While spending a year on the road together, Michelle Shin, Juan-Salvador Carrasco, and Lucinda Chiu learned they’re not just colleagues, they’re all members of the Colburn family. They also learned how Colburn training continues to enable them to take on new and varied musical opportunities.
When planning her A Matter of Time tour, Laufey envisioned a full-stage experience with a band, dancers, and string quartet. So where does a Grammy Award®-winning, multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter look for high-caliber musicians? The Colburn School, of course. Five of Laufey’s musicians graduated from Colburn: Michelle Shin, violin and string director; Juan-Salvador Carrasco, cello; Lucinda Chiu, violin; Dario Bizio, bass; and Maverick MacMillan, drums.
While Laufey may not have specifically set out to recruit Colburn alumni, it’s not surprising these artists represent the level of musicianship she required for a demanding worldwide tour that began its North American leg last fall and included stops this spring in Malaysia, the Philippines, China, and even the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. What’s interesting is that some of the musicians knew each other beforehand and some discovered their Colburn ties while on tour. For example, Shin and Chiu lived and performed together while studying at the Peabody Institute. Chiu already had graduated from the Colburn Community School of Performing Arts, whereas Shin enrolled in the Master of Music and Artist Diploma programs at the Colburn Conservatory after earning her undergraduate degree at Peabody. Chiu and Carrasco both attended the Community School around the same time, with Carrasco continuing on in the Music Academy, but they didn’t get to know each other until joining the tour. Both Bizio and MacMillan attended the Community School, too, which was revealed while they were on the road together.
Shin was the first string player hired to travel with Laufey on previous tours, and as string director for the current tour, she assembled the quartet members.
“Laufey has always been very keen on having the best string players play on the stage with her. Thankfully, the camp was very open to me recommending musicians I want to work with, and I couldn’t think a better violinist for this tour. I know how well Lucy plays, what a great person she is, and what a friend she would be for me on the road,” Shin says.
Next, she reached out to Carrasco, whom she’d met years prior at a Heifetz International Music Institute.
“It was an incredible opportunity, and honestly, a bit of a surprise. I wasn’t expecting that call when it came in,” he recalls.
Of course, during their years at Colburn and after as professional performing artists, each has gained orchestral and symphonic experience. Playing for the eclectic artist, who is known for performing jazz, bossa nova, and classical music, presented new opportunities professionally. However, they agree, their Colburn education laid a strong foundation on which they can stretch their musical muscles.
“There are so many changing parts: we might do some special segment one night or have to sit farther away from each another night. We have to learn to be flexible. I definitely think that’s something Colburn helped me to learn,” says Chiu. “Being able to learn chamber music at a younger age helped me build the skills at being adaptive and communicating with others.”
“The Community School has the most incredible teachers and mentors who cultivate your musicianship from such a young age, and because the school is in Los Angeles, you’re constantly exposed to art and culture outside the classical concert hall. It’s not a big leap to let your training and everything around you in the city interact with each other,” adds Carrasco.
“I also want to stress that the discipline studying classical music instills in you is only going to help in every other aspect of music playing,” says Shin. “I hope everyone is empowered to put in those hours because, obviously, it can lead to so many different opportunities and life experiences.”
Interestingly, Shin also believes living on the Colburn campus as a Conservatory student prepared her for the lifestyle of a touring musician.
“It actually fed me a lot of information I use on tour, especially human relations and knowing how I need to treat others in such close quarters. Living in the dorms, going to the same classes, and vying for the same practice rooms are all skills I use on the road,” says Shin.
But, says Chiu, all those hours together on a bus driving around the United States, carved out time for the group to get to know each other, like discovering their Colburn connections.
“I didn’t expect to love it so much,” she explains. “Being able to lounge on the bus, share a conversation, or play a fun group game, allowed us to get to know each other, that was really special for me.”