Surviving the culture change (video) - Diane Ragsdale

In this time of cultural change (which is being accelerated by the economic uncertainty) many of the current arts institutions (yes, the "establishment") need some serious brainstorming in order to find ways to stay current.

There's an excellent video that I can recommend:


Diane Ragsdale on Surviving the Culture Change (Full Remarks) from Arts Alliance Illinois on Vimeo.
Video of Diane Ragsdale's keynote at the Arts Alliance Illinois 2010 Members' Meeting and Reception on June 21 at Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, Illinois. For more information, visit artsalliance.org/reception.

Review Palm Court Concert Cowichan Theatre, Duncan

The original can be found here: http://www.canada.com/Surprise+guest+livens+weekend+Palm+Court+show/3593788/story.html

Full text:

Surprise guest livens up weekend Palm Court Show
by Lexi Bainas

Alex Hassan, a last-minute replacement soloist, flown in from Washington, D.C., charmed the audience at the Palm Court Light Orchestra's season opening concert at the Cowichan Theatre Sunday, Sept. 26.

Conductor Charles Job explained that Frederick Hodges, the pianist who had created such a sensation when he performed with Palm Court in the Valley last year, had to cancel his appearance due to a family emergency.

Cue Hassan, one of Hodge's friends, and another fine performer who's enthusiastic about the music of the 1920s and 1930s, traveled for 14 hours to join the orchestra for a series of three shows this week in Victoria, Cowichan and Sidney.

Through his career, Hassan counts notable performances at the Smithsonian Institute and at a party for the Gershwin family at Manhattan's Players Club.

He's a regular performer at ragtime festivals around North America and is also a favourite in Germany and Britain.
Along with joining the orchestra on their selections, which included such Roaring Twenties faves as "Ain't She Sweet", "My Blue Heaven" and "Tip-Toe Through the Tulips," he also presented medlies plus novelty numbers such as "Sax-o-phun" with Erik Abbink, one of the orchestra's saxophone players.

Another top-class musician brought in for the Palm Court Orchestra's opening concert Sunday was banjo-whiz Afred "Borgy" Borgerson. Over 80, he is a stalwart with the internationally-acclaimed traditional jazz band, the Dixieland Express, but he has deep roots in the Cowichan Lake area and enjoys returning to the Valley.

[Flattr=28798]

Pre-Concert Sidney's Mary Winspear Centre, with pianist Alex Hassan

West Side Story: "Tonight" and "Something's Coming", by Leonard Bernstein (video)

I have added another video to my Vimeo video site, recorded at the September 1st concert at Music and Munch at the All Saints' Church by the Sea in Ganges on Salt Spring Island.


Duo Strand Abbink: West Side Story - Leonard Bernstein from Erik Abbink

Saxophone Lessons in Victoria B.C. - with teacher Erik Abbink

I'm getting ready for the new season and I have updated my lessons page, which you can view here:
Saxophone Lessons in Victoria B.C. - with teacher Erik Abbink

Capricorn's Revenge, by Alfredo Santa Ana (video)

I have added an new video to my Vimeo video site, recorded at the September 1st concert at Music and Munch at the All Saints' Church by the Sea in Ganges on Salt Spring Island.




Duo Erik Abbink & Nola Strand: Capricorn's Revenge, by Alfredo Santa Ana from Erik Abbink

Capricorn's Revenge (2004) - Alfredo Santa Ana (b. 1980)

Tin Roof Blues, New Orleans Rhythm Kings, for alto saxophone and piano

I have added a new video to my Vimeo video site:



Erik Abbink: Tin Roof Blues, by the New York Rhythm Kings from Erik Abbink

Sax-O-Phun - Rudy Wiedoeft by Erik Abbink (saxophone) and Nola Strand (piano)

I have added a new video shot at one of my rehearsals:


Erik Abbink: Sax-O-Phun, by Rudy Wiedoeft

Enjoy!

Flashback: Glenn Gould Doc now online (dutch subtitles)

One hour documentary on the timeless artistry of pianist Glenn Gould. Dutch subtitles.

The closing gap of cultural advancement between rural and urban audiences

There's one (important) factor I forgot to mention in my ad lib 20th century technology list ("gramophone, radio, TV, Internet") of my "new sense of programming" post. It's a less obvious one, but not less important: the ease of travel has changed tremendously.

The invention of 19th century steam trains, steam ships, streetcars/trams, and 20th century automobile and air travel has not only made it easier for (rural) audiences to travel to concerts in the city, it also has made it easier for musicians to tour and perform in more remote locations.

And traveling they did, to communities large and small. Sousa's Band was one of the first large international groups to hit Victoria (in 1892, then a community of about 20.000 people: http://www.britishcolonist.ca/tc/1896/02/04/18960204005.pdf#search=sousas%20%20 - second story from the bottom left), taking advantage of railway and steamship travel.

My wife's grandfather, who's 92, explained to me fairly recently how much the ease of travel has made an impact on day to day life. People living about 20 km outside the city of Victoria didn't travel as easily to the city as we do today: for the majority of people (without a car) such distances were simply too far. Imagine having to do all the effort of having to bike, or go old-style and take a horse and buggy to visit a concert downtown! (only by 1910 were horse and buggy/carriage outnumbered by cars).So question yourself, if travel hadn't changed how large would your audience then be today?

For a long time "city concerts" were visited mostly by those living in the direct vicinity of the venue. Only very few outside the city would have the time, the funds, and were able to muster the effort to travel "long distances"; how much things have changed in a single lifetime.

Scarlatti Sonata K30 by Domenico Scarlatti - Vis-à-Vis Saxophone Quartet

I have added a new video from our June 5 Concert to Vimeo, namely the Scarlatti Sonata K30 (Cat Fugue) by Domenico Scarlatti


Vis-à-Vis Quartet: Sonata K30, D. Scarlatti.

or view it here

Flashback: 2009 Aurelia Saxophone Quartet with Trombones at the Concert Gebouw Amsterdam (video)

Talk about extraordinary projects; Aurelia Saxophone Quartet and the New Trombone Collective. Work by Daniel Schnyder - Cubach (Bach in Cuba)

The performance of this work starts at 41:50, and after a 15 second advert you can't bypasss :(

Worth the trouble though :)

On a new sense of programming (part 1)

It's one of those things you don't get proper training in when going through a Conservatory or University education: concert programming.
To be frank, it has been a while since I did any research on this topic, but a few concepts immediately pop up in my mind.

A program with a theme. Having a theme is a great way to unify a program. This can be an obvious theme (e.g. a collection of Bach suites) or a more adventurous one (e.g. music inspired by "fire", "wind", "London", "1849", and so on).

Another important concept in programming is that of sandwiching "high brow" (read: harder or less accessible works) with "medium or low brow" (read: works enjoyable by general public, e.g. those without a special interest in art music). Although nowadays many critics have criticized this technique as "forcing" less likable works onto an audience, I still believe it has a place in the overall programming process (more to follow on this in a follow up post).

Now I need to come back on what I said earlier, because I did run into a programming "question" once (once only, yes) during my UBC D.M.A. program, when preparing for my final saxophone comprehensive exam (before entering candidacy). The question went something like this:

Prepare two programs; one for a recital in New York Carnegie Hall, and one for a small local chamber music series in Kamloops (B.C.).

Now, the question itself suggests that I should have come up with two different programs, right? Many musicians would support the idea that, because the New York audience is going to be more culturally advanced than the Kelowna audience, one will need to compromise the Kelowna concert with a more suitable, "audience friendly" (whatever that means) program. Right?

I beg to differ, and here's why.

I don't think the New York audience is going to be significantly more advanced than a rural audience. Agreed, urban centres are generally more exposed to cultural activities (think concerts) than rural communities, but times have changed the rural disadvantage, substantially.

During the 19th century Canadian rural communities did of course have a considerable disadvantage compared to urban cities. This difference in cultural savviness was greatly diminished through the advent of gramophone (1900s), radio (1920s), and television (1940s).

Throughout the last century anyone with an interest in serious, non-commercial (read: "classical") music has been able to educate themselves by using the earlier mentioned technologies. And things got even better: most rural communities have now access to high speed internet, making the cultural divide even smaller. And the internet has more to offer than even the biggest city ever will, ranging from downloadable mp3s, to YouTube/Vimeo communities, streaming webcasts, and access to speciality "classical" radio (and podcasts) from around the globe.

Think about that, the next time you program for a rural community. And do some effort (schmooze) to get feedback on your new sense of programming. I can assure you that you will be surprised on the savviness of your audience; I have been, many times ;)

To be continued...

Getting ready for tomorrow's saxophone quartet performance

All of the members of the Vis a Vis Quartet are getting pretty excited about tomorrow's saxophone quartet concert. We did an early dress rehearsal on Tuesday, and will hit the stage "for real" at 8pm tomorrow (Saturday).



It was great to see a nice article about our quartet and our upcoming performance in the Oak Bay News:
http://www.bclocalnews.com/vancouver_island_south/oakbaynews/entertainment/95350914.html

Further details about the concert can be found here:
http://www.saxophonequartet.ca/concerts/2010-06-05-uvic-recital.php

I hope to see you all at Uvic's P.T. Young's recital hall, admission by donation!

Early "Saxaphone Quartette" in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

It has been quite interesting doing my research on early saxophone playing in British Columbia. The earliest record about early local saxophone quartet efforts (that I was able to track down) is from March 8th, 1885, found in the Victoria Colonist under the heading "What Some People Say":

I'm quite curious why this sort of an announcement would have been printed; perhaps there was an anticipation that an ensemble of saxophones had the potential to be long-lasting? Or was it the novelty aspect, the mere fact that this was going to be the "very first" saxophone quartet ever in this city to be formed, that sparked the paper's interest?

The next time the ensemble is mentioned in Victoria newspapers is almost 9 months later.  A benefit concert was going to be held on December 26th at the then brand new Victoria Theatre, in support of a "breadwinner" who, while at work at the building, "broke his leg".

The event was also formally announced in the Victoria Colonist (25 November 1885):

Several (paid?) advertisements announce (amongst others) the upcoming first appearance of the "Saxaphone Quartette". Note the date change to the week before Christmas, December 16, 1885:

Reviews appeared in both of Victoria's newspapers:

Here is the Victoria Colonist concert review, December 17, 1885:

Victoria Times review, December 17, 1885:

[...] The Saxaphone Quartette by Messrs. Herbert Kent, A. Weiss, E. [Teall], and Prof. Pferdner received a merited enchore. [...] Another saxaphone quartette was given acceptably [...]

There is quite some information available about the performers. These were Emile Pferdner (well known vocal conductor), Herbert Kent (well known local singer and vocal conductor, also played flute in many of the earliest bands in Victoria), Mr. Teall (clarinet and saxophone player, in Victoria between 1885-87), and E. Weiss (no more details).

It's great to get so much detail about the event, although one is left with many questions too, especially:
- how did this group obtain these saxophones, and why?
- what saxophone quartet works were on the program?

Interestingly enough the two reviews were also the last thing we heard about this group. Did they have difficulty playing the (new?) instruments? Perhaps there wasn't the essential chemistry between the four players to make the ensemble "work"?

Who will know?

Understanding the Glazunov Saxophone Quartet

It has taken me quite the time to grasp the essence of the Glazunov Saxophone Quartet, and although each time I get to work on it I feel I'm getting closer to it I also think there's more to be learned.

One of the main hurdles is the sheer length of the piece. For a string quartet a length of 20-30 minutes is perhaps a pretty average length, but for saxophone quartets (or any other small wind ensemble)- who are constantly challenged to synchronize their breathing with the phrasing of their musical lines - this becomes a serious matter of endurance. And the fact that Glazunov uses such a dense way of writing (much like he does in his string quartets) doesn't help much either.

But there are other "problems" too. A major one (although easy to fix) is the poor quality of the individual parts, and I therefore want to warn anyone who is planning to work on this quartet to do "first things first": make sure to add the many missing dynamics, articulations, accidentals etc. from the main score to the individual parts. This will clear up much confusion and speed up your rehearsals substantially.

There are several recordings that have really helped me understand this work better. Here are three that I can recommend:

- Habanera Quartet (France, 2004)
- Aurelia Quartet (Netherlands)
- Rascher Quartet (USA)

That's it for now, but there are likely more discoveries to be made as we get closer to our Vis-a-Vis June 5th performance at Uvic, Victoria.

Paying a visit to Robert Dale McIntosh

While doing my research, one name kept showing up: Robert Dale McIntosh - it was time to pay him a visit. I called him up and made an appointment for last Friday afternoon.

After a warm welcome, introducing ourselves and giving him a broad idea about my topic, I started asking away a ton of questions.

A few things about our conversation stand out:
- what a rich history Victoria has, mostly because of the (well off) people that moved here, who had lots of leisure time to spend
- how important "names" (of people) are in doing this type of research
- the historical part of my research is going to be time consuming (I don't have a team of students helping me) so I better make sure other parts of my thesis are less time consuming (allocate resources efficiently)
- once one finds the "kernel" useful to my topic, then the work will flow forward by itself

The visit was close to an hour long, so a lot more was discussed. The next thing I will do, also a recommendation from Dale, is to visit the BC archives.

Monday will be my first chance to do that: I'm especially looking forward to the H. Kent fonds, perhaps the earliest saxophonist in town?

Tools of our Trade: my saxophone setup

Some people can get extremely fascinated by the tools of our trade. I'm actually not one of those people (at least not to the extreme) and my set-up has changed only marginally.

Nevertheless, for those that want to know what instruments, mouthpieces and reeds I'm playing on, here is my set-up:

Soprano: Yanagisawa S992 - 00236xxx

Mouthpiece: Selmer C* and D (mostly D)

Reeds: Vandoren Classic 3 - 3½

Alto: Buffet Crampon Prestige - 33xxxE

Mouthpiece: Vandoren A28, Selmer C** and D (mostly Vandoren A28)

Reeds: Vandoren Classic 3

Tenor: Selmer Series 3 – N. 603xxx

Mouthpiece: Selmer D, Vandoren TL3, and Meyer 5 (Meyer for Jazz Band; mostly Selmer D)

Reeds: Vandoren Classic 3½

Baritone: Selmer Series 2 – N. 545xxx

Mouthpiece: Vandoren B35 and Selmer C** and D (mostly Vandoren)

Reeds: Vandoren Classic 3 - 4

Please note:

Let's not forget what Paul Brodie had to say about the importance of having the right mouthpiece (85% of the sound) over having the right instrument, and invest in several extra mouthpieces to ensure you're working on the most efficient one.

Paul Brodie: 

The mouthpiece is 85 percent of what one will get out of the instrument. If one uses a cheap mouthpiece on a good instrument, one will diminish the potential of the instrument to produce a good sound.Therefore, even if one has a good student instrument and puts on a professional mouthpiece such as a Selmer square-chamber mouthpiece, a Couf, or a Vandoren, one will improve greatly the potential of the instrument. (Classical Sax: David W. Roe, "Classical Sax Conversation with Paul Brodie", Music Educators Journal, Vol. 70, No.7. (Mar., 1984), pp. 41-43.)

Concert qualicum beach

Pianist Julian Greenwood had great fun playing for the Qualicum Beach audience.

What was especially refreshing was their (audible) appreciationg for the contemporary works (especially Archer) on our program.

I'm looking forward to performing here again in the fall, this time with the Vis a Vis Saxophone Quartet.