Let’s keep on meeting some of the musicians that are participating to workshop and auditions here in San Giorgio Maggiore Island in Venice. Yesterday we talked with Clara, Vadym and Samuel: today we are meeting Taylor Townsend, 26 year, horn player from Colorado, USA. “Yes, I am from Colorado, but I haven’t been living in USA for some years now: I had a Master course in Zurich, which I finished, and now I live in Madrid. I am a freelance horn player (unfortunately I find work especially as a modern horn player), and I also earn something giving English lessons as a part-time teacher.”
It’s the first time that Taylor plays in a classic orchestra such as Theresia, where musicians perform the Eighteenth century’s repertoire on period instruments: “I have started to play natural horn two years ago: it all began during my Master course in Zurich, but unfortunately it couldn’t be part of my syllabus. So I had to move around looking for courses in Bruxelles and Germany. For this very reason I am so happy of being here.” Taylor knew about Theresia Youth Baroque Orchestra from a former school mate of his, our horn player Katryn Zevenbergen: “She’s from Colorado too: when we were youngest we were studying together for one year. Recently she told me about the orchestra and these very auditions: I applied and I think that for me it’s a good thing just to be here: we are working so well with TYBO’s conductors, because they give us a lot of historical information and details about the way of playing the music that we are studying: it’s not just a matter of rehearsal after rehearsal, I feel that all we are growing thanks to this workshop.”
Zaynab Martin is 27: from England (“but my mother is from Austria, so I am Anglo-Austrian”), she is a double bass player and she lives in Amsterdam where she had a Master degree in 2014. “Now I am a freelance musician, playing only the period instrument with gut strings: job’s opportunities are growing, but I play most of all Baroque repertoire. It doesn’t happen so often that I can perform Classic repertoire, this is the principal reason because I’m here.” Zayab is rehearsing with all the three conductors here in Venice: “With Chiara Banchini we work a lot on the bow technique, looking for the right sound, the right articulation; Claudio Astronio is more concerned of balance, dynamics and tuning of the whole orchestra; with Bernardini we deepen the role of each instrument in the wind and string ensembles.” The workshop is also an audition: the best musicians will be chosen for next TYBO’s productions, but Zaynab doesn’t care too much: “First of all I am here because I wanted to have an experience in a Classic orchestra and I wanted to be coached again: I finished studying, I am a freelancer pro, it is good for me to be a learner again sometimes.”
[highlighted_text] Read the first part of “Meet Theresia. A Venetian diary” (in italian)[/highlighted_text]
