Category: AMN mentors

Amateur Music Network mentor Ragnar Bohlin
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AMN mentors Talking about Music Vocal and Choral Music

A Conversation with Ragnar Bohlin: Part 1

Our Singing Saturdays with San Francisco Symphony Chorus Director Ragnar Bohlin have been hugely successful—thank you for joining us! We thought you’d like to know more about Ragnar, so on a recent morning (evening in Stockholm, where Ragnar has lived since the early days of the pandemic), Amateur Music Network founder and director Lolly Lewis chatted with him via Zoom. Their conversation was far-ranging and fascinating. We’re publishing it in three parts, and welcome your further questions in the comments section.

Tell us a little about your early musical life. Did you sing in choirs?

I grew up [in Lund, Sweden] with music all around me. Both of my parents were choir directors. My father was a musicologist who led the Lund Male Choir. My mother was a mathematician who changed careers and started a choral movement in Lund. Her choirs won many international competitions. She had us children sing and pay music all the time. I studied piano from age 5, and cello from age 8. When I was 13, my mother talked me into learning to play the organ. At that point I was more into pop music, but she convinced me that playing the organ would be a good way to earn pocket money.

And was she right?

She was! I started quite early working as a church organist. Meanwhile, I went to a music high school where I tried to do everything—singing, piano, organ, cello. I led my first choir when I was 16.

What kind of pop music did you like? Do you still listen to pop? 

I’m a musical omnivore. I love all styles. I grew up with classical music all around me. When I was tiny, my mother gave me a tape with Mendelssohn, Bach, Mozart, Wagner, Verdi.. I listened to it, mesmerized, from age 3 to 7 or 8. Then I discovered the Beatles, then Supertramp, Queen, Rush, jazz-rock, symphonic rock, eventually Kate Bush, Bjork. All the styles inform one another, not directly, but by being different. The specifics of each genre become more clear because you have a contrasting style. 

Let’s go back to your musical education. What happened after high school? 

I got a scholarship to study piano with Peter Feuchtwanger in London. Then I had second thoughts and came back to Stockholm in 1985—I was 20 at the time—to begin an organist course at the Conservatory of Music. I never regretted my decision, because it enabled me to keep having a broad scope that included conducting, singing, counterpoint, harmony, theory. At the time, conducting was one of my least favorite subjects! I loved singing in choirs, but I hated standing up in front of them. 

What changed your mind?

I got a part-time job in a church while I was a student, and I had my own choir there. At the Conservatory I sang under the grand master Eric Ericson, the conductor of the Conservatory chamber choir. Ericson was my main inspiration, and after I completed the church music degree I spent another four years studying conducting, and received a diploma in choir conducting. I sang in the Ericson Chamber Choir, and I’ve now conducted them, and the Swedish Radio Choir, several times. I’ll conduct them again in December, when they sing the Bach Christmas Oratorio with the Nordic Chamber Orchestra. 

When did you know you would make a career of directing choirs?

My interest in choir directing grew out of my piano playing, leading from the piano. Piano was always my main thing, although for a while I became obsessed with the voice and aimed to become an oratorio singer as a side career. I have sung the Evangelist part of the St. Matthew Passion, Bach’s Magnificat, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, and much more. I studied for five years with the famous tenor Nicolai Gedda, and I accompanied a lot of master classes, both as a singer and as a pianist.

And you lead Singing Saturdays from the piano.

It’s something I’ve done for years. There are certain things you can do better when you lead from the piano. You’re in full control of the flow of the music and the rehearsal process.

Next: Part 2 of our conversation with Ragnar Bohlin, on making music during the pandemic.

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Pictured: Ragnar leading a rehearsal with his professional chamber choir Cappella SF.

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AMN mentors Talking about Music Vocal and Choral Music Workshops

Meet Singer and Actress Karen Mason

On April 17 we’re raising the curtain on an online event sure to delight lovers of musical theater and cabaret: a conversation between singer/actress Karen Mason and her longtime friend (and AMN curator) David Landis. To give you a preview, we spoke to Karen at her home in Jackson Heights, Queens—“from our roof we can see the Manhattan skyline”—about her life in music.

What was your early musical life like? Did you always enjoy performing?

I was born in New Orleans, and we kept moving north when my father’s job was transferred—Atlanta, St. Louis, Chicago. There was always music in the house: my mother trained as a classical pianist, and my parents took us to musicals and concerts. My all-girls Catholic high school didn’t do musical theater, but the boys’ school did, so I auditioned and was cast as a townsperson in Annie Get Your Gun. And I was hooked! I was a dorky kind of kid, and this was where I felt accepted and at home. I’d had no training at that point other than singing around the house. But I just had to do it. From there, I went on to play bigger roles: Mrs. Paroo in The Music Man, Carrie in Carousel.

And after high school?

I should have jumped in, but at the University of Illinois the musicals were more actor driven, and the music school itself was more classical, which wasn’t where I felt joy. I eventually left college and did a lot of community theater while unhappily working at a regular job. I wanted to be closer to people who were getting paid for doing what I was doing for free, so I auditioned to be a singing waitress at a Chicago restaurant called Lawrence of Oregano. And that’s where I met Brian Lasser, a brilliant musician, actor, songwriter, and pianist. We left the restaurant and started doing nightclubs and concerts, moving up the foodchain. In 1978 or 1979 we moved to New York. We worked one night a week for two or three years at the Duplex in the Village. That didn’t pay the rent, so in between shows we’d fly back to Chicago, do enough work to make three or four grand, and come back to New York. We worked together until Brian’s death in 1992. I still perform quite a few arrangements he did early in our career.

You’ve also had an impressive career in theater.

I’m not just a cabaret person, or just a theater person. I enjoy the diversity, going back and forth.

This is probably an impossible question, but we’ll ask it anyway: Can you single out a highlight of your stage career?

Probably the first time I understudied the role of Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard. This was in Los Angeles, and Glenn Close was starring. I got two days’ notice—Glenn’s doctor had told her to take one of the Sunday performances off. She did the matinee and I did the evening show. You don’t get a lot of rehearsal time as an understudy or standby, but this was February and we’d opened in November, so I was ready! I’d watched from the back of the theater and gone through all the choreography. I still had to learn all the costume changes—with three dressers!—and learn the props and set. It was an amazing set—the mansion would lift up with hydraulics, and there’d be an entirely new scene underneath. It was weird the first time I rode up in it, but I learned to love it.

I stayed with the show after it moved to Broadway, and I understudied the next two leads, Betty Buckley and Elaine Paige. Over the course of two years, I did about 250 performances.

There haven’t been many live performances since March 2020. What’s your musical life been like during the pandemic?

My last performance was in November 2019, in Chasing Rainbows: The Road to Oz at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey. I got sick after that and wasn’t able to do any Christmas shows, and then, of course, I had to cancel all of 2020.

I was getting bored, so I decided to learn how to do self-taping and streaming. Every Thursday since April 2020 I’ve done a show, “Mason’s Makin’ Music,” where I sing to tracks. It’s been fascinating. In cabarets you have 60 to 100 people in the audience. Online I’ve had 3,000 people listening! It’s great to connect with them, but I do miss seeing eyes in an audience and feeling that energy. And singing with a piano—oy, I can’t wait for that!

I’m doing a few things this summer, though. On May 15 I’m doing a free indoor concert at the Frank Campbell Funeral Chapel in Manhattan—it’s a beautiful historic building, and it’ll be the first time I’ve sung with a live piano in over a year.

I’ll have a new CD out this fall. My previous CD, It’s About Time, was produced by Paul Rolnick, who also wrote the title song—he wrote it for some friends shortly after marriage equality became legal in New York. I sang it at those friends’ wedding. It’s not just about gay marriage equality; it’s about all marriage equality. If people are in love they should get married!

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AMN mentors Piano Talking about Music Workshops

Meet Bob Athayde, Pianist and Music Educator

“We all play together” has been pianist, bandleader, and chorus director Bob Athayde’s motto since he began teaching at Stanley Middle School, in Lafayette, California, in 1986. We’ll have a chance to bring that motto to life on March 20, when Bob leads our “Anyone Can Improvise!” online workshop. We reached Bob at his Orinda, California, home to learn more about his career and his approach to teaching.

Bob Athayde

Tell us a little about your background. Is yours a musical family?

My wife is a musician and music teacher, and all four of my kids play music. I guess they grew up thinking everyone plays music. My son Kyle, who plays trumpet, is my artist-assistant—he’s three times the musician I’ll ever be!

You’ve devoted your professional life to teaching young people. What do you find most satisfying about teaching?

The most satisfying thing is seeing that light bulb switch on in a student’s mind, whether it’s a fourth-grader or an adult. When I can get people to feel joyful about what they’re engaged in I know I’ve gotten the concept across!

You’re teaching remotely now. How is that going?

We closed the school, of course, so I’ve been teaching remotely for a year. But I still go into my classroom, because it makes me feel more businesslike. I have a Steinway grand piano there—it’s in mint condition—plus two computers, an extra camera, and a state-of-the-art microphone with audio interface. I have a big screen and put all the kids’ faces up there.

Do you have any tips for Zoom learning?

I’m used to being in person with large groups of people, so at first, Zoom was strange. After a year of Zooming, I’ve gotten used to it, and am grateful to have that platform. I keep track of teachers around the country who are doing great things with Zoom, and I learn from them.

Besides teaching remotely, what else have you been during during the pandemic, musically and otherwise?

Before Covid, I had a weekly gig playing piano at La Finestra Ristorante in Moraga. That went away, but I now stream a set via Facebook Live every Friday and Saturday from 6 to 7 p.m. I’ve attended a lot of online master classes and listened to [jazz pianist] Herbie Hancock’s Harvard lecture series. And I’ve walked our dog more—and met a lot of neighbors on my walks!

For some classically trained musicians, improvisation can feel a little scary. What can you tell them to make it less daunting?

I’d tell them to be more like kids. To remember that this is your expression—that just as no two people have the same fingerprints, no two people play music the same. You’re making a contribution to art, to music.

Sometimes I look at the piano and tell myself to play something I’ve never played before. Of course I’m filled with ideas of things I’ve done before. But then I might come out with something new and interesting. Listen, I make so many mistakes that if I were leading a band I probably wouldn’t hire me! But I don’t care, because I’m batting .500, which would get me into the major leagues.

And remember: it’s playing music, not working music!

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Photo of Bob with students: Kerwin Lee

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AMN mentors Jazz and Beyond - Non-Classical Music Strings: Violin, Viola, Cello, Bass Workshops

Meet Violinist, Fiddler, and Composer Alisa Rose

Are you a classical violinist looking to extend your musical horizons? A bluegrass musician who wants to go deeper? Then our March 13 online workshop with Alisa Rose is for you. Alisa trained as a classical violinist and branched out into bluegrass; her compositions blend elements of both genres. We spoke with her to learn more about her background and interests.

Alisa Rose

When did you start playing music?

I grew up in Verona, Wisconsin, near Madison, with two older sisters who played the violin. I insisted on playing the violin too, and my mother was nice enough to accommodate me! I started with the Suzuki method when I was 3, and when I was 5 I began entering local fiddle contests at little fairs, Hometown Days, that sort of thing.

What did you play in your first contest?

I remember playing “Boil Them Cabbages Down.” We were also supposed to play a waltz, but I hadn’t learned one, so I played “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”

What came next?

I played in a high school string quartet and the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra. I was also in the Southwest Wisconsin Oldtime Fiddlers Association. Then I came to California to attend the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. At that point I was interested in folk music but not bluegrass specifically, but within a couple of years I’d joined a bluegrass band. I liked the melodics of bluegrass, and also how social it is—people hung out and played together. I liked that energy.

Who were your musical influences?

Darol Anger [the American fiddler, composer, and founding member of the David Grisman Quintet] was a big influence—he really brought me into bluegrass. I didn’t take lessons, I just listened and picked things up. At one point I lived near the beach in a big house with a bunch of Conservatory kids who were interested in bluegrass. We had a weekly jam—I learned so much from that. And I went to festivals like the Strawberry Music Festival [in Grass Valley, California], the Grass Valley Father’s Day Music Festival, and my favorite, the RockyGrass Festival in Lyons, Colorado.

We haven’t been able to attend festivals or concerts for a year now. How have you been spending that time?

I’ve been teaching Zoom classes—I’m glad that’s possible. And I’ve been composing. I got a grant from the San Francisco Arts Commission to write a concerto on the theme of inclusivity, based on interviews I did with members of Bluegrass Pride. There will also be a string-quintet version. The concerto was supposed to be performed by the Bay Area Rainbow Orchestra at Herbst Theatre in San Francisco in June, but it may have to be rescheduled.

What can participants expect to learn in your March 13 workshop?

I’m going to teach a great fiddle tune by ear. They’ll learn how to use the bow in a more rhythmic way—the bow is what drives the music in bluegrass, as opposed to that beautiful singing lyrical tone of classical music. The left hand is important, too: you can get a lot of expression from slides and double-stops.

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While doing background research for this interview we found a story in the July 3, 1988, edition of the Wisconsin State Journal that mentioned young Alisa’s performance at a Dane County, Wisconsin, fiddle festival. “The 9-year-old Rose, wearing red bows in her long black hair, fiddled, while Herb Swingen, on string bass, and Ron Kittleson, on guitar, both of rural Mount Horeb, accompanied her. She captivated listeners when she played ‘Boil Them Cabbages Down,’ her favorite. Rose, who was fiddling at her 5th festival said she has been playing the violin since she was 3 and fiddling since she was 5. She said she prefers fiddling to playing classics by Mozart or Bach. ‘It’s fun,’ Rose said with a grin. ‘I guess the other things seem pretty regular.’”

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AMN mentors Brass and Horns Workshops

Meet trombonist Nick Platoff

The first time we hosted a workshop with trombonist Nick Platoff, in January 2020, we were able to play together in person at the Drew School in San Francisco. We had so much fun that we’ve invited Nick back to lead an online workshop for low brass players on February 27. We reached Nick in Philadelphia, where he’s been temporarily living with his family while working on new musical projects.

Nick Platoff

You were appointed associate principal trombonist at the San Francisco Symphony in 2016, when you were just 23. Obviously you had an early start in music. What’s your musical background?

I grew up in New Haven, Connecticut. My dad, John Platoff, is a musicologist, and he introduced me to a lot of classical, pop, and world music. As a family, we’d sing together, mostly in the car. This was around the time that minivans started to have TV screens and my friends were all watching SpongeBob. My parents did not want us to do that, so we sang—mostly rounds, like “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” I started playing the recorder in third grade, and around that time I went to a local high school’s jazz band concert. They played a James Bond medley that I thought was the coolest thing ever. So in fourth grade I started studying trombone with Jim Fryer and Terrence Fay at Neighborhood Music School in New Haven. Jim Fryer made it all about having fun from the very beginning, so that was super awesome.

You’re an educator yourself now. [Nick is on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the San Franisco Symphony’s Youth Orchestra.] What qualities are important in a music teacher?

The better teachers have taught me to see and hear differently. Michael Mulcahy was my primary trombone teacher at Northwestern University. He stressed the importance of listening—I heard him play a lot. He also encouraged me to have lots of teachers, to take lessons from different kinds of musicians. As a teacher myself, the number-one thing I want to impart is that music is a joyful and human thing, not just an exam or a contest. It breaks my heart when people get too stuck on their intonation or their sound quality, or some other thing that some person told them that’s getting in the way of them loving this profound, special, magical thing called music. If my students don’t become professionals, that bothers me a lot less than them having a bad, twisted, perverted relationship with music.

You’ve performed at Burning Man. What was that like?

It was totally life changing! I was there in 2017 and 2018. The first year I played Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring with a group called Art Haus. Our dress rehearsal took place during a duststorm that knocked out all of the electricity we were using. We were mic’ed up and plugged into a board, and the board went down 15 minutes before we were supposed to start. The conductor, my friend Brad Hogarth, told us, “Let’s not freak out and tell everybody that the board is down. We’ll just pray that it goes back on.” They say at Burning Man that “the playa provides,” and sure enough, by some crazy playa miracle the board went back on and we had a spectacular performance. Something like 10,000 people were there. Some of them knew the music, but probably most of them didn’t. That’s something that’s really appealing to me: taking the music in its purest form, outside of the context of tuxedos and concert halls and expensive tickets. It was very raw and cool.

How have you been spending your time during the pandemic, now that touring and in-person performing are out of the question?

I’ve used the time in two areas. The first is focusing on my health in every aspect—nutrition, exercise, sleep, meditation. [Watch Nick’s video about overcoming cellphone addiction. Warning: Not for the prudish!] The other big pillar of the pandemic for me has been working on my own composition projects. The craziest thing I did was a song-a-day challenge last April. It was more music than I’d written in my whole life. I was living with some friends in this hippie cryptocurrency commune in Silicon Valley, with no quiet studio space. But my friend Joel owned a limousine that wasn’t going anywhere, so I brought my laptop and mini-keyboard and Zoom recorder out to the limo and sat there every day in April and wrote songs. I’ve been working ever since on developing those songs into an album, which I hope will be ready sometime this year.

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