Return

Marlboro: Then and Now (in the Experience of One Participant)

Bonnie Hampton

It has been a pleasure to have the opportunity to return to Marlboro as a participant after a period of forty five years. It is that much more meaningful since it is the Sixtieth Anniversary and the evidence of the content of those years is very present.

My participation as a young cellist in the sixties was filled with inspiration and challenges. In 1962, I came first for the Casals Master Classes and then returned from 1963 until 1966 as a full participant. Those years gave us Casals’ Magic with music. That heightened exaltation in his musical involvement which carried over into everything we did. Serkin’s giving of 200% in everything he did and willing us to stretch our own boundaries. Felix Galimir’s insisting on our getting inside the understanding of the works of Schoenberg and Berg when we played then with him, and indeed they are still with me these years later. These were precious and unforgettable experiences. There were also the forming of musical friendships which have been renewed through the years with a very special quality. And to balance that intensity, there were the goofy high jinx!

And now? It is the same and different. The administration has done everything to make my stay as a “senior” pleasant and productive. There is the high level of very talented participants. There are extremely well prepared and studied performances and for some, they can be a life changing experience. The younger participants are perhaps more a part of deciding how long a work is going to be rehearsed, since only a small portion of those studied are performed. This is fair, but it also means that there can be some limiting of the possibilities of ones musical discoveries. Still, one learns when one is ready to learn, and the possibilities of what a person can find at Marlboro are there in abundance, when one is ready.

I am grateful for the chance to bring my own Marlboro experience full circle.

Subjects: Chamber Music

Tags: administration, Bonnie, cello, cellobello, challenges, Hampton, intensity, opportunity, participants, performance, talent

AUTHOR

Bonnie Hampton

Cellist Bonnie Hampton leads an active music life as a chamber musician, soloist, and teacher.  A founding member of the Naumburg Award-winning Francesco Trio, she has also performed as part of the Hampton-Schwartz Duo with her late husband, pianist Nathan Schwartz.  Her solo debut with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra was followed by appearances with orchestras nationally performing the entire standard repertoire and many of the 20th century cello concertos.

She has been involved in performances of new music since the beginning of her career.  Her contemporary recordings include CD’s representing American works, often commissioned and premiered by the Trio and Duo.  Ms. Hampton’s chamber music guest appearances have included performances with the Juilliard, Guarneri, Cleveland, Mendelssohn, Alexander, Budapest, and Griller String Quartets, and concert tours have take her to Europe and Asia.  She has performed in many of the major halls in the United States, including Davies Hall and the Opera House in San Francisco, Alice Tully Hall, the Library of Congress, the Kennedy Center, Jordan Hall, and many chamber music venues throughout the world.

A student of Pablo Casals, she participated for many years in the Casals and Marlboro festivals.  She has performed at many festivals including Chamber Music West, Seattle, Ravinia, Santa Fe, Kneisel Hall, and the Yellow Barn Chamber Music Festival.  Her early studies were with Margaret Rowell, the Griller String Quartet, and Zara Nelsova.

Her Francesco Trio Residencies have included Grinnell College, Stanford University, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music where she taught for thirty years.  Ms. Hampton was awarded an “Excellence in Teaching Award” from SFCM as well as the “Eva Janzer Award” from Indiana University.  Ms. Hampton has also taught at Mills College, and the University of California, Berkeley.  She is a past president of Chamber Music America.  In September 2003 she joined the faculty at the Juilliard School.

“…artistic responsibility of a rare inspiring kind.” San Francisco Chronicle

“…a highly expressive cellist.”   New York Times

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