GeneralpauseGeneralpauseTravels of a young and aspiring orchestra conductor. Stories about concerts, rehearsals, competitions, master classes... Articles
Going to the Semi Finals
2007-11-20 21:10:00 An hour ago we heard the results of the first round of the Fitelberg conducting competition. I was among the 12 "lucky ones" (many times it really is about luck) who will continue in the competition. My turn will be tomorrow at 6 PM, so I will have a little more time to prepare... At the moment I cannot spend much time writing about the... Read Goin g to the Semi Finals
The Fitelberg Competition has Started
2007-11-17 16:28:00 Last night we had the opening ceremony and opening concert of the Fitelberg conducting competition here in Katowice. Due to some cancellations we are not 40 but 35 competitors. Now I can honestly say that I know more than half of the competitors! Unfortunately a couple of my friends also did not arrive... So, we listened to some welcoming words and... Read The Fitelberg Competition has Started More About: Berg
Off to another conducting competition
2007-11-14 11:51:00 Next time I will be writing from Katowice, Poland, where I will be taking part to the 8th Grzegorz Fitelberg International Conducting Competition . The repertoire for that one is really big but consists of good mainstream repertoire plus some interesting Polish works. One could tour the world for a year just by combining those pieces into different... Read Off to another conducting competition
New active musical blog by TWO conductors
2007-11-09 21:27:00 Earlier this week a new musical blog, Sticks and Drones, saw the daylight for the first time, and it is maintained by not only one, but TWO US-based orchestra conductors, Ron Spigelman and Bill Eddins. By the fifth day into its existence the blog has already six entries, all of them interesting! It seems that this one got a great start and I hope... Read New active musical blog by TWO conductors More About: Musical , Blog , Active
10 Reasons Why You Should Participate in Conducting Competitions
2007-10-28 19:13:00 We all know that music is not a sport, so why bother going to music competitions? They are unfair, there is always politics involved, the winners will be forgotten in a year, and so on and so on. There are countless excuses not to go, but after taking part to more than ten (!) competitions I figured out at least ten reasons why you should kick... Read 10 Reasons Why You Should Participate in Conducting Competitions
Book Review: Beyond the Baton (What Every Conductor Needs to Know) by Diane
2007-10-27 18:25:00 Here is the second part of my review of Diane Wittry's book Beyond the Baton (the first part can be found here). I will now lead you through the following three chapters, which in my opinion contain the most valuable part of the book: 4 - Artistic Leadership 5 - Artistic Programming 6 - The People Factor Maestro Thielemann, the last of the... Read Book Review : Beyond the Baton (What Every Conductor Needs to Know) by Diane Wittry (2/3)
A new blog about conducting
2007-10-23 21:51:00 My American colleague Amy Wilson has started a new blog called Conducting Orchestras. It is mainly aimed at students of conducting, so let's hope by time it will become a good resource. I will add it to my blogroll on the right. Don't forget to check Kenneth Woods' blog too - it is regularly updated and has a lot of interesting articles!... Read A new blog about conducting More About: Blog
Musician humor
2007-10-21 09:33:00 More funny band cartoons at: http://www.talesfrombandcamp.com/... Read Musician humor More About: Humor
News Update 3 - Söderblom to leave the Lappeenranta Orchestra
2007-10-15 22:57:00 It seems that the conductors are having a busy autumn here in Finland! Today's news tells that Jan Söderblom, who has led the Lappeenranta Orchestra since 2000, is resigning as a protest to the lack of interest from the governors of the city towards their orchestra! The orchestra, which is only 21 members strong, needs first of all more string... Read News Update 3 - Söderblom to leave the Lappeenranta Orchestra More About: Leave
Preparing for the next competition...
2007-10-15 18:35:00 Conducting the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra Past couple of days I have spent preparing intensively for the next competition, which will be the Grzegorz Fitelberg competition in Poland. A great help again was my professor from the St Petersburg Conservatory, Leonid Korchmar, who came to Finland to instruct me and some other conducting students last... Read Prep aring for the next competition... More About: Competition
Book Review: Beyond the Baton (What Every Conductor Needs to Know) by Diane
2007-10-07 19:03:00 I promised to review this new and interesting book a long time ago, but only now I could find time to flip through it again. It is written by my American colleague Diane Witty, and it really made me understand better the way the American orchestras work. It has also a lot of commonsensical tips that are valid wherever you happen to be working, and... Read Book Review : Beyond the Baton (What Every Conductor Needs to Know) by Diane Wittry (1/3)
News Update 2 - FNO & Franck
2007-10-05 21:29:00 Today the Finnish National Opera opened its doors after a six-month renovation including enlargening the orchestra pit and installing new stage machinery. Because of all the speculations in the air, the journalists naturally had to ask the outgoing (!) chief conductor Mikko Franc k whether he intends to stay now that there is a new General Manager... Read News Update 2 - FNO & Franck
News Update - The Chamber Orchestra of Lapland
2007-10-04 13:00:00 The orchestra pictured here is NOT the Cham ber Orchestra of Lapland Today's orchestral newsflash was, that John Storgårds will stay in lead of the Chamber Orchestra of Lapland, in the condition that they will hire one additional musician per year until 2011 to make this very small but virtuosic ensemble more versatile. He stated, that the... Read News Update - The Chamber Orchestra of Lapland
Playing musical chairs in Finland
2007-10-02 15:37:00 The Nike "Musical Chairs " commercial In today's news we read that Leif Segerstam will become the "Chief Conductor Emeritus" of Helsinki Filharmonia and John Storgårds from Tampere Filharmonia will take up the post of the chief conductor next year. By following the news coming from the Finnish orchestral field past couple of... Read Playing musical chairs in Finland
Results of the Lovro von Matacic conducting competition
2007-09-30 11:09:00 First Prize - Jimmy Chiang, UK Second Prize - Eugene McDonough, USA Third Prize - Hikaru Ebihara, Japan... Read Result s of the Lovro von Matacic conducting competition More About: Competition
View from the concert hall...
2007-09-29 01:55:00 Today I unfortunately had to move to the concert hall to follow the competition, since I was not amongs the six lucky ones. I anyway had very interesting time watching everyone and taking notes at the same time. There were some surprises of course, so this competition seems to be like every other competition. The jury always makes some compromises,... Read View from the concert hall... More About: Concert , Hall , The Con , Cert
First round is over
2007-09-27 11:23:00 This morning I finally conducted my first round. I think the waiting is the worst thing in competitions, and this time I had to wait really long before I could conduct. And consequently, if I pass on to the second round there will be very little time to prepare... In the drawing I got Wagner "Rienzi" overture. Actually altogether six... Read First round is over More About: Round
Matacic competition in Zagreb started
2007-09-26 00:03:00 The Lovro von Matacic competition in Zagreb , Croatia, started today. I got a big number in the initial drawing so I did not conduct today. Also the participants are not allowed to see others conduct before they are done, so I don't have much to tell about the orchestra either. All the arrangements seem perfect, though. We are in a good hotel, all... Read Matacic competition in Zagreb started More About: Competition
Leif Segerstam's Sibelius cycle
2007-09-18 16:08:00 Leif Segerstam at work with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra A glimpse of Leif's score Jari and Huba getting instruction from Maestro Segerstam... Read Leif Segerstam's Sibelius cycle More About: Cycle
Orchestra conductors and eyesight
2007-09-08 21:11:00 Among musical professions conducting holds a special place for many reasons, and one of them is that the conductor must be talented not only musically, but also visually - he must be able to take in a huge amount of visual information and transmit it to the players via body language. There are several noted cases of musicians being able to perform... Read Orchestra conductors and eyesight
Leonid Korchmar master class, day 5/5
2007-08-30 22:55:00 The master class is finally over, and everything went perfectly! I have been resting for two days now after we finished everything, but still I am exhausted and overwhelmed by everything that happened during the past week. On the last day everyone was working as hard as ever, and because of my coming competition in Zagreb I even had to... Read Leon id Korchmar master class, day 5/5 More About: Master , Class , Mast , Leoni
Leonid Korchmar master class, day 4/5
2007-08-27 23:20:00 Today I had invited a singer to my master class session, to try out the Leon ore's aria from Fidelio. The session was very helpful, and at the same time proved me how very difficult it is to be a good accompanist! You have to be aware of the singer's breathing all the time, never unnecessarily hurry her or hold her back, be always relaxed yourself... Read Leoni d Korchmar master class, day 4/5 More About: Master , Class , Mast
Leonid Korchmar master class, day 3/5
2007-08-26 22:21:00 Today I realized that making a master class is work! Yes, I used to think that the persons who are just hanging around master classes as a some kind of a "secretary" are there really for no reason. Today I understood that, really, there has to be some person who is ready to answer all questions, organize schedule changes, take care of... Read Leon id Korchmar master class, day 3/5 More About: Master , Class , Mast , Leoni
Leonid Korchmar master class, day 2/5
2007-08-25 20:07:00 Our faculty: Professor Korchmar in the middle, between our course pianists Taru and Jari Petri getting "hands-on" instruction Professor and Heikki: "Relax your hand, keep on moving..." "Give a cue with your eyebrows only..." Discussing Beethoven's second symphony with Anna... Read Leon id Korchmar master class, day 2/5 More About: Master , Class , Mast , Leoni
Leonid Korchmar master class, day 1/5
2007-08-24 22:56:00 The first master class day is over, and I am really happy and relieved that everything went well. After all this is the first time I am organizing a master class! Our teacher, professor Leon id Korchmar, was in a very good teaching mood and all the students definitely got a lot to think after their first lessons. This course is not with an... Read Leoni d Korchmar master class, day 1/5 More About: Master , Class , Mast
Master class of Leonid Korchmar - an introduction
2007-08-22 08:33:00 Tomorrow my old teacher from St Petersburg Conservatory, Leon id Korchmar will arrive to Finland to teach on a master class organized by me. I have been toying with this idea ever since I moved back to Finland from St Petersburg, but only now I had enough contacts, enough free time and enough willpover to push through with this project. I have... Read Mast er class of Leonid Korchmar - an introduction More About: Introduction , Class
10 Years of La Tempesta - Congratulations!
2007-08-11 17:14:00 Last night I attended the 10-year anniversary concert of La Tempest a chamber orchestra. I had the good fortune to conduct them twice last year, but this time I could just relax and enjoy the performance from the hall. This orchestra is the brainchild of violinist Janne Tateno, with whom I studied at the same time in the Helsinki Conservatory, and... Read 10 Year s of La Tempesta - Congratulations ! More About: Ears
Hausmusikwoche in Järvenpää 30.7.-5.8.
2007-08-06 14:36:00 Past seven days I have spent in Järvenpää, a small town in southern Finland where our most famous composer Jean Sibelius lived. I took part as a teacher to a very popular family music camp, "Kotimusiikkiviikko" (Hausmusikwoche in original German), which has been around for more than 50 years already. The idea of the camp came from... Read Hausmusikwoche in Järvenpää 30.7.-5.8.
Book Review: The Dewey Decimal System of Love by Josephine Carr
2007-07-26 18:42:00 How I ran into this book is a story in itself: I was making a web search of Finnish conductors, when my eye caught the phrase "Finnish conductor Aleksi Kullio". I was shocked to know that there is a Finnish professional conductor around whose name I don't know, and especially with such a funny last name! I of course had to follow the... Read Book Review : The Dewey Decimal System of Love by Josephine Carr
Conducting Basics by Yuri Simonov
More articles from this author:2007-07-20 11:39:00 Amongs many other good things, we received on the Yuri Simon ov master class a memo of some very basic things you should/should not do while conducting. He wrote it originally in Russian, so this new translation hopefully is a little bit more accurate on some points than the one we got on the master class. It would be wonderful to get some comments... Read Conducting Basics by Yuri Simonov 1, 2, 3 |
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