Pianist Pauline Martin believes Detroit’s rich cultural landscape to be one of America’s best-kept secrets. Now in her seventh season as Artistic Director of Chamber Soloists of Detroit, she is intent on fulfilling its mission statement to “advance the global image of the city once known as the Paris of the West,” starting with a European tour in the 1919-20 concert season.
Chamber Soloists of Detroit is further committed to showcasing young artists whose talents were nurtured in Detroit and Southeastern Michigan, presenting them in collaboration with internationally known performers.
On the local front, Artistic Director Pauline Martin is delighted to see her audience base growing, given the large number of classical music offerings in the area, many of whom often choose to feature more uncontroversial – therefore “safe” – programs and venues to attract younger listeners. Active as a dedicated teacher throughout her performing career, she has a different perspective on programming. “There is a misperception that we need to ‘entertain’ our young people to engage them.” But whether in her studio or at Chamber Soloists of Detroit concerts, she notes “… more often than not, young listeners are more likely to cite new, even avant-garde, works as their favorite pieces, often asking if they can play them someday. They want to be challenged, not bored!”
Zane Hatahet to Fund “Music Matters” Scholarship
Dearborn attorney Zane Hatahet could not agree more. A member of the CSD Board of Directors, he credits his childhood exposure to music as a piano student of the late Maxine Zeitz for much of his success. His idea to offer (and personally fund) scholarships for “Music Matters,” an essay contest for young listeners, is just one of many charitable causes he has committed to as his own remarkable career progresses. “There will always be competitions for serious young students, but this essay contest seeks instead to promote a greater appreciation of the live classical music experience among young listeners and aspiring performers alike.” Zane and his wife and fellow Board member, Sandra, plan to generously award up to three cash scholarships for winning submissions by youth in attendance at CSD presentations.
CSD hereby proudly announces the return of the “Music Matters” Scholarship!
Youth attendees (up to 18 years old) at CSD concerts during the 2022-2023 Season may submit 2 essays about classical music for their chance to win cash awards.
Rules:
Applicants must select 2 prompts from the list below and submit essays ranging from 200-250 words per essay.
- No outside help from parents, siblings, guardians, teachers, etc. is permitted: applicants must write the essays without assistance.
- At least one parent or guardian OR one teacher from the applicant’s school must confirm by email that the applicant wrote the essays without assistance.
- Please send your submissions AND confirmation from a parent, guardian, or teacher to Zane Hatahet, at zhatahet@umich.edu, by no later than 2 weeks after the CSD concert you attended, by 5 PM ET (i.e., the second Sunday after the CSD concert).
- The CSD Board of Directors will choose winners prior to the following CSD concert and we ask that winners show up at the following CSD concert to claim their awards!
- Cash awards include $250 for First Place, $150 for Second Place, and $100 for Third Place. Even if fewer than 3 applicants send submissions, the CSD Board will review and consider all submissions for awards. CSD asks that award recipients use their awards to fund music lessons, attendance at classical music concerts, the purchase of instruments, etc.
Prompt #1 – The COVID-19 Pandemic resulted in quarantine restrictions that made many people feel socially isolated. If you found comfort in classical music during the Pandemic, how would you describe how it provided you with comfort, or how it helped you in any other ways?
Prompt #2 – In a time of astounding technological sophistication and evolution, ranging from self-driving cars, to lifelike virtual reality, to enjoying the convenience of listening to nearly any music on nearly any modern device with near-instantaneous speed, why should anyone care about classical music, and especially classical music played live in a concert hall?
Prompt #3 – What can you do to spread the meaning and beauty of classical music to those around you, especially those who, for whatever reason, may not previously have experienced it?
Prompt #4 – Imagine a world without Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Debussy, and other great musical artists. Now, describe that world.
Prompt #5 – What 5 things do you enjoy most about classical music?
Prompt #6 – Using a creative format (e.g., a poem), express what classical music means to you personally.
Please send any questions to Zane Hatahet, at zhatahet@umich.edu, and good luck – thank you in advance for your efforts!
Madalyn Clements is Awarded First “Music Matters” Scholarship
A message from Zane Hatahet:
I am pleased to announce the sole winner for this first competition: Madalyn Clements. Madalyn is eleven years old, in 6th grade at Abbott Middle School. In her essays, Madalyn detailed how she loves playing violin, an instrument she has been playing for more than 3 years as a student of Sharon Rothstein. Beyond her sheer enjoyment of classical music – Madalyn indicates that a cold winter’s day spent indoors with hot chocolate and her violin represents just about her favorite way to spend time – Madalyn has used her gift to open up the world of classical music for her mother, who now enjoys the genre more than she used to, and Madalyn has even entertained her family with her talent, including playing music for her grandparents. Through her music studies, Madalyn has traveled around the country, including to NYC, and studied at Interlochen.
Despite her young age, Madalyn inspires us at CSD because she understands something fundamentally true and powerful about classical music and its relevance in the past, present, and future: “Classical music matters…because it connects people from all ages and places…. it gives people a way to communicate without words and to express emotions and stories.”
Madalyn’s mature and uplifting message reinforces something we have always believed at CSD: that exposure to classical music brings people together and strengthens us as a society, linking people together regardless of their individual backgrounds and allowing people to share together on artistic and cultural levels.
Beyond Performance
For Artistic Director, Pauline Martin, this initiative is particularly meaningful, mirroring the balance she has sought to maintain throughout her career. Having discovered her passion for teaching at the age of 15 when she began to take students on her mother’s waiting list, her advanced keyboard and music theory skills would soon earn her Assistant Instructor positions as both an undergraduate and graduate piano performance major at Indiana University, while a student of living legend, Menahem Pressler – a dedicated teacher and mentor. Accepting her first college teaching appointment at age 22 at Eastern Mennonite College in Harrisonburg, Virginia, she went on to complete a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree at the University of Michigan with a teaching assistantship in piano. Adjunct teaching duties at Oakland, Wayne State and Michigan State Universities (including one year as director of the entire Piano Pedagogy program at Michigan State University) allowed her to continue an active performance schedule while balancing her role as the mother of her two sons – Erik, now a professional cellist in Germany and Leif, a computer programmer and software developer in Montreal with a passion for music.
As far as she is concerned, “We don’t need more research to show us that our youth need classical music in their lives.” One eleven-year-old clearly knows this, firsthand.
We hope to see many young people in attendance at CSD concerts.
Audience members of all ages are invited to interact with artists at CSD’s signature Just Between Us talkback immediately following the concert.
Click here for tickets and information, or call (586) 944-5353 for more information.