Menlo Park Renaissance: Music@Menlo Presents Chamber Music For Menlo School Students

The 1697 Stradivarius violin sung bittersweet melodies as Michelle Ross ran her bow across its strings; and the Menlo School students listening to the performance were entranced by its beauty.

Ross is student at The Julliard School, our nation's most prominent classical arts school, and was brought to perform for the local students by the Music@Menlo program, as a special preview of the organization's famed summer concert series.

Music@Menlo is the brainchild of Wu Han and David Finckel, that offers a summer classical music series in Menlo Park. The performance yesterday was specifically for students at Menlo School, as a thanks for the the campus offering its facilities during the summer.

Music@Menlo's artistic administrator Patrick Castillo, told his crowd of 20 students that Stradivarius violins are some of the finest ever created, after he led Ross and her fellow Julliard students in a musical journey through the centuries by playing classical and contemporary music from a variety of different eras.

Ross was joined by violinists Sean Lee and Areta Zhulla and cellist Eric Han as they played solos and string quartet chamber music performances, as well as more eclectic variations of recent music to demonstrate how classical techniques can be interpreted into today's songs.

The quartet performed measures of symphonies by some of history's greatest composers, such as Bach or Brahms, as well as a song by contemporary American composer Elliott Carter.

The violin driven medleys clearly demonstrated the power of chamber music as each player eloquently shifted from the strength of the instrument's low notes to its delicate high pitch, swaying back and forth in unison with each swipe of the bow along the strings.

But the artists also demonstrated more unusual styles of music, such as songs performed by intermittent hand clapping, as written by American composed Steve Reich. The song, performed by Castillo and Lee, pointed to the unique beauty that can be created by the most simple sounds.

Other more eclectic fashions of classical music included the orchestra members setting aside their bows, and plucking the strings of their violins and cello, to bring home the concept that chamber music can be played both through classical approaches and those that are more unusual.

Castillo said that the performance was created specifically for the audience, as he spoke before the concert with the teacher of the class comprising the audience to find out the topic they are studying, and selected performance pieces accordingly.
He said the goal was to present students with a historical perspective of how classical music changes over the years according to societal influences.

"We want the kids to get to hear great music," said Castillo. "And we want to connect the music to the context of their lessons."

Yesterday's performance struck a chord with Ryan Karle, a sophomore at Menlo School, who plays guitar, bass and ukulele. Karle said he appreciated the unique approach to classical music, and found the plucking and clapping performances more interesting. But he also enjoyed the straightforward chamber music.

He said he has always loved and appreciated classical music, and found yesterday's performance to be amazing.

But it was not just the audience who enjoyed the performance yesterday, its was also a pleasure for the orchestra.

"It's great to have an audience like this, a younger crowd, because they can relate to contemporary music and the approach it with an open mind," Zhulla said.