Another Magazine Cover Star visits WV

This season, the Montclaire String Quartet was the recipient of an American Masterpieces Chamber Music Grant that resulted in a week-long residency by a three-time Grammy nominated fiddler: Darol Anger.

Students from the tip of the northern panhandle (New Manchester, WV) all the way to Peterstown (Monroe County, WV) have gotten to hear the composition "Street Stuff" by Anger. In addition, patrons who attended Montclaire's subscription concert at Kanawha United Presbyterian on January 31 also enjoyed the jazz composition as part of the "American Graffiti" offering.

Anger has been in Charleston a few times for Mountain Stage, but this time he got the grand tour. He made a whirlwind tour of WV, visiting several high schools and middle schools in the Kanawha Valley as well as a string studio class at Marshall University, and middle school students in Monongalia County. We even visited a home school situation where a living room full of string players gathered to play another of Anger's pieces right along with the composer.

Part of my job was chauffeur, part of my job was scheduler--food was involved, and I think I did show him all the great places to get donuts and coffee. We do have some great donuts in the Kanawha Valley!

But I think I got more out of this week than I bargained for. Not being exposed to a lot of string instruction or much jazz or even fiddle in my musical upbringing, I got a "string" education.

I have several new punch lines to the "What is the difference between a violin and a fiddle?" and I know the real answer.

I re-learned a bit of music theory, long forgotten and hardly ever called upon. I heard great recordings of contemporary fiddle playing in lots of different styles: bluegrass, jazz, Cajun, Georgian, Appalachian, Scottish, Celtic. I heard live playing in those different styles, all by demonstrations by Anger.

And my favorite fiddle tune is now "Old Dangerfield" which I heard multiple times on our educational tour.

Students in the orchestra at George Washington High School got to work on one of their contest pieces, "Chop-A-Groove" composed by Darol Anger, who invented/refined the technique whereby the fiddler also serves as his own rhythm section. (This, I learned, grew out the role of fiddler as the dance master.)

To do this, students must know the difference between the right bow hold and the wrong hold.

We even paid a visit to a Fine Arts class at St. Albans High School and provided Band Director Tim White and a young guitar student the opportunity to have a quick blues experience. While in St. Albans we also made an unscheduled stop at Fret and Fiddle where Joe Dobbs and Darol swapped CDs--you just never know where the musical trail will end.

Students in the South Charleston-Capital High School Combined Orchestra will get to see Darol Anger again when they travel to Atlanta for the American String Teachers' Association (ASTA)Convention in March. Go, Colleen!

Check out Darol's ensemble Republic of Strings which is scheduled to perform at the ASTA Convention in Atlanta. As a matter of fact, just three days after Darol left, GWHS string educator Darrell Murray brings me a copy of the American String Teacher Magazine's February 2009 edition.

Who's on the cover? Darol Anger!

This is my second educational experience with a magazine cover artist. Last winter our guitarist/guest artist Ana Vidovic was on the cover of Acoustic Guitar Magazine just before her visit to WV.

I guess I should start a collection.