Fleur Green

This is a record of my studies and travels from 2006.

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Igor Lesnik

Last night Mr Lesnik picked me up from my hotel and took me to his studio where we worked on midnight pieces. It was great to spend time with him! He is a lovley man. Vey perceptive, and open with his knowledge. We talked about the piece, his inspiration behind it, and after two hours we went to get a coffee and talked about music for another hour and a half. He is a relaxed and kind man with a lot of wise philosophies. We have another lesson tonight, and this one will be devoted to improvising.

Saturday, July 22, 2006

MARIMBA FESTIVAL

Tonight was the grand final and what a fabulous concert. The 5 finalists were deserving artists. I am pleased to say that Ji Hye Jung was the winner of the Linz Marimba Festival. She is a true artist. Her playing is absolutely superb. I've never heard anything like this before. Now I feel like I'm at the kid's table at Christmas dinner. But it's a good feeling. The jury gave a fair and wonderful decision.

I'm so excited to study with Bob. I feel like a piece of clay, and I'm quite happy to just dump myself in his hands and say "make me into something nice". I trust him completely!

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Final Round Verdict

Unfortunately, I didn't get through to the final round. I'm feeling a little upset, but in general happy to be here and to have made it to round 2. Next time! I'll just continue working and enjoy the great music. The final round will be very exciting and fun. Tomorrow night. For now, Im going to relax and wait for the jury concert tomorrow night.

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Round 2

Phew. Just played. Very tired. Not a complete disaster, but I faked a lot of the set piece. SO DIFFICULT. A good piano piece, but just so difficult on the marimba. Bach and Miki were satisfactory, but I think I needed harder mallets in the hall for Bach.... OH WELL! It's finished, I'm relaxed, and not completely embarassed, though I know I have a lot of work to do on this literature. I'm taking the afternoon off. Tomorrow there is another batch of 2nd Rounders, and the results are announced tomorrow evening. I don't think I'll be so lucky this time. The players are excellent. GOOD FUN.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Round 2

The Jury just read out the names for the next round. 32 maxium names were allowed, and they cut it down to 24 for round 2. I am one of the lucky ones. I am just going to focus, and appreciate that I got this far. There are some superbly gifted players here, and I am priveleged to be among them! I play for round 2 tomorrow. Of course, I'm just going to do my best, and be glad that I made it this far. Mini Marimba Mozart got through too.

Monday, July 17, 2006

Magic Marimbists

Today I saw some SPECTACULAR performances. The most amazing was a 12 year old boy called Richard Putz from Germany. This kid is like the Mozart of the marimba world. He played Variations on Japanese Children's song - Keiko Abe, and Hurricane's eye - Leander Kaiser. Both were magnificent. He stands on a box, and plays with strength and musicality like I've never seen. It was truly remarkable. Perfect performance! All the marimba contestants were thoroughly amazed. And he is the most gorgeous little boy too! He has a little sister who he was throwing in the air and kissing just before he performed. So Sweet.

I also spent some time with two of Professor Van Sice's students who are lovely and charming, and will be my new percussion family. I am looking forward to Peabody more and more. Can't wait for tomorrow. We find out who progressed to round two. There are so many phenomenal players here, I think it will be very difficult for the the jury to decide.

Sunday, July 16, 2006

Linz International Marimba Festival

After a HIDEOUS flight from Adelaide to Sydney, Sydney to Tokyo, Tokyo to Moscow, Moscow to Vienna, a train from Vienna to Linz, not forgetting 9 hours in Transit, I'm safe in Linz, Austria. (Insert scream here.) Now, the marimba festival has begun! Linz is a beautiful city. Small, but just lovely. It's surrounded by mountains, and every day I walk over the River Danube to get to The Anton Bruckner Private University where the Marimba Festival is held.

Saturday was registration day, so I did 2 hours practice (that's all I was allowed because of the 100 entrants!), and I met some other participants. So far I have met LOTS of Japanese and Taiwanese players, who make up the majority of the attendants. I have also met some lovely people from the U.S, Colombia, Italy, The Netherlands, and Switzerland. How wonderful to meet my peers from all over the world! I was delighted to see Professor Van Sice. We had an illegal 5 minute conversation, just to catch up. (The jury and the entrants are forbidden to talk to one another, but it isn't a very well policed rule....) Besides which, we weren't discussing a strategy for the competition, it was just great to see him in person again, and tell him how much I was looking forward to studying with him in Baltimore.

So, I have already felt priveleged. The jury are remarkable players, and a great honour to know I will be meeting them after the competition. The Jury President is Reinhart Von Gutzeit - from Austria, and the Director of the Anton Bruckner Private University. He is the "non-marimbist" of the panel. The rest, are the world's best marimbists. Bogdan Bacanu, Katarzyna Mycka, Peter Sadlo, Momoko Kamiya, Robert Van Sice, Emmanuel Sejourne, and Gordon Stout. I've also met the maker of the wonderful ABC Mallets, Mr Cernocky who is delightful, and the man behind 'marimba one', Ron Samuels. It's great to be here in amongst so much talent and artistry, and across such different fields.... Established Performers, Marimba makers, Mallet makers, and the next generation of percussionists...

Now, the playing. Today I played at 12:00 for the 1st round of the marimba festival. Things went fairly smoothly. I had a rough spot in Wind in the Bamboo Grove towards the end, but recovered, and Ilijas was fairly smooth. I think it was well received. There are some MAGNIFICENT players here though, so maybe I won't go through to the next round. We find out on Tuesday. If I am successful to the second round, I will be thrilled, but this will be a real challenge. I feel very nervous about the set piece... It just struck me that this is my first international competition, and a really great experience.

Tomorrow, I will go and listen to 50 entrants... and maybe 40 different versions of Ilijas. It is very tiring listening to one after the other, I honestly don't know how the judges are coping.

Monday, July 10, 2006

Europe...

So... I've spent the last few weeks in Australia. It's been great to catch up with everyone and say my proper goodbyes. Tomorrow I leave for Europe, and then It's straight to America...
I know as soon as I'm in the plane I'll be relaxed, but for now, that's not quite the case.
Nevermind. Europe has a lot to offer me. The festival in Linz, lessons in Croatia and hopefully Strasborg, and meeting my brother in London.
Adventures.... :)