CHASING THE MUSIC

OVERWORKED AND UNPAID the amateur musician at the Colorado College Summer Music Festival lives a hectic existence. Nearly 40 musicians attending the festival, which ends Tuesday, were chosen from more than 300 applicants from around the world.

The students, from their midteens to their mid-20s, follow a demanding schedule aimed at breeding musical excellence. For three weeks they learn from the best, studying under renowned musicians such as clarinetist John Manasse and conductor and violinist Scott Yoo.

"It really raises your expectations for yourself," said bassoonist Ann Shoemaker, 25. "You're around such great musicians you can't help but get better."

The musicians paid nothing to attend the festival or stay at the school; the college is footing the bill.

Tuesday's schedule was typical for the students. Shoemaker, in her second summer at the festival, started the day with a quick breakfast followed by a double shot of espresso. After piecing together her bassoon, she joined other musicians warming up. The chaotic sound was interrupted by conductor Yoo.

"Where are you guys?" he hollered. "Rehearsal is starting right now!"

The musicians scurried to Packard Hall for a 45-minute rehearsal.

Then Shoemaker, a professor of bassoon at Furman University in Greenville, S.C., moved to a closet-size practice room to study a piece for the day's first performance.

By 9 a.m., hundreds of restless children filled Packard Hall. The orchestra took the stage and thrilled them with a narrated tune about animals, an all-viola rendition of the "Spider-Man" TV show theme song, and an animated performance by Yoo.

The highlight, though, came when Yoo allowed three children to conduct the orchestra. With little rhyme, reason or rhythm the children sped and slowed the orchestra with quick baton jerks.

The young musicians alternately smiled and cringed as they played the unnatural tempos. The audience roared in praise and amusement.

After a short break, the musicians dove into a second children's performance. But their work was far from over. After the second show, Shoemaker and her peers raced through lunch and ran to change clothes for their third performance in less than four hours.

Music at Midday, another type of concert the musicians performed, featured students playing as quartets and quintets. Shoemaker's group took the stage to play "La Nouvelle Orleans" by Lalo Schifrin. With little pause, Shoemaker, who earned her bachelor of music degree from Furman University and her master of music from Yale, headed to a conducting class with Yoo.

The students took turns conducting a quartet, and she received continuous compliments of "good" and "nice" from Yoo.

The Colorado College program, in its 21st year, is aimed at young musicians who plan to devote their careers to playing and teaching, and it emphasizes musicianship, stage presence and playing with ensembles.

Solo practice followed Yoo's class for about an hour until, finally, Shoemaker took advantage of a scheduled break -- and joined a yoga class.

By 4:45 p.m., though, she was back to work, researching Rossini's "Barber of Seville" with a fellow bassoonist. They listened to the original opera and a bassoon duet, taking notes to prepare for their own performance.

An hour later there was time for a quick dinner and a change of clothes before evening rehearsal, after which the older students indulged in a few beers and camaraderie before crashing to bed shortly after midnight.

"It's definitely a schedule you couldn't maintain for a long time," Shoemaker said. "But because there are so many great resources through the faculty and fellow students, we want to take advantage of all the time we can." COLORADO COLLEGE SUMMER MUSIC FESTIVAL

Final performance

Where: Packard Hall, Colorado College

When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday

Cost: $15

Details: The student orchestra will perform Felix Mendelssohn's "Overturn to A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 21," Sergey Prokofiev's "Violin Concerto No.1 in D Major, Op. 19" featuring Mark Fewer on violin, and Johannes Brahms' "Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73."

Copyright 2005
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.