The Saarburg Serenaden Chamber Music Festival in Saarburg, Germany is near and dear to my heart. I first attended this festival as a student in 2011 -- a couple flute player friends were attending to study with Jennifer Parker-Harley, the flute professor at USC. I decided to go, since chamber music was one of my favorite things! As it turns out, this would end up being a very important musical experience for me: As a student in 2011, I met Andrew Campbell, who would become my collaborative piano professor at ASU the following year, and in 2012, I returned to the festival as a staff pianist instead of a student. Both years I met lovely colleagues who I still keep in touch with to this day, and played music in so many amazing venues that the memories remain some of my favorites.
The structure of the festival:
An intensive, 2-week festival with performances in multiple venues (local churches, private castles, breweries, etc.). The first few days there are no student recitals, but there are usually 1-2 faculty recitals during that time - Wednesday andThursday, if I remember correctly. Student recitals begin Friday of the first week, with recitals nearly every day after that day. I think that Sunday between the weeks was the main “off” day.
Room and board fees included continental breakfast at the hotels and a cafeteria-style lunch, with dinner the only out-of-pocket expense for attendees. (This ended up being a great way to try different local restaurants without having to eat out all the time.) There were also a couple grocery stores in town, so if a student wanted to get groceries instead of eating out, that’s an option as well.
All rehearsals, coachings, and private lessons were 45-minutes long instead of 60 minutes, which forced efficiency, and was a great reminder that much can be done in a shorter amount of time. Since the festival was only two weeks long, each student received music a few months ahead of time and had to arrive at the festival fully prepared. The other thing that struck me as interesting during the two weeks was how “free” my brain felt to focus on the music alone. Why was that? Well, for me personally, I think it was a combination of: (1) taking away technology (a big one, even though I wouldn’t own asmart phone until two years later), and (2) removing the daily decision-making process of “what’s for breakfast” and “what’s for lunch.” Having a set schedule with community-oriented food allowed me to mentally focus more on the music throughout the two weeks.
The 2012 festival, during which I was a staff pianist instead of a student one, really helped me continue the progress I was making through the first year of DMA program at ASU. Traveling within Europe that second summer was also much more relaxing since I’d been there before, but also included an entirely new set of challenges due to the different set of students attending. My job included rehearsing/performing with a few instrumental groups, helping vocal chamber ensembles prepare for their rehearsals with organ or string quartet, and working with voice students in their lessons and coachings.
All the groups seemed to learn a lot in the two weeks, and we all certainly enjoyed performing outside the traditional concert hall. I highly recommend doing a program similar to Saarburg Serenaden if you have the opportunity!
