Inspiring Excerpts with Alexis Chartrand: Fiddler

Conversations with Musicians, with Leah Roseman

04/09/22

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This short bonus episode in my Inspiring Excerpts series is with Québecois traditional fiddler Alexis Chartrand, created from clips from Episode 5 Season 1. We first hear Alexis perform a jig by Josef Allard. Alexis learned a lot from playing with dancers from a young age, and In the next clips you’ll hear him discuss both groove and ornamentation in traditional Quebecois fiddling.

The full transcript is now available, and the links to the full episode in both podcast and video format (with timestamps in the descriptions) are all here: https://leahroseman.com/blog/alexis-chartrand-e5-s1-transcript

Alexis Chartrand: "I learned a lot from step dancers, listening to the sound of their feet, to the inherent groove that they've developed. To me that's really the basis of my practice of the bow, all of the rhythms that we have to summon with the traditional style of bowing."

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Previous Episode

Megan Jerome: pianist, singer, song-writer, educator

April 2, 2022

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73m

Megan Jerome is a really special musician with a wonderful creative voice. In this episode you’ll hear her perform some of the songs from her new up-coming album, which will be the seventh album of her original compositions. We also talk about her unique and inspiring teaching style, her experiences through some very difficult personal losses, some ways she has found healing and connection, and her song-writing process. Timestamps below.

Every episode is available in video format: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/megan-jerome-e10-s2

Help me keep this podcast afloat! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman

https://www.meganjerome.com/

Megan Jerome: "And the thing is, what I encourage people to do is, "Don't do the competitions. Don't do anything like that. You can set up a venue in your living room. You can set up a venue anywhere. There's room for everyone. There are so many potential venues. There are so many people who love music. There's so much room." That's one of the big thing, this idea that there's room for one person, this is a real fallacy. It's nothing like that. Artists are friends. We're not competing with each other. We're on the same side. But that's in my view. You know what I mean? Those are the people that work for me. A community really works. Who's your community? Go to their shows. They'll come to your show."

photo credit: Allan Dean Photography

Timestamps:

(00:00:32) intro to song “Flora”

(00:03:52) song-writing process

(00:09:43) creating “Home Brew”

(00:12:00) song “Home Brew”

(00:16:28) childhood and family

(00:18:10) learning piano, accordion

(00:24:01) The Together Ensemble, husband Mike Essoudry

(00:27:33) Julia Cameron “The Artist Way”, Sonia Choquette, home life

(00:29:52) Megan’s way of practicing

(00:31:13) Teaching

(00:36:06) teaching improvisation and encouraging creativity

(00:40:57) teaching online strategies

(00:46:33) New Orleans and dealing with grief

(01:04:37) why did she study mining engineering?

(01:09:11) advice for singer-songwriters

Next Episode

Elaine Klimasko Violinist and Teacher

April 16, 2022

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77m

I speak with Elaine Klimasko, who is a Canadian violinist who joined the newly-formed National Arts Centre Orchestra in 1969 as the youngest member, and is well-known as a teacher. Her students are very frequently winners of competitions and hold important positions as chamber and orchestral musicians all over North America. In 2003 NACO Music Director Pinchas Zukerman asked her to launch the first Junior Young Artists Programme for the NAC Summer Music Institute. In this episode she tells many stories from her life, and about some legendary teachers she studied with including Josef Gingold and Lorand Fenyves. She reflects on her long career, from the perspectives of a teacher and as a player. Timestamps are listed below!

Every episode is also available as a video, the link is here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/elaine-klimasko-e11-s2-violinist-and-teacher

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Elaine Klimasko: "But I do say to all of my students though, if you think that playing in a symphony orchestra is secondary, that's the worst thing you could be thinking because the joy of orchestral playing, and I'm sure you feel the same way, Leah, is, there's nothing in life to me that compares with that. When you're playing one of those grand symphonies and that buildup a crescendo and you hear the horns and the French horns... I mean, I'm just covered in goosebumps. In my seventies still, and I don't know of any other profession that makes you feel that way. Maybe a doctor delivering a baby. I don't know. But it's pretty special."

Timestamps

( 00:00) Intro

( 00:51) Joining the National Arts Centre Orchestra

( 12:29) music festivals like Kiwanis

(13:04) dealing with stagefright

(15:18) more about John Moskalyk

(19:12) Lorand Fenyves

( 23:08) perfect pitch

(25:52) Josef Gingold

( 31:52) violin teaching

( 33:42) music festivals

(37:15) mentoring students who go on as professional musicians