What did you most enjoy
about the Master Classes with
Ralph Kirshbaum?
He talked about very different
things with each cellist and I felt like
he was choosing carefully exactly
what would be most helpful to each
musician. I found Mr Kirschbaum,
or Ralph as we all called him, to be
an extremely thoughtful teacher. He
listens very intently with his head
slightly cocked, like he is really trying
to work out exactly what you are
putting across to the audience. The
best lesson I had with him was when
I played the Dvorak Cello Concerto
and he talked about the balance of
effort and sound. He explained that
a lot of the time less is more when
it comes to producing a big sound.
I know I sometimes get too carried
away with the music and sometimes
just need to take a step back, so it
was good for me to be shown new
ways of doing this.
Was there any particular
technique or understanding that
he helped develop?
We really focussed on my vibrato.
Ralph first asked me to teach it to
him, which I actually found quite
difficult as he took every one of
my points literally, producing a
disturbing wobbling sound! When
that didn’t work he asked around
the audience for further pointers.
Eventually a lone violinist among
the group gave him the answer
he wanted. His point was that we
shouldn’t actually vibrate equally
around the pitch but rather more to
the lower side of the note. One must
never lose track of the centre of the
note, and keeping the thumb behind
the back of the neck of the cello can
help with this. Ralph then suggested
other ways of vibrating: “Perhaps
for a more modern piece one could
use the wider type of vibrato”;
and “When changing the note
the vibrato shouldn’t stop and the
movements should flow together”.
Even right there in the room I could
instantly hear my sound change: it
became much more ringing and the
vibrato was more constant through
the notes. There were many other
interesting ideas that he gave not
only in my lessons but in other
people’s and his classes alone were
an invaluable experience for me.
It must be rare to spend such an
intensive period of time with musicians
from all across the world. What did you
get up to between classes?
My fellow cellists came from the
UK and Europe and as far as New
Zealand, Russia, Canada, and South
Korea. The social side was great fun.
We sight-read every night, went on
walks along the cliff edges to the
jagged beaches and stayed up late into
the night comparing the lifestyles of
musician ́