Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Learning from Eric Ericson II - Eva Wedin

Eva Wedin is our guest-blogger this week. Eva began singing with Eric as a student at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm (1973-78). She sang as an alto in the Radio Choir from 1979-2012, when she "retired" . . . and still occasionally subs with the choir (imagine all the music she's sung with high level choirs!). She also has her own choirs, including Engelbrekts Vokalensemble. I first met Eva when I first worked with the Radio Choir in 2002 and we became fast friends. When I came back to work with the Radio Choir in 2007 and 2008 she was also the choir's librarian, so we worked together on getting scores. She's also visited with us in the US. Here's her guest blog post:
 
Eric Ericson – my Musical Father! I can without a doubt say that 90% of all that I've learned about music during the 40 years that have passed since I began my studies at the Royal College of Music, I've learned directly from him or through him as a choir singer. I feel so blessed that I had the opportunity to have him as my teacher and conductor for an intense period of more than ten years and at numerous occasions after that.
 
The first word that comes to mind when I think of Eric's approach to music is ENTHUSIASM. He looked like a child in a toy store every time he sat down in front of the choir ready to rehearse. Whether a simple folk tune or a brand new score by Ligeti or Lidholm. It was always a joy for him to tackle whatever obstacles to reach the perfect performance.
 
He worked very much like a CONSTRUCTION WORKER building a house. Harmonies and rhythms became the frame work of the house, intonation the paint work and the sound the shiny clean glass windows. Dynamics became beautiful stair cases and terraces. The house was furnished with lyrics, words and syllables. Finally he built a playground in the garden with his wonderful sense of humor.  (A childish metaphor, I know, but these thoughts just pop up when I think of him.)
 
He was a fantastic PIANIST who could play in a way that demonstrated how he wanted you to sing. He could almost create a choir sound with the piano.
 
His CURIOSITY was huge, especially when it came to new music. He loved to explore a new score, preferably with the composer by his side, so he could ask questions and get as close to the composers intentions as possible. I don't think he ever said that a piece was impossible to do, no matter how difficult it was. He DEMANDED A LOT from the choir, but he never demanded more than what he gave himself. He was the hardest worker of all. I remember a tour with the Radio Choir to the US in 1983, when we traveled and had concerts pretty much every day for three weeks. If there was any possibility for him to go ahead to the next place, he did and by the time we got there, he had already done a couple of master classes in the afternoon.
 
He knew that everyone expected the most from him and his choirs which of course inspired him, but I think also sometimes weighed him down.  He felt that every concert had to reach world class level, whether it was in a small church in the Swedish countryside or the Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. But that also gave room for small miracles to happen. The Radio Choir had sung Ligeti's Lux Aeterna in a small Sami church [the Sami are an indigenous people in the north of Sweden and Norway] in the very north of Sweden and after the concert an old Sami woman came up with tears in her eyes and thanked Eric and the singers for Ligeti, that made her see stars she had never seen before. And that little story makes you wonder how many more such stories there are all around the world, that we don't know anything about. All thanks to Eric and his curiosity…
 
…and COURAGE. It must have taken a lot of guts many times to dare to tackle all those extremely difficult pieces that landed on his music stand. Pieces that today are performed by every other choir in the world, but back then took a year to learn. I'm obviously thinking of Lidholm's Laudi, or Canto LXXXI for that matter. All the pieces that Eric performed for the first time that later became door openers into a new era in choir music, available for all.
 
VERSATILITY is another quality in Eric. He did all kinds of music. Had a composer written a choir piece, Eric did it. From renaissance to jazz and all in between. And he was just as THOROUGH and DILIGENT whether he worked with a jazz piece together with Bengt Hallberg or the Matthew Passion with the Drottningholm Baroque Ensemble.
 
He was a TEACHER not only to his students, but he also turned every rehearsal into a lesson. And that's what I mean when I say that everything I've learned, I've learned from him. Music theory – when he explained the harmonic and rhythmic structures in a piece. Music history – from singing all kinds of music from all the different periods. Musical interpretation – how he shaped and performed the piece.
 
Conducting technique – his hands could, just like the way he played the piano, show how you needed to sing in order to produce the sound he wanted. He could with just a slight elbow movement get the whole choir to breathe and phrase together. Knowledge of repertoire, of composers, conductors, of other singers, orchestras, concert venues, places around the world I would have never visited other than on a choir tour. People I've met, friends I've made…
 
This may sound very personal, and it is. But the thing is, I'm only one out of probably a thousand that would say the same thing. What Eric has meant for all of us is unfathomable and I will forever be grateful for everything he has given me.
 
NEVER has one choir conductor meant so much for so many!

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