Fredonia School of Music presents Fifth Annual String Experience for high school artists

Fredonia’s fifth annual String Experience will bring high school violinists, cellists and double bassists in contact with Fredonia’s faculty and special guest Emily Schaad, award winning fiddler, on Oct. 30, in Mason Hall on the SUNY Fredonia campus.

High school string players will have the opportunity to work in small sessions with conservatory-trained Fredonia faculty, developing performance skills, working on issues of stage fright and the audition process, improving technical skills such as shifting, intonation, tone production and more.

“String Experience exemplifies the unique one-on-one relationship that is fostered between students and teachers at Fredonia,” said Dr. Natasha Farny, cello professor at SUNY Fredonia. “Young musicians will be given the chance to improve performance and practice techniques, interact with other string players and attend a recital by our string faculty.”

This year’s guest artist is Emily Schaad, an award-winning performer and teacher who has worked closely with such fiddling greats as Jay and Ruth Ungar, Natalie MacMaster and Darol Anger. Her successful fiddling program for pre-college students, The Strawberry Hill Fiddlers, meets weekly in Poughkeepsie, NY. Schaad has taken the group across the country and overseas for concerts. At the String Experience, she will offer a workshop in which students will learn tunes and techniques to increase their awareness of fiddling.

“This is our fifth year presenting this workshop,” added Dr. Farny, “and the atmosphere is designed to be a fun, supportive learning environment for students. We keep the cost minimal so everyone who is interested may attend, and we invite parents and teachers to attend for free.”

A unique component of the day is the Free Improv Session with Dr. David Rudge, where students will learn ways to liberate their playing and explore new possibilities on their instruments. “It is an introduction for string players who have never improvised,” said Dr. Rudge, “and an opportunity to expand their understanding of improvisation for those who have had previous experience.” Students will move away from the printed page and explore making music in the moment using string and other "world music" instruments.