Students attending Pacific Region International Summer Music Academy (PRISMA) share many of the same reasons for coming to Powell River for the festival.
All will immerse themselves in intensive schedules that include orchestra rehearsals, master classes, individual instruction, sectional rehearsals, competitions and concert performances.
“I really can’t get enough,” said Powell River cello player Eli Schweitzer. “The music, the people, faculty and [PRISMA music director and conductor] Arthur Arnold is too big of an opportunity to pass up. I can’t imagine not doing it. It’s my fourth year. There’s always something new to learn and improve.”
For violinist Madeline Hocking, who attended PRISMA in 2011, 2012 and 2014 and previously lived in Powell River, the internationally recognized faculty had the greatest influence on her.
“The faculty are so incredible,” said Hocking. “They’re so high calibre from all over the world. They’ve become really valuable mentors and friends to me at this point.”
Hocking intends to become a professional musician and she knew that from an early age.
Through PRISMA, some of the 77 students attending will learn they are not quite good enough to become professional musicians, and others never want to be.
Schweitzer said he knew from an early age that he did not want a career in music; he has wanted to be a doctor since he was 10 years old. He was seven when he discovered the cello at the encouragement of his parents who wanted him to play a musical instrument.
“It was an encyclopedia video on my old computer,” said Schweitzer. “It had the orchestra and an introduction to each instrument. I happened along the string section and thought the violin was too high and the bass was too low, so I picked the cello because it was a perfect in-between.”
At age three, Hocking was watching Disney movies when she discovered the violin. A barbecue resulted in her desire to play professionally.
“When I was pretty young my mom started hosting barbecues for the faculty at our house,” she said. “I was able to see how amazing these people are, what their lives were like and wanted to have a life like that and to be one of those people when I grew up.”
Hocking said she is well on her way to having that life. She has completed the third year of a bachelor’s degree at San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Schweitzer completed his music degree at Trinity Western University in April. For the time being, he is taking a breath and a year off to play music while he still can before medical school. One school he is looking to study at is University of Saskatchewan, where his father attended. He said he plans to come back to Powell River.
“My dream is to take over my father’s practice,” he said. “I would definitely never abandon my instrument; I will always continue to play.”
Whether they go on to become professional musicians or another career, students attending PRISMA have one thing in common: they are all very talented.
“I have been working at my instrument so long I have this talent to play such amazing music,” said Schweitzer, “that opportunity to play something like Fifth Symphony by Gustav Mahler, Symphony No. 5 by Dmitri Shostakovich and Beethoven’s Triple Concerto. To have those skills, to be able to play those pieces, is why I keep coming back. Those amazing landmark pieces are so well-known in the musical world.”
PRISMA takes place from Monday, June 13, through Saturday, June 25. For information and a full schedule, go to orchestra-academy.ca.
