The President's Corner
August 15, 2002 [Conference information updated January 28, 2003]
Greetings from the United Kingdom, where we are having our usual cool, damp and sometimes wet summer. The rest of Middle Europe is even worse, with severe flooding along the Danube and elsewhere.
Next year, I shall take my holiday in Sweden!
Plan To Take Your Family To Sweden In 2003
The weather here is of course similar to that in Sweden, and you can be sure that the next Conference will be graced with a temperate climate and wonderful opportunities for recreation. Jönköping is the centre of Småland, an unspoilt country area of small towns, lakes and forests, with houses and churches dating back over four hundred years alongside smart new shopping centres, with facilities for swimming, canoeing, cycling, golfing, alongside museums and heritage centres.
The Family Conference
The Conference hotel, Scandic Hotel Elmia, telephone (0)36 585 46 00, www.Jonkoping.se/turism, is less than two minutes from superb Rosenlund adventure swimming pool, five minutes from the Conference centre (housing all fourteen concerts, clinics and discussions and the trade exhibition) seven minutes from Lake Vättern. You might prefer to camp by the lake, pitch your caravan on the caravan park or take a holiday cottage (0) 36 12 28 63, all on the same campus, right next to the Conference Centre <www.camping.se>.
Sweden is a country for open air sports, but if it rains, you could visit the Open-air Museum, the Bird Museum, the County Museum, the Radio, Papermill or match museums or the Town Museum which traces the history from the Stone Age to modern times.
Travel in Sweden
Driving is easy on uncluttered roads, and you could plan your journey by flying to Copenhagen, Gothenberg or Stockholm, and continuing by car, train or bus. After or before Conference, visit your roots! Drive North to the Arctic Circle, West to Norway, or catch a ferry to to Estonia, Russia or Finland from Stockholm, or to England from Gothenberg or Bergen, or take a Ryanair flight to Stansted, between London and Cambridge for only 50 US dollars!
What To Do Next
Why not take a Eurorail pass and travel down to Hamburg, Amsterdam, Munich and Schladming for the Mid Europe 2003 Conference, July 8 - 13, www.mideurope.com. With the euro accepted everywhere, including Sweden and Switzerland, travelling in Europe has never been easier.
What About The Schedule?
The daily schedule will be:
| 0900-1015 | Repertoire session |
| 1030-1200 | Music and Interpretation; artists will include:
|
| 1330 | Concert 1 |
| 1600 | Clinics and Seminars |
| 1700 | Masterclasses |
| 1930 | Concert 2 |
| 2230 | Serenata |
What About The Music?
CONCERTS (13:30 & 19:30)
The repertoire for many of the bands is still in discussion, but the youngest band of the Conference, with an average age of 15, will give the following programme on Friday evening:
National Youth Wind Sinfonia
Conductor Phillip Scott
| Javelin | Michael Torke |
| Time's Harvest | Edwin Roxburgh |
| Rapture (world premiere of this version) | Michael Torke |
| percussion soloist
Colin Currie |
|
| Gazebo Dances | John Corigliano |
[Editor's Note: Tim informed us in January 2003 that Memento Mare by Csaba Deak work would not be a part of this concert as originally planned.]
Michael Torke's Rapture has already been a "hit" in the orchestral version, and it is reported that the composer feels that the wind band version is almost more striking. Csaba Deak wrote his moving work for choir and wind in memory of those who lost their lives on the ferry between Estonia and Sweden; the Sinfonia will be joined by one of the leading local choirs.
You can read more about the National Youth Wind Sinfonia on the WASBE Conference Performance Schedule and Ensemble Profiles page in the Conferences part of the WASBE web site. More programmes next month.
SERENATA (22:30)
Most of our Serenata programmes will take the form of cabaret in the spacious bar next to the concert hall. So far the following are planned:
| Sunday | The John Bauer Brass Quintet |
| Midweek | Berio's Sequenza with Chrsitian Lindberg |
| Saturday | Richard Rodney Bennett entertains at the piano |
[Editor's Note: Tim reported in January 2003 that Lady Walton has withdrawn from all future performances of Façade including that at WASBE. This had been planned as a midweek Serenata.]
More news on this series in the Autumn (or Spring, if you are in the Southern Hemispehere).
REPERTOIRE (09:00)
| Tuesday | Kiskunfelegyhaza - School/Community repertoire |
| Wednesday | Florida State - University repertoire |
| Thursday | Guildhall - Professional repertoire |
| Friday | Florida State - Schools Band repertoire |
| Saturday | Sarpsborg - School/Community Band repertoire |