Festival Reflections Part 2

Day 2, Tuesday, of festival week was dedicated creating The Arctic Connection collaboration. After Anders and Morris spoke at PASIC we all decided that having two groups living in similar climates and dedicated to new repertoire was too ironic to not be exploited. The opening concert for our festival was the first meeting of the two groups, and we all crossed our fingers that the idea would come to fruition with ease! 

Welcome to Piteå, 64.8!

Jake, Charles, and I decided that we would premiere our new compositions on this concert. Throughout the festival planning process, we had been composing for the group and treating rehearsals like workshops. We had recorded the pieces with Anders and Evaristo Aguilar a few weeks prior to the concert, and even since then the pieces had undergone many edits and revisions. We were very proud to present our music, which added another level of intensity in the situation: premiering our group, our festival, our collaboration, and our music! 

EE rehearsing, trying to block all of the other stressors from our minds and focus on playing! 

Along with Ensemble 64.8, we performed Terry Riley's In C, and added everyone on Jake's piece called Birdo (which was the perfect high-energy closer!) We also premiered a piece by a composer that just graduated from Piteå, and played a Tobias Broström piece to represent a well-known Swedish figure. Ensemble 64.8 performed contemporary works by John Luther Adams, Bruce Mather, and Timothy Constable. Together, the concert was a perfect representation of how diverse our field can be! 

Ensemble 64.8, getting used to the instruments and the space. Luckily, we have great equipment and the Acusticum is an amazing concert hall! 

We had Tuesday and Wednesday morning to rehearse together and separately. Anders arrived on Tuesday evening and coached us. I felt really great after our rehearsals together. It was obvious that Charles, Jake and I had really grown since the recording we had done earlier. To see Anders proud really got me excited about the experience. 

Luckily, we bonded very quickly with the other group! Fiona and I are long lost personality twins! It was great to work with such amazing musicians and people! 

I was 200% "on" preparing for the concert on Wednesday. To me, it was a defining moment in my career. Could I handle so many elements at once, and still perform to my potential? All of the stressors were self induced, but that's normal for me. I just wanted everything to go well! There were a ton of last minute details to worry about before the concert...and I think I sat down during our lovely dinner (sponsored by the Kommun at the restaurant in the concert hall building) for about 25 minutes. The 2 bites I had of the food was delicious! We had a lot of people to thank at that dinner, and it was a lovely way to initiate the festival. My mind was always about 5-30 minutes ahead of what was actually going on, though! 

We began the concert with by playing a recording of John Luther Adam's In White Silence in the lobby before the audience was let into the concert hall. 

It's a beautiful space! 

Photo: Anna Åström

As the audience entered the hall, we provided an etherial sound scape from the balcony 

Photo: Anna Åström

One by one, we left the balcony and entered the stage to begin In C.

Photo: Anna Åström

Ensemble Evolution premiering Björn Sikström's piece Blocks and Bells

We were so happy to perform a piece by a young composer. We are very passionate about working with composers and highlighting our generation! 

Photo: Anna Åström

Premiering Charles' piece Travel! 

Photo: Anna Åström

Ensemble 64.8's performances were excellent! 

Photo: Anna Åström

At the end of this concert, I had a great feeling, and was more at ease than the beginning of the week. Before our last piece, Anders had some closing remarks for the audience, and he said some wonderful things about the guys and me. Although I've done a lot of concerts while I've been in Sweden, this one was very special to me, and in my opinion, the perfect way to begin the festival! 

Festival Reflections Part 1

It's hard to believe that the festival ended just one week ago. An event that consumed our lives for months is now just a small memory, and fleeting moment in this Swedish adventure! However, I can say with confidence, that our work and dedication to this project was worth it and the final product exceeded all of our expectations! The feedback we've received from the students and professionals in attendance is so motivating. Through this experience I've been truly touched musically, but also enlightened to a career path that I didn't know existed. 

If you would have asked me on Monday, March 14 how I was feeling, if would have been a combination of excitement and nerves. Charles, Jake and I decided to put 100% into organizing this festival after a few conversations with Anders in the fall. Anders' idea was to host an international festival in Piteå and give us the artistic direction. Anders met Morris Palter at PASIC in November, and decided that we should invite him and his graduate ensemble, Ensemble 64.8 to Piteå. Once that decision was made, Charles, Jake and I hit the ground running.

Planning a festival in just a few months is a complicated process. Where to begin? We knew that Morris' group from Alaska was confirmed, but other than that we could create anything that we wanted to imagine. So, our mission became to create a venue in which percussionists, regardless of status (student, teacher, professional) could present and perform works and projects that are creative and unique. 

To get people interested, I wrote tons of emails. TONS. I networked as much as I could through Anders, Johan Svitzer (of the publishing company and advocate, EditionSvitzer), and within my own contacts. At first,  I did not get tons of replies. It's hard to convince people that a unknown group in Northern Sweden could organize an event! However, by the end of January, we had a great list of attendees and presenters. Phew! 

During these months, I was also responsible for the practicality of the festival...meaning, the MONEY! Our percussion department (which consists of the three of us and Daniel Saur) had a budget, but not nearly enough. We spent a lot of time approaching the school administration, school organizations, and local businesses trying to get support. We were extremely excited to be supported by the Piteå Kommun which covered some meals and transportation for the guests, as well as a company called Centrek, that supports entrepreneurship. We arranged to do everything on a scale that would not require huge amounts of money, but made sure that everything was covered. We aren't sponsored by any percussion companies yet, so felt strongly about doing this "on our own", I am amazed at what we accomplished with what we had...no one at the festival could believe it! 

The Kommun donated these great bags and a few goodies! We also had a fabulous media team that helped us create great posters and these programs filled with the schedule, everyone's biography and other important information. I am so happy with how professional everything looked.

Alright, so we've got the guests and the budget support, now we need to organize the schedule, press, transportation, rehearsals, publicity, equipment, technical support, and keep our sanity. Easy :) 

Again, it's now Monday, and all of these aspects had theoretically been covered, and we were waiting for the group from Alaska to arrive. The day was spent collecting instruments from nearby schools (where we experienced Jake driving a stick for the first time! Group bonding at it's best...hoping not to die!), printing badges and programs, stuffing the bags, and preparing all of the rooms. We created an intense rehearse schedule the week before knowing that we would be so consumed with the administrative tasks we wouldn't have time to play everyday. I'm really glad we pushed ourselves so much! At this point, all I could think about was what I was forgetting!

We greeted our Arctic friends that evening, showed them around the school and headed out for dinner. None of us had met before (aside from some Skype conversations with Morris), so I put my "social butterfly" hat on and tried to get to know everyone personally in hopes that we would all musically mesh for the concert on Wednesday! 

The "first day" of the festival had gone well...no catastrophes...the group traveling the farthest had arrived and it was time to try to sleep...

Found (Hittade)

Last Monday we spent the whole day in the Black Box theatre recording a video of my piece Hittade. We had a great sound technician and lighting designer (shout out to Jakob and Linda!), and did all of the video taping ourselves. We had such a good time!! I am so happy with the way the video turned out, and I have to admit, I had a really proud that I made it myself! I hope it helps get my music out there, get the Ensemble Evolution name out there, as well as Edition Svitzer. Here are a few photos, and the video! I hope you enjoy! 

It was fun to re-memorize a piece that means a lot to me! 

 I was so happy with the way the stage looked

Getting a feel for the space

Chrissy, Jake and Charles! they played SOOOOOO great! 

I really owe Jakob and Linda, they made us sound and look fab! 

It's also at EditionSvitzer's website!

In other news...Arvid is working on a new website for me! yay! I'm excited to get a little internet image face-lift, and have some media on the site that works. Jake and I have started a duo and will launch a big project this week (isn't the suspense killing you!?) Ensemble Evolution will be in the recording studio with Anders and Evaristo on Thursday, and, oh yeah...there's that big festival we're doing in March! yikes! so many exciting musical things happening right now! 

Festival!

So much is happening right now! I want to write about my Swedish Christmas, New Years, my new Italian percussion student, Ensemble Evolution's plans, my new duo with Jake, plans for the summer (HOME!!), but right now tons of my energy is being put into our Percussion Repertoire Festival that's happening in March! 


Logistics wise, things are going really well with the festival. We have a list of great confirmed guest artists and students, and anticipate a lot of attendees from the community. Today we met with a great team of media students that will make the concert posters, festival booklet, badges, etc...Arvid made the poster ad that's above, but we can't ask him to do everything! We are still working out some of the technical assistance that will be needed, along with some additional community sponsors, but I think we're in a really good place! 


Here is more info about the festival:

The Piteå Percussion Repertoire Festival was conceived by world-renowned percussionist Anders Åstrand and will be administered by Ensemble Evolution. It will be hosted at the Piteå Institution for Music and Media and Studio Acusticum

With this festival we will

-       unite creative musicians

-       share ideas for composition, performance and artistic expression

-       cross cultural boundaries

-       meet new and like-minded colleagues

-       enjoy our art and build relationships

The festival will include workshops, performances and educational sessions throughout each day by Anders Åstrand (Stockholm, Sweden), Maria Finkelmeier (Ohio, USA), Charles Martin (Canberra, Australia), Jacob Remington (Texas, USA), and select participants from around the world. Along with these interactive sessions, the schedule will include four high-energy evening concerts. Musicians, students and educators will be invited to attend the sessions and all concerts will be open to the public (at cost). Musichögskolan students can attend the sessions free of charge with an ID.

As of January 25, 2011 the list of performers and participants includes:

-       Morris Palter and Ensemble 64.8 from Fairbanks, Alaska, USA

-       Daniel Berg from Götenberg, Sweden

-       Harri Lehtinen from Tampere, Finland

-       Toni Hietala from Pori, Finland

-       Johan Svitzer from Copenhagen, Denmark

-       Daniel Saur from Piteå, Sweden

-       Chi-Hsia Lai from Taichung, Taiwan

-       Casey Cangelosi from West Virginia, USA

Subjects that will be covered by these individuals range from:

•        How to interpret and rediscover traditional percussion works
•        Percussion music and chamber music in a contemporary setting
•        Higher education: A discussion of curriculum, perspective and advancement.
•        The role of a publishing house in a performer’s career
•        Multi-Media performance techniques
•        Composition for percussion instruments
•        Improvisation and creating your own musical voice

Evening Concert Schedule

Wednesday, March 16: The Arctic Connection

Ensemble Evolution and Ensemble 64.8 (from Fairbanks, Alaska) welcome guests to Piteå to kickoff an exciting festival of percussive sounds!

Thursday, March 17: Sweden’s “Slagverk” Showcase 

Anders Åstrand, Rolf Landberg and Daniel Saur (Global Percussion Network) meet Daniel Berg and Fredrik Duvling (Rhythm Art Duo) for an evening showcase’s Swedish most exciting percussion stars!

Friday, March 18: International Soloists take the Stage 

Witness how captivating one musician can be as diverse percussion music is performed by personalities from around the world.

           

Saturday, March 19: Smorgasbord of International Percussionists 

                     The closing concert of the Piteå Percussion Repertoire Festival will

feature the festival participants after 4 days of enlightenment and inspiration.  

Published!

I am really excited to announce that my first piece has been published! I met Johan Svitzer a few years ago when I bought some of his music at PASIC. We've kept in touch since then, especially since I moved to Sweden (EditionSvitzer is a Danish publishing company). I sent him a recording of the piece Hittade, and he agreed to work with me! We've been editing it for a bit, and the final product was released today! Now, we just need people to buy it! 

Check it out: 

http://editionsvitzer.com/archive_valgt.php?id_vaerk=121