Young orchestra students to converge on campus for festival

A renowned Israeli-born cellist will bring his experienced playing and teaching style to the University of Montana Monday during the 10th annual UM Orchestra Festival, an event bringing young orchestra students to campus for two days.

Seventeen different middle and high school orchestras from Montana, Idaho and Washington will converge on the University for the orchestra festival, which runs Monday and Tuesday. School orchestras will perform throughout each day in the University Theatre, UM Orchestra Director Luis Millan said. After each performance, each orchestra will be critiqued by one of two guest orchestra instructors to help it improve. 

“The festival draws from quite a wide range of high schools and middle schools,” Millan said. “We pack the whole (music) building with young musicians.”

Guest instructor and cellist Amit Peled will explain skills and playing style to the students during daily forums, in addition to performing solo pieces with the UM Symphony Orchestra during their concert Monday night. Peled brings extensive teaching experience to the festival.

“On the one hand, I want to be a father figure and take students into my family, in a way,” Peled said of his teaching style. “On the other hand, I always demand a lot out of them, so they never feel lazy.”

Feeling lazy as a student may have been a small issue for Peled. The cellist explained he was raised in an Israeli community known as a Kibbutz. The Kibbutz community paid all workers the same salary and strongly valued work ethic, Peled said. Children were required to work in the fields one day a week, which he said helped his drive to work.

After coming to the United States in his youth, Peled studied with famous cellist Bernard Greenhouse, going on to learn from other prestigious cellists such as Boris Pergamenschikow. Peled built his career as a globally recognized cellist from these studies, performing throughout Europe and in Israel.

“To make it in the classical music field … the audience is small, and you must be incredibly good,” said Peled’s longtime friend and manager Judith Davidson. “He keeps working and getting better and better.”

UM faculty will also offer workshops throughout the day to teach techniques for specific instruments. Two guest instructors will critique the students: Professor John Schimek, the director of Oklahoma City University’s string program, and E. Daniel Long, who has directed orchestras in Nebraska and Michigan.

“When you bring groups from that wide of an area together, it reinforces why students should play,” Long said. Seeing other student performances helps students improve, he said.

One high school student said the experience of playing outside a middle or high school concert atmosphere is very beneficial for musical improvement.

“Normally we play in front of our parents,” said Amelia Rose, a Hellgate High School senior and violinist in the school orchestra. “It’s very helpful to hear from other people who know the music, and hear it with a fresh ear.”

“(The festival) gives another perspective, and gives us a chance to see a lot of talent,” said Bethany Joyce, UM Symphony Orchestra president.

Since many UM music majors plan to pursue teaching careers, meeting younger students gives them valuable experience, Joyce said.

The University of Montana Orchestra Festival begins at 8:10 a.m. Monday and Tuesday, and lasts until late afternoon, Millan said. The UM Symphony Orchestra performs with Peled at 7:30 p.m. on Monday night, and will also perform pieces from their fall tour tonight at 7:30 p.m. All performances are in the University Theatre and free to the public.