Tampa Teen Wows Philadelphia Orchestra Bassist In Master Class

Tampa FL

27 July, 2021

9:47 PM

Description

TAMPA, FL — Ella Marchetti, 15, of Tampa, Florida, is polishing her already considerable skills on the double bass at The Philadelphia International Music Festival, an intensive classical music training program in a summer camp format this year at the campus of the Valley Forge Military Academy and College in Wayne, PA. She had the opportunity to perform for Acting Assistant Principal Bass of the world-renowned Philadelphia Orchestra, Nathaniel West, in a Master Class. "Ella is a beautifully natural player," West said. "She does so many things so well. The gestures, the way she approaches the bass, it's all so incredibly natural, I think, in a really wonderful way." An incoming sophomore at H.B. Plant High School, Ella chose the first two movements from Henry Eccles' Sonata in G minor for String Bass and Piano to play for Mr. West. "It's probably the piece I'm most performance-ready on," she said, "and I've been working on it for quite a long time. It's been cool to bring it to different teachers and get new insights. "We worked on getting more clarity in the notes using different elements of the bass, like contact point, using the bow in different ways, using the left hand with vibrato, and using all those elements to make the piece sound more clear, and add phrasing into it." After more than a year of shifting its world-renowned instrumental music programs online and expanding them to a year-round schedule during the COVID-19 pandemic, The Philadelphia International Music Festival has resumed its in-person summer model while retaining its popular online option, which takes place this year August 2-7, 2021. A third-year camper at PIMF, Ella "fell in love with music" at age 7 when her grandmother introduced her to the piano. "Growing up with music, "she says, "it's kind of a second language. And picking the bass, picking orchestra in 6th grade, it's led to great things like being here at PIMF! Somebody said that every day at PIMF is like a month at a conservatory, and I completely agree with that." "What a joy to remove the screens and bring these talented young musicians together again!" exclaims PIMF President Sandy Marcucci. "While we had to cap enrollment to allow for distancing and our international students aren't able to travel from overseas yet, we have been excited and thrilled beyond measure to experience the camaraderie, the fun, the sheer humanity of making music and memories together in person." With stringent COVID screening and monitoring protocols in place, PIMF was able to offer its training program to 250 residential as well as day campers. PIMF faculty includes 25 members of The Philadelphia Orchestra, who work with students in individual and group lessons and master classes, and inspire them in faculty recitals. The Philadelphia International Music Festival (PIMF) is a resident summer music program directed by Kimberly Fisher, Principal Second Violin of The Philadelphia Orchestra, offering student musicians from around the world the unique opportunity of spending up to four weeks immersed in music education and performance training with members of the world-renowned Philadelphia Orchestra. Since March 2020, PIMF's new platform PIMFOnline.org has been filling the training void for social-distancing music students with Master Classes taught by members of The Philadelphia Orchestra including: PIMF Artistic Director Kimberly Fisher, Principal Second Violin; David Kim, Concertmaster; Hai-Ye Ni, Principal Cellist; Ricardo Morales, Principal Clarinet; Boris Allakverdyan, Principal Clarinet, Los Angeles Philharmonic; and many others. As of June, 2021, PIMF is offering summer camp programs both online - at pimfonline.org - AND live on Philadelphia's prestigious Main Line. For more information on PIMF, visit philadelphiamusicfestival.org, call (856) 875-6816, "like" the Philadelphia International Music Camp & Festival on Facebook, follow @pimfmusiccamp on Instagram and Twitter, and visit the Philadelphia International Music Festival YouTube Channel for performance videos from previous festival seasons.