By ZACHARY OLSAVICKY
Opinion Editor
It’s a rare sight for orchestral musicians to perform in costume—most works in the genre do not call for any theatricality, and most musicians wear simple outfits for their performances. But at the April performance of the Saint Rose Camerata, audience members (and performers) were treated to the sight of Saint Rose professor Sherwood Wise playing the bassoon while dressed in an Elvis Presley ensemble.
Though the juxtaposition of bassoon and rhinestone-studded white leather sounds odd, it’s called for in the piece—American composer Michael Daughtry’s Dead Elvis for Solo Bassoon and Chamber Ensemble—which was inspired by the works of Elvis Presley. The piece ought to ring a bell with some students, as it is used in one of the school’s Music History classes.
Striking a balance between standard classical pieces and lesser-known works is one of the challenges faced by the Camerata, according to founder and director Yvonne Chavez Hansbrough.
“Variety is what we try to do,” said Hansbrough, “and we want this to be a learning experience for students and we also want this to be enjoyable.”
The Camerata, which opens its eleventh season on Sept. 21 with a program theme in celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month, is made up of 18 faculty performers and will feature three guest performers throughout the season. A camerata differs from other performing ensembles because of its size; while most orchestras feature sections of performers on each part, a camerata typically features only one performer per instrument or vocal section.
Before the Camerata came into existence, school faculty performed at recitals organized by then-department chair Pauline Voskovich. After conversations between Voskovitch and Hansbrough in the spring of 2003, the Camerata began performing that fall. But with no budget, the performers had to make a strong commitment to the group. “It showed how much people really wanted to play,” said Hansbrough.
Ten years later, the group is looking to record an album of performances and possibly go on tour, according to Hansbrough. She described the group as a learning experience for both performers and students, some of whom have used pieces performed by the group for their individual senior recitals.
Part of what appeals to Hansbrough is in the intimate size of the group and the musical freedom given to performers. “It’s so different when you’re in a large ensemble. You have a lot of people and you have a conductor up there who’s basically giving instructions on how to interpret things. But when you’re in chamber music, it’s really up the group on how you want to shape things and interpret things.”
For some students, like sophomore music education major Katie LeClair, the opportunity to see their professors doing what they teach—a sight unseen in many other departments.
“There are very few other fields where you can actually see them doing what they’re doing live,” said LeClair. “There’s no layers of editing to it; it’s just what they produce on the spot. It’s like reading an English teacher’s story as she writes it.”
Though the chance to see a professor in costume as a rock-and-roll icon also appeals to students, Hansbrough explained that it is “very rare” for a chamber piece to include a theatrical element. The group has performed only one other piece that involved an element of theatricality, George Crumb’s Vox Balaenae. The piece, which took the group nine rehearsals to prepare for, required performers to wear masks and for the stage to be bathed in illuminated light. Hansbrough said the group is considering performing the piece again, but not for a few years—she expressed a desire to explore new pieces and keep their performances fresh for audiences.
“Part of it is that we want our students to experience the various literature… you don’t want to repeat too soon,” explained Hansbrough. In the ten years of the Camerata’s existence, just one piece (a number by Ravel) has been repeated.
So for those hoping to see Wise make a comeback in Elvis garb, don’t get your hopes up—though if the piece does make a comeback, perhaps a black leather jacket would be in order.
