's about danceable rhythms, and that's where classical music started," says Vuk. "Bach and Handel wrote for dance, but as time progressed, Beethoven added instruments and Berlioz added still more instrument and it became too expensive for dance, and it became concerts. It goes from danceable music to listenable music."
Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/entertainment/article/Breaking-musical-boundaries-2193076.php#ixzz1ZOgxnzTP
