| Artist Diploma candidates enjoy spotlight
this spring
By Eric McHenry
When asked how many hours she spends practicing the
violin each day, Catherine Wong replies, rather reticently, "Not that
many."
"Not that many" turns out to be about four, and those
four turn out not to include time she spends rehearsing duets with pianist
Ayako Yoda, chamber pieces with a quartet, and solo repertoire with her
mentor, SFA Associate Professor Peter Zazofsky -- all things she does
at least once a week.
Still, Wong says, she sometimes feels as though she's
cutting herself too much slack. "But the cellist in my quartet told me,
It's not good to spend too many hours a day being self-critical.' And
that's true. When you practice you're extremely critical of yourself.
You're pointing out all your mistakes and trying to fix them. And if you're
doing that six hours a day, you'll go crazy.
"So I've taken his advice," she says with a laugh.
Wong is a candidate for the SFA Artist Diploma in
Music Performance, a nondegree program of study for exceptionally gifted
instrumentalists and vocalists. In partial fulfillment of its requirements,
she and the other five diploma candidates will give a series of individual
and collaborative concerts between now and the end of the semester.
The two-year program is distinctive both for its rigor
and its flexibility. Principally, it demands that participants commit
themselves to mastery of their medium. Wong's academic week, involving
solo and group practice and individual instruction, is typical for an
Artist Diploma candidate. David Hoose, SFA professor and director of orchestral
activities, describes the program as "an opportunity for musicians to
focus on their playing, as opposed to taking theory classes."
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Stars on the rise: The current SFA Artist
Diploma candidates are: (from left) violinist Cathy Wong (SFA'01),
clarinetist Kai Yun Lu (SFA'99,'00), pianist Ayako Yoda (SFA'00),
violinist Aya Hasegawa (SFA'95,'01), and flutist Linda Krueger (SFA'99,'00).
Not pictured, pianist Konstantinos Papadakis (SFA'99,'00). Photo
by Fred Sway
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"Actually, I find that in the Artist Diploma program
I have more time for a balanced life," says Wong, who recently received
her B.A. and M.A. from the University of British Columbia. "In college,
I'd often put the academics aside and just practice, because that's where
my heart was. But I still wanted to do well in school. So sometimes I
wouldn't sleep very well. I got sick a lot. The Artist Diploma really
allows me time to focus, and to rest."
A flexible curriculum helps distinguish the Artist
Diploma from more conventional academic programs, says Phyllis Hoffman
(SFA'61,'67), associate professor and director of the SFA music division.
Participants may enroll in the music courses required of their degree
candidate counterparts. The may opt instead, however, for courses in English
literature or modern foreign languages or mathematics if they feel those
would better contribute to their musical education.
"The master's curriculum, for example, is strictly
prescribed," says Hoffman. "The Artist Diploma has a credit requirement
that's very flexible. You have to take your applied music lessons -- your
private lessons -- and give three recitals. But you can take approved
electives in any area you feel will support your development."
"It's a very free and open program," Hoose adds. "It's
also a very closed program, however, in that not many people are admitted.
And the people who are admitted are the people we perceive to be most
nearly ready to go out and create a career with their singing or playing."
The program places particular emphasis on the training
of viable professional soloists. For this reason, it is restricted to
candidates for whom a solo career is a practical possibility -- no double
bassists or tuba players. The only other requirements for admission are
an earned bachelor's degree and prodigious talent. Successful applicants
pass through a two-tiered screening process. They must first perform a
live or taped audition for the faculty of the appropriate department.
With that faculty's endorsement, they may then perform for a panel representing
the entire music division, a group that typically convenes twice a year.
"The body of faculty that chooses the Artist Diploma
candidates," says Hoffman, "consists of the chairmen of each of the performance
areas, as well as the academic music areas. We'll usually hear no more
than six people, and of those, maybe two or three will be admitted to
the program."
This selectivity helps the Artist Diploma retain its
international reputation, she says. So do the successes of its alumni,
who include Dominique LaBelle (SFA'89), leading soprano at the Boston
Lyric Opera and a featured soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra,
Hui Liu (SFA'90), assistant principal violist with the Chicago Symphony
Orchestra, and Stephen Salters (SFA'91,94), winner of numerous international
vocal competitions.
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