[caption id="attachment_1361" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Rupert coaches young cellists at Apple Hill"][/caption] Rupert Thompson, cellist in the Apple Hill String Quartet, talks with Lenny Matczynski, Apple Hill Director, and Amelia Perron, Apple Hill Summer Coordinator, about creativity, expressiveness, cooking, and fashion. What is your favorite element of the Apple Hill tours? Rupert: It’s seeing all the people from the summer and reconnecting with them. It’s meeting their families, breaking bread, eating dinner together. It’s also meeting folks from the state department and embassies. They’re like family, too – the Apple Hill family. There are a lot of repeat places we go where we see all these people we know. And it’s cool to see participants with their teachers on their home turf. The concerts are great too, when we can try out new performance spaces. What was your favorite “Apple Hill moment” from the summer? R: The moment when it all fell apart and then it all worked out. There was a night we lost power, and ended up doing the after-dinner concert and skit night in the dark. It was a special night. Everyone was even more charged up about making things happen. What is the process of learning quartet music like? How does your personal practice fit in with the rehearsals the quartet does together? R: It’s almost two different things – how to incorporate your personal work with the work of three other people. Lenny: I assume that your personal practice is about you and your part, but when you get to the group, what happens? R: What we do in rehearsal calms me down. We start out slowly, which helps us connect to the sound and the intonation and gives us the opportunity to work through tough passages. The hardest part of the personal practice is knowing that it’s going to be different in the group. Your ears hear differently.  In the Ligeti, there are parts where we’re playing in minor seconds. I can practice those and learn my part, but then I get to rehearsal and all of a sudden I’m playing in unison with Mike. That’s not right, they’re supposed to be seconds! L: So it’s about being flexible and adjusting – playing slowly gives you a chance to do that. R: Yes, when you’re by yourself, you can say, “This is working,” but then you get to the group and see how it really works. It’s like rebuilding an engine over and over again. L: There is a cello solo at the end of the Ligeti (String Quartet no. 1, featured in the AHSQ 12-13 season) that is so emotional. I thought you played that so beautifully. How do you deal with emotions as a performer? How do you play that without crying? R: You feel different energies. You want your head to swim at that part but you’ve got to pay attention. I almost have to pinch myself. When we hit those harmonics, you know it’s the end, but it’s not the end yet. In the most relaxed moment you’ve got to keep focusing. Focus isn’t always the best in some passages – you can get to be too much of a perfectionist. When I’m playing that, I’m responding to the insecurities of playing hard stuff. We’re performing incredible feats on the instruments. I still marvel that I’m playing a piece like this! I put my finger down and the note is there, I’m not even thinking about it, it’s just there. Something like late Beethoven, though, you’re thinking all the time. He just keeps throwing you curveballs. But everything in the Ligeti is so weird. You’ve got to keep engaged and keep the audience engaged. L: So the Ligeti isn’t about thinking, though, it’s about focusing. When people hear really emotional music-making, they think the performer is emotional, but you can’t be. R: I get in a zone. I don’t even know where I am. You’re dedicated, but you let go – if you’ve done the work, that is. We had a great Mozart rehearsal this morning. I wasn’t even thinking about the instrument, I could just give and be expressive. We are intrigued by your “off the dome” cooking, that is, making up recipes on the spot. Is this creative approach inspired by the creative process of being a musician? R: So am I! Both are part of something creative in me. The cooking comes from watching other people – like Lenny. L: I don’t cook off the dome! R: Yes, you do. I have chickpeas in my kitchen because of you. I started by making soups. I know nothing about soups or broths, so I tried some weird combos. Sometimes you say, “that works.” It’s like painting. You put a ton of things together and see what works. I have some basic things now that I go to. For example, my quinoa cakes; they have onions, kale, and gruyere or maybe parmesan. I’ve been trying different combinations lately. I have this new salad dressing, with balsamic vinegar, raspberry jam, and cottage cheese. I love using jams. I also tried a stir-fry sauce at home with red wine, balsamic vinegar, raspberry jam, and cottage cheese. I stop myself from getting too carried away, though. And I know there’s always the “right way” to do things; there are always cookbooks. We have always admired your fashion sense. Now that you’ve spent so much time in Nelson, NH, the fashion capital of the world, are you finding your style still firmly “NYC chic” or are you adopting some elements of “NH chic”? R: Look at these boots! And I’m wearing khakis and a really fine cashmere sweater that some good friends in New York gave me. But I have to think about leaving the sweater in the sugar house, because the moths will eat it. I’ve changed so much since I started working here. Back then I had suits, starched shirts, nice shoes. I was so city I don’t even understand how I worked here. I think I’m in between NYC and NH now. I don’t change clothes 20 times a day anymore. But my daughters are chic, my wife is chic. When I shave my head, then I clean up. When I clean up, I’ve got to clean up well. But even concerts here, you try, but you don’t stress too much.

Richard Anderson, Buildings & Grounds Manager, talks with Lenny Matczynski, Director, and Amelia Perron, Summer Coordinator, about building cabins, planning projects, and playing soccer. Amelia: Richard, what is your procedure for building a new cabin? Lenny: No, you have to ask something more provocative so he’ll give an interesting answer. Something like: Richard, you don’t seem to have a procedure for building cabins. But you must have a procedure; what is it? Richard: I don’t have a procedure! I call it the chaos theory of building cabins. [Interview descends briefly into chaos.] Amelia: So Richard, what is your chaos theory of building cabins? Richard: Well, first you have to find the neediest cabin. If it’s got exposed foam insulation, like Cabins Franck and Ives had, that has to go because it’s inflammable. Or if they have a lot of mice. So then the cabins have to be demolished and replaced. Oof, Cabin Ives was disgusting – loads of mouse nests in the roof. A: So once you’ve destroyed the homes of innocent mice, what next? R: We design a new cabin with no enclosed spaces that mice can build nests in and no gaps for insects to get in. Then John Bolles comes and builds a foundation. However, if we had a tractor, we could do this ourselves. Finally, in spring, we just build a cabin on the foundation, with lots of people to help. L: Richard, talk about your values as a builder! R: I like to do a good job: efficient, beautiful, and inexpensive. L: What’s it like to work with your summer employees? Didn’t we see a picture of the whole camp helping to build a cabin? It was like a barn-raising! That never happens anymore. R: Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. It is kind of fun to boss college students around. Yes, the participants helped build Cabin Chao. It’s always handy to have 60 pairs of willing hands to help out when there’s lots of work to be done. That usually comes with at least 60 opinions on how to do it! L: It’s been rumored that you are a volatile and no-holds-barred soccer player. How does this gel with the Playing for Peace mission? R: I don’t know who’s saying this! L: I said it was just a rumor! R: I totally deny that. I’m a gentle and sensitive soccer player. L: But I’ve heard of people getting injured when they played soccer with you. R: It’s usually me! Especially when Josh is playing. Actually, he only broke my finger once. L: You always listen to classical music when you work. I usually know every piece that’s playing on the radio, but one time I didn’t know what it was. I asked you and you knew – it was a Fauré piano trio. How did you know? R: It was a good guess. L: But how did you guess? Did you grow up with music? R: Well, yes. My father listened to a lot of classical music, and he played the piano. He was Viennese, so we listened to lots of Mahler, Strauss, and Bruckner. A: Richard, what’s the summer here like for you? R: The nice thing about working at Apple Hill is that it’s never the same. It’s a very seasonal job. There’s the fall to finish up projects, in the winter I kind of just shovel snow and do inside projects, and there’s the spring to plan projects. Then there are two chaotic months because the start of camp is the deadline for finishing new cabins. So when the summer is here, it’s relatively less stressful. I just have to take care of maintenance and mouse problems. A: What’s your greatest hope for the future of the Apple Hill campus? L: Besides the tractor, because I know that’s what you’re going to say. R: I look forward to the day when Apple Hill has programs year round. That will give more people the opportunity to experience Apple Hill and will also provide a more stable financial base. After all, we have a fabulous location and facilities that we have to maintain year-round. But to expand these programs we will have to make an investment in some new facilities, such as improvements to the kitchen and heated sleeping quarters. We are already working on plans for some of these improvements. And a tractor. L: I have one final question. I don’t know how it happened, but we all eat lunch together. Describe our lunches in one word. [Amelia’s note: This interview was conducted during lunch, over Val’s French Silk Chocolate Pie.] R: Amusing.