The Andover community was introduced to an intriguing educational method, called the Alexander method, this past Sunday by a group of six independent musicians, “Alexander & Friends,” who practice the technique in their everyday music endeavors.
“Alexander & Friends,” who is made up of pianists Debi Adams and Michael Serio, soprano Sara Goldstein, mezzo-soprano Clara Sandler, violinist Angela Leidig and trumpeter Vincent Monaco, Adjunct Instructor in Music.
By playing masterpieces written by various composers like Henry Purcell and Domenico Scarlatti, members of “Alexander & Friends” demonstrated the extent of their familiarity with the Alexander technique, which champions the method of reducing muscular and mental tension to reduce stress.
“[The Alexander Technique] is a practice that helps you become aware of doing less and learning how to move with a grace and an ease. It’s very helpful for anybody in the performing arts.” said Serio.
“Alexander & Friends” kicked off their performance with a selection of lively, fast-paced pieces as well as more somber pieces, including some with vocal elements.
Staying true to the piece’s lethargic feeling, Leidig opened George Friedrich Handel’s “Süsse stille, sanfte Quelle” with a quiet tune, drawing out the legato bowings of her entrance to give the piece a more sleepy atmosphere.
Members of “Alexander & Friends” played two more of Handel’s German pieces before moving on to more contemporary pieces like “Along the Field” by Ralph Vaughn Williams.
Soprano Sara Goldstein, accompanied by Leidig, opened the piece with a strong crescendo. The vibrato which Goldstein employed, along with her animated hand gestures and facial expressions, added a hint of reality to the song’s theme of everyday life in the English countrysides.
“Alexander & Friends” proved their mastery of a wide range of repertoire by performing a unique piece: eight poems by Englishman A. E. Housman that have been modified from page poetry to instrumental music.
Goldstein said, “[The poems] are all about rural life in England, unhappy love, the shortness of life. They’re kind of dark, but they have a little humor in them too. ‘With Rue my Heart is Laden’ touches me. It is about remembering lost friends and it’s very sentimental and simple. The music is written with great simplicity.”
At the end of their recital, members of “Alexander & Friends” attributed their ease and enjoyment in playing music to their dedication to the Alexander Technique.
