BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
According to Aidan Filshie, “recording sucks”.
Capturing your performance to perfection, on video, in a single take, is going to be tough for anybody — no matter how experienced.
So it’s all the more impressive that this emerging violist and his Kalon Quartet used their own music recording to successfully score a place in the Mimir Emerging Artists program.
In this interview, we chat with Aidan about that virtual audition. We also discuss the experience of this educational program within the Mimir Chamber Music Festival, which offers the knowledge of the United States’ leading chamber players to the young musicians of Melbourne.
Aidan, who has trained in viola and violin at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music — and participated in the Australian Youth Orchestra — took part in this program back in 2017, alongside violinists Louise May and Amy You, and cellist Oscar Woinarski. Their Kalon Quartet went on to perform in Parliament House, Canberra; and at a week-long intensive at the University of Ulsan in South Korea.
So, your group came together in Melbourne, and you’ve been playing together for a few years now! What was it like to form an ensemble during your studies? How did you go from a student ‘idea’ or ‘dream’ into a more structured initiative?
Yes, we have been playing together since 2017. We formed as a result of the String Ensemble program at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, where we were placed together in a quartet.
The very first few rehearsals we had together were indicative of the times ahead — we had a connection and loved playing with each other. It helps that we are all good friends, too.
Since then, we have been rehearsing regularly and have participated in a few chamber music programs along the way. While it takes commitment and time to keep a chamber ensemble humming along, it has probably been the most rewarding and beneficial aspect of music for me personally.
How important is guidance from mentors and teachers along the way — and what’s the best guidance an established artist can offer an emerging one?
Having mentors is extremely important — not just in music, but also in life. It is highly likely that they have been along the same pathway at some point, so it is perhaps the best way to fast-track progress by consulting them.
Guidance from teachers comes in a number of different forms, ranging from musical feedback to careers advice. Of course, no one has the answers to everything, so it is therefore important to try to draw information off a number of different mentors to provide perspective.
Why were you interested in going for the Mimir Emerging Artists program?
The Mimir Emerging Artists program appealed to us because it was an opportunity to rehearse intensively as a group, as well as glean valuable information and experience off the tutors.
All of the tutors come from various professional orchestras around the United States, and each have a wealth of knowledge about chamber music and their respective instruments.
It was also a chance to travel to Fort Worth, Texas, and experience a different culture in the forms of line dancing and Texas BBQ.
What was the application process like for you?
The application required two contrasting chamber works to be recorded on video in one take.
Recording sucks.
It is hard enough as an individual to be satisfied with a recording, but when there are four people factored into the equation, it becomes even more difficult.
We found it quite tough to have the same energy and excitement as when we are performing for a live audience, so it took a few takes for us to get in the right mindset. Fortunately, the previous months of hard work and guidance from our coaches here in Melbourne paid off, and we managed to capture a good representation of our quartet to send over to the US for scrutiny.
So once you got into this program, how did you feel and what did you hope to achieve from it?
We were all very excited to have been successful in our application, and we were looking forward to the amazing experience that was on offer.
Although we took more than two quartets to work on with the coaches, our primary aim was not just to work these up to a performance standard, but instead to develop important chamber music skills that would set us in good stead for the rest of our musical careers.
How were your hopes maintained or altered as you progressed?
The festival turned out to be even better than what we could have hoped for. It was the perfect balance of coaching sessions, private rehearsals, and concerts featuring the coaches themselves. This provided a rich learning environment where we were able to directly interact with the artists and be given specific feedback, but then also see everything they talked about, put into action in the concerts.
Why was this program such a valuable one for you at this stage in your career?
As I mentioned before, this program provided the opportunity to learn and develop chamber music skills which carry over into many other aspects of music. These include skills such as the ability to rehearse effectively, listen, think analytically, and play in tune and in balance.
Chamber music, in my opinion, is the best way to learn and nurture these abilities, as it requires effective communication — both verbally and musically — amongst the ensemble in order to present something special.
No matter which discipline within music we all end up doing professionally, I am confident that we will carry forward valuable experience from programs such as Mimir.
What was your favourite part of the program?
I loved having the opportunity develop personal connections with the coaches. While they are incredible musicians who we were able to learn many things from, they are also just regular people — and so it was nice to be able to socialise over some drinks and nibbles. It was fascinating to hear their stories of how they got to where they are, and it certainly provided us with a whole lot of inspiration.
What advice would you give to others considering applying?
I wouldn’t hesitate to highly recommend this program to any young musician. Opportunities like these do not present [often].
This year’s Mimir Emerging Artists will perform at the Mimir Chamber Music Festival 2019 on 31 August. The full festival takes place from 24 August – 1 September 2019 at The Ian Potter Southbank Centre.
We’ve partnered up with Mimir to bring you stories about its past and present emerging artists — stay tuned as we celebrate more talent in chamber music!
Images supplied.
