The President's Corner
October 2002 [Conference information updated January 29, 2003]
Welcome to everyone who looks into this site, and have a good Fall or Spring, depending on whether you are North or South. Either way you will be planning what to do in 2003, and we are confident that you will consider very seriously travelling to Sweden for what promises to be one of the most entertaining, illuminating and stimulating conferences of this century — I guess in the twenty-second month of the century, there is not too much competition — yet! But the 11th WASBE Conference in J�nk�ping, Sweden, does promise to be a gift to any copywriter. Maybe we should coin a phrase from John Cage:
Happy New Ears |
||||||
With WASBEEE |
||||||
| World Music on a World Stage | ||||||
| The Conference which | Arouses | |||||
| Stimulates | ||||||
| Bedazzles | ||||||
| Explores, | ||||||
| Excites and | ||||||
| Enlivens | ||||||
Just a few of the spectacular highlights of WASBE 2003 to whet your appetite and lead you onto the Conference pages in this site.
[Editor's Note: The original article had a feature on a planned peformance of William Walton's Façade. Tim reported in January 2003 that Lady Walton has withdrawn from all future performances of Façade including that planned for the WASBE Conference.]
Michael Torke World Premiere For WASBE
"Michael Torke's percussion concerto [was] given a stunning world premiere performance by soloist Colin Currie" was the start of the review in the Glasgow Herald of Michael Torke's "Rapture", a concerto for percussion and symphony orchestra especially commisisoned for the young virtuoso Colin Currie.
More about Michael Torke (Classical.net)
Scotland's Other Percussion Virtuoso
While everyone knows the playing of Evelyn Glennie, Colin Currie is fast making an international reputation, and in some of the repertoire which Glennie has pioneered. His recording of the Torke Concerto has been released by Naxos, and his epparance at WASBE will mark the world premiere of the wind orchestra version, transcribed by the composer and especially commissioned by the National Youth Wind Sinfonia and its conductor Phillip Scott.
WASBE Conference: Drawing Wind Performance Into The Musical Mainstream
Do
you remember all of the publicity half a century ago about THOSE FABULOUS
PHILADELPHIANS, that incredible orchestra which flourished under Eugene
Ormandy, and which developed its own specific richness of sound and quality
of phrasing? We are lucky enough to be able next year to catch a glimpse
of the art of those great players as we host Wayne Rapier
as one of our Artists in Residence. Formerly Assistant Principal of the
Philadelphia in the early sixties, a post followed by years with the Boston
Symphony, Mr. Rapier brings years of experience of music-making at the
highest level in orchestral and chamber fields to WASBE, and will discuss
in practical clinics and masterclasses the problems of phrasing, balance,
architecture and interpretation which beset us all in our everyday work.
Incredible Value
A week working in Sweden with one of the greatest wind band conductors of our time on new and exciting repertoire — including all meals, accommodation and free membership in WASBE — only 100 US dollars.
What am I speaking about? The 2003 International Youth Wind Orchestra, a chance for your students to play under Colonel Timothy Foley, Conductor of the U S Marine Band, Washington and accompany Christian Lindberg in the world premiere of the new trombone concerto by Richard Rodney Bennett.
IYWO
Page
Conference News page
I don't think I can keep this hyperbole up, but you begin to get the picture. The WASBE Artistic Planning Committee are devising a wonderful programme for us, and more information about artists, programmes, costs, travel and what to do in Europe or America afterwards can be found in my other Presidential musings.
Other Notes
What else is happening in the world of wind music. One event which I thought was incredibly exciting happened in Hamburg last month.
NEW MUSIC HAAKON HARDENBERGER PLAYS "LOST" WIND ENSEMBLE WORK WITH HAMBURG PHILHARMONIC 22 SEPTEMBER 2002
On September 22 Haakon Hardenberger and the Hamburg Philharmonic under the baton of Ingo Metzmacher gave a rare performance of the Concertino for Trumpet and Wind Ensemble by Karl Amadeus Hartmann in the Hamburger Musikfest. Originally written in 1933 and premiered in Strasbourg, the work was re-scored as a concerto for solo trumpet and wind ensemble, but score and parts have been lost. It finally was premiered in 1951 in its new version for wind with celli and basses as Symphony no 5, Symphonie Concertante, with prominent parts for two trumpets. The original version is now available on hire from Schott; it is scored for solo trumpet with Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Bassoon, Contra-Bassoon, Horn, Trombone and Tuba, and lasts 19 minutes
Finally, I wonder how many of you follow the WASBE links to Band-Chat, that daily window on the world of the busy conductor, looking for programme notes, trumpet parts, ideas for programming, purchasing instruments or touring Australia.
The other link which I enjoy is to eConcertBand
WASBE member (and CEO of Recordare) Michael Good keeps us abreast of the latest CD and book releases and writes:
Malcom Rowell and the University of Massachusetts Wind Ensemble have released another in their series of recordings featuring the music of David Maslanka. The Wind Currents CD includes Maslanka's Symphony No. 4 and Morning Star, along with works by Michael Daugherty, Joseph Turrin, and Robert Stern.
Donald DeRoche and the DePaul University Wind Ensemble's new CD, Friends in Low Places, features concertos for tuba and bass trombone. The program includes Edward Gregson's Tuba Concerto and transcriptions of concertos by Ewazen, Strauss, and Vaughan Williams. Floyd Cooley and Charles Vernon are the tuba and bass trombone soloists.
Lowell Graham and the National Chamber Players have released a new CD of chamber music by Antonin Dvorak, featuring the Serenade for Winds, Op. 44.
Another new book on Percy Grainger has arrived, and this one is devoted to his band music: Brian Scott Wilson's Orchestrational Archetypes in Percy Grainger's Wind Band Music.
We have a new #1 on our Amazon Top 10. Check out the updated eConcertBand.com bestsellers at:
Have a good Fall or Spring, and see y'all in Sweden. Don't forget that you can pay your subscription at the Midwest or online.
Also, why not contribute to the Website or the Newsletter — your ideas, questions, articles, programmes, problems and suggestions should be sent to Leon Bly.
Tim Reynish
Wayne Rapier
Wayne
Rapier was offered a scholarship to Eastman at the age of 16. He was Associate
First Oboist with the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1960 to 1965 and subsequently
with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. A former professor of oboe at Oberlin,
he now is co-presenter of an Oboe Orchestral Audition Festival held annually
in France, he teaches at the Longy School and gives masterclasses throughout
Europe and America. He is President of Boston
Records, a non-profit Corporation which presently produces and distributes
classical CDs performed by some of the world's greatest musicians.