Master Class with Roman Mekinulov

Roman Mekinlov, the principal cellist of the BPO, visited us this week to hold a master class with the upper school string ensemble in preparation for the winter concert, where he and his wife Sebnem will be featured soloists.

ROMAN MEKINULOV WORKING WITH THE ENSEMBLE...

It was eye opening for me to watch Roman as he worked with our young musicians. As you might expect, his musicianship is impeccable and inspirational. But more interesting to me was the demonstrable improvement in the ensemble's performance that resulted from the polite yet firm way that he led the class.

...AND DEMONSTRATING MASTER MUSICIANSHIP

Music provides very clear and immediate feedback and professional musicians are used to maximizing their rehearsal time, so Mr. Mekinlov's expectations were very clear ("You are flat, please be sure that you are playing the right note...") and very immediate ("Stop!...now play it pianisimo, as written, from measure 20, Ready? Go...). The orchestra responded by raising their level of performance to meet the standard that he articulated and then reinforced through his own playing.

I must confess that I sometimes soften or delay the feedback that I give to others out of concern that it might somehow be hurtful to their self-esteem or damaging to our relationship, particularly when I am working with students. Roman's "polite but firm" approach reminded me that this might not always be the smart path to helping others improve.