De Tsjechische violist en pedagoog Otakar Ševčík schreef het werk Interpretatieschool (opus 16) om zijn studenten door het grote vioolrepertoire te gidsen, werken van Rode, Fiorillo, Berio, Ernst, Sarasate, Spohr, en Viotti maar ook bekendere namen als Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Wieniawski en Paganini. Elk van de 45 delen van opus 16 bevat de bladmuziek van zo'n stuk met pianobegeleiding, een bewerkte vioolpartij (met Ševčík boogstreken, vingerzetting, articulatie en tempo's) plus enkele studies die ingaan op de specifieke moeilijkheden van het stuk in kwestie.
In het kader van mijn scriptie heb ik in de geest van Ševčíks opus 16 een gelijkaardig set studies uitgewerkt voor Ysaÿe's tweede solosonate voor viool in A mineur (opus 27 nr 2). Dit werk bevat een waaier aan technisch uitdagende passages. Mijn studies vormen op dat vlak een voorbereiding en bieden een structurele studiemethode à la de Interpretatieschool. Op mijn eindrecital vormt het werk van Ysaÿe vanzelfsprekend een belangrijk onderdeel van het programma.
Upon graduating from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a bachelor of music degree in violin in 2009, Caroline Faflak has fully immersed herself in the career of a professional musician in the Seattle, Washington area as a teacher, performer, and collaborator. With almost 50 students in her private violin, viola, and piano studio, ranging from ages 3 to 17, Caroline taught at the Kaleidoscope School of Music in Issaquah, WA as well as three different towns on the east side of Seattle. She was a second violin coach for the Bellevue Youth Symphony and the Bellevue High School orchestra and the director of the Snoqualmie Youth Orchestra Junior Division, which consists of first and second year string musicians of all ages. Caroline held the position of principle second violinist in the Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra and the Thalia Symphony Orchestra, in addition to playing with the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra, Yakima Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Rock Orchestra, and the Westminster Chapel Orchestra.
Caroline is currently pursuing a master’s degree in violin performance at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts under the tutelage of violinist Alessandro Moccia in Gent, Belgium since September 2014. After completing her undergraduate studies with University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor David Neely, she studied with Emanuel and Lenore Vardi in North Bend, Washington and Ron Patterson, violin professor at the University of Washington in Seattle. In 2008, Caroline was an exchange student at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, Czech Republic, where she studied with Professor Ivan Straus.
In addition to playing violin, Caroline enjoys traveling, studying psychology, and conducting research on the works of Otakar Ševčík. In her extra time, she collaborates with students at the Royal Academy, performing chamber music and improvisation sessions in clubs in Gent, as well as playing with the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra, deOrkestacademie project in Antwerp, volunteering with the Jeugd-en Muziek Orkest Oost-Vlaanderen orchestra in Gent.
Czech violinist and pedagogue Otakar Ševčík’s School of Interpretation (opus 16) was conceived to allow his students to learn major pieces from the violinist’s repertoire, including concertos and pieces by Rode, Fiorillo, Berio, Ernst, Sarasate, Spohr, and Viotti, as well as more popular composers including Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Wieniawski, and Paganini. Each of the 45 parts of opus 16 includes a score of the piece with piano accompaniment, an edited violin part with Ševčík’s dynamics, bowings, fingerings, articulations, and tempos, and a set of etudes based on the particular set of challenges presented in the piece.
My thesis proposes to study opus 16 and produce a set of etudes for Ysaÿe’s second solo sonata for violin in A minor (opus 27 no 2). Ysaÿe’s sonata presents a variety of technical and musical challenges in rapid succession and my etudes will identify those challenges and provide a structured practice method based on the etudes of Ševčík. In addition, I will be performing this solo sonata as a part of my graduation recital.