Emily Wright

next stop: Geneva

Posted by Emily Wright | Feb 17, 2020 | On the Docket | 0 |

Geneva, New York is situated at the top of one of the famous Finger Lakes, so named because, well, look at the picture below. Zooming in a little further, Geneva (named for its resemblance to the one in Switzerland) is parked right at the north end of Seneca Lake, about an hour from Syracuse to the east and Rochester to the north and west. My hope is to have a nonprofit set up in the next month or two, and an advisory group of interested and experienced folks to counsel me on next steps and best practices for the...

Oregon

Posted by Emily Wright | Jan 16, 2020 | Cello Illustrated, On the Docket | 0 |

To get to my accommodations in the unincorporated town of Temmile, I took two flights: DC to MSP, MSP to PDX. I landed around 8pm, went to the wrong rental car place (twice), and was routed, terrified, around the shipping containers and dark warehouses that surround the airport. A downpour at night is not the ideal circumstance under which to get to know an unfamiliar car. It is today, 5 days in, that I fully grasp the fevered imaginings of Subaru engineers and their total misunderstanding of the way people expect to use windshield wipers. After 4 hours of...

help for a sore thumb

Posted by Emily Wright | Dec 4, 2019 | Teaching & Learning | 1 |

Originally published 7 January 2008. The main takeaway I have, now that an additional 12 years have elapsed, is that while the larger aspects of this post hold true, bow hold is wildly variable. The video I posted about visualization addressed it a bit: the function must lead the form. As it turns out, chasing after the function tends to lead most hands and arms into very similar shapes, but I spend much less time talking about the fingers and thumb in great detail, unless they are in a position (or are held with such tension) that precludes the...

Does your bow grip work?

Posted by Emily Wright | Nov 30, 2019 | Teaching & Learning | 6 |

Originally published 5 Jan 2008. I really wish I had somehow been able to wrangle the bow in the picture into my life. While the current Sasano bow (I’ve had since my second year at CSUN) is wonderful, I can still remember the miraculous glide of this one. I nicknamed it “Excalibow”. A colleague had loaned it to me, perhaps overestimating my ability to make such a purchase. Perfectly crisp, seamless at the frog, resolutely bouncy when asked for any number of off the string techniques. Although a poor craftsman blames her tools, the balance and weight of your...

music from another time

Posted by Emily Wright | Nov 28, 2019 | Performing, Teaching & Learning | 3 |

Originally published 11 Dec 2007. I still haul these pieces out now and again, and they continue to surprise me! Maybe I’ll spring them on some of my more advanced students who are working on the elusive perfectly tapered “long, but short” note. I have had a bockety practice schedule of late, but I have still noticed significant improvement in my overall feeling of agility due to the Gabrieli Ricercari that have been dominating my time these days. If you’re not familiar with them, they are published by Schott and are available here. Like much proto-Baroque music, they are transparent and care...