Tereza Stanislav

Violinist Tereza Stanislav, who was appointed Assistant Concertmaster of the LA Chamber Orchestra in 2003 by Jeffrey Kahane, makes her Pacific Serenades debut on this concert.

Can you share some highlights of your musical life with us?

I studied at Indiana University and at Juilliard. I have always sought a combination of musical roles, performing as soloist with orchestras, as concertmaster, as solo recitalist, and as a member of various chamber ensembles around the world. I was a founding member of the Enso String Quartet and played with them for five years before joining LACO. Recently, I toured for two months with the Miró Quartet to various festivals.

In October I performed a very challenging project: I was a member of the jury and chamber music collaborator for the 2009 Esther Honens International Piano Competition in Calgary. I worked with, evaluated, and performed with the 19 semi-finalists, giving 19 recitals in seven days! This was both musically and physically very demanding.

How has your experience been as the Assistant Concertmaster of LACO?

It is a very interesting and challenging position, and a very enjoyable one. I have to be ready and able to switch from the role of section player, which is more supportive in nature, to a role of leadership. This affects many aspects of my playing, including sound production, body language, and communicating with the rest of the orchestra, the principal players, and the conductor.

Of your various activities in orchestral, chamber, recording, and film work, what do you find interesting, challenging, or engaging about each area?

I happily can say that I enjoy the different areas precisely because they all call for unique skills, both in preparation and in performance. Chamber music is an interesting meld, where you must find a way to feature the individual voices of the ensemble at appropriate moments, while being able to blend and sound like one voice with one comprehensive interpretation in others. This switch may perhaps take place several times in a minute, and is not necessarily obvious to the audience.

Solo work is quite challenging because every aspect of the performance is your responsibility: all ideas must be clear, you must find the inspiration within yourself and hopefully pass it forth to your public, you must be able to engage the audience, and most importantly, you have to be confident that what you are bringing to the listeners is something that you believe in-music you have honed and lived with, digested and dissected, something that you feel passionately about and are excited to share.

Film work has its own challenges because you have virtually no chance to prepare the music, and you have maybe one or two chances to make a perfect rendition of what is written on the page.

As someone who performs and advocates for new music, how does your experience with composers relate to performances of their pieces?

Every premiere, every contact that I have had with a living composer has been different. Some have changed the way I viewed a piece after I spoke or worked with them, while others left the interpretation completely up to me. I am always eager to speak with a composer regardless of our individual approaches to the performance, because I recognize what a privilege it is to be able to interact with someone whose musical language I am interested in.

Can you tell us about your new music series, In Frequency?

This is a new series that I started with my friend Andrea Moore in June of 2009. In Frequency offers a combination of “classic” composers of the 20th and 21st centuries, newer voices, and works by West Coast composers, focusing on music since 1950. Musician-driven and directed, In Frequency is also intended as a vehicle for musicians and audiences to explore challenging and rewarding repertoire.

Is there anything else you’d like to share?

I am looking forward to playing on this series. It is always an honor to be asked to present your music in public, and Pacific Serenades has a very respectable history, one that I will be glad to be a part of.