By MICHAEL BROWN

Imagine a new series at Juilliard that gives chamber groups the opportunity to perform in master classes for faculty of the highest caliber. Imagine students getting new ideas, perspectives, and technique from these classes; and lastly, imagine them not just practicing with their respective groups in solitude, but sharing their love of chamber music with the entire Juilliard community. A new collaboration involving the Juilliard String Quartet; Bärli Nugent, assistant dean and director of chamber music; and Nicholas Mann, the faculty member coordinating the classes, makes these ideas a reality. With the recently initiated Juilliard Chamber Music Master Class series, once a month there will be one master class for string ensembles and one master class for piano-and-string ensembles—taught, of course, by members of Juilliard's stellar faculty.

The string component of this new series got started on October 6 with viola and chamber music faculty member Misha Amory giving a master class to two wonderful string quartets. The first ensemble, made up of violinists Keats Dieffenbach and David Fulmer, violist Nadia Sirota, and cellist Claire Bryant, provided a most unusual opening with Gyorgy Kurtag's striking 12 Microludes. These miniatures are quite demanding on the performers, requiring sharp articulations, quick shifts in dynamics and timbres, and a keen sense of character that one would bring to the music of Beethoven and Bartok. Mr. Amory pushed the group to try different things and to get into the habit of experimenting. At one point he suggested experimenting with sul tasto, bowing over the fingerboard, and when he wasn't quite satisfied with that sound he remarked, "try just one hair of the bow tasto." His teaching ranged from the specific—pointing out the difference between a dot articulation within a slur and one without—to the broad issue of balance between the players. All in all, he helped the group achieve many strikingly different yet gorgeous colors and play with even more character than they already had.

The new master classes give students the important opportunity to watch faculty members and coaches other than their own at work, exposing them to even more techniques and ideas.

The second quartet to play—the Attacca Quartet, made up of third- and fourth-year undergraduates, including violinists Amy Schroeder and Keiko Tokunaga, violist Gillian Gallagher, and cellist Andrew Yee—has already debuted at the Kennedy Center and held a quartet-in-residence position in Spoleto, Italy. As part of the master class, the Attacca performed the first and last movements of Beethoven's stormy Opus 95. The performance of the first movement garnered a reaction of "great energy!" from Mr. Amory. In teaching, he emphasized stark dynamic contrasts in the movement, saying to keep the softer, relaxed sections "more plaintive and dolce for a longer period of time, so that when the turbulence returns it's more shocking." At one point he said to the violist, "Gillian, you should be ripping the strings off your instrument at [measure] 35." Throughout the movement, he emphasized the importance of a rhythmic backbone and being able to feel the internal strength in the bar.

After the quartet's performance of the final movement, Mr. Amory paraphrased a chamber coach at Indiana University who once remarked, "As people I hope we don't have to experience the suffering of this introduction, but as artists, we must." He called the allegro agitato tempo indication "ambiguous" and stressed the importance of holding back the energy in order to attain a dance-like quality. He told the group that they can have as much fire as possible, but it still has to be balanced, and the quartet should "refuse to rush." In the Beethoven's lighthearted, cheerful, F-major conclusion, Mr. Amory showed deep admiration for the Attacca's feather-light sound.

Bärli Nugent remarked that "not only does this new series build the chamber music community at Juilliard as students learn from and support each others' work, but it also allows unfettered access to the teaching of our distinguished faculty for all of our students."

"Already, there are lots of chamber groups who want to participate," said Nicholas Mann, who directs the series. Having one string master class a month and one piano-and-string class will increase the opportunity for groups to play and be heard. The string component of this series continues with cello faculty members David Soyer and Timothy Eddy giving master classes on November 17 and December 15, respectively. The piano chamber music series commenced with Joseph Kalichstein on October 20, to be followed by Jerome Lowenthal on November 10 and Samuel Rhodes on December 8. Attendance is required of all enrolled string and piano chamber groups—but, as Mann began the class by saying, "you should all want to be here." And this series is not just open to those involved in the chamber music program; all members of the Juilliard community are welcome, and encouraged to attend.

Mann said that with the Juilliard String Quartet and Bärli Nugent, "we have a vision that has a twofold purpose. First, we want to create a collegial community within the chamber music department. Though there are wonderful chamber coachings going on throughout the year, everyone is really in their own world, and interaction with other groups and coaches is virtually nonexistent. The second reason for this new series is to allow students to watch other faculty members and coaches, other than their own, give master classes. It is important for people to be exposed to as many techniques and different ideas as possible. This is a need we're trying to address."

Michael Brown is a first-year student majoring in composition and piano.