Oberlin Portrait: Maiya Papach

Maiya Papach

Maiya Papach is grounded in the terra firma of two diverse countries--the United States, where she was born (in South Bend, Indiana), and Japan, where she was raised (in Fukuoka).

Her mother is Japanese and a flutist; her father is American, has worked as a composer, and plays the bassoon. Although the family wanted Eastern and Western cultural experiences for their children, the cross-cultural tie that binds is music. Maiya has an older sister, now living in Prague, who plays the violin and composes.

Maiya is one week shy of graduation. She will take her bachelor of music degree in viola performance with her to The Juilliard School, where her studies will continue with Karen Tuttle in the master's program there. At Oberlin, she studied with Professor of Violin and Viola Roland Vamos after transferring from the University of Missouri, Kansas City Conservatory of Music. (She actually began her musical life as a violinist, a student of Benny Kim. She did not pick up a viola until arriving at Oberlin her sophomore year.)

This last item is extraordinary for the fact that in two years' time, Maiya was beyond proficient; she wowed the jurors of the Oberlin Concerto Competition. For her Finney Chapel performance early in May, she played Béla Bartók's challenging Concerto for Viola and Orchestra, Opus Posthumous, with the Oberlin Orchestra.

Asked if she has a favorite composer, she demurs. "I like anything that's good," she says. "Bartók, Brahms, Bach, Mozart, Shostakovich, Scriabin's piano sonatas."

It was Wieniawski's Polonaise, however, that surfaces as her first memory of music. "I grew up on it," she recalls. "It was always in my life, since my parents were musicians. Being a musician is what I always wanted to do. I used to go to rehearsals with my mom. I remember throwing fits when I couldn't go with her. I was good in public, though. I was quiet."

Maiya says that her mother placed a violin in her hands when she was three years old--about the time they moved to Japan. By the time the family returned to the United States--Maiya was nearly 12 when the family settled in St. Louis--she was set firmly on her course. She graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy in 1996.

For Maiya, the best thing about making music is "just making something happen." She amplifies her statement by saying that it's the feeling she gets in her "gut"--and the feeling she hopes that other people get--if she's done her job correctly, that is to say, if she has communicated what she is feeling.

"If I relate to something in the music, then I'm going to make up a story in my head and I want everybody in the audience to make up their own story from that. If I'm doing that, then I'm communicating. I'm doing something for them."

Audiences at the Aspen Music Festival will be on the receiving end of some extraordinary communicating this summer; Maiya, an Aspen fellowship recipient, will be there--making music. Telling stories.

What inspired you to become a musician? What keeps you inspired on discouraging days?

It's always just been because of my mother. I always loved music so I just kept doing it. I hate practicing, but I love music. My friend Gerald Johnson keeps me inspired on discouraging days. We have a morning practice system: we call each other in the morning at 7:30 a.m., go for coffee at the Java Zone, and practice. If I were feeling as though I really don't want to practice, then at least I've gotten two to three hours done in the morning.

What is the most memorable performance you have ever seen and why?

Mrs. Vamos' [professor of violin Almita Vamos] Franck violin sonata. I heard her play it at the Weathersfield Music Festival in Vermont. I completely agreed with it, I was just taken with her timing, her interpretation. She just did her own thing. I get inspired a lot by creative performances.

If you could perform with any musician, living or dead, who would it be? What would you perform?

This is such a broad question. There isn't any one person that I'd like to perform with, but if I have to come up with someone, it would be [the late violinist] Ginette Neveu. I like her Debussy sonata, but I don't know what I'd want to play with her. I'm really not a soloist; I love small ensembles. I think I'd play chamber music--Franz Shubert's Cello Quintet.

If you could master another instrument, what would it be?

Cello. I've always wanted to be a cellist. This is probably why I like the viola better than the violin. But right now I like the viola better than the cello. Maybe.

If you could not be a musician, what other profession would you choose? What profession would you definitely not choose?

This is not a choice for me. I have never thought about being anything else. I would not want to work with computers, or do anything in an office.

What do you listen to for inspiration? In your free time?

I really don't listen to music too much, but whenever I do I get inspired. I like National Public Radio. I like the voices of their announcers.

What do you like to read?

I don't. I read magazines.

What are three words that describe you?

Independent. Modest. Silly.

Is there anything I didn't ask you that you wish I had?

"What are your favorite foods?" Food is my favorite thing in the world. I'm always eating. I always want to eat. I'm always thinking about food. Ever since I was little, I've always said, 'I'm hungry.'