Janey

Submission by Janey

1) My name is Janey, and I am a baroque cellist and somewhat reluctant gambist. I've been around early music for as long as I can remember, perhaps unsurprising since both my parents were early musicians themselves. I've been playing cello for about 16 years, which is appalling. I've been a whole-hog baroque musician for about 6 years, which is maybe even more appalling. I was a student at Oberlin, and am in my final semester of a graduate degree in historical performance and musicology at Boston University. Somehow, I thought the musicology part of that would fulfill something for me, but that's turned out not to be the case. I'm in the process of figuring out what my direction in life is going to be and was struck by how much of what I've learned about early music as a profession and a way of life has been haphazardly acquired by accident and through blood, sweat and tears. Thus, my motivation for starting this project, which I hope will be a place for us provide windows into the complicated life most of us have chosen. (Sorry, I introduced myself and the project at the same time!

2) I've always loved early music. My mother was a harpsichordist, and my dad is a recorder player. They never forced early music on me, but it certainly showed up in my musical atmosphere from well before I was even born. My dad taught me to play piano when I was young, but when it was time to use my left thumb above middle C I suffered a complete meltdown and quit. I got over that for the most part, but remain somewhat wary around the large heavy beasts. Anything that could kill you by breaking a string deserves some skepticism, I think. My journey to actual early musicianship started with my general dissatisfaction with playing modern cello. I loved making music, and I loved a lot of the music, but frankly I was never very good at vibrato. I learned that instruments without endpins weren't so tricky after all from the fabulous Zoe Weiss while at Oberlin, and through that class came to the attention of Catherina Meints. Though I knew her through my parents, I'd never really worked with her. I'm vaguely aware that I played in a masterclass with her at some point growing up. I think it was a couple of Bach minuets, but I don't remember anything else about the experience. After I started gamba, I forced my way into joint lessons with another person she was recruiting. It was all downhill from there, and here I am working on a thesis on Handel and the cello. I never stopped playing tenor gamba, but I finally bothered to start actually playing bass this past summer via the Baroque Performance Institute at Oberlin. I'm totally stuck in early music now, since playing at 440 sets my teeth a little on edge, constant vibrato makes me scowl, and endpins just feel wiggly.