Posts on Friday Features are intended to generate discussion by shaking up preconceptions of who or what strong women are and exploring the concept from a variety of perspectives. My next guest broadens our spectrum. I met Julie Scolnik, Artistic Director of Mistral Chamber Ensemble, at a cocktail party on Beacon Hill and we clicked. Bright and charismatic, she broke the image of what I thought a world-class flutist was. Not only that, but I had an image of musical directors of classical music groups as pudgy guys with bald heads. Shame on me. Regardless of my preconceptions, I think you'll agree that Julie fits anyone's definition of an accomplished, capable, and strong woman.
Music: The Great Equalizer with Julie Scolnik
Music: The Great Equalizer with Julie Scolnik
Many think of chamber music as something sedate and
soothing. You are the energy and the power behind Mistral, praised by the
Boston Globe for its energizing performances, innovative programs, and audience
engagement. What are some of the challenges you face breaking preconceptions
while building an audience?
This is a great question, and one I
love to answer! It’s true that for some people, chamber music can connote some
long-dead boring art form. When asked to define it, my elevator speech is to
say chamber music is the most intimate and deepest expression of music that
exists. Being a few feet away from world-class musicians engaged in fervent
musical conversation is exhilarating and transporting! I’m dedicated to making
people aware of the role music can play in reminding us what is beautiful in
the world, and these days we’re in desperate need of reminding.How much time do you devote to building an audience?
Ha! How much time do you have? It’s all I live and breathe. I
believe that part of our challenge is to make newcomers see how much fun a
classical chamber music concert can be! Our motto is: “Unstuffy, unpredictable,
unmatched.” We break down barriers between the audience and the performers by
engaging in conversation about the pieces! We often hold a question and answer
period just after intermission, which is invariably full of hilarity and good
stories. ("What’s the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to
you?” or “How come women dress in revealing sparking dresses and men get away
with boring button down shirts and oxfords?” The key is creating unique
programs that find common threads in pieces that allow people to hear them in
new ways. Mistral’s musicians are virtuosic and communicative, and above all,
unstuffy!
My instinct to keep the programming adventuresome appeals to some but not all our audience members. I try at all
concerts to juxtapose beloved masterpieces with newly discovered or rarely
performed gems. But many old-timers won’t come if they don’t recognize a composer.
The key has always been to gain the trust of my audience members, and to
present works- new and old-that I know they will love as much as I do.
Are
the challenges different being a woman at the head of a classical music
organization?
I am not sure. I wish I could say
that I have done something atypical for women, but I am afraid that’s not true.
There are many women who run chamber music organizations. The first thing to
remember is that classical music is merit-based, so it is essentially
sex-blind, but I believe the role provides a
different perspective as an impressario and not a performer. All I can really
say with confidence is that the reason Mistral succeeds is because of my very
strong vision of what I want it to be. Perhaps interpersonal qualities – i.e
enjoying people, telling stories, creating a certain ambiance and setting, like
inviting someone into one’s home – come into play in my particular case.
Obviously
music was important, but who/what were the influences that gave you the
confidence to create this group and move it in the directions you do?
I was a busy freelance musician in
Boston playing with the Ballet and Opera orchestras and subbing with the Boston
Symphony. Very good work, but I craved more control of my artistic life. Through
my freelancing I developed a network of fabulous colleagues, and founded the
concert series in 1997 to play the music I loved most with the greatest
musicians in the world.
But founding my own chamber music
series gave me more than this: it gave me a chance to connect with people and
build a community through music. Audience members tell me how the music
transports them, makes their lives richer, and reminds them what is important.
This inspires and sustains me.
What would you say
your core strengths are?
For as long as I can remember, I was
peddling concerts — Not just playing them, but thinking up ways to fill the
hall one person at a time!
When I started, I would bring huge
art books to Kinko’s and use stencils to create hundreds of fliers that would I
fold and hand-address. I’ve been collecting names and contact info over 30
years of performances! Seeing random people from my past–a cab driver, a person
I met on a plane, a Trader Joe’s cashier – is very rewarding.
My artistic sensibility extends
beyond the music. Behind the scenes, I create the promotional posters and
flyers, write the Message from the Director, choose the players and the
programs, and do much of the fund-raising. On concert nights, I want people
to feel as if they are stepping into my living
room and share what is important to me in music and in life.
In preparing this interview, I learned you are a breast
cancer survivor. How has your world view changed, if at all, as a result of
that experience?
Aha! Another very good question that
I am happy to talk about.
Naturally my diagnosis in 2005 was a
shock. I spent long hours at Beth Israel Hospital, sitting in my chemo chair
while red poison was pumped into my veins. I was lucky to
have the support of my husband and children. But the only thing that made those
hours upon hours bearable was listening to the most beautiful music imaginable
through my ear phones — the slow movements from Beethoven’s 9th or
the Adagietto from Mahler’s 5th — which lifted me out of a place of
darkness into one of beauty. Keeping my chamber music series going and continuing
to play concerts in my wigs kept my spirits high and gave me the endorphins I
needed to remember how beautiful life is and worth fighting for. The support
from my chamber music audiences was powerful. I knew without a doubt
that I was one of the lucky ones.
I endured over six months of
treatment and emerged knowing there was more for me to do. I organized concerts
in Boston and in Paris with full symphony orchestras to raise funds for women
undergoing cancer treatments. I spoke to the audience about the role music
played for me when I was battling cancer. I explained how life’s unexpected
challenges spur people to find solace in different ways. Some turn to prayer or
meditation. I can safely say that music saved me.
I hope that I am making a difference
in people’s lives by bringing that transformative power of music to our
communities.
BIO:
In
earlier years, Ms. Scolnik performed as principal flute with many of Boston's
leading orchestras including Emmanuel Music, The Boston Ballet, and Lyric Opera.
Ms. Scolnik is a frequent featured guest on Boston's WGBH radio, having made
over three dozen radio appearances. Ms. Scolnik has released two commercial CDs, the latest, ‘Salut d’Amour & Other Songs of Love,’ with her daughter,
pianist Sophie Scolnik-Brower. Since undergoing treatments for breast cancer in
2005, Ms. Scolnik has found ways to both organize and perform concerts which
raise funds for cancer support and research, the most recent two with the
world-renown conductor, Sir Simon Rattle in Boston’s Jordan Hall in 2010, and in
Paris for the Ligue Contre le Cancer at the Hotel de Ville in 2014. Twice
a year since 2009 she has been a guest speaker at Harvard Medical School. She
lives in Brookline, Massachusetts, with her husband, physicist Michael Brower,
and has a daughter, Sophie and a son, Sasha, also musicians.
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FRIDAY FEATURES is a steady presence on Out of the Fog where I explore the concept of "strong women." Who are they? What makes them strong? How do we see them in writing and/or in business? If you're an author, what is their place in the world of thrillers of mysteries? If you're in business, how is the working environment impacted by the presence of a "strong woman" and how are they seen as leaders and team members? If you're an emerging strong woman, tell us about your journey. Have other questions you find compelling? Ask away and I'll post the answers here.
If you have something to say about the topic of
strong women, contact me on Twitter:
@conniehambley.
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