I had the pleasure of attending one of Kensington Sinfonia’s concerts “The Contest Between Harmony and Invention.” The Kensington Sinfonia is a violin ensemble that performs all around Calgary and is led by Artistic Director, Donovan Seidle. Besides being an Artistic Director, he is also well-known in the music community for being the Assistant Concertmaster for the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. Furthermore, he has performed in a number of international and local music festivals as well as composing music for events like Globalfest. Needless to say, his diverse set of talents really inspired me, as I am a musician myself. However, after chatting with him, I also realized that he is humble, easy-going and has a lot of wonderful insight. Here’s what he had to say.
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As an artistic director, what do you do on a day-to-day basis?
“As an artistic director, I steer the ensemble. I am able to choose my players and choose my soloists. This year, I’m featuring a lot of our ensemble members, which is great. I like that because it puts them in a different role than just playing among the ensemble. It gives them more power and creative license. I choose the repertoire and choose the direction I want it all to go. I’m also responsible for handling the Board of Directors and communicating with the Board. It’s a constant challenge to try and balance the creative needs of the ensemble and the functional needs of the organization.”
One of the violin soloists, Laura Reid, jumped into the conversation as well:
“I would also say he acts as a constant with the public and is the representative of the ensemble to public. He’s going to be speaking on the stage for shows, to do promotion, to speak to the media, basically to speak on the ensemble’s behalf. In politics, he’d be like the MLA representing his area.“
How often do you guys often meet up to practice? What is the process of bringing a concert together?
“We usually meet a week or two weeks before. We are a professional ensemble so that means we pay our musicians wages to be in those rehearsals. There’s always this wall that you work against: the available money you have to work with and the total number of rehearsals you’d like to have, so you’re always butting up against that. We typically have 3-4 rehearsals for each program, we do a dress rehearsal and then we’re into the concert. It all happens pretty quickly.
Of course, there’s also preparation of the music. I have to distribute the music to all the musicians, make sure all the bowings work, all the dynamics are in there, measure numbers and so on. We actually had a few problems with this series, because with these old Baroque concertos, we had these facsimiles (copies) of these original parts. And none of them had measure numbers in them! I went through and counted all of them, but there always seemed to be a discrepancy between each of the parts, and it’s just one of these things that happen.”
Do you feel any stage fright before your perform?
“I really used to, until I started really performing as a professional. As a professional, I play as Assistant Concertmaster in the CPO, as well as lots of other projects on the side. When you’re faced with that many performances all the time, it kind of desensitizes you to stage fright. That said, if I’m up for a solo concerto, then yeah absolutely, I get stage fright. It’s something that I struggled with mainly in my teenage years, but I still struggle with it now. You have a big solo coming up, you feel the butterflies in your throat and in your stomach. It’s tough. It’s tough to find the focus in the moment.”
Laura: “When you’re playing a whole program and you’re having to shift your roles, it can be a real challenge. When I was playing the Schreker (she is referring to the name of the composer of one of their pieces), it’s a real challenge to not think “and then I have to do this solo…” It’s interesting, the approach of meditation and mindfulness of being in the moment. I think musical performance especially challenges you to do that. It requires such focus. You have to take away all the distractions and just remind yourself to focus. You can practice on your own for months and if you don’t regularly perform, and get yourself that experience, it’s hard. It’s a skill like anything else.”
Donovan: “It’s actually even a different skill than practicing. As a musician that’s going to perform, you want to put your brain and your focus outside of your instrument and hear what it sounds like from the outside and evaluate it. In a performance if you do that, you’ll get distracted, so you have to remain in that focus.”
How did you start as a musician?
“It’s funny, because my parents were not musical at all, but they encouraged us to find out what we were interested in. For some reason, I identified with orchestral music. I saw an orchestra on TV when I was 5 years old and I really love how the violins always had the melody. I loved the way they looked when they play, they always looked so graceful or powerful. And that so many of them were doing the same thing at exactly the same time and they were all working towards this common goal of making beautiful music – that really appealed to me, even at that young age. I begged my parents for several months and they enrolled me in Suzuki violin for 4 years before I switched to Royal Conservatory and I went through the whole academy program.”
What is the difference in experience between performing a larger ensemble like the CPO and a smaller ensemble?
“It’s interesting in an ensemble like this. In an orchestra, you’re all sitting and it’s tough to move around as much you would like. When we’re standing it’s a more free experience. It’s easier visually for us to see each other if we’re moving and gesturing. The largest difference is to expedite the rehearsals. For a large ensemble like an orchestra, you have one person. You have the conductor telling you how he wants it. With a small ensemble, you have more liberty for everyone to weigh in and work as a team and figure out how we want to do it. There’s more license for each person to have their say. That said, I do take the role as the leader, usually it’s my impulse first, and there’s a reaction for it or against it, and we negotiate from there.”
What is your favorite part of your job?
“Playing the concert. When you’re actually playing the concert, you don’t have to deal with the administrative duties like applying for grants, doing all the busy work that’s necessary for an organization. It all goes to support playing the concert, which is what we love to do.”
What do you want the audience to take away?
“To me, it’s like going to see a band or buying a CD by a band you trust. You’re expected to be taken somewhere, you don’t know where, but you trust the artist enough to let them take you on this journey. That’s kind of what I like to do when I program, taking an audience through this journey and designing the journey for them. Hopefully they like it and they’re engaged enough to seek out more for themselves or keep going back, or try out other ensembles if it’s not their thing. It’s trying to engage them on a cultural level.”
What advice do you have for other musicians or people considering becoming one?
“Do it for the love of it and even if you can’t picture yourself being a professional musician, still go into it. It teaches you so much outside of music. It teachers you discipline, it teaches you organization and interpersonal skills. Playing in an orchestra is like being in a 70-piece marriage. You see these people day-in and day out and you have to negotiate all these personalities. I suppose that’s the same in any field, but with the direct interactions that musicians have, it’s that much more pronounced.”
What was your experience like studying at the University of Calgary?
“It was a small faculty, so that gave me lots of opportunities to really grow and try different things. Because there was so few violins at the time, I got asked to do practically everything and that was great. You’re playing from compositions from some of the composition faculty, you’re building small ensembles and performing with them, you’re given solo opportunities. At the University of Calgary, I was doing both a Degree in Composition and Performance in Violin. After I graduated, I went to Northwestern University in Chicago and I did my Masters there. It was after that I got my position in the Calgary Philharmonic.”
How do you stick to a strict practicing schedule?
“It’s especially tough when things get insanely busy. There has to be some sort of schedule structure for you to work around, whether or not that’s flexible within your day. You can, but within the practice time, it should be rather structured. In an emergency situation, when things get insane, you just have to prioritize and do what you can. And not beat yourself up over not being able to do it. You take it every day as it comes, you try and stick within that structure, but if it doesn’t happen, don’t kill yourself over it.”
What do you like to do in your free time?
“I love video games. I still haven’t gotten either a PS4 or Xbox One. I’m still on the older generation, I have a PS3 and the XBOX360. I do some home brewing, and that really appeals to me. A number of years ago, I got myself a 1972 Volkswagen Van and it’s one of these hippie buses. I’ve been getting my hands dirty and learning the mechanics of maintaining that and its’ a lot of fun. It’s really important to find that balance and find things you love outside of your work. Music as work is kind of a strange thing, it’s something you really love and want to do, but if you do too much of it, then it does becomes work and you need an escape from that as well.”
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As a final note, I also talked to him about my own personal desire to pursue music, but face the challenge of my parents thinking it’s not a “real job.” A big thank you to Donovan for all the wisdom he had to share and giving me a glimpse into his life as a professional musician. I’d like to end with his message:
“I’ve experienced that as well. I kept with it, maybe to their frustration, but they know I’m happy doing it and that’s the most important thing for them and for me to remember. It’s how I feel the most comfortable in my life.”
You can learn more about Donovan on his official website: http://www.donovanseidle.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/navonod123
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/donovanseidle