How Do They: Nurture the musical prowess of a young violin virtuoso and the spirit of a teenager?

My 13-year old daughter is preparing to play the middle school basketball play-offs.  Her classmate, Simone Porter is preparing to play a concert with the Royal Philharmonic in London this April.

 

I drive my daughter across town for basketball practice.  Deborah Porter accompanies Simone to Los Angeles for violin studies – every week.

It won’t be Simone’s first concert in England.  That took place last year, at The Sage Gateshead, in a concert billed as featuring “The World’s Greatest Musical Prodigies”.  For that, Simone, at age 12, was selected as one of four young soloists to perform a new concerto, ‘Velesslavitsa’, written and conducted by 16 year-old Alexander Prior. 

Ø   Before you read this story, take a moment to see Simone as she competes and is chosen for this honor.  Watching and listening to her play the violin will give everything that follows its proper context.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLkL3__NlVw&feature=PlayList&p=4CE9D31063C27251&index=0&playnext=1

As you can imagine, this London gig is a pretty big thing.  But it’s hard to top the year Simone was 11.  That’s the year she made her Carnegie Hall debut and followed it three months later by playing for the Dalai Lama and a crowd of 55,000.  In between these two performances she won the Seattle Young Artist Music Festival Competition, open to musicians from 5th grade to college.  Simone won the violin division, as a fifth grader.

  Simone playing Carnegie Hall, Age 11  Photo credit: Stefan Cohen/WGBH 

 

That’s Simone.  The same clear-eyed teenager sitting across the café table from me, her slender body in constant rhythm as she speaks animatedly about everything from Khachaturian to Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  The one who, after describing her unrelenting schedule says matter-of-factly, “It is all just a joy to me.  I’ve never had a day when I thought ‘I don’t love playing the violin’.”

 

I want to understand just how much time Simone and her mother Deborah dedicate to Simone’s violin study each week and shortly into my interview two things become clear: 1) I’m going to need an abacus to add it all up; and 2) this calculation isn’t something they’re in the habit of doing.  I’d suggest that the amalgam of classes, performances, teaching sessions and practice has grown haphazardly, but I know from the exchange of emails to set up the interview and Simone’s punctual – and bubbly --  arrival that conscientious organization keeps this machine running smoothly.

 

It has to.  Consider this schedule. 

 

For these three months leading up to the London concert the pair has added two extra days to their weekly trips from Seattle to Los Angeles to study with the renown violin pedagogue Robert Lipsett at the Colburn School of the Performing Arts. 

 

After studying with him at the summer Aspen Music Festival and School, Lipsett agreed to take on Simone as one of a handful of young violin students. (You can read an interesting article about him here: http://www.usc.edu/dept/pubrel/trojan_family/winter98/Lipsett/Lipsett_pg1.html)

 

Mom and daughter leave Seattle every Sunday mid-day after Simone has spent the morning rehearsing with her piano collaborator in Seattle.  She’ll do school homework on the plane or later than night, and once in L.A. on Sunday afternoon will study with Mr. Lipsett’s assistant.  On Monday she’ll have 1 – 2 lessons with Lipsett and practice for four or more hours.   “We work on seasoning a piece and performing it as much as possible, which is really important in preparing for a concert.”  Tuesday there is more practicing and usually two lessons, one with Mr. Lipsett and one with his assistant.  And then a flight home.

 

Wednesday through Friday Simone spends at Hamilton Middle School in the public school’s Accelerated Progress Program along with her seventh grade friends, though she won’t arrive until third period.  She spends the mornings – what else? – practicing the violin and catching up with her on-line study of math through the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth. 

 

“My teachers have been extremely, extremely supportive,” says Simone, who sometimes turns in homework assignments via email from Los Angeles.

 

For seven hours on Saturday Simone is taking academic musical classes (history and theory) and playing in a small chamber orchestra, the "Young Virtuosi", at the Seattle Conservatory of Music located at Seattle Pacific University. http://www.seattleconservatory.org/

 

And then there are the extras.  Like a performance of Vivaldi this past Sunday with the Olympia Symphony Orchestra, a late night attending a Seattle Symphony concert featuring violinist Itzhak Perlman, and just prior to our get-together an appointment with Daisy Thompson, an Energy Intuitive with the Northwest Healing Studio.  http://www.northwesthealingstudio.com/

 

Energy intuition is the ability to sense how energy flows through and around a being.  Daisy has helped Simone “unlock” energy blocks, some of which came when she moved to her new teacher.  “Daisy’s amazingly talented.  I work with her on the violin – she helps me with energetic stuff.  We also work on the energy of the stories I am telling through my music.  She has also helped me get over my nerves.” 

 

 

You can see why Simone and Deborah couldn’t produce a precise answer to the question of time – it adds up to a lot, though the two are careful to make sure the balance doesn’t tip to too much.  They’ve seen other young musicians flame out from a schedule that demands far more.  “We work on efficiency – getting the practice she needs in four hours rather than eight.  I don’t want her to hurt herself.”  Furthermore, they both recognize that the skill of focus is required of anyone pursuing a career as a soloist.  With travel, rehearsals, and the other demands of a performing life, being dependent on eight hours a day of practice will not be practical. 

 

Despite all of this, she and her mother wave away the characterization of Simone as a violin prodigy.  “Mozart was a prodigy.  Alexander Prior is a prodigy,” says Simone, who reserves that description for the children who play Paganini at age five – with full orchestra.  Simone didn’t even pick up a violin until she was all of three and a half.

 

• To be continued in next week’s story: How Simone got started with the violin; what her goals are for the future; and what the experience has been like for mother and daughter.

Comments

[Erin]

We have featured Simone both on From the Top's radio and television programs and she is wonderful. I really enjoy your taking time to expose the real hard work that goes into acquiring Simone's level of musicianship. It takes discipline and focus on both the kid and parent's part. The parents should also get awards for helping their kids manage this intense schedule.

[Angela at mommy bytes]

I enjoyed both your great posts on Simone. She is extremely talented and her family is certainly dedicated to her work.

You may want to update your YouTube link as the one you have has been taken down. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy8Ce333lDk&feature=related

[Jason of Violin Lesson Reviews]

It's still astounding to me how some can pick up an instrument so young, stick with it developing their passion, while so many others can hardly find anything to hold their attention for more than a few minutes. However, once started it can develop focus, happiness, and can be a way to communicate with others as she described in the video, something that isn't always easy during those years. I hope to hear more from/about Simone soon.

[Rob of Violin Master Pro Reviewed]

I agree with Jason. Her playing is truly awe-inspiring in this culture. I only wish I had picked up an instrument at a younger age myself. Hats off to Simone.

[lista telefonica]

The violin is a musical instrument that passion into disrespect anyone, young or old. Thank you for sharing this nice article with beautiful pictures.

[Marco @ Violin Reviews]

Playing an instrument like the violin can be a true passion of a lifetime. I can see how with a true passion, one can develop their true talents like Simone. However, it is also true that for many people this positive feedback doesn't take place, and for some reason, at some point, they quit.

So inspiring...