Stellae Boreales – An Ottawa Suzuki Strings Violin Ensemble

            Stellae Boreales is back and we're ready to tackle a brand new year!  We had an absolute blast at the Sellae Boreales retreat in September, when we got to see old friends and welcome our new friends DB, PL, AF and RI.  Though we had much fun talking, running around, making cookies and more, we also enjoyed learning and rehearsing our new exciting repertoire.  I'm sure we are all appreciative of the time and effort our wonderful coaches and accompanist put in.  You guys rock!  For all the people that allowed the retreat to work so smoothly we also thank you. 

            We have also started a fresh year of rehearsals,  this time in a new venue!  After the first rehearsal I'm sure we can all agree that Woodroofe High School will be an awesome venue for the Stellaes and other group classes.  Our whole group gets to rehearse in the auditorium under the instruction of Kit and Karoly and it is a wonderful spatious place to play.  The acoustics are incredible!  Stellae had a good solid first rehearsal and I think we're going to have an absolutely stellar year! 

~UM (Senior Stellae Boreales Member) 

Monday, May 21 - Sightseeing and Performance at Abingdon Elementary
On our last day we did some more sightseeing, played at a very welcoming elementary school and went to see a show at The Kennedy Center.

(Photos taken by AL and DH)

Sunday, May 20 - Sightseeing and Performance at U.S. Botanic Garden.
On Sunday, we enjoyed visiting different museums, played at the U.S. Botanic Garden and then did some more sightseeing.

(Photos taken by AL and DH)

Saturday, May 19, our first day in Washington DC.
We enjoyed a short bus tour of the city and then went on to Baltimore, Maryland to visit and play in the prestigious Peabody Conservatory.

(Photos taken by AL and DH)

After a very short but exquisite trip we are now heading home.  I have had a splendid time here.  It has been great fun performing and interacting with everyone on the tour.  Some of my highlights of the tour were performing last night at a beautiful school where greatly appreciative kids watched us perform.  My favourite part of the performance was when we got to play with the little kids.  They were so cute!!!  I also very much enjoyed seeing the sights of Washington D.C. and getting to see all the lovely museums.
Everyone played awesome, and this has been a great trip!!!    ~SS-P

Today was the concluding element of our trip to the illustrious city of Washington D.C.!  We certainly had an idyllic experience in the American Capital!  Throughout the tour so far, we have had an arduous 12-hour journey through the scenic countryside, molded with sprawling hills, laden with lushly verdant trees.  The next day, after some enriching, historically-based sightseeing, we were bussed to the Peabody Institute - which was affiliated with the prestigious Johns Hopkins University.  The Peabody Institute was an architectural masterpiece, and was very ostentatious in its decor!  When we rehearsed and performed with the Preparatory students, I was struck by their prodigious talent, as well as the heartfelt sentimental value they seemed to channel into every sonorous note!  Our performance with them was both gratifying and inspirational - emotions perfectly complemented by the Italianate arches and intricate carvings that embellished the venue where we were playing!  Our other performance - at the Botanical Gardens - was preceded by a trip to the flabbergasting Air and Space Museum and was an exhilarating event that was spiked with especial vociferous flair and passion in Fandango and Sabre Dance!  Today, I was eager to fully absorb the magnitude and poignant opportunities Washington had to offer!  In the morning, I, along with a small group of people (the majority of group members were visiting the clandestine Spy Museum), shuffled down to the Holocaust Museum.  The museum was both a revelatory and heart-breaking experience.  It prompted me to question humanity and delve into the roots of apathy and cruelty.  Fortunately, the museum was a prolific testament to the many lives lost and served as a profound memorial to lives brutally ripped away!  After the museum, we were bussed to a school in Virginia, called Abingdon Elementary.  We zealously played our repertoire, and they were incredibly enthusiastic to play alongside our ensemble, with their fledgling Suzuki program.  After the performance, we received several beaming acclamations from the distinguished director of the school.  I thought it was a fulfilling and magnanimous concert, and it demonstrated that a mutual love of music can unite and band anyone, regardless of their ethnicity or wealth.  After that truly mesmerizing and satisfying experience, we left on the bus, as the adorable students complimented our playing and waved amiably.  That night, we dined at a sophisticated and sleek pizzeria, before deftly navigating to the grandiose Kennedy Center to watch the enigmatic "Shear Madness" 'whodunnit' play!  It was an audience interactive play, that was both humorous and suspenseful!  The kids were riveted, although I believe that some parents would rather have devoured a hearty coffee, and watched the opera!  The play was the breath of finality to our momentous Washington violin tour!  I will never forget the rash diversity and enrichment that I ascertained due to this town and I highly recommend Washington D.C. as a quintessential trip destination.    ~EI

Our tour in Washington, D.C. is now over, but we had a great time.  We were all really excited about this trip and had been looking forward to it for a long time.  This is what happened on our 2012 Stellae Boreales tour:
            On Friday, May 18, we all had to wake up and be ready at the Kanata Pentacostal Church to meet the bus by 5:30 a.m.  I was really tired that day (not to mention the rest of the week!).  In the bus, I was sitting next to SS-P and behind UM.  We talked about lots of things that had happened and what we were going to do in Washington.  We finally arrived in Washington after more hours than expected because of the traffic and certain delays.  Then, we went to our rooms and went out to dinner at a noodle restaurant.  The food was really good there!  After, we went back to our rooms and went to sleep to prepare for the next day.
            On Saturday, May 19, I woke up and my mom and I went to Starbucks for breakfast.  After that, we walked back to the hotel lobby and got back onto the bus.  I sat with SS-P and UM again, but this time instead of playing or watching movies, we listened to the tour guide who was explaining about the famous monuments of Washington D.C.  We got off the bus multiple times to see the monuments (the Abraham Lincoln Monument, the Korean War Monument, etc.).  They were all very interesting to see and learn about.  Finally, we finished the tour and went to the Peabody Conservatory to meet the other violin group.  The conservatory had lots of architecture and statues.  We had lunch and went to the Master Class.  All the participants did amazingly!  Then, we had a short break and rehearsed with the Peabody Violin Choir and Pre-Conservatory Violin Program students.  They were all really good players!  After that rehearsal, we practiced our songs by ourselves.  When we were finished, we went to dinner with the Peabody students.  After dinner, we went to tune for the concert, which was a big success!  We finally finished at the Peabody Conservatory and returned for the hotel to rest for the next day.
            On Sunday, May 20, I went to the hotel lobby and met the other members of the group.  We got back onto the bus and went to the Air and Space Museum.  It was very interesting to learn about the different types of airplanes and the space.  We then got back onto the bus and drove to the Botanical Gardens.  We had lunch in the Gardens and had fun observing the plants, then went to prepare for the concert.  It was very humid in the building and all of our violins went out of tune because of it.  We got an encore and played Fandango, leaving hotter than even after Sabre Dance!  This concert was, I think, more of a success than even the first one!  Then, SS-P, UM, LA, CD, and I went to the zoo.   We took the Subway to get there and got frozen yogurt before we went in.  We saw lots of animals and had fun walking back uphill to get to the entrance of the zoo…  After, we went back to the hotel’s mall to eat dinner by the subway.  We got there an hour late…  In all, the day was very good!
            On Monday, May 21, I went with SS-P and UM to the Holocaust Museum.  The museum was very “good” even though the concept of it was horrible.  After the museum, we went back onto the bus and met everyone else who had gone to the Spy Museum.  SS-P and UM both touched the shocking pens they got, but I managed to stay out of it.  Then, we went to Abingdon Elementary School for another concert.  We played with some of the Suzuki students there and had a lot of fun!  After the concert, we went to Fireworks Pizzeria.  The pizza and noodles there were really good.  Then we went to the Kennedy Center to see the show Shear Madness, a murder mystery comedy.  It was very funny and the view from the balcony at intermission was amazing!  They made it so that any of the suspects could have committed the crime based on the audience’s votes.  It was a great show!  Then, we went back to the hotel to get ready for the bus ride back home.
            On Tuesday, May 22, we left the hotel at 8:00 a.m.  I was exhausted from all the activities we did in the week, but still managed not to sleep on the bus…  The bus ride home was shorter than the one to get to Washington.  We finally arrived back at the Kanata Pentacostal Church at 7:00 p.m. which was pretty good time.  We said our good-byes and separated ways.
            Overall, the Washington, D.C. Performance Tour, 2012 was amazing, bonded the Stellae Boreales members even more, was a great experience, and we all had a lot of fun!  I’m sad that this year is almost over, but I’ll see everyone next year!    ~JL

Yesterday was my favourite day of the trip, because all the places we went to had funny moments.  Our first stop was the Spy Museum where the highlight was the gift shop (of course, for every museum).  They sold the coolest items like a shock pen that everyone tried afterward (except you guys, OB-L, SK and JL).  JW even tried shocking his earlobe and got an extremely weird feeling and reaction.  We rode the bus to Abingdon Elementary School.  All the kids greeted us and we ate lunch in the cafeteria where the tables folded up into the wall!  After the spectacular performance the woman in charge gave us cupcakes!  What was funny was that when UM was grabbing one, she spilt a couple and it got all over her skirt.  Some even fell on the floor!  I went to my friends' rooms after we got back to the hotel.  After the pizza buffet, we went to see Shear Madness, a funny play about a case of murder.  There were many references made like the Capital One catch phrase and a song from Avril Lavigne (Girlfriend).  This was my favourite part of the wonderful day at Washington DC and vicinity.    ~KL

Today we were warmly welcomed at our final concert at Abingdon Elementary School by violist Kristin Gomez, Abingdon’s highly accomplished Suzuki strings teacher.  Our Stellae Boreales performers were in top form as they played to a rapt and appreciative audience of grades 2 to 5 students and teachers.  Rosemarie Klimasko hosted the concert, engaging the audience with informative and humorous anecdotes throughout.  A group of Abingdon violinists, violists and cellists waited quietly in eager anticipation of their participation in the final piece on the program – a joint performance with Stellae Boreales of French Folk Song.  It was such a joy to share the experience of this concert and see children inspiring other children.  All the teachers including Kristin and pianist Mr. Green were so enthusiastic in their praise of the concert and many students expressed their enjoyment of the concert as they filed out of the performance hall.

In speaking with Kristin afterwards, I learned of the incredible support of the “Suzuki in the Schools” program.  At Abingdon, students pay just $5.00 per year for the exclusive use of an instrument, 1 private lesson per week and 1 group class per week (which will be increased to 2 group classes per week next year).  When Kristin founded the program at Abingdon 8 years ago, it was a struggle to convince fellow teachers of the validity and effectiveness of the Suzuki program.  The merit of the program can be seen in the results attained.  By the time these Suzuki-trained students reach middle school, they are always the most developed and accomplished in listening, ensemble playing, intonation and tone production.  They enjoy music as well which is so important!

Mention must also be made of the delicious cupcakes we were treated to.  There’s something about music and food that goes so well together.  As Shakespeare said: “If music be the food of love, sing on.”   Music is a universal language and we made many new friends at Abingdon Elementary School today.    ~JG (accompanist)

Today was an amusing day. Different groups went to different museums. In our case, we went to the Air and Space museum. We learned many things. Later, Stellae Boreales went to play at the botanic garden. There were many compliments from the audience. We played terrifically!!! Later in the afternoon, some people went sightseeing, some people went into museums and some people went shopping. In the end, everybody met at the hotel and we went to the Front Page restaurant to eat dinner. The meal was delicious!  ~AW, DH-W

After being kept up until 12 by J-WS and ER (and waking up at 5...), today was a fun, but truly exhausting day for me. We started off our day with a visit to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. ER bought a RIDICULOUS helmet. He'll surely be 'wooing' the ladies with it. :D Afterwards, we proceeded to the Botanic Gardens for our second performance of the tour. The venue was excessively humid, but it was still enjoyable. The audience was very enthusiastic, and demanded an encore. Next, we broke off into a couple of groups that each set out on a valiant journey. My group ventured forth to the far depths of Capitol Hill. The architecture was truly awe-inspiring. I got an ice cream cone, and it was good. :)
Then we came back to our beautiful hotel (the mall) for an amazingly scrumptious dinner. I had a delicious baked chicken fettuccini that made me even more tired. I proceeded to fall asleep in my room, before being interrupted by the blog squad.    ~JW

Today was a fun yet busy day.  It started off at the Air and Space Museum.  Its size was intimidating but from what I saw it was very interesting and I wish we had had more time there.  After the museums we all regrouped and went to the Botanical Gardens.  According to the audience it was a great performance, even though we were all really hot in the humid air of the garden court.  Once the concert was over my group and I walked around Capitol Hill.  The buildings were impressive but we were all getting tired and we were happy to end our day with a delicious restaurant meal.    ~OB-L

We started off the day with a wonderful tour of beautiful Washington. We visited many brilliant monuments, such as the Lincoln Memorial, the Korean War Memorial and the Washington Monument. We took many pictures, as there were so many impressive sculptures!

After sight-seeing, we went to the prestigious Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. It was quite intimidating to see the gorgeous architecture of the building, especially the stunning library. J-WS, SP-S and ER participated in an inspiring master class with Rebecca Henry, director of the strings department. I’m sure she has helped them improve their violin skills!

We rehearsed in a very hot room with the Preparatory and Violin Choir of the Peabody school. It was so tiring, but extremely beneficial. It was great to meet students with similar interests. We took a ten minute break, and then continued, but solely with Stellae Boreales students.

Following the long rehearsal, we ate dinner in the Peabody cafeteria. AK received a pleasant surprise: a birthday cake! We sang “happy birthday” to her twice! She was very embarrassed.

After devouring the cake, we changed into our concert blacks, and entered the stellar Griswold Hall. The stage was a bit small for the combined efforts of both Stellae Boreales and the Peabody students, but we made do. To make up for the small hall, the acoustics embellished our sound.

At the end of the day, we were exhausted! I bet most of us slept through the two hour drive from Baltimore to Virginia. It was a jam-packed day, but we enjoyed it immensely!
~BF, SK and UM

A Musical Experience

J-WS and ER were practising outside to prepare for their masterclass with Rebecceca Henry. All of them were great successes, and none of us were bored although it got very hot. We then practised together with the Peabody violinists. Although our styles were very different, the rehearsals still went well.The final concert at the end of the day was amazing, with a grand finale of both Stellae Boreales and the Peabody violinists performing together. Our ride back to the hotel was not as slow as the voyage in the morning, and we played a word game to end the day. Actually, to end the day we had to write this blog.trololololololoololl

 in lulu empire=trululululululululu...
~EB and ER

Today has been an amazing day, it was an honour for stellae and I to hear the Pea-Body students perform, and it was very fun to also play for them. I found that the Pea-Body students were absolutely fantastic, and I hope Stellae Boreales could someday gain as much talent and knowledge. Also, today was my birthday, and it was very nice of the parents to bring out a cake for me :D Above all, it has been a wonderful experience to perform with the Washington students, and it has been a great day!
~AK

We set out with bags under our eyes and spirits high.  Five thirty a.m. and the sun was peeking over the horizon casting an orange glow on the dew tipped grass.  It was a nippy morning and our breath was visible but we proceeded to sleepily load our luggage and enter the tour bus.  Smiling parents waved warm farewells to their children...ok, end of creative writing lesson.  The day was good.  Lots of driving and trees and hills and trees *breath* crossing the border was surprisingly fast!  Haha.   ~HL

It was 6 a.m. and excitement was in the air, in spite of our being half asleep, as the bus pulled onto the highway.  Throughout the trip the bus was filled with talking, laughter, and card games. We were relieved to reach the hotel that night as weariness took over.  Tomorrow morning we would see the White House and other sights!    ~RJ

Our trip started early yesterday morning.  We knew that we had a long day of travel ahead of us but we were glad to be starting another Stellae tour.  It has almost been a year since our last trip and I love how tight these trips make us!  I must admit the bus trip was very long and even though we hadn't done anything but sleep, eat, and hang out on the bus the ride tired us out.  When we finally got to the hotel we were ready for bed and excited for the next day to start!!!    ~PL

When traveling it is always thrilling to see new places and participate in new and exciting experiences.  However when in a group you get to share these moments with your friends, viewing things through your own eyes and also watching other's reactions as they observe things from their own perspective.  I was able to share in a friend's excitement as they left the country, crossed the border, and stayed in their own hotel room for the first time.  Another fabulous Stellae Boreales trip has started and I am ready for some amazing performance opportunities and to see things first hand that I've only ever previously seen in movies.    ~AT

In 2004, I had a powerful vision, a dream to create a violin performance group for our senior students. This PG would rehearse weekly, require very high standards from our students, incorporate different genres of music in its repertoire, perform locally on a regular basis, and travel nationally or internationally on a frequent basis.

Since then, our students, parents, coaches and accompanist have traveled to Victoria B.C., China, New York City and most recently, Iceland. We are the only Canadian Suzuki School to do so, and it has brought many accolades and opportunities our way, garnering many local requests to perform repeatedly at several highly visible events in our hometown of Ottawa.

Our Iceland trip fortified my belief, that travel and performance opportunities for our students, is a remarkable prospect for musical advancement and social development for our young people. It fortifies the camaraderie between students in creating enduring friendships; these young people will be the future audiences of concert halls around the world, their love of music the common attribute shared by all!

These travel forays provide our students wonderful glimpses of other parts of the world; worlds often quite disparate from our own, but always intriguing and fascinating to all concerned. For many, this was the first occasion they have traveled outside of Canada.

Iceland is a wonderful country, the people resilient and stoic, despite the hardships they have had to endure throughout the centuries, a land full of “fickle volcanoes” that threaten to erupt almost daily. Yet in this land of mostly volcanic ash, the people have persevered and created an oasis of vegetation and architectural charm to their immediate environs. The student and parent blogs will reveal much about the Blue Lagoon, the fjords and the geysers. My favorite view, from the buses, were the magnificent Icelandic horses that frequently dotted the countryside with their lush manes and diverse colours.

The concerts were absolutely wonderful, with far more people than we expected in the audiences; word travels very quickly in Iceland! I was incredibly impressed with the professionalism and commitment of the students in concert. They always gave their very best, and this was in clear evidence at all times! I, at times, became concerned that trekking through all the rugged terrain during the scenic jaunts, would tire them for upcoming concerts, but I was proven wrong every time; each concert revealed 22 smiling faces, exquisite ensemble playing, wonderful solos and elegant bows. We were afforded many standing ovations by the audiences, a true indication of the musical impact we left with the Icelanders.

Also, under the initiative of Elaine Klimasko of the NACO, each of our students was given the opportunity of experiencing a master class with either Gudny Gudmunsdottir or Ari Vilhjalmsson (respectively, the recently retired concertmaster, and the newly appointed concertmaster, of the Icelandic Symphony). All of the students gained much from the advice and suggestions of these two kind professionals.

A wonderful, exhilarating musical adventure!

Credits for Iceland Trip:

-  Maria Balakrishnan (tour organizer) Nan Laurenzio (second-in-command), Anka Pera, Scarlet Pollock
-  Vicky Barham (my personal mentor who shared my vision every step of the road)
-  Kit Barham (my indispensable co-coach, wheel-chair navigator and shopping companion)
-  Judy Ginsburg (our indefatigable accompanist)
-  Elaine Klimasko (master class teacher and coordinator with Icelandic teachers)
-  22 great students and their wonderful families ~ I Adore all of You!
-  The people of Iceland ~ Thank You for your Incredible Hospitality!

RK (coach)