How to Succeed in an Ensemble: Reflections on a Life in Chamber Music (Amadeus) - Hardcover

Loft, Abram

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1574670786 ISBN 13: 9781574670783

Publisher: Amadeus, 2003

Synopsis

Performer and scholar Abram Loft wants every chamber musician to be a strong, collaborative ensemble voice. Here's his hard-headed advice on choosing colleagues, rehearsing and performing effectively together, building repertoire, programming, touring and other facets of the art and business of a chamber music career. Ranging from hilarious to sobering, this is essential reading for music lovers, amateur players, students, teachers and today's many emerging professional ensembles. Recent events in the field, including some strident litigation, highlight the usefulness of this veteran's realistic counsel.

About this title

About the Author:

Abram Loft was second violin in the Fine Arts Quartet in its era as one of America's foremost concert ensembles, from 1954 to 1979. He earned his doctorate in musicology from Columbia University, where he served on the music faculty before joining the Fine Arts. In his later years with the quartet he was Distinguished Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. From 1979 to 1986, he chaired the string department at the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester and now holds the title of Distinguished Professor Emeritus there. He continues to lecture, coach chamber music, and act as competition judge.

From Library Journal:

Loft, second violin in the Fine Arts Quartet from 1954 to 1979 and former chair of the string department at the Eastman School of Music, intends to offer both aesthetic and business advice for amateurs and professional chamber musicians. However, to illustrate his points, he cites numerous examples from his own career, thus turning much of the book into a set of personal reminiscences, many of which are entertaining but not necessarily instructive. (What is the purpose, for example, of the appended list of repertory performed by the Fine Arts Quartet during his tenure?) On the practical side, Loft does offer advice about tax returns, management, and rehearsal techniques, although the level of instruction-both musical and business-is mostly elementary, and some of it is quite dated. In reality, this is a fairly entertaining collection of its distinguished author's career memories, with some practical information thrown in. A marginal purchase.
Timothy J. McGee, Hastings, Ont.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Amadeus
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 1574670786
• ISBN 13: 9781574670783
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 300