This post was written by Sarah Rees.
Each person’s existence is peppered with life-changing moments, and for musician Jonathan Beecher, one arrived when he made the innocent mistake of leaving his cello leaning against a wall. “It was a silly thing to do,” he says, shaking his head with a small wince. “The cello fell over and the finger board came off.” Having been dedicated to music since he embarked on an apprenticeship in his teens, Jonathan was duly concerned. He rushed his broken cello to a violin maker who glued it back together, but “it just didn’t sound the same afterwards,” recalls Jonathan. “There were notes missing. I took it to many different luthiers to find out why but no one could give me a satisfactory answer, so I just decided to find out for myself.”
Thus the professional cellist embarked on a research project that would take him over eight years and into the bellies of over a thousand instruments to “find out which part needs to be adjusted to make an instrument sound lovely.” Eventually, he found a way, with the help of a team of luthiers, to rebuild older instruments to Jonathan’s new, researched, specification (his own cello is made with wood from the 17th century) and offer the player access to a superior sound.
This was in 1972, and Jonathan swiftly teamed up with fellow professional Sarah Porter to form Beecher Acoustics, a UK-based company that continues to create customised string instruments that help the player deliver, in Jonathan’s words, a “much more beautiful sound.”
Jonathan and Sarah had always been involved with schools and teaching young people, but once Beecher Acoustics came to life, they were keen to return to educational environments and offer children the chance to play these adjusted instruments. This manifested itself in various youth orchestras, and they were delighted with the sounds these relatively young players were able to make.
It was a quirk of fate that led Jonathan to consider Malaysia as a destination for a new orchestra. One of his long term, UK-based friends is Malaysian, and mentioned to Jonathan that the Asian country “seemed enthusiastic to develop its culture.” The couple began to make trips down to Malaysia to enquire into the possibility, and it was during one such visit that another chance meeting led Jonathan and Sarah to the pair of musicians who would eventually lead the orchestra.
Canadian Brian Larson and Japanese Toko Inomoto were both members of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) when Jonathan and Sarah arrived to showcase some of the instruments to the MPO and explain their plans. Brian and Toko were impressed and, thanks to both having experience in and enthusiasm for working with young people, were keen to take on directorship of the Beecher International String Orchestra KL.
Fast forward to the present day and the new orchestra is taking shape. Auditions are scheduled for early 2013 for what will eventually become an orchestra of 21 string players. All players will ideally be equipped with a Beecher instrument, and will have weekly coaching from Brian and Toko as well as periodic master classes with Jonathan to prepare them for classical concerts around the country.
“We are going to start with small steps,” explains Jonathan, “just a quartet at a time, so we are currently looking for four talented youngsters to get things moving.” These musicians should be aged 16-20 years and have achieved Grade 8 in their chosen instrument. “We are looking for players who have the technical ability but also show imagination and are capable of individual interpretation,” says Jonathan.
This is a superb opportunity for budding musicians to get a taste of life in an orchestra, make the first step towards a musical career, or just enjoy being involved in music at a high level. “Arts are an important part of your spiritual energy,” says Jonathan. “Music is about living, inspiration, communication, and magic; and music can have extraordinary power.” It clearly had the power to change Sarah and Jonathan’s lives and, thanks to Jonathan’s curiosity and ability to turn a broken cello into a blessing, the young musicians of Malaysia have the opportunity to change their own.
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Anyone interested in auditioning for the Beecher International String Orchestra KL should contact Brian Larson on brain.larson.violin@gmail. com, and anyone seeking more information on Beecher Accoustics should contact Sarah Porter on sarah@ beecheracoustics.com.
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Source: The Expat December 2012
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