The collaborative spirit ... Zephyr ... in action.

Zephyr, a New York City-based trio, is a unique collaboration that is described as "an ensemble of three highly talented and personable musicians with an attractively varied repertoire." Zephyr members are Lady Jeanne Galway, flute, Darrett Adkins, cello, and Jonathan Feldman, piano. Zephyr will be featured in concert at the MTNA National Conference in Kansas City, March 28, 2004.

MTNA has a renewed focus on collaborative performance with the return of the Collaborative Performance Forum. As chair of the Forum, I was asked to interview Zephyr members about their collaboration.

How did the three of you begin the trio and choose the name Zephyr?

Lady Galway: "The trio was formed in 1997 as a result of a collaboration between me and the world-renowned collaborative pianist Samuel Sanders, after we performed together in the Cape & Islands Summer Festival. The idea of a flute, cello and piano trio came up between us after a concert one day, as we were both avid chamber musicians. We wanted to play with other musicians.

"The idea of Zephyr is that the base group is a trio and invites other musicians to join in on various concerts to give a more varied performance--thus, the name is not Zephyr Trio, but just Zephyr. The word zephyr means 'warm wind.' We found this a perfect name for the group we wanted to create.

"In 1999, due to a long illness, Mr. Sanders was succeeded by his good friend and colleague Jonathan Feldman, chairman of the collaborative piano department at Juilliard. Then in 2000, Darrett Adkins, also a member of the Juilliard faculty and currently professor at Oberlin, joined the group. Since then, the group has been solid and enjoys traveling together, as well as performing, discovering new repertoire, commissions and a varied series of concerts."

What is your program for the MTNA concert?

Lady Galway: "Our programs generally have two components. One is pieces that we have performed in the past and that feel comfortable and mature and have been successful with our audiences. Then, we are always looking to add to our repertoire, and we are constantly reading new pieces and hoping that one or more will interest us enough to join programming plans. Sometimes we try a piece out and decide it doesn't yet fit, but we keep it in mind for future concerts. A third element is commissioning new works. We all recognize that if performers working today fail to encourage and help generate new pieces, then music history stops with us. We are very excited to be offering a new work by Lowell Liebermann."

Zephyr uses its diverse solo and chamber music background to create interesting duo and trio programs. The trio's sensitive collaboration as chamber musicians is evident in repertoire that ranges from trios of Haydn to the Martinu Trio in F. They also team for duo performances with Feldman, having programmed the Debussy cello sonata, the Donizetti flute sonata and the Saint-Saens "Romance." Feldman often has programmed works by Chopin.

The MTNA concert will feature a world premiere of Liebermann's Doppler, Souvenir du Rigi. Liebermann, a widely performed and commissioned composer, is composer-in-residence to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. In 2001 Liebermann was awarded the first American Composers' Invitational Award by the eleventh Van Cliburn Competition after the majority of finalists chose to perform his Three Impromtus, which were selected from works submitted by forty-two contemporary composers. Liebermann also was the winner of the 1978 MTNA High School Composition Competition.

Although the program is subject to change, other works will be the Martinu Trio, the Weber Trio in G Minor and Villa-Lobos's The Jet Whistle for flute and cello.

Each member of Zephyr has enjoyed a long and varied musical life, collecting an impressive list of personal achievements along the way.

Lady Galway lives with her husband, renowned flutist Sir James Galway, in Meggen, Switzerland. She records and performs regularly with her husband including a fundraising concert with Paul Simon and Stevie Wonder and a successful recital tour of Japan that included a private performance in the presence of the Empress of Japan.

Lady Galway has performed extensively throughout Europe and the United States as both soloist and chamber musician. She has been soloist with the Chicago, Seattle, Detroit and London Symphony Orchestras, the London Philharmonic, the Royal Philharmonic and many chamber orchestras. In addition to performing with Zephyr, she performs with the Lucerne Chamber Players.

Lady Galway is renowned for her dedication to the development of young flutists and is vice president of Flutewise, an educational organization for young flute players. She has recorded two flute tutor methods and released with Phillip Moll a CD for Flutewise.

She is a native New Yorker and graduated from Mannes School of Music in Manhattan. She plays a flute made especially for her by the Japanese-owned Muramatsu Flutes, based in Ferndale, Michigan. It is fashioned of gleaming platinum with diamond-encrusted caps and crown.

Pianist Jonathan Feldman, recognized by colleagues and critics alike as an extremely accomplished ensemble player and accompanist, has performed on four continents with some of the world's greatest instrumentalists. Among these have been the legendary Nathan Milstein, Itzhak Pedman, Joshua Bell, Kyung Wha Chung, Zara Nelsova, Sarah Chang and Ani and Ida Kavafian. Feldman also enjoys an active solo career performing throughout the United States and Europe. As a chamber musician, he appears in concert regularly with members of the New York Philharmonic and Boston Symphony Orchestras. He has participated in the New York Philharmonic Chamber Ensembles concerts during the orchestra's tours of the Far East, South America and Europe. Feldman also has participated in many summer festivals, notably Tanglewood, Bridgehampton Music Festival and Music from Angel Fire in New Mexico.

A dedicated teacher, Feldman has given mister classes throughout the United States and has lectured on the "Collaborative Pianist" at the University of Maryland International Piano Festival and William Kapell Competition. In the fall of 1989, Feldman joined the faculty of the Juilliard School, where he now serves as chair of the collaborative piano department. He is a graduate of Juilliard, and his teachers have included Dorothy Taubman, Rosetta Goodkind and Irwin Freundlich. He has recorded for Angel/EMI, CALA, Columbia Masterworks, Naxos, Nonesuch, RCA Red Seal and Summit records. His most recent recording is with Gil Shaham for DGG. Feldman lives in New Jersey with his wife, Judith Leclair, who is the principal bassoonist of the New York Philharmonic, and their son, Gabriel.

Cellist Darrett Adkins has earned a reputation as one of the most exciting and versatile young cellists in America. Adkins's New York debut of Samuel Barber's Concerto, with Per Brevig conducting the Orchestra of St. Luke's at Alice Tully Hall in 1999, prompted Strings magazine to call him "an adventurous champion of contemporary music."

Adkins has won numerous prizes, including the Presser Music Award and Bunkamura Orchard Hall Award, for which he appeared as soloist with the Tokyo Philharmonic. He has performed as soloist with Tochio Soloisten, the North Carolina Symphony and the New Hampshire Symphony. Other performances include the 1999 American premiere of Franco Donatoni's cello concerto at Tanglewood, where he also performed Birtwistle's Meridian.

From 1997 until 2002, Adkins was a member of Flux, a string quartet dedicated to cutting-edge music. A 2001 recording Flux made of Morton Feldman's six-hour String Quartet No. 2 is available on the Mode label. In addition, he frequently steps outside the classical mainstream, collaborating with figures such as free-jazz legend Ornette Coleman and electronic pop wizard David Baron.

Adkins recently joined the faculty of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music at Oberlin College, from which he graduated in 1991 and studied with Norman Fischer. Adkins was on the faculty of the Juilliard School for seven years, where he also received his doctor of musical arts degree as a student of Joel Krosnick. Adkins earned a master of music degree from Rice University. He is originally from Tacoma, Washington.

How does a change in personnel affect the trio?

Lady Galway: "As noted, there have been changes in this particular group. It is always a bit disconcerting to have a change in the group. However, it takes time to find the right balance. Colleagues must be real colleagues, not just good musicians. As noted in the statement before, they must be able to enjoy themselves with each other on and off the platform. There must be a mutual respect in and out of rehearsals. All the members of the group must do their share to make it work. It is very seldom a group ever stays the same. We have been extremely fortunate with our group. We believe we have found the right balance."

Feldman: "There are lots of reasons for a change of personnel in any group. Zephyr's change deserves an explanation. Although Jeanne is a founding member of the trio, I am next in longevity. When she and Sam Sanders started Zephyr, there was no thought that Sam would not be able to play in any of the concerts because of his health. Unfortunately, that was the case. He asked me to substitute for him and upon his death, Jeanne and I decided to continue the trio's life. We were very close to Sam and wanted to continue playing for him. With Darrett's inclusion, it completes the circle since he was also a friend to Sam. We all enjoy working together and, amazingly enough, traveling together."

How do you rehearse when you live in different cities and countries?

Lady Galway: "We are a New York-based group. We rehearse in New York City and perform in and around the city. Up until this year Darrett Adkins was living in New York. He is still very active in the New York scene as a teacher at Juilliard and in the chamber music scene. Jonathan Feldman works and performs in NYC with the New York Philharmonic and is a very sought after pianist. I am living abroad and in and out of NYC throughout the year. We plan our rehearsals long enough in advance and get together and work for hours and for days on end when needed. We love to be in each others' company and have a great time rehearsing."

Feldman: "We rehearse while in town together, which is frequent enough to get good work done."

Describe your rehearsals and your collaborative spirit. Is there a leader? How do you decide the interpretation?

Lady Galway: "As stated earlier, the word here is 'collaborative.' We collaborate with each other. There are no leaders in music making. One of the most important aspects of playing with another musician is respect for your colleague. No matter how tired you are or how your day has been going when going into a rehearsal, it is important to leave the personal problems and 'ego' outside the door. Most groups do not last for this simple reason. It is an extra advantage to be great friends with your colleagues, as we are in Zephyr. However, to make any collaboration work, just collaborate!"

Feldman: "Rehearsals are intense and demanding. They are also a lot of fun. As to one of us as the leader, I think the most important part of collaboration is knowing when to lead and when to lay back. We all lead at times. As for interpretation, it is a collective decision, one agreed upon during rehearsals. We all do understand that during the course of the battle, one might be inspired to try something unrehearsed. This makes us concentrate on another level when in concert. That is what makes a live performance so special."

As a young person what were your first collaborative music experiences?

Lady Galway: "My first collaborative experiences were flute duets with my best friend Fran. I was 10. We played together whenever we could. We became a very good duo, which lasted until we graduated high school. Perhaps that is why, besides my work with Zephyr, my other collaboration is performing as a duo partner with my husband, also a flutist."

Feldman: "My first collaborative experience was with my older brother, Ronald. He is a fine cellist, and I have played with him since I was 7 or 8 years old. We still play together."

Adkins: "I first started playing chamber music when I was 13 years old, through my local youth symphony. The music director started a chamber music program and personally coached some fifteen to twenty groups on repertoire ranging from baroque trio sonatas to the Mendelssohn Octet and Irving Fine Wind Quintets. It was a tremendous education in the value of chamber music, not only in developing individuals as players, but also in developing a healthier orchestra. I even had my first experiences with new music then, supporting our young local composers through performances of their pieces."

MTNA has a forum on collaborative performance to encourage students and teachers to play chamber music. What advice would you give to teachers and young students about beginning to play music with others?

Adkins: "My advice is that any community of musicians will be dramatically enhanced through active chamber music participation. Very young groups should meet mostly with a coach, and, when possible, in slightly larger, perhaps even conducted, ensembles. AS Jeanne says, 'Just try it!' All communities have members of local orchestras that can give groups guidance and make sure that there is a little performance at the end of the period. My experience is that nobody learns as well without a performance to inspire them. Giant 'marathons' of chamber music are fun for the kids and the community, and engender a supportive and exciting atmosphere."

Galway, Feldman and Adkins all are deeply involved with the education of young people. They are excellent role models for rehearsing and performing chamber music. Zephyr truly embodies the collaborative spirit both through their friendship and musicianship.

NOTES

O'Grady, Terrance. Green Bay PressGazette, March 15, 1999.

Sylvia Coats, NCTM, is associate professor of piano pedagogy and class piano at Wichita State University, and is on MTNA's Board of Directors. 5he often presents workshops on baroque and romantic dances. She holds bachelor's and master's degrees in piano performance from Texas Tech University and a D.M.A. degree in performance and pedagogy from the University of Colorado.