August 1, 2020 - Maksim Velichkin (Cello/Composer) & August 15, 2020 - Ethan Moffitt (Double Bass)
Who was tired of being cooped up in their house? Jeness Johnson had moved to Woodstock just before the pandemic, and so we needed a cello mentor.
Maksim Velichkin had played on the Dream Concert, and so I dug up his email. He didn't have a space to play in his apartment, so we spent some time ideating around locations he could zoom from. Finally, we just said f-it, we'll put on masks and meet in person.
Maksim was the first person to come over to my apartment since the shut down began outside of family. He walked in and asked, "Akira, what are we going to do with three hours?"
When three hours were up, he goes, "That's it?" Time had flown by.
Let me first say, that Maksim has the most INCREDIBLE tone. And when that tone is reverberating through your apartment six feet away, it gives you the deepest chills and goosebumps.
Maksim is hilariously funny and a brilliant mentor. He gave the kids the most insightful notes on their live writing and compositions, and he improvised beyond whatever they came up with.
I have gotten in the habit of not playing during the session, but I indulged and played with Maksim. It remains my favorite session of the 17 month cohort.
As a side note, this was Jack Aron's first official day on the Leadership Team. He would stay with us all the way through the August 2021 finale and beyond for private mentoring. Maksim would become our ongoing cello mentor, joining us multiple times for mentoring and recording sessions.
A funny side note story. In 2024, I wrote a piano rhapsody, and specifically had a section for Maksim and I to play together. But the producer, Gayle Levant, had me drop out, and the orchestra was recorded separately. I striped the piano part after everyone left. So I never got to play with Maksim, but we are on the same recording. (Same thing happened with MB Gordy.)
8/15/2023 - Ethan Moffitt
I didn't know Ethan Moffitt at all. I had reached out to David Moore, a friend of mine from high school and a bassist at the LA Phil, and he made the referral.
David sat in front of me in AP English. We had the worst teacher who would only give out a number grade on essays (1-9), never accompanied by any feedback. David always got 9's, and I hovered around 4 or 5. Well, David block printed everything, so what I took away from that class was that I should teach myself how to block print. (It was a fool's assignment, though. To this day, no one can read my writing, and when I took notes in college, I had no idea what I had written at all, thus causing me to flunk several mid-terms.)
Ethan was shy at first, but as he warmed up and pulled out his bass, Chris and Jayleen also pulled out their basses for the class, and there was quite a jam session.
Ethan would record with us on our Strings session in 2021.
Best part of this one? Kate Bacich officially joined our team. My favorite thing she ever said was, "I love that we cater to all levels of students."
Yes, while we would love to bring forward the best composers, more importantly, we are contributing to their general music education, their leadership skills, their collaborations skills, and service skills.
Kate, I'm forever grateful.
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