Ray Chen Master Class at TonicCon Los Angeles

October 10, 2024, 11:25 PM · On Thursday Ray Chen kicked off his two-day TonicCon music festival at the Colburn School with a master class featuring three young violinists who had flown to Los Angeles from all over the globe - from Poland, Greece, and Maryland. The day continued with a variety of activities: violin students playing in a casual atmosphere outdoors on a makeshift stage in the Colburn Plaza as well as more formal opportunities, like a master class with Margaret Batjer. There were also workshops on a range of subjects such as piano tech, luthier set-up with the LA Violin Shop, overcoming performance anxiety and more. The activities will continue through Friday (including a 4 p.m. panel discussion that I'll host with Ray about "Teaching and Tech" - how teachers can leverage technology), with performances both nights. See video at the bottom of this story for the livestream of the performances.

Ray Chen in concert with the Colburn Chamber Players. Photo by Fung Ho.

I attended Ray's master class in the morning, and it was both entertaining and inspirational. When Ray gives a master class, he brings his experience and perspective as a seasoned virtuoso violinist - but clearly - this guy also has the natural tools of a comedian and improv actor. He is not afraid to go full-goofball to get the point across while also getting a laugh - for example, here he is, demonstrating how to play by moving the violin only, while keeping the bow still:

@violinistlaurie Master class with @raychenviolin ? original sound - Violinist.com

His class drew an all-ages audience that included very young students their parents as well as teachers and performers.

Thursday's participants were chosen by an audition process through Ray's practice app Tonic, which also sponsored six musicians to attend the event.

Before anyone performed, Ray started his master class by introducing the whole concept of "TonicCon."

@violinistlaurie Ray Chen introduces his TonicCon music festival in Los Angeles at the Colburn School! #violin #toniccon @raychenviolin @Colburn School ? original sound - Violinist.com

He also said that, while his "Tonic" app allows people to open their phone microphone let others listen to them play, it's a whole different thing to play for a live audience, in a large hall such as Zipper Hall. "How do we fill up the space?" said Ray. "How do we use it to our advantage and make it an extension of the instrument?"

This idea is something he worked on with the first student, violinist Anastazja Stanio, 17, who began the master class with a performance of a long excerpt from the first movement from Saint-Saëns' Violin Concerto No. 3. Anastazja, a student of Ewa Kowar, came all the way from Warsaw, Poland to attend TonicCon.

Anastazja was well-prepared, with an excellent set-up and good intonation - but her sound was a little unfocused in the big hall.

"How did it feel?" Ray asked her, when she had finished.

"Scary!" she said.

Ray said that she was likely coping with that feeling by going into her own world while playing. When you do that, you tell yourself to calm down, "but what ends up being sent out to the audience is 'calm, calm, calm.'" For something as forceful as the opening of the Saint-Saëns concerto, that's not what you want to convey.

"Here's what I want you to do - use their energy," Ray said, gesturing to the audience. "Try pushing it out to the audience."

She tried it again, starting assertively, but then when she arrived at difficult shift she hesitated.

"Look," Ray said. "There's a fine line between confidence - and b.s.!" If you miss a shift and you continue to exude confidence, without acknowledging the mistake, then the audience may simply not notice. However, you have to resist making that apologetic face that says "you know that I know that I made a mistake..."

"Don't make that face!" Ray said.

Ray still wanted her to get more sound from her violin, so he did something that became a sort of meme throughout the rest of the class: "Can I put a little more rosin on your bow?" he asked. (Ray has done several bits on rosin - one video about how to apply it - another rather scarier video where he has to identify which is rosin and which is hard candy - and eat his choice!)

After the rosin application he demonstrated on her violin, making quite a big, focused sound. "That is what your violin can do," he said. "It make sound like too much under your ear, but to the audience, it's delicious - very 'umami'!"

Ray Chen works with Anastazja Stanio. Photo by Abby Mahler, courtesy of the Colburn School.

He recommended finding just exactly the right sounding point, closer to the bridge so that the sound will come out immediately. "Immediacy grabs attention and it sets you up for success," he said.

Another trick is to actually bring the violin to the bow, rather than the other way around, something that Ray does often in performance. "You see me moving around - it's not just for show, there are reasons for those motions," he said.

This is when he asked her to try the experiment playing the opening of the Saint-Saëns by only moving the violin - demonstrated in that video at the top of of this article.

Next, Platon Bourgiotis played the opening "Allemande" from Ysaÿe's Sonata No. 4 for solo violin (the one that the composer dedicated to Fritz Kreisler). Platon, 27, is from Athens, Greece, and he told me he has two teachers: Makis Tsorovkoglov and Georgios Demertzis.

His playing was precise, with a pure and intimate sound and great intonation. It's quite a difficult piece and he played it thoughtfully and well.

"You nailed it," Ray said after his performance, "but I think there are a few things you could do to level up your playing."

"You need to push the sound out, and you are keeping it here," he said, indicating the stage area right in front of them. "Ysaÿe has no orchestra, no accompaniment. How are you going to fill the space? Make a grand entrance!"

One way to help is to optimize the sound that the violin can make. First, Ray took Platon's bow and tightened it a bit. Also, "Can I put some rosin on your bow?" The audience laughed. "This is the secret sauce," Ray added.

He pointed out that Platon's violin has a naturally dark sound, and the strings are making it sound even warmer - more brilliant strings "could unlock the sound - that is what strings can do," Ray said. "Every little thing makes a difference."

Ray Chen works with Platon Bourgiotis at TonicCon Los Angeles. Photo by Violinist.com.

Platon was focused on the phrasing - and had a nice concept of it. But Ray wanted him to focus more on the nitty-gritty of actually bringing that phrasing out into the world. For this, one must focus on fine details: the beginning, middle and end of a note. The beginning of the note, for example: "You need attack," Ray said, "otherwise it's not clear."

He also wanted Platon to be conscious of whether the beginning of the note would be a consonant or vowel sound, and to truly make that happen.

Ray felt that the phrase was sounding the same, over and over.

"What are the things you can change, to make it bigger or smaller?" Ray asked. A few ideas that Ray presented: you can fool experiment with coming in earlier, rubato, landing and taking time on important notes, etc.

The "Allemande" has kind of a long almost improvisatory-sounding introduction before it settles into an "a Tempo." At that point, "you want to land, as if the hero has arrived," Ray said. "You have to strut, as this character!" and Ray demonstrated as an actor might, strutting around the stage.

Ray emphasized the importance of "follow through" in big gestures, and of giving it all in performance, even if that means experimenting beyond what is written to really find the character.

"Always keep in mind what is written on the page, but always go 100 percent, with a full heart," Ray said. "Don't hold back!"

Next was Christopher Yun, age 11, who gave an extremely impressive performance of the first movement of Wieniawski's Violin Concerto No. 2. Christopher is from Maryland and studies with Gersh Chervinsky and has also studied with Stefan Jackiw.

Christopher was certainly playing to the audience, and with a beautiful sound and mature-sounding vibrato. And he didn't take the easy way out with anything - diving right into the fingered octaves and up-bow staccato!

"You should put a smile on my face!" Ray told him after his performance. "How do you feel?

"Terrified!" he said.

Ray praised his style, rhythm and overall playing, suggesting they could work on strategies for projecting in quieter places and for improving up-bow staccato. But first:

"Can I put more rosin on your bow?"

Ray Chen works with Christopher Yun. Photo by Violinist.com.

Ray started by talking about the quieter, more melodic passages.

"When you play melodic passages, you are playing a little bit for yourself," Ray said. "The trick is to look out (toward the audience) as you play those notes - and your sound will change."

Also, think of the bow pushing against the string, and stay closer to the bridge.

Christopher was one of those students who understands and takes instructions well, and each suggestion that Ray gave him led to immediate change and improvement.

Ray observed that Christopher used a "Russian bow hold," which is also what Ray uses, having first started with a "Franco-Belgian bow hold." (Side note, a Violinist.com poll from 2018 showed that most of us violinists - more than 80 percent - use the "Franco-Belgian" hold, myself included!) The Russian bow hold involves more pronation of the right hand and a nearly straight pinkie.

Ray said that he switched because he finds it easier to stay closer to the bridge with a Russian bow hold because it's heavier, though bow changes at the frog are actually more difficult. "It's like having a heavier car," he said, more power, but with certain drawbacks.

Ray then showed Christopher a way to achieve an up-bow staccato, by starting with a fast and forte tremolo:

@violinistlaurie Ray Chen teaches up-bow staccato at his TonicCon master class! #violin #toniccon @raychenviolin @Colburn School ? original sound - Violinist.com

In all, it was an enjoyable masterclass with talented participants, an affable and highly talented teacher, and an enthusiastic audience. Afterwards, Ray answered audience questions - my favorate was about scales. Ray shared that he didn't really practice scales up until he was 14 years old. At that point, he was given a strict diet of just scales and etudes for a full month, practicing Galamian scales for some five hours a day. It was a valuable investment: "It saves ou time," he said, adding, "It takes time, yes, but you are putting that in the bank to use later."

Violinist Ray Chen and Violinist.com editor Laurie Niles at TonicCon, at the Colburn School.

If you wish to watch the entire master class, here is the livestream:

Each, participants gave a concert, with Ray Chen playing Vivaldi's Four Seasons with the Colburn Chamber Players at the end. Here are the livestreams of those performances:

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Ray Chen Master Class at TonicCon Los Angeles

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