with Jess Wyatt of A Viola Player Writes

You can listen to the episode here or in iTunes. Find the article for and links to part one here. Also, go subscribe in iTunes or through PodBean, where you can also find previous episodes.

Viola Ambassador Jess Wyatt is back for part two of our discussion. If you haven’t already listened to part 1, you’ve missed out; go do that and come back to this afterward.

In the second part of our conversation, Jess talks more about the…. (what I would call, not negatively) idiosyncrasies of the viola. How do kids get started playing it? Were there famous viola makers like there were for violin? Did you know that not all violas are the same size?! What’s it like to travel with a viola in tow?

While the first episode was much more an introduction to the viola and the violist, this second episode focuses on the above questions, a more behind-the-scenes, things-you-didn’t-think-of discussion. Listen to hear Jess talk about her experience with the cello, fractional-sized instruments, the dreaded viola surgery I teased about in part 1,  Cambridge Violin Makers, Gasparo da Salò, Yuri Bashmet’s “baby,” the trial system in the U.K., and where you can hear Jess in the near future, in an opera, among other things.

Like I said before, it’s extremely enjoyable to listen to someone talk about the things they know and love. Jess is articulate, friendly, and insightful. Mind you, very little editing happens, so it’s a candid, genuine conversation where even the questions I ask as an amateur Jess is able to answer in a clear, satisfying way. If you have questions for her that I didn’t get to, then you can find her on her Facebook page or at her own site, A Viola Player Writes. Also, go give her a like on Facebook. She shares interesting things I enjoy reading.

We’ve now heard from a cellist and a violist, and perhaps soon a luthier, but what about a violinist? We shall see.

Go like us on Facebook, follow us, share with your friends, and all the rest, and stay tuned for more!