Comments (0)Park School Alumni Rachel Shapiro
From New York to Israel, Nepal to Shanghai: chamber musician and Park School graduate Rachel Shapiro
September 2009By Rochelle Eisenberg
She’s only 32-years-old, but already violist Rachel Shapiro can point to an illustrious musical career. As a member of Concertante, a chamber music group comprised of six virtuosos string players, she has performed on some of the world’s most famous stages, including New York’s Carnegie Hall and Shanghai’s Grand Theater.
Yet, when speaking with her by phone, one of the highlights of her career is her effort to engage—she emphasizes that word—youngsters in classical music. To that end, she is a senior teaching artist for the New York Philharmonic School Partnership Program and has created children’s interactive concerts at East Carolina University and across the county. She also participated in teaching family interactive concerts in Israel.
Originally from Harrisburg, Pa., Shapiro first began commuting to Baltimore when she was in first grade, to attend Peabody Conservatory of Music. Her family moved to Pikesville when Shapiro was 14, and she began ninth grade at The Park School. A graduate of The Julliard School, Shapiro currently lives in New York City.
iNSIDER recently spoke to Shapiro about her career and how one can engage today’s youngsters in classical music and the arts.
Tell me about how you began playing violin?
Shapiro: The family lore is that both my parents were living in D.C. during the Carter administration. Amy Carter played the violin and it was reported in The Washington Post. My mom read about Amy and decided that when she had a child, she wanted her to play the violin like Amy Carter.
I played the violin in Harrisburg. When my teacher moved, the mom of another music family directed my mom to Peabody.
When did you switch to the viola?
I learned the viola when I was 9. Most young people tend not to start on the viola, because it is bigger and heavier than the violin. I was physically able to handle it. In college, I had to pick between the violin and the viola, and I liked the sound quality and its role in chamber music. It’s more intriguing to me.
Why chamber music instead of playing in an orchestra?
I always liked the beauty of chamber music. You have your own voice. You’re not in an orchestra with 15 people playing a part. It’s very democratic. There is no conductor telling you how or what to do.
How do you interest children in classical music?
The key to success is “engage.” Young children intrinsically like classical music. Where we’ve gone wrong is the present approach, where there is a failure to understand where kids are coming from when they listen. We should engage them and have them find what is interesting in a piece of music before we teach them actual information about the music.
You’ve recently returned from Israel. Tell me about your experience there.
I was at the International String Seminar at Mizra. It’s a kibbutz. My colleague Zvi Plesser runs a two-week seminar for string instruments for ages 15-22. Teachers from around the world come. Zvi wanted me to come and hold workshops for the students. I played in the faculty concert and trained a small group to perform in an interactive family concert.
You’ve also played in Nepal. Is music treated differently in other countries?
It’s the same thing everywhere. It’s not just an American problem, but a worldwide problem. It’s not just classical music, but the arts in general. Worldwide the artistic community needs to be more sensitive and bring everyone into the arts. We need to value the personal experience of the individual. Too often the art world can be elitist and it puts off certain people.
What would you say is your greatest accomplishment?
I remember going to one of my very first classes in my junior year of college. The first assignment was to write a paper about how to make an inner city fourth-grader care about Mozart. People said (things like) when Mozart was your age, he wrote (such and such). Everything we said, the professor had a retort (about) why should an inner city child care.
I thought about that approach when I started teaching in public school. For five or six years, I wanted the students to get it, but it wasn’t there. At a certain point, it clicked.
So how would you answer that question?
Within all art forms there are human experiences embodied. You listen to the point of view objectively in music and find something human and help them connect to that piece of music. For example, what is the big thing in the inner city? Uncertainty…oftentimes they are dealing with chaos. They experience patterns in their lives—they go to lunch, go to recess. So look for rhythmic patterns in the music.
Tell me about Park.
When I read the alumni newsletter, it seems a large percentage of people go into education. That speaks volumes for what they are doing.
Rachel Shapiro will be in Baltimore performing with Concertante on Saturday, Oct. 3, at the College of Notre Dame.