Here’s what we remember about our  (now) departed students of 2011:

Isabel Hede her fabulous hair, big smile and unmatchable energy.
Alexandra Isted whose zest for life, ice-cream and a good laugh will always be remembered.
Simone Linley-Slattery for being the face on the banner in ANAM’s foyer and her amazing ability to look like an angel when she plays the violin.
Lachlan O’Donnell for being one of the busiest (touring, performing, soloing… just to name a few).
Matthew Rigby and his absolute love, passion and commitment toWednesday afternoon teas.
Kate Sullivan for just being the sweetest.
Lucy Warren  if there was laughter, Lucy was the source!
Benjamin Caddy the quiet, the unassuming and the cheeky.
Douglas Coghill for being the most lovely, friendly and kind person.
Laura Curotta the matriarch of the viola section.
Sariah Xu for being just being really lovely!
Chris Howlett for being the face (or should we say behind) of ANAM’s 2011 brochure.
Sarah Kim only with us for 6 months, now spends her days eating pretzels in Germany.
Anna Orzech for having the best earring collection we have ever seen!
Doug Rutherford for being the patriarch of the double bass section.
Belinda McGlynn gentle, unassuming and capable.
Taryn Richards for being one of the busiest flute players, ever!
Thomas Hutchinson Winning ANAM’s Concerto Competition (also one of the busiest oboists at ANAM).
Rachel Cashmore for being so wonderful, lovely and happy.
Liam Kinson who could forget that lion’s mane of hair!
Alexander Vetter for conquering illness after illness and still being a bassoon hero.
Chloe Turner another six month-er, she now spends her time with the Hong Kong Philharmonic.
Sharn McIver for proving that ‘Love Never Dies’ after performing over one hundred and something performances of the famous musical.
Andrew Young for being an all round-round french horn superstar!

The Recital

The recital. The big event of the ANAM year for each and every student. Each student is required to present a 50min public recital which makes up part of the ongoing measure of progress. We have free reign over the programme – it is completely free choice. At university, one usually tries to pick a programme that best demonstrates capacity to cross a range of styles and technical demands. While that is nice and all, we are at liberty to pick a programme here that may have thematic links, may include ensemble pieces, and/or just be stuff that we’d like to play. Such freedom! (With great freedom comes great difficulty in decision-making.) The recital is presented to the public (so it means the usual enthusiastic crowd, and as many friends and family you can muster together) and there is a panel consisting of your teacher (or other instrument specialist) and another who sits on all the recitals for this year (this year it is the flute teacher). We don’t receive grades or numbers as such, but we do get comments, and a indication along a scale from Not Satisfactory – Exceptional. It is nice in many ways to not have any grades, as we are not studying for any degrees or qualifications, but instead are setting particular goals about artistic achievements and are refining our craft by doing and getting practice at doing.

So even though I had this amazing breadth of choice about what I wanted to play, I somehow ended up with a full 50min recital of solo repertoire. Don’t ask me how it happened – it just kinda did and look, I found myself with no ensembles in my recital! I suppose that meant that I could prepare at exactly my own pace. The programme was as such:

Bach: Four Duets BWV 802-805
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 17 in d minor Op. 31 No. 2 ‘Tempest’  
Rachmaninoff: Variations on a Theme of Corelli

I only realised much later after I had decided on my programme that the key structure was quite extraordinary and the progression of pieces was really organic. The four duets progress as such: E minor, F Major, G Major, A minor. The Beethoven is in D minor, but opens with an A Major chord in 1st inversion. The piece ends quietly with a D minor arpeggio downwards. The Rachmaninoff opens with the La Folia theme in a plaintive way in D minor. It was extraordinary and totally unplanned!

I had done several runs of my programme for various very kind and willing friends. However much one prepares for things like this, I think I am still at that point where there are still some things that you can never anticipate, or plan for, or that you will react in very different ways than anticipated, or that you might never feel 100% ready. My mum had flown in that weekend just to see my recital (and okay, I suppose, hang out a bit with me, which we did) and several friends had told me that they would be coming to my recital. I supposed that I had better practice if all these people were coming to see me play!

One of the biggest things I had anticipated but didn’t realise the extent was just how exhausting it would be to play an hour’s worth of recital. I knew it was tiring – it is a big programme and it is all very intense music requiring much concentration, particularly if some of it was from memory! Adrenalin obviously kicks in, but one usually can’t practice the adrenalin, only ever anticipate the theoretical effects or remember the experience of what it feels like. Through the recital, there were times where it felt like I could conquer the world (okay, not really. Maybe just the music and the hall) – what energy! And that people were sitting anticipatedly in silence to hear ME play….crazy!! Straight afterwards, as I was pushed out onto the stage to take a couple more bows, and through the lovely big hugs from friends, I found it difficult to stand upright on my two feet, let alone smile, due to utter exhaustion. So much adrenalin pumping through!

Upon receiving my feedback, the comments were fair and very complimentary. I took the rest of that day off (rebellious!! The rest of the afternoon AND the night!!! AND I only went in for 10am the next day..!!!) and enjoyed hanging out with mum, a family friend, and some cousins.

So all sarcasm about taking a ‘holiday’ straight after my recital aside, there was actually still much to prepare for. I was playing in a friend’s recital two days after mine – Beethoven’s first violin sonata. This is a piece we had worked together on earlier in the year, and thankfully I had played it about a month before the recital (albeit with a different violinist). It was lovely to re-visit a piece we had worked on a while ago, when we were both still pretty fresh. It was so obvious that we had grown so much in five months. Also it is a piece that I only started studying this year, so it technically bears only ideas from this year, which I felt have changed greatly (in a positive way, to do with technique, ways of thinking about music) in the course of studying at the Academy.

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Brett is this years featured composer (previous festivals have seen composers such as Steve Reich, Thomas Adés, Sofia Gudbaidulina and George Crumb)  and Paul will be joining him a concert appropriately called 100% Dean. Paul is also performing with the Tercea Quartet performing Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet in A major, who have been rehearsing in the Queen of Norway’s Summer Palace.  Just another day at the office!

Read more about the Festival here.

Trondeim

Paul Dean & the Tercea Quartet

The Queen of Norway's Summer Palace

Finding a Voice

A few weeks ago, I had a private piano lesson with a visiting artist. These lessons are an excellent opportunity to get some (other expert other than your own teacher) to give you feedback and just mix things up in general. However, I often have mixed feelings about having a lesson with somebody other than my own teacher. I’m not denying that it is good to get different feedback (or even the same from somebody else, in a different, or even similar way!)  but, as I’m finding this year, my progress and learning has been somewhat unusual and atypical across the years.

I got quite a few things out of this piano lesson. One of the biggest points was to not be modest about myself. Which I will tell you, is a little bit hard for me personally. It’s just how I am. I suppose that performing allows one to remake themselves, to put on a persona that may or may not be reality; this then opens another can of worms about own personality, about acting, about bearing your own soul on stage or having a facade. And apparently I’m too nice! I didn’t really see this as a problem, but apparently it might well be. This may be a result of playing with, and for people, for pretty much my entire piano life so far. This, combined with a few other things, shook my confidence in my ability as a musician for about a week. One of my fears is for somebody to tell me that I lack talent, or that I’m unmusical. I know, it’s completely irrational; I don’t think I would have gotten to this point in my life if that were the case, but those sorts of fears sometimes creep about, waiting to pounce at moments of doubt. Which is why sometimes just having your own teacher who already knows your strengths, weaknesses, progress, hurdles and working style is enough to be content with. I have been fortunate in this regard. And it’s not a matter of settling for anything, but to be thankful for what I have.

If these teachers knew that I’d spent most of my time playing repertoire for other instruments or that I didn’t really have a piano lesson per se for two years, would the approach be different? And even if I’m too nice, or still discovering and learning to play the piano.  I’m discovering that time and experiences shape us all in ways that we sometimes have little control over. It’s not much use pondering over the hypotheticals of what could have been if this were different, but I’m enjoying hindsight and being able to attribute certain aspects of my personality to the experiences I’ve had. I’m coming to realise, with the help of teachers, mentors and friends about my capabilities, limits, strengths and weaknesses.  As I move through different stages of life, I’ve stopped caring so much about what everybody thinks, because I know it’s impossible to please everyboday.  I’m pretty sure that my personality is still being developed and forming more distinctly, even at the age of twenty-four!

In other great news, the actual venue (the Haus) is starting to come together!  The Bluebottle boys installed the roof and the staging into ANAM last week so that the students had the opportunity to get a feel for the space, where the audience will be and how the acoustics will sound.  For all of our string players this is a very new experience, Quartetthaus is not your traditional venue, so it’s going to take time and many rehearsals for them to get adjusted to their new (temporary) home.

Keep following the blog and our facebook for sneak peaks, photos, videos and insider information!

What is the Australian World Orchestra you may ask?  Well, the AWO brings together Australia’s most successful classical musicians from around the world to form one big fabulous orchestra.  Australian players have came from leading world orchestras such as the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra and of course, ANAM joining together to perform at the Sydney Opera House.  Under the baton of Simone Young and Alexander Briger the Orchestra performed works by Beethoven, Dean, Brahms and Tchaikovsky.  Read more about AWO here.

Matt Hoy, Howard Penny, Liisa Pallandi & Paul Dean

Tract combines the traditional rhythmic ceremonial songs of the Young Wagilak Group with composed orchestral material performed by Musicians of the Academy and the Australian Art Orchestra. These two parts are united together with the help of composer-violinist, Erkki Veltheim’s, amazing improvisational skills.

Tract is the brainchild of AAO Artistic Director, Paul Grabowsky, who was inspired to create a work combining traditional aboriginal song with contemporary Western instrumentation after a trip to the remote community of Ngukurr on the Roper River in 2005. The idea was delivered into Veltheim’s very capable hands, who has worked on the piece alongside the AAO and the Young Wagilak Group from South East Arnhem Land, ever since. The piece was written for 15 instruments which are played alongside the manikay Djupalwarra (song cycle Wild Blackfella) by the Young Wägilak Group. What they have come up with is a truly inspired collaboration not to be missed!

And just when you thought things couldn’t get any better, the concert will also be featuring the World Premier of Paul Grabowsky’s Smoke and John Rodger’s Glass, with the trumpet mastery of Scott Tinkler.

The following has some clips from the performance of Tract, Smoke and Glass at the Adelaide Festival and also features interviews with some of the performers: