San Marino Resident and LA Phil 1st Violinist Will Perform Alongside Students at St. Edmunds on Sunday, May 15
Martin Chalifour and his wife, Nancy, strolled anonymously behind the main exhibition gallery at The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens. As anonymous as you can be on San Marino Day, with a couple thousand of your friends also enjoying the opportunity to mingle in the city’s most famous landmark.
Chalifour carried a camera and bag of gear and if one didn’t know better, would think he was there to cover the event, not be a part of it.
“It’s been a consummate hobby of mine, since I was 15 years old,” Chalifour says in his delightful French-Canadian accent. “I love darkroom work, black and white, and color. Wherever I go I always bring a good camera. That can be wonderful.”
As Concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, “wherever I go” can be anywhere in the world. On Sunday, May 15, Chalifour will once again be performing at St. Edmunds Episcopal Church in honor of its 75th anniversary.
Chalifour performed there to acknowledge San Marino’s Centennial and the response was so overwhelming, he has been welcomed back with open arms.
“I live here,” he responded, when asked why he enjoys performing locally. “The sense of sharing and accomplishment is wonderful. I am showing my vulnerability, as well, which makes it even more meaningful.”
Four San Marino High School musicians have the distinct honor of playing alongside the maestro. Valerie Wang, a senior, will play viola; junior Water Lam and senior Catherine Yang will join on their violins and freshman Ashley Sun will coax beautiful music from her cello. The quintet was busy at rehearsals during zero period this week at SMHS. It felt as though a fee should have been paid to witness the musical brilliance.
The concert is entitled Martin Chalifour – the Making of A Concertmaster.
“This is to show the path a young musician might take,” Chalifour said.
Chalifour’s musical career began more as a hobby – “something to keep me occupied after school until my parents returned home from work,” he said in a previous interview about the musical background he built in Montreal. He believes that today’s young musicians are “technically more advanced. It happens earlier and earlier.”
He said it’s critical for musicians to begin their studies between the ages of four and eight.
“Some of them have started as early as age 2 and 3,” he said. “And for some of them, that is not too early at all. I have seen young people who can control a soccer ball beautifully at the age of 2. Why not a musical instrument?”
String players, he said, should begin playing their instruments between the ages of 4 and 8 in order to gain proficiency.
Successful musicians can be the result of hard work, but Chalifour said that many are born with musical skill.
“They have the ear, a sensitivity to music,” he explained. “We have to be able to imagine a sound before we make it and some people have a heightened sense of the sound. Many musicians actually lack rhythm, and that can be very difficult to develop.”
Physical ability plays a key role in musical success, according to the Concertmaster.
“It is also an athletic ability, a coordination,” he said. “You have to have balance, dexterity and speed. You also need talent and determination. Not every young person has the patience and discipline to put in the time necessary to become successful.”
Chalifour said it also takes a good musical coach or teacher “to unlock what is within. To teach the student how to fish, not to give them one.”
In today’s hyper-technical world, Chalifour feels that what might appear to be old fashioned performance music still has a place in the heart of the public.
“I think people will want to get back to something real, things that are more tactile,” he said. “Not just forwarding funny stuff to a friend, but making things. There is a direct correlation between creativity and satisfaction in life. If you are just going around in circles and shuffling information, that is not creating. I believe people need shared experiences. It’s not the same thing if two friends see a movie separately, It’s not the same thing as sitting together and laughing together. It just doesn’t have the same impact.”
As to the least favorite part of his craft?
“Being enslaved by the discipline one needs to play well day after day,” said Chalifour, who spends between four and five hours a day playing. “If I was a writer and I had written eight great chapters, maybe I could take a week off before I wrote chapters 9 and 10. When you are a musician, it’s like the last several chapters have disappeared from your hard drive if you don’t continuously play. The discipline needed to sound your absolute best is very difficult. I found it difficult to take a week off and when I came back it felt very strange.”
Chalifour performs four or five times a week and has developed a ritual of “taking a nap between 4 and 5 o’clock.” He avoids large meals before performances and says “If you eat a heavy meal right before you play, your fingers are like sausages. You lose dexterity and you become like a blob.”
His wife, Nancy, also happens to be Martin’s biggest fan. She can be seen at just about every performance of the L.A. Phil, moving about Disney Hall to experience the music from different spots in the iconic theater.
“Nancy is wonderful,” said Chalifour. “She doesn’t mind hearing the concerts more than once, especially if it’s a solo.”
Nancy will no doubt be in attendance at St. Edmunds. You are invited, too.
‘Martin Chalifour, the Making of A Concertmaster’ will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 15 in St. Edmunds Episcopal Church, 1175 San Gabriel Blvd. to acknowledge their 75th anniversary. Tickets for the benefit concert are $30, which include VIP reserved seating and a private reception following the concert; and $20 for the concert only. Children under 12 are free and there is a $5 donation suggested for students 13 & over. Tickets can be purchased at the church office, after church services or at saintedmunds.org.
