Meet Tanya Tomkins | Tanya Tomkins- Artistic Director and cellist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tanya Tomkins and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tanya, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Classical music can be a perfectionistic and unforgiving place. When I was young I decided to leave the country and study in Holland where there was a lot more room for experimentation. The arts were heavily subsidized then and that changed the whole atmosphere of creativity. Failure didn’t necessarily equate with loss of work so there was more room for freedom of expression and I wanted to recreate that feeling in our music festival.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I started music, as many young musicians do, with a “stage mom”. There was a lot of pressure to succeed to make her look good. This is very common in Classical music where it’s often the parents who decide to get their kids music lessons. The motivations can be complicated. When I left the United States to continue studying the cello in Europe for 14 years, I left behind a whole set of values. I needed all those years to gain perspective on how I had been educated in the United States. It was a long process of “undoing” my education and releasing myself from some of the constraints of Classical music I had internalized. In Europe I discovered historical instruments. The early music movement in Holland grew out of a rebellion against the perfectionism that the Classical music recording industry helped establish throughout the music world. Playing a stringed instrument on gut strings instead of steel, for instance, adds an element of risk. There is a lot more variety of color, but there it also a lot more possibility of making mistakes. It’s just harder. But the music was composed that way all the way through 1940 or so, and the struggle is part of the music. Some of that has been lost by adapting instruments to a more modern set-up, including steel strings. When it is too easy, too pretty, too perfect, something gets lost. I am excited that together with co-founder and co-Director Eric Zivian, we could create a whole festival where experimentation is encouraged. The standard is very high- but we encourage our amazing, young players to take as many risks as possible and not play it safe. A lot of interesting results take place at the festival. As a player, I am also inspired to take more risks and be less afraid of judgement. I am still very much engaged in the “undoing” of my education. But I have brought the best part of what I learned in Europe back to California and it is thrilling to share it with emerging artists.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would take my visitor to Point Reyes. It is magical there and it frees the spirit to witness the incredible beauty at the ocean nearby. The whole Pacific Ocean is incredible, but this part of it is my favorite- with the ever-changing light, clouds and surrounding. We would go to Chimney Rock to look at the elephant seals. After that we would eat at the Station House (https://stationhousecafe.com), Wild West Ferments (https://www.wildwestferments.com), and then get coffee at Toby’s (https://www.tobyscoffee.com). I would take them to my amazing painter friend, Maria Bennett’s private studio. I can’t print her address here, but I can share her Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mariawbennettpainter/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Anner Bijslma (1934-2019), my cello teacher in Holland from 1984-1990 was a huge inspiration to me. he taught me that Classical music does not have to be didactic- that to be an artist you have to ultimately forget everything anyone ever taught you. The problem is- I can never (happily) forget everything he taught me about music and life. It stays with me every day.

Website: https://valleyofthemoonmusicfestival.org

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vmmfsonoma/, https://www.instagram.com/tanyabourree/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ValleyoftheMoonMusicFestival

Image Credits
Suzette Riddle, Margo Moritz, Golnaz Shahmirzadi