|
|
April 30, 2004/Iyar 9 5764, Vol. 56, No. 32
Young virtuoso
JENNIFER GOLDBERG
Staff Writer
Tiffany Berman, a violinist for the Phoenix Symphony Guild Strings Orchestra, spent three days in Washington, D.C., in April as part of the National Festival of States Concert. Pictured, from left, are Yann Boehler-Bosch, Berman, Caitlin Sanford, Monica Moore and Alison Rosenfeld.
Photo courtesy of Lynne and Ron Berman
|
Local teen violinist Tiffany Berman recently participated in Music Celebrations International's National Festival of the States in Washington, D.C. However, she says, her beginnings as a musician were much more humble.
Now 13 years old, Berman became interested in the violin when a strings group visited her kindergarten classroom. Soon after, her mother, Lynne, signed her up for lessons with a few other young children.
"We started out with a box and a ruler," Berman recalls. "We were perfecting the way our hands moved on the bow."
Berman's school, Rancho Solano Private School, has no orchestra, but she continued private lessons throughout her early childhood.
About two years ago, Berman's violin teacher, Doreen Press, invited her to try out for the Phoenix Symphony Guild Strings Orchestra, of which Press is the conductor.
The orchestra is a prestigious musical group comprising performers elementary school age through high school age, and would-be members must audition to be accepted. Berman auditioned and was accepted when she was 12.
The National Festival of States is a four-day, three-night event comprising one choral and one instrumental group from each state. Performing groups are chosen based on recommendations from state music educators and/or governors, senators and Congressional representatives.
The Phoenix Symphony Guild Strings Orchestra performed at a number of sites around Washington including Mount Vernon and at an event celebrating the creation of a new memorial for World War II veterans.
Playing at Mount Vernon was "so exciting. People would come in and out, listen and clap for us," says Berman. "You always see famous musicians playing in Washington, so it was an amazing feeling to be in Washington and play there."
Despite their performance schedule, Berman and other members of the orchestra had ample time to see Washington's numerous tourist attractions. The group saw the Washington, Lincoln and Jefferson memorials, the U.S. Capitol, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and Berman's favorite, the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.
"I love space and science, so it was a lot of fun for me," she says.
Berman is dedicated to her craft, practices at least 30 minutes each day, and plans to become a professional violinist when she gets older. On April 17, she watched a performance by violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenburg at Phoenix Symphony Hall.
"She was really into the music," Berman recalls. "She's awesome. I want to be just like her."
|
|
