Fall Quarter August 30 - November 28, 2004

The Bird that Ate the House!

We’ve mentioned our Bird in past editions of Update, but this is the first time we’ve caught him in the act!

If you’d like to drop your payment off at our bookkeeping office at director Nancy England’s home on the corner of West Outer Drive and Mississippi Avenue (driveway off Mississippi) in Oak Ridge, you’ll get a chance to meet the bird (see picture left)! He’s sitting just above the Music Arts Drop Box, which is there especially for you, in case you want to save a stamp.

If you want to leave cash, call ahead (865-482-5614) to make sure we can be there to give you a receipt!

Help Our Fund Drive, Please!

If you’ve donated to the Music Arts Fund in the past, we thank you! If you haven’t, please consider joining your friends and neighbors who help make our programs possible.

The Mary Cox Memorial Scholarship Fund, named after one of our founding members whose dedication helped establish the fund, provides financial help with lessons to students who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford private lessons. Why not enclose a few extra dollars when you pay your Fall Quarter bill? A donation of $25 will get your name listed as a Sponsor on our recital programs. $50 to $99 will list you as a Benefactor, while $100 to $199 make you a Mentor, and $200 or more gives you our highest accolade: Grantor.

School director Nancy England, who designed the sign, and Music Arts percussion and drums instructor Doug Farmer, who was responsible for planting the sign in its permanent location at the Oak Ridge Alliance Church.

We’ll accept any amount, of course, and will be grateful for your support. Even a few dollars helps. And don’t forget: we’re nonprofit, so it’s Tax Deductible!

Want to Brag about Your Instructor?

Been to our website, www.MusicArtsSchool.org? You may have noticed that many of our instructors have "testimonials" written by their students.

We’d like up update these website pages, and we want to hear from you. What wonderful qualities makes you want to recommend your instructor to your friends? Write to us and let us know, and maybe you’ll be featured on your instructor’s website page!

Parents and/or Students - Why not include a brief paragraph or two when you send your next check in? Feeling expansive? Write a full page! Write a novel!

Check Out our New Sign!

After 21 years, we finally went ahead and did it! We’ve put up a sign announcing our teaching location at the Alliance Church, on the corner of Robertsville Road and Raleigh Road. For a map, go to our website and click on (you guessed it) "map."

Meet Ihsan Kartal, Our New Cello Instructor!

With a background as concert soloist and recording artist for TV and radio, Ihsan Kartal is originally from Istanbul, Turkey. He has an impressive history which includes having two Master’s degrees: one from Istanbul and one from Louisiana State University, where he moved in 1991.

He has been teaching professionally since 1982 when he won a cello competition in Istanbul and was asked to join the University there as an instructor. He also studied at the Paris Conservatory from 1980 through 1982. He is a member of the Knoxville Symphony and the Oak Ridge Symphony.

A genial addition to the Music Arts faculty, Kartal’s approach to teaching cello is unusual in that he prefers to start beginning students with fourth position for the left hand, which he feels is more natural and fool-proof than the usual first position. Using pizzicato, or plucking the strings with the right hand, he concentrates on left hand position, introducing bowing technique after the student has had a chance to become comfortable finding the notes.

As Kartal expresses it, "I like to start a beginning student with the ‘feel’ of the left hand in finding notes and pitches, using pizzicato. Once there is some confidence with the left hand, I then introduce the right hand bowing on just open strings. A good bow grip is very important, and it’s best to take the time to concentrate on learning it right in the first place. Then we put the pieces together, making use of some of the music we’ve been working on with pizzicato."

And if the student is already playing in a school orchestra? "Of course a lot depends on the students’ playing level. But working with orchestra music is no problem," says Kartal. "We’ll spend half the lesson working on the school orchestra music, and the other half on ‘my stuff.’"

Kartal likes to devote a beginners’ first lesson to talking about the cello. He explains how the cello works and identifies the various parts, using drawings of the insides as needed. He says that learning to read music is important, and it’s helpful but not necessary if the student is already familiar with written music, from piano lessons, for example.

"Sightreading is important," Kartal explains. "I want to help them develop their effectiveness in playing with ensembles. To do this, I play duets with them. This helps them learn to listen for the other cello and is good ear training. I wouldn’t yell at a student "you’re out of tune!" I want them to listen, to hear the music so they can fix their intonation by themselves."

How does he feel about the music students’ nemesis, Scales? "Scales come later," Kartal asserts. "It’s much more important to concentrate on good hand position and intonation at the beginning."

His approach, combined with his amiable and good-humored personality seems to have helped him establish solid relationships with his students. He relates that a number of his former students keep in touch with him, although it’s been several years since he moved to Knoxville from Louisiana.