JENNIFER MAHAL -- In The Wings

When I think of a violin, the image of my friend Carl sweetly playing

strains of “Summertime” come to mind, the instrument tucked under his

chin, swaying as he played.

Never would I have thought a violin could be so large as to be taller

than a man, or so small as to be almost child-sized. That was before I

learned of the Hutchins Consort, a group playing a set of acoustically

matched violins led by Newport Beach native Joe McNalley.

The unusual violins were created by 89-year-old luthier Carleen M.

Hutchins, for whom the group is named. There are eight violins in the

Consort -- treble, soprano, mezzo, alto, tenor, baritone, small bass and

contrabass.

“It’s amazing to think these are all violins,” said Jan Landstrom, a

Consort board member.

There are six complete sets of these instruments. Of the sets, at

least three are in museums. The Metropolitan Museum of Art -- which the

Consort will play in the spring of 2002 -- has one, as does the Musik

Museet in Stockholm and the Historical Musical Instruments Collection at

the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

The Hutchins Consort, however, is now the only group dedicated to

playing the instruments as a set.

“It wasn’t [Carleen Hutchins’] intention to make instruments to go

into museums,” Joe said. “She made them to be played.”

And played they are. Since forming more than a year ago, the Consort

has done about 17 concerts, including a tour of Italy.

“It’s amazing we’ve managed to pull off as much as we have,” Joe said,

crediting good organization, the hard work of the group and its boards

for the group’s success so far.

Oftentimes, the audience for the concerts includes acousticians,

luthiers and physicists interested in the instruments, he said.

On Jan. 19, the Consort will hold a tribute concert at the Irvine

Barclay Theatre, honoring Dr. Michael McNalley, who helped start the

cardiology department at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach. McNalley, Joe’s

father, died a week after the group’s inaugural concert in January.

“The day he passed away, Joe and several of the people from the

Consort played music in his room,” Jan said. “It was beautiful.”

Joe, who now lives in Encinitas, grew up in Newport Beach. He started

playing the bass when he was 11 because “they had too many cello players

in the junior high orchestra.”

When he was 13, he started studying with Bert Toretzky in San Diego.

After graduating high school, Joe went to the New England Conservatory of

Music, but returned to San Diego after finding he did not like the pace.

While attending UC San Diego, he had the chance to play on one of

Hutchin’s octet instruments. The bass player was impressed by the sound

and decided to try and make his own. In researching what goes into making

a good instrument, he talked a friend into giving him Hutchins’ phone

number. She is well-known for her work on the tonal qualities of string

instruments.

They talked, hit it off and Hutchins let him know there was one octet

set left.

“Three months later, I was at her door in New Jersey picking it up and

flying back here with them,” Joe said.

Though I suspect it took more work than he tells, Joe said he simply

called the best professional players that he knew and asked if they would

be willing to play in a consort. To his surprise, they said yes.

Playing these instruments is not the same as playing a standard

violin, viola, cello or bass.

“They had to teach themselves new instruments,” Joe said of the

Consort.

For one thing, the scaling of the violins is different. As is the size

of the instruments. The treble violin is so small that the hands of its

player nearly dwarf it.

“He and I have exact opposite problems,” Joe said.

Joe, the group’s artistic director, plays the contrabass violin. The

largest of the eight instruments, it is about a foot taller than a bass

and has shoulders built like a violin.

“All of the hand positions have to be reworked,” he said.

The arrangements are also different, Joe said. You can’t carry a

standard string arrangement over because these are not standard

instruments. Everything has to be rearranged.

Of course, some of what the group plays was never arranged for these

kinds of strings in the first place -- such as “Purple Haze,”

“Summertime” and the surf tunes.

“Luckily, we have players versatile enough to do that,” Joe said.

The Consort plays everything from jazz to baroque pieces. Among the

composers to be played Jan. 19 are Bartok, Dave Brubeck, Bach and George

Gershwin.

At the moment, only Joe is able to call the Consort his full-time job.

However, the players -- who are dedicated enough to rehearse together

twice a week despite the fact that some are in Orange County and others

in San Diego -- hope the Consort might find enough success to be a

full-time job for everyone.

In 2001, the group plans to work on a compact disc.

“If only you had gotten done in time for my Christmas shopping,”

lamented Sharon McNalley, Joe’s mom.

* * *

Do you know a local artist, writer, painter, singer, filmmaker, etc.,

who deserves to get noticed? Send your nominee to In The Wings, Daily

Pilot, 330 W. Bay St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627, by fax to (949) 646-4170 or

by e-mail to o7 jennifer.mahal@latimes.com.f7

* JENNIFER MAHAL is features editor of the Daily Pilot.

FYI

WHAT: The Hutchins Consort

WHEN: 8 p.m. Jan. 19

WHERE: Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive, Irvine

COST: $10-30

CALL: (949) 854-4646

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