ESME Applied Solo Intensive and Ensemble Retreat

Attention all string and piano students!

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Are you getting ready for solo and ensemble this year?  Feeling stressed that you’re not as prepared or could use some help getting your rep to where you want it to be? 

Then we want to invite you to come and participate in our newest learning program: the ESME Applied Solo Intensive and Ensemble Retreat (E.A.S.I.E.R.)!

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E.A.S.I.E.R. is ESME’s exciting, new one-day retreat designed specifically for students in preparation for their school year solo and ensemble performances.  Students will receive private lessons on either solo or chamber repertoire, will work in a student chamber group and receive chamber group coachings, participate in an orchestra reading session and finally receive a Masterclass at the end of the day.  Our teaching/coaching faculty includes musicians of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra!

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The ESME Applied Solo Intensive and Ensemble Retreat will take place at Aquinas College Art and Music Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan!  Registration is open! Limited spots are available!  Registration deadline is Friday January 13, 2023 by 5:00pm.

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We accept violin, viola, cello, double bass and piano students.  Individual students will be arranged into chamber groups based on their level. Students can also sign up together as a pre-formed chamber group.  

Faculty Artists

Jeremy Crosmer completed multiple graduate degrees from the University of Michigan in cello, composition and theory pedagogy, and received his D.M.A. in 2012 at age 24.  He has served as Assistant Principal Cellist in the Grand Rapids Symphony, and is currently a member of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.  Jeremy has written arrangements for the GRS Music for Health Initiative, which pairs symphonic musicians with music therapists to bring classical music to hospitals, as well as full orchestral compositions programmed for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra's 2019-2020 classical concert season.  Jeremy has toured London with the Grand Valley State University Chamber Orchestra and performed as soloist with the GRS.  While still in school, Jeremy was awarded the prestigious Theodore Presser Graduate Music Award to publish, record and perform his Crosmer-Popper duets.  Jeremy has taught music theory, pre-calculus and cello at universities across Michigan.

Mike Chen has been a violist with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra since 2018.  He was a member of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra from 2012 to 2018 and a member of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra from 2003 to 2012.  He received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Northwestern University and has studied violin with Blair Milton and viola with Li-kuo Chang, Michael Strauss, Peter Slowik, Keith Conant and Baird Dodge.  He has performed with the Detroit Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, and Chicago Symphony.  He received a Master’s degree in Conducting at Northwestern University in 1999, and studied conducting with Victor Yampolsky, Mariusz Smolij, Gilbert Varga, David Zinman, and Murry Sidlin.  Mike was a conducting fellow at the American Academy of Conducting in Aspen, Colorado and has served as Assistant Conductor of the Saint Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra and guest conductor of the Indianapolis Symphony Side-by-Side Orchestra.

A native New Yorker, violinist Gene Hahn made his debut at Carnegie Hall as a guest soloist at age 13.  He continued to perform regularly at Carnegie with the New York Youth Symphony.  He has appeared as soloist with the Mannes College of Music Orchestra and was a winner of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Young Musicians' Competition.  Gene studied chamber music at the Manhattan School of Music with The American String Quartet and orchestral performance with members of The Philadelphia Orchestra and The New York Philharmonic.  He participated in the Musicorda and Quartet Program chamber festivals, toured with The Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra and upon moving to Michigan joined the Grand Rapids Symphony.  He also performs with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and as associate concertmaster of The West Michigan Symphony and is the founding member of ESME.

Daily Schedule

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The ESME Applied Solo Intensive and Ensemble Retreat happens January 14th, 2023 from 1:00 pm to 9:00 pm.  All sessions will take place at the Aquinas College Art and Music Center, 1700 Fulton St. E. Grand Rapids, MI 49506. 

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ESME String Camp Daily Schedule

·  1:00pm - 3:30pm - private lessons on chamber repertoire

·  3:30pm - 4:30pm - Chamber group coachings

·  4:30pm - 5:30pm - Solo repertoire lessons

·  5:30pm - 6:30pm - Orchestra reading

·  6:30pm- 7:30pm - Dinner (provided)

·  7:30pm - 9:00pm - Masterclass

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Any empty time slots will be designated as practice sessions.