Flavia Pájaro-van de Stadt
viola
Hometown: Phoenix, AZ / Baltimore, MD
Alma maters: Peabody Conservatory, B.M., 2018; M.M., 2021
Photos by Octavio Pájaro
Awards/Competitions
2021 Grace Clagett Prize in Chamber Music, Peabody Conservatory; 2018 Azalia H. Thomas Prize in Music Theory, Peabody Conservatory
Appearances
Philadelphia Orchestra, substitute; National Symphony Orchestra, substitute; Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, substitute; Sarasota Music Festival, 2023; Colorado College Summer Music Festival, 2017–18; Miami Music Festival, 2018; National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra International Summer Festival, 2016; Bowdoin International Music Festival, 2011–15; Domaine Forget, 2014
What is your earliest memory of classical music?
This may not be my very earliest classical music memory, but it’s my earliest memory of performing. I was three years old, and my dad was accompanying me on the piano for a recital. I messed up, stomped my foot, and said accusingly, “Daddy!” He gracefully accepted the blame, apologized, and restarted the piece for me. I was immediately filled with guilt and remorse.
Was there a teacher who was particularly impactful/helpful? What made this instructor stand out?
My violin teacher, Keng-Yuen Tseng, is one of the most incredible people in my life. He and his wife, Chun-Ru Wei (Mrs. Tseng), have become family to me. I learned about much more than just violin and music from them, including meditation, which has been immensely healing for me. Something I love about Mr. Tseng is that he knows how to reach each individual student because of his deeply caring and intuitive nature. Backstage right before my junior recital, I was in a panic. He asked me what I was so worried about. I told him my fugue in Bach’s first sonata was going to be terrible. Instead of telling me it was all going to be okay, which he knew I wouldn’t believe, he said “So the fugue goes badly. Then what? That’s one movement. You have the whole rest of your recital!” Suddenly, I realized not that what I feared wouldn’t happen, but that even if it did it would be okay. He also has a wonderful silly side. He once promised me a dumpling for each note of a tricky run if I nailed it. I never played it better. Of course, Mrs. Tseng scolded him for being so stingy with the dumplings and gave me the whole bag.
What is the most memorable performance you ever had?
One of the most impactful performances I ever had was a chamber orchestra concert at Peabody with Leon Fleisher as both conductor and soloist. I remember having the feeling that he truly controlled time. When he took liberties with timing in the music, it didn’t feel like he was slowing down or speeding up. It felt like he actually caused time itself to speed up and slow down in such a powerful way that it compelled us as the orchestra to move with him without any doubt of where to place our notes. He played Mozart’s 12th Piano Concerto with us, and I had never so deeply felt that a piece of music was alive and breathing as a being in itself. He was almost 90 years old, and it was as if he and the concerto were meeting again as old friends, reminiscing on the concerts they shared years ago. I will cherish the honor and memory of having worked and performed with him for the rest of my life.
What is your proudest achievement as a musician?
One of my proudest achievements is founding a non-profit chamber music collective, the Baltimore Chamber Players. It is an ensemble devoted to gathering community and sharing chamber music in intimate spaces, as it was intended.
Also, you didn’t ask, but my absolute favorite thing in the whole wide world is my dog Squiggle.