Soloist Profile: Parker van Ostrand in Conversation with Christian Baldini

On May 25, Parker Van Ostrand will perform the Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Camellia Symphony Orchestra. This talented young man has already achieved lots of things, and I enjoyed myself enormously talking to him and finding out more about his interests. Below is our interview.

Christian Baldini: Parker, at such a young age, you've already accomplished a lot. Please tell us how you started with the piano, and how did you become interested in it? And share with us any anecdotes and/or whether you were ever interested in other instruments as well.

Parker Van Ostrand: I started playing the piano when I was four years old. My mom played the cello and went to music school. I asked to learn play the piano when I was three years old after seeing a children’s book with a small keyboard on the cover. A year later my parents bought me an old upright piano. Seeing how much I loved to play the piano they decided to buy me a grand piano a few months later.

CB: Which other activities do you enjoy outside music?

PVO: Besides playing the piano, I love long distance running. I’ve been running since seventh grade and have been a member of  my high school cross country and track team for two seasons now. On average, we run 7-9 miles everyday. I enjoy being outdoors, doing workouts with my teammates, and running new hiking routes every time we go on vacation. I also enjoy travelling to foreign countries. This past summer I went to Northern Europe and Scandinavia, and I loved seeing the beautiful landscapes of Norway and the architecture of Stockholm and Helsinki. I also enjoy watching horror movies, creating oil paintings, and swimming.

CB: We look forward to featuring you as our soloist for the first movement of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2. What are some of the features you like the most about this piece?

PVO: To those that do not know Beethoven very well, this concerto is actually the first piano concerto he wrote, even though it’s titled piano concerto No. 2. One feature I really like about this piece is that it is filled with contrasting characters, from playful to lyrical to very mysterious. It’s written in a style very similar to that of Mozart, with some elements of Beethoven’s later works still present. For example, when the piano first enters, the character is so charming and playful, a character that is rarely found in the later works of Beethoven. However, some of the parts in this concerto, such as the end of the cadenza, foreshadow the later styles of Beethoven’s music, often much darker with more drama.

CB: What is a day like in the life of Parker? How many hours do you practice, and how do you balance your music with school activities, and everything else?

PVO: On the weekdays, I practice around two hours every night, after track or cross country practice. As a member of my school’s cross country and track team, we practice every day after school year round for two hours except for December. I also participate in my school’s (McClatchy) Mathletes club, and we meet twice a month to prepare for monthly competitions held at different schools in the Sacramento area. On most weekends, I practice three to four hours a day. During the track and cross country season, we have meets almost every Saturday. During the springtime, I participate in several piano competitions that are both local and further away, such as the Bay Area or San Jose. I also volunteer on Saturdays at the McKinley Rose Garden, where I have painted many oil paintings.

In order to balance my music with school and other extracurricular activities I have learned to manage my time efficiently. I try to complete my homework as much as I can during class time and not procrastinate on projects/term papers.

CB: Why is music important to you?

PVO: Music is one of the most powerful ways in which I can create many different varieties of emotions and  feelings, tell stories, and develop characters. Playing music is very impactful and moving for me, and my goal is always to do the same for the audience. When I play music,  I focus on bringing each note to life. The notes come together to tell a unique story full of emotions and meanings. I love playing music for others, whether it is for a large audience, a family member, my classmates, or the residents of a nursing home. The emotions in the music I play vary from joy and triumph, love and passion, to tragedy and despair.  It is through these shared emotions that I can connect with my audience and allow them to feel the music I am performing.

CB: Where would you like to see yourself in ten years?

PVO: I want to continue playing the piano and pursue a career related to music, whether it is teaching piano, performing, or both. I greatly enjoy sharing the music I learn with others and I want to be able to continue playing for audiences for as long as I can. I also want to continue pursuing my education, specifically in a science-related field. One of my greatest interests is biology and the human body, so I would also love to find a career in the medical field or scientific research.

CB: Thank you very much for your time, and we look forward to introducing our audiences to you soon!

PVO: Thank you! I am looking forward to performing with your orchestra! Thank you for the opportunity!

Parker Van Ostrand is a 10th-grader at McClatchy High School in Sacramento. He began studying piano at age four.  At the age of five he performed at Carnegie Hall after winning gold in the AADGT Competition.  He has returned to Carnegie Hall twice and has performed numerous recitals throughout the United States, Singapore, and Japan.  As a concerto competition winner, Parker performed with the Merced Symphony, Central Valley Youth Symphony, Auburn Symphony, and California Youth Symphony.  This past summer, he toured with the California Youth Symphony to the Baltic and Scandinavian countries.  He was invited to perform with the Parnassus Symphony as a guest soloist in 2017.  Recently he won first place at the 2019 Henry and Carol Zeiter Piano Competition, 2019 Celia Mendez Young Pianist’s Beethoven Competition, the 2018 Mondavi Young Artist Competition, 2017 MTAC State Final Concerto Competition, Pacific Musical Society Competition, and the US New Star Etude Competition.  He currently studies with Dr. Natsuki Fukasawa and Ms. Linda Nakagawa.

Besides piano Parker enjoys swimming, painting, building Legos, and learning Japanese.  He runs cross-country and track at his high school.  One of his goals is to run a marathon, in particular the Boston Marathon.  He is also a member of his school Mathlete Club.

Composer Profile: Chris Castro in conversation with Christian Baldini

In preparation for the world premiere performance of his new work "Sing High", written for violinist Er-Gene Kahng and the Camellia Symphony Orchestra, I had the opportunity of asking composer Chris Castro a few questions about his music, the relationship of "concert" music with other genres, and more.

Christian Baldini: Chris, it is such a pleasure to be bringing to life your new piece, especially written for our soloist and our orchestra. You were a member (principal bass) of this orchestra for two seasons. Did that inform the way you would write this piece for them?

Chris Castro: Yes, of course. I was able to play standard repertoire, 20th, and 21st century music with this group. After playing with a group for a few seasons you get an idea for what they like in sound and how much enthusiasm they bring to their performances. A highlight during my tenure with the CSO was Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony. This orchestra, under your baton, has an affinity for dark hued, burnished sounds, which I kept in mind. I am also friends with many of the musicians, and included a brief melody written by the daughter of one of the horn and oboe players in the score. I thought about the orchestra throughout.

CB: You mention that much of your music is informed by other music. Can you develop some more on this concept?

CC: A lot of contemporary music I feel is often written with not necessarily a program, but with extra-musical ideas. A piece could be about climate change, or social justice, etc. While I do not think this is a bad thing I often feel like one of the last composers to hold a torch for 'abstract' music: music dealing with itself. I often think of Gérard Grisey's quote:

"We are musicians and our model is sound not literature, sound not mathematics, sound not theatre, visual arts, quantum physics, geology, astrology or acupuncture."

My friends tease me by calling me a 'repertoire hound' because I love and think about the canon of classical music often and it comes out in my music. In Sing High for example, after the opening chord in the orchestra, four percussive attacks are heard in the woodblock and clave. While I use this motive differently, it is a direct allusion to Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. Just one detail of many veiled references to a wealth of classical and jazz repertoire that I feel I must come to terms with in my own way. My music is 'about' music.

CB: And specifically about this new piece, "Sing High", what would you say to anyone coming to the concert? What can they expect? What would you like them to take away from this performance?

CC: I can only say how I hear the piece; I do not like to tell anyone how to listen to my or any music. It has a Baroque sound to me, as the violin soloist is playing constantly, decorating the orchestral texture. The orchestra plays dark, rich, blurred sonorities mostly out of the way of the soloist. I hear it as a stoic piece, with moments of bizarre humor. It has a large narrative and arc. My music is obsessed with being transitory. A climax may be reached but the energy and momentum will be blurred to push the music forward until its final moments.

CB: Who are some musicians from the past that you wish you had worked with?

CC: What a question! For conductors, I have always admired the recordings of both Pierre Monteux and Otto Klemperer and would have loved to have played under their batons. My old bass teacher, Homer Mensch, said that of all the conductors he played under that Klemperer was the most sensitive to a soloist.

For a teacher, either the famed Nadia Boulanger or her (in my view) jazz counterpart, the great pianist Lennie Tristano. Singing and listening was everything to both of them and I would have loved the first hand experience of being taught how to listen by them.

For performers, I have always loved singers. I would have loved to play bass behind Sarah Vaughan - no one quite like her. I also fantasize about an opportunity for bass players in New York in 1978. After Eddie Gomez left Bill Evans trio Evans held auditions with the drummer Philly Joe Jones. The audition was to go to the Village Vanguard and sit in with those two. Can you imagine? The most coveted bass player seat in the history of jazz, open for all who dared. People like George Mraz and Rufus Reid tried out etc. I would have loved to have played just a single root for the greatest pianist ever.

CB: Your background as a performer is vast. You've played in orchestra for many years, including concerts with some wonderful conductors while at Juilliard or Tanglewood. Can you tell us some of the most memorable experiences you've had?

CC: I am very fortunate to have worked with some great conductors. A lot of the concerts stick out (like Das Lied von der Erde with Michael Tilson Thomas, Anne Sofie von Otter, and Gregory Kunde) but there are two rehearsals that still resonate with me. I'll never forget having Yannick Nézet-Séguin stop a rehearsal of Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe and grab the meaty part of his forearm and whisper to the orchestra "This is music of the flesh...." That gesture changed the entire string sound. I couldn't believe the color change. 

All conductors have heard the Richard Strauss quote "Never look encouragingly at the brass...." The late great James DePreist was leading us in a rehearsal of Strauss's Ein Heldenleben, specifically the brass heavy "Battle Scene." He stopped us, asked the brass not to play but to listen to the intense string passages underneath them. Afterwards he rhetorically asked "Did you know all of that was going on?" DePreist was all about respect for everyone, such an egoless man, and he wanted the brass to be aware that we were all sweating, trying to keep up with their tremendous sound. Every string player was thrilled. 

CB: And how about your background playing jazz or other kinds of music? When did you become interested in this, and how has it affected your compositions?

CC: The unfortunate thing about being a classically trained double bassist is the lack of chamber music repertoire one gets to take part in. Maybe you get called to play the “Trout” Quintet every few years but that is about it. I love playing with orchestras, but I really wanted to play chamber music, to have an equal say in a group, not just have conductors mold our sound. I came to jazz late, after hearing the Miles Davis and Gil Evans "Porgy and Bess" album. After that I needed to play it, and it really filled the void of chamber music for me. I was an equal member of a small group, able to voice my opinions, either through rehearsals or the way I was playing. 

Jazz has a subtle effect on my compositions in terms of the sound, but the structure can be deliberately similar. I have a series of pieces (Choruses I - IV) that are based heavily on the formal structures of specific jazz standards. They do not, however, sound jazzy or jazz influenced. I would not consider them genre-bending or hybrids, it is simply my music being "about" other music. That being said, I do believe that jazz and jazz standards have given the 20th century a new lease on harmony, which forever obsesses me. I consider myself a harmonic composer. If I am stuck in a composition of my own I do one of two things: play a Bach chorale or a song by Rodgers & Hart.

CB: Tell us about your background and growing up in New York. How did you start learning the bass, and when did you realize it would be your career?

CC: Both of my parents were born and still live in Brooklyn, New York. It seems like a dying thing now but my elementary school had a strings program. In the 2nd grade every student started the violin. In the 3rd grade you were allowed to choose among the  violin, mandolin, cello, xylophone, and double bass. Everyone gravitated towards the mandolin and xylophone, and to be honest I felt very sad that the bass was being ignored, so I decided to try it out. My parents pushed and pushed me to practice against my will for years, driving me to rehearsals and lessons. When I was 14, after playing bass for 6 years, an orchestra I was in began rehearsing Prokofiev's 5th Symphony. That's all it took. I had no idea music could sound like that. With that piece I was either fighting back tears or trying not to drop my bass from laughter. I still am. After that I was sold on music. I have to give full credit to my parents for driving me all around New York against my will. I love them deeply.

CB: Wow. That is such a powerful and beautiful way to have realized how important music was to you! Are there any tips, or any advice you'd like to give to any aspiring young musician starting off, or considering taking music seriously?

CC: You have to love to listen. Listening is hard. You have to practice how to listen. I mean that. It is not a natural trait. Listen deeply. Listen often. Listen to something new once a week. I have often heard writers say if you want to be a better writer you just have to read. Same thing applies. Learn to listen to the way you play. Practicing means nothing if you are not listening to yourself. Practice slowly. Listen slowly. Listen, listen, listen.

CB: Thank you very much for your time, and for sharing your incredible talent with us. We very much look forward to sharing your beautiful music with our audience here in Sacramento!

CC: Thank you so much for great questions, and for leading such a great group. It has been my pleasure.

Composer Chris Castro - Photo by Justin Han, Copyright UC Regents

Chris Castro is a composer and double bassist. He has a Ph.D. in Composition and Theory from UC Davis and a Bachelor's in Music from The Juilliard School in both double bass and composition. His compositions include a work for the St. Louis Symphony and David Robertson, a piano duo for the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, and a love song to drunkenness, Brooklyn Narcissus, a song cycle for soprano and chamber orchestra. He currently lectures at UC Davis and Sacramento State University. He is also head brewer at Pals Brewin'.