For one special evening this past Monday, the walls of Heritage Hall were filled with the sound of live, classical music, performed by the world-renowned Tokyo String Quartet...
For one special evening this past Monday, the walls of Heritage Hall were filled with the sound of live, classical music, performed by the world-renowned Tokyo String Quartet, in a workshop that also featured USC Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Chris Carlisle. “The Playing Field: Music and Athletics” kicked off the week-long USC Arts & Humanities Visions & Voices series, “The Tokyo Quartet: A Residency.”
Carlisle began the evening by playing various versions of the song “Mary Had A Little Lamb,” from the most simplistic grade-school sounding version, to one performed by a philharmonic orchestra. Carlisle used practice and game tape, and the Quartet performed pieces, to demonstrate how similar the worlds of music and athletics are. “There is more in common with our two departments than most people would realize at first,” Carlisle observed. Carlisle talked about fundamentals, saying “you have to understand the fundamentals, the basics, before you can play,” whether you are playing a game in front of 90,000 fans, or playing a musical piece before hundreds as the Quartet regularly does.
Carlisle talked about teamwork, practice and preparation: “We prepare at the highest level, to practice at the highest level, to play at the highest level.” The Quartet, which practices 3-4 hours a day, performed various musical pieces and discussed the importance of teamwork. “If one member of the Quartet plays faster, then the rest of us have to adjust,” said violinist Martin Beaver. Similarly, Carlisle talked about how all 11 members of a football team that are out on the field have to work together to make sure the one person who has the ball can do what he needs to do. One person being out of position can throw off a whole play for the football team. Similarly, one member of the Quartet playing a note off-key can significantly impact a performance.
Carlisle also ran tape of the 4th and 9 play from Matt Leinart to Dwayne Jarrett in the 2005 USC-Notre Dame game to demonstrate how practice, preparation, and understanding fundamentals allowed Leinart to “live in chaos,” and after evaluating Notre Dame’s coverage, adjust the play, communicate the change to his teammates in a hostile and loud environment, and deliver on the play, together with the rest of the team.
Formed in 1969 at the Julliard School of Music, the current Quartet, which includes Martin Beaver and Kikuei Ikeda on violins, Kazuhide Isomura on viola, and Clive Greensmith on the cello, performed Haydn String Quartet Opus 76 Number 1 in G major, first and third movements, as well as Bartok String Quartet Number 5, first and third movements. "Those guys are amazing," Carlisle praised the Quartet.
In attendance were various USC athletes including Rey Maualuga, Blake Ayles, T.J. Bryant, Omari Crittenden, Garrett Green, and Mitch Mustain.
The Residency will be having different workshops throughout the week including “The Musical Mind” and “Creativity in Arts Reporting” on Wednesday, and the “Culminating Seminar and Finale Performance” on Thursday at 8pm. Admission to all events is free. For more information on the Residency, please visit: http://web-app.usc.edu/ws/eo2/calendar/32/event/866647
