BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
Chayla Ueckert-Smith won the Canberra Youth Orchestra 2017 Concerto Competition with Vaughan Williams’ Concerto for Oboe and Strings.
This month, you’ll get to hear it.
The 22-year-old soloist will perform this work on August 26 in Llewellyn Hall at the Australian National University. She’s a student at ANU, having progressed from a pre-tertiary scholarship to a Bachelor of Music and a Bachelor of Visual Arts, majoring in Ceramics.
If you think she sounds multitalented, you haven’t even heard the whole story: Chayla also started her music education in guitar, has learnt conducting through a Melbourne Youth Orchestra training program, and now passes the baton as a tutor to younger musicians as well.
Chayla settles in for a chat ahead of her performance with CYO; a group that has welcomed her for about five years.
Chayla, it’s wonderful to chat with you. Tell us a little about yourself – you’re skilled in guitar, oboe, and now conducting as well! When did you realise the musical life was for you?
I have always really enjoyed every aspect of music and I knew I would never be able to live without it, but I realised the musician lifestyle was part of who I was from about grade 11. At this stage, I had already been playing in the James McCusker Orchestra for three years, but as I transitioned to the college atmosphere I decided to take a break from the youth orchestra.
I missed it!
There was definitely a hole in my day to day life. Then, towards the middle of the year – just after my first solo recital with my pre-tertiary program at the ANU School of Music – I bought my very first oboe second hand from my tutor Megan Pampling. That moment – the sheer joy and excitement of purchasing my own instrument, and the adrenaline still pumping from the recital – was the moment I realised I needed to rejoin the orchestra and never stop.
Why did you decide to focus on oboe? What do you love about this instrument?
I don’t really know why I focused on oboe, but I know when the shift changed. I went from practicing my instruments with equality, to doing extra oboe practice so I’d have less time for my guitar. Even though I absolutely adore classical guitar, and loved playing too, the oboe was just shinning far too brightly in my face for me to ignore!
For me, the oboe will always be a unique instrument. There’s a playful and elegant nature to it that contradicts itself. I love that you never really know which way it’ll go: it has its own personality, a temper, and a glorious haunting character that I simply cannot resist.
I love making oboe reeds. The patience you require is comparable to nothing and often you end up with kazoo-like reeds that are more appropriate for annoying your siblings, but I love that it’s an artform in itself.
You have seen incredible success so far, from awards to scholarships – how have you found the journey into your career? When have you had to work the hardest?
Self-motivation has always been a difficult task for me, especially in my high school days. The oboe is a demanding instrument and requires a great deal of extra attention. However, I found that once I began in the ANU School of Music’s grade 7-10 pre-tertiary program, which surrounded me with dedicated and exciting musicians my age from across Canberra, it was no longer as daunting – I was inspired.
While you’re still learning yourself, you’re also passing on your skills to young students who you tutor in school environments. What has tutoring taught you that you bring into your own lessons with your private oboe teachers? How has tutoring changed your identity as a student yourself?
Towards the end of high school, my own tutor mentioned in passing that I’d make a great teacher. I responded with something along the likes of: ‘I’m never gonna do that, I don’t like teaching!’. Although, here I am, enjoying being able to share my love for music.
Tutoring has helped my playing in ways I never thought it could. It makes you really actively think about how you do what you do, and then explaining it in its simplest terms to a 12-year-old! Tutoring refined my playing, and as a student it meant that not only were my lessons more productive, but so is my practice. In essence, I have become a tutor to my student-self.
How are you feeling about performing with CYO? How do you prepare for a big solo work?
There are so many emotions running through my system at the moment, but I’m terribly ecstatic! Completely thrilled to be performing a work I love so much with my friends in the orchestra; truly a fabulous opportunity.
There’s so much I do to prepare! From practising every day, to making reeds constantly to find that one comfy reed, to listening to a recording every night, the list is endless.
How would you advise other young musicians who are prepping for a concerto performance?
Take care of yourself! Your body and your mind are the most important things to focus on when preparing for a performance, whether it be a concerto, a symphony, or a sweet pop tune. Often I find myself digging too deep into the learning process, the notes, the things that aren’t working; but while it’s nice to play ‘perfectly’, the best performances are when you let your character shine through.
Listening to recordings of yourself and others is an incredible way to heighten your familiarity of a piece. You’ll quickly learn which you like, and what you don’t. Listen, listen, listen!
Anything else you’d like to add?
There is always more to add! I never realised my life as a musician would be so busy! Concerts just keep on rolling through!
At the moment, I am also preparing for a chamber concert at the Italian Embassy on 31 August with my fellow CYO musicians Hayley Manning and Helena Popovic; a concert which is curated [featuring] scholarship holders provided by the Friends of the School of Music.
Not long after that, I – along with many other young musicians – am auditioning for the Australia Youth Orchestra Programs, and once that’s completed I jump into rehearsals for a three-week run of Sweeney Todd with Dramatic Productions.
It’s a never-ending list of things to do, but I adore it and wouldn’t have it any other way!
See Chayla perform with the Canberra Youth Orchestra this August 26 in Llewellyn Hall, ANU. The concert will also feature Shirani Mudaliar performing Mozart’s Violin Concerto.
Images supplied. Credit: William Hall.
