On Wednesday April 26th San Francisco Opera’s tuba player Zachariah Spellman joined Sonoma States weekly Instrumental Repertory class. The class was held in Weill Hall and went from 1-2:30 p.m. Spellman introduced himself to the class confidently while wearing a shirt covered in tubas.There were about 20-30 students at this event. Spellman began with the song “If I Fell In Love With You” by the Beatles. He then played a song with a little backstory. “Effie Falls In Love” , he explained, is a song about an elephant that is chasing after a monkey because Monkey has a pheromone that has made the elephant fall in love with him. The song is a representation of Effie’s feelings for Monkey. Marilyin Thompson, professor of the class, played on piano while Spellman played the tuba.
Leif Dering,a transfer student in his first semester and majoring in classical double-bass performance, knew of Spellman vaguely before he came to perform with them. “I see the Opera regularly when they’re in season,” said Dering. Others did not know who Spellman was. Katie Mason, a Junior at SSU with a Music Education major, did not know him prior.“People were excited that someone important was coming.”
When Spellman finished playing for the class there were a few acts backstage that were ready to play for him and showcase their talents. Spellman wanted each musician to tell “their story” after each performance. “It’s up to the player to tell the story,” said Spellman. Spellman proceeded to ask all players to come to the front of the stage. He explained to the audience members that he had six pencils, one for each player to draw from. The pencils were all different lengths and the person who picked the shortest pencil would go first, and so on.
Ryan Ristine pulled the shortest pencil. Ristine played the French Horn with Thompson on piano. Spellman said he did a lovely job. Ristine’s story on the piece was that he started working on it halfway through the semester. The first movement was supposed to sound like a pleading and the second movement was supposed to be more soothing like a “warm blanket,” Ristine said. Spellman’s suggestions were for Ristine to go faster and start to lose control, to be more convincing in the second movement.
Brian Poole played the trumpet. When finished Spellman asked, “What are the sensations in your face right now?” “Burns a little bit,” said Brian. When talking about his piece Poole said “I’m putting myself into this, this is me.” Spellman’s notes were to stop thinking and just listen. He talked about how when playing musicians can tend to let their mind wander, make lists up in their heads, that you just have to listen to what you are playing just as an audience member would.
Between players Spellman yelled “Next Victim!” followed by a laugh. The audience found this statement very funny. Johann Clapstein, a music education major and transfer student came out playing on the tuba. Clapstein gave a rendition of Blackbird, a piece you can find Spellman playing online. “There will be some audience participation in the middle, I’m so sorry,” said Clapstein jokingly. During the piece, everyone clapped and got into it, bobbing their heads to the beat. At the end of the song, Spellman said, “I’m mystified by your use of technology.” His notes were to really lock in those harmonics.
Students had very good experiences with Spellman’s visit. “He was not only entertaining but also inspiring and gave us a new perspective for our playing. Repertory class usually has the same boring yet informative vibe, but Spellman brought a new life into the class and invigorated us as players,” said Mason, “I love how he brought everyone back to the stage after their performances and asked them their story. His words were powerful and I can imagine he communicates musically at an incredibly high level,” said Dering.
Dering’s concluding points were, “Perfection is so near impossible to achieve that it’s pointless. Occasional mistakes are natural- strive to be excellent, not perfect.”