LSU Profiles | LSU Grad is Second Fiddle to None

From the Banks of the Mississippi to the Banks of the Thames: Recent Graduate Continues Education at the Royal Academy of Music

It's called "the big fiddle," and it's Luke Fleming's instrument of choice. Played with a bow and placed on the shoulder, but larger than the violin, the viola is the middle-range instrument of the string family, which also includes the violin, cello, and the contrabass. "What I normally tell people is it's basically a big violin, but that its range is deeper, and it's not as 'screechy' as a violin," said Luke. "A violin has the sound of an extrovert by nature, as opposed to the dark, meditative, inner-thought quality of the viola."

Luke, a 2003 graduate of the LSU School of Music, is currently studying viola at the Royal Academy of Music in London in preparation for what he hopes will be a career as a chamber musician. Founded in 1822, the Academy is Britain's senior music conservatory, offering a diverse range of studies in traditional instrumental and vocal disciplines, as well as historical performance, jazz, composition, media and applied music, and musical theatre. Its many distinguished alumni include noted violist Lionel Tertis, conductors André Previn and Simon Rattle, pianist Joanna MacGregor, percussionist Evelyn Glennie, and Sir Elton John, who was awarded an honorary degree in 2002.

An LSU University Medalist, Luke received the largest bursary, or scholarship, awarded by the Academy. His program of study should take approximately one year, at the end of which he will have earned a post-graduate diploma in viola performance, with a second study (or minor) in baroque viola. "It's mainly a performance degree, so I have no academic classes," he said. The "only real class" he has is "Presentation in Performance," in which students are taught how to critique the performances of their peers with professionalism and how to be a positive subject of such critiques. "We'll also learn how to make concerts more interesting for today's audience by writing interesting program notes and introducing works at an actual concert," he said.

While a career as a chamber musician is as competitive as that of a professional athlete, Luke stands a good chance of making it. Ninety percent of the Academy's recent graduates have established careers in music. As with many professional musicians, Luke will likely teach as well as perform. "I would love to teach, aside from it practically being required in my profession simply as another source of the usually very limited income," he said.

Although some members of Luke's family have had musical training, none has ever become a professional musician. His introduction to classical music came through a public school music class.

"My school began offering group strings for a small fee for students who were interested. I was interested in getting out of class, and this got me out of an hour and a half of it, so I just jumped right on board," he said. And his choice of instrument? "Everyone else was playing violin or cello, so I figured I would help the group out and be different and play the viola," he said.

He soon began taking lessons on the instrument from Lisa McGibney, a former student of LSU Professor of Viola Jerzy Kosmala, with whom Luke would later study .

"After that, everything just fell into place, " he said. "A few months after I started lessons, I was principal violist of the Louisiana Junior Youth Orchestra."

Luke's progress has been rapid ever since. During high school, he enrolled concurrently in courses at LSU. Having begun his bachelor's degree program early, he was able to graduate—with top honors—in three years, a tough task in a program meant to take at least four years. "That was something I really had to work for, not just academically, but also through high school and university restrictions–lots of red tape!"

His efforts led him to his immediate destination, the Royal Academy, a year early. The school is located in the central part of London–a city of more than seven million people, 300 languages, and enough global cultures to experience a different part of the world every day. The Academy has an enrollment of more than 600 students representing more than 50 countries. It boasts the world's finest collection of rare and valuable stringed instruments and state-of-the-art rehearsal and performance facilities. And yet, with all that is before him, Luke still speaks fondly and enthusiastically of his days at LSU.

"My senior recital was quite an awesome memory for me." All my friends, teachers, and family were there, and it made the recital hall seem a lot smaller, he said.

Another amazing memory was playing this really modern piece for viola and computer-generated CD to a completely packed hall for the 2001 Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS) national electronic music convention, which was held at LSU. [The recital hall] was packed to the brim–all of these electronic music nuts and my mom. It was amazing, especially when they all started to applaud."

While at LSU, Luke played viola in the LSU Symphony, often in the position of principal viola, and in the LSU Opera Orchestra. In high school, he attended the summer arts camp at the Interlochen (Michigan) Center for the Arts, where he earned honors, and during summer breaks while attending LSU, he participated in the Quartet Program held by Charlie Castleman of the prestigious Eastman School of Music. At the Academy, Luke has auditioned for and been chosen to play with six chamber music groups, the top orchestra, the opera orchestra, and he has won the principal viola position in the baroque orchestra.

Attending the Royal Academy of Music became a goal of Luke's after he began studying with Professor Kosmala, who is also a visiting professor there. "For all the years I studied with him, there were weeks he would go away to teach there, and this greatly piqued my curiosity, as well as a desire to go to another part of the world," said Luke, a Louisiana native. He credits Kosmala, as well as Dennis Parker and Andreas Giger, also of the LSU School of Music, for much of his success thus far.

"Dr. Kosmala is the reason I have gotten this far.

He has done more for me both musically and professionally than I can tell. And Professors Parker and Giger both really helped me develop a greater love for music, not just viola music."

Luke considers the faculty at the LSU School of Music to be "world class," and believes many people would be surprised that, in an area of the country "not exactly known as a classical performance mecca," the school attracts well-known and highly regarded guest artists, such as The English Chamber Orchestra, pianist Emmanuel Ax, and the Emerson String Quartet.

Topping his list of most memorable experiences at LSU are his lessons with Kosmala, an internationally recognized concert and recording artist, who has adapted and published numerous compositions for viola. "He really started to affect my playing right away, not only gradually."

During Kosmala's next visit to the Academy Luke plans to work with him as much as possible. "Dr. Kosmala is the perfect example of the selfless musician who is not in it for personal glory but for the sheer love of music, and for a desire to pass on his incredible knowledge of all kinds of music," he said. "I would love to be thought of in that same way."

The Viola: Did You Know?

Beethoven played viola in the court orchestra at Bonn. His instrument can be seen today displayed in his native city at the Beethovenhaus.
Bach played viola and wrote one of the only concertos for two violas, specifying that no violins be in the accompanying orchestra.
William Primrose (1904-1982), a prominent 20th century violist (with whom LSU Professor Jerzy Kosmala studied at Indiana University), grew tired of his usual explanation of the difference between the violin and the viola, referring to the difference in sound and range and also explaining that the viola was on average about two inches longer than the violin, wider, thicker, etc. Eventually Primrose summarized the description by saying the viola was "a violin with a college education."
Perhaps because of the poor esteem in which the viola and viola players were held during the early 20th century, Primrose originally decided to pursue a career as a violinist, but he preferred the sound of the viola and eventually made the move. He said of the switch, "I had become a violist full-fledged. I had burned all my bridges. I had walked the Damascus road, seen the light, repented of past transgressions, and turned to the viola."
As an explanation of the viola's lack of notoriety, he offered the following: "A vicious circle of thought surrounds the viola. One hears it badly played, one is well aware that it sounds unpleasant, and one draws the conclusion that such an instrument must be highly limited. In point of fact, it is not limited. Even a cheap viola produces a pleasing sound, in hands that know how to play it."

Contact Marybeth Pinsonneault | LSU University Relations
Highlights Team
January 2004