The View at the Gartan Centre
After an icy four-hour drive from Donegal to Dublin, a surreal stop at the Shannon airport, a six-hour flight, and finally the drive back to Keene from Boston, we are home! In the last few years, going to Ireland has become synonymous with cozy warmth to me, both in terms of staying warm in the Gartan Centre when the weather outside is chilly and blustery and also the good cheer that seems to always be present at the AH Donegal workshop.
Last year, the string quartet gave a public concert at the Conwal Church in Letterkenny, and we loved the acoustics so much, Lenny had the idea of recording our concert there this year. Our first two days in Ireland were spent rehearsing and recording in the church, a beautiful space. Mike and Lenny were busy with the very important task of getting the equipment and sound in the mikes just right, so the days were quite long with rehearsing and testing the mikes. It is a good thing our first day ended with a wonderful dinner at the house of Leslie Brown, an adult Apple Hill participant of two summers.
Mike preparing the recording equipment at Conwal Church
There is something about the Ireland workshop that is so special, and as I write this I am trying to think of exactly why and can’t really pin it down. The mix of participants is always wonderful, and this year was extra special as both Josh Addison, a long-time participant now studying at UCLA with Movses Pogossian, and the lovely Amelia Perron, fresh from the south of France, were able to join us! This was the tenth anniversary of Apple Hill coming to Ireland, and there were participants this year that were at the workshop ten years ago, college-aged participants who have been coming to Apple Hill for several years now, and young participants new to Apple Hill, one of whom told me he won a scholarship through a raffle with the Donegal Youth Orchestra. Along with the five of us, the coaches included Kevin Murphy, artistic director of Music 55-7 in Derry, and Jesse Holstein, a long-time AH guest faculty member. The grounds at the Gartan Centre were as beautiful as remembered, and the similarity to Apple Hill was again noted, especially as we hunkered down when the rain changed to freezing rain and then to snow. Each day the scenery was different, from the sight of a rainbow the first day, to a brilliant red on the hills at sunrise the next day, to cloud cover reflected in the lake the next, and finally a coat of snow covering the hills over the weekend.
Rupert, Zach, Meabh, and Amelia during the workshop
Coachings filled the day Saturday, and it ended with our concert at Conwal Church, which felt like the culmination of the entire fall. Interspersed throughout the day were some good Apple Hill moments like interesting facts at lunch, both a bane and delight to all, the rest of the Addison family showing up at the concert reception (Josh’s brother Zach is another summer participant), and good fun after the faculty concert (which included a karaoke machine!). As we walked out of the church, the snow had already begun to fall, and all through the night were periods of snow and freezing rain, which created quite a stir on Sunday as everyone worried about whether parents would be able to come to the participant concert on Sunday. Just like Apple Hill, Gartan is on a road that is not amenable to driving in harsh weather conditions.
Lenny listening
The concert happened as planned on Sunday afternoon, and despite the panic, the room was filled with family and friends. The concert was wonderful, with performances of Bach book-ending the program and Mozart, Warlock, Telemann, Boccherini, and Martinu in between. Some favorite moments to share: a 12-year old girl who had been terribly homesick Friday night shooed her parents away before the concert saying, ‘I need to practice!’, a beautifully talented young recorder player whose parents were so appreciative their daughter could be playing with such wonderful players, a performance of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 with so many summer participants we just love, Lenny getting a little choked up bringing the workshop to a close, and a room full of people enjoying tea and a whole array of homemade baked goods (courtesy of Claire Meehan) at the reception.
A special thanks to the entire Meehan family (of whom Emer, our new summer coordinator, hails) must be given. I think a good part of why the AH Donegal workshop is so special is due to the warmth, hospitality, and care the Meehans put into it. I can picture Emer running to store bags of chips and bins of homemade mince pies that her sister Claire had made for the weekend, Emer’s mom Dot being able to discuss every one of the participants and rushing in from preparing the reception to listen to the Telemann performance, and Emer’s dad Martin seeming to be everywhere at once taking care of everything from unscrewing a pew to give us more room to play at the church to finding replacements for participants who couldn’t make it last-minute.
On behalf of all of us, I wish you all a very happy holiday season!
Sarah Kim