Guitar and Violin in Europe

This month Judith Hickel and I played a series of seven concerts in Germany and Sweden on Violin and Guitar. Our program included New Zealand and Australian composers Phillip Houghton (Aus), Ross Edwards (Aus), Peter Leask (NZ) and of my arrangements of some Maori songs (He Wawata, Po Atarau, Hine e Hine and Pokarekare Ana). The program also included favourites such as the Brahms Hungarian Dances number 1 and 5, the Meditation from the “Thais” Opera of Massenet and some solo guitar Celtic music arr. by David Russell. Overall, the tour was three weeks, with half a week on the plane and one week to get over some of the jet lag. I got to Heidelberg on a fairly smooth flight and connections to be picked up by Judith. Rehearsal began the next day and was fairly intense until the opening concert, as we learnt new material, brushed up old material and had dress rehearsals in the venues for the first three concerts. After playing a short set during the church service in Heidelberg to drum up some interest in the upcoming concerts, we were asked to play at a mid-week function for a local theatre – the Unterwegs Theatre, its 18th birthday. Unfortunately, only I was able to play at this gig, as Jude had other things to attend to, and it was very nice little party for a few people including some local politicians. Of course, being a true Kiwi, I managed to find the only pub to show the All Blacks game in Germany. So I had to go and cheer them on against the English and then negate the Heidelberg public transport (which was actually really good). The opening concert in Hoffenheim was a very good one. I was amazed at how warm the crowd was during and after the concert. The next two concerts in Bammental and Heidelberg were also well attended and attracted similar reaction from the audience. At this stage, I sold out all the Cd’s that I had bought to Europe – I guess people enjoyed what they heard. We knew that we would enjoy playing the concerts, but we didn’t expect the reaction to be so overwhelming by the people who came along. After the first three concerts, I had two days off to play ‘Tourist’, and managed to get around town to check it out and take a few photo’s that tourists do. The remaining four concerts were on consecutive days in both Germany and Sweden. Firstly Brühl was to a small but appreciative audience, then after a long day traveling we got to the Grappe wine house in Stockholm and added Alison Hurst (Soprano) to the remaining programs with some Swedish songs. This was probably the smallest concerts, as the weather was particularly bad that day, and a few people (who had RSVPed) just didn’t get there. The evening was divided into two sections; firstly we played the music that featured both New Zealand and Australia, and then there was the wine tasting where we compared three New Zealand and three Australian wines. I thought that the New Zealand wines were the best but I only had one eye open! ha! It was a fine evening and thanks to the guys at Grappe who were very accommodating hosts. The concert at the Australian Ambassador’s Residence the following evening was really cool – and I may have been nervous if I’d known before the concert that just about every ambassador to Sweden was in attendance, but then that made for a great night of mix ‘n mingling after the concert. The final concert in Uppsala was something where we finished the tour on a high note – and the 2pm start felt like a normal 8pm start as the sun was practically gone. Anyone would have thought that the sun was on strike for the four days I was in Sweden. Anyway, we gave another good concert (by now the ensemble was starting to feel quite natural), to yet another good crowd, followed by a master-class from Judith for the violin dept. I had offered to help with this by giving my thoughts on a violinists bowing arm…Oh well. The last day in Europe had my host Byörn showing me around Stockholm in the morning, before I caught the evening flight to Frankfurt to connect to the red-eye to Sydney. In 2007, we will be trying to record our first CD for Guitar and Violin. There has always been a lot of request for this, both at home and abroad. We have put forward applications for funding and have our fingers crossed. As this will be my last post before the break, I wish you a merry Xmas and a happy new year (and I’m impressed you got this far through this yarn!)

New Zealand 2006

I flew in late on a Wednesday night and caught the first bus south the next morning. I arrived in Timaru with a day to spare before the opening concert. My host David and Gwen Loomes were as hospitable as always (Having been charged excess baggage on the way over – David didn’t help my cause, loading me up with piles of photocopies of the guitar course he invented throughout his teaching career. That stuff is heavy!!! Lucky I boxed some stuff to Australia and could put it in with that stuff). The remainder of the day was quite a relaxed one soaking up the sights of Timaru and the surrounding area. The day of the opening concert was pretty much the same – I have to say that the round of golf in the morning was my favourite way to ‘warm-up’ for the evening. It was a special day when we took off to a friends house – Jeff – and played a mini concert in the afternoon, as he was unable to attend the evening. A good night enjoyed by all topped off with a couple of whiskies that Timaru is world famous for. The next day was a full one – straight on the bus back to Christchurch for the concert that night. Once I got back to my hosts place Gillian and Mark (who were so kind to pick me up from the airport when I arrived on Wednesday – thank you again for that), I decided that it would be wise to get a siesta in. Something must have worked because the concert was a really good one. The next day saw a master-class with five students playing repertoire from Poulenc to Lilburn. It was an interesting evening afterwards with Paul inviting us back to his place to show how Pro Tools work (Home studio recording). First thing on Monday morning had me back at the airport and getting up to Wellington and first opportunity to see family. Staying with my sister Clare, there was the opportunity to catch up with the four boys too. They started renovating the kitchen that day – but it was the demolition day, and there were four boys aged 7 to 13 with hammers and crow bars attacking the kitchen! I am still impressed that the only thing broken was a hard hat!!! The mid-week concert in Wellington attracted a small but enthusiastic crowd. By now I was learning that the general public were really appreciating the repertoire of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. This is lucky, because every concert had the entire first half dedicated to only this Italian/American composer. The bus trip from Wellington to New Plymouth is long, boring and really confusing at the bus connections at the halfway point. I had an ipod and a book to help deal with the trip, but it still isn’t as bad as the Canberra to Armadale I did years ago – 13hours on the bus. Anyway, I was given a beer (2) and a wine for dinner before we took off across New Plymouth for my host, Ross Townsend’s student concert. I am still blown away by the students playing the Brouwer Cuban Landscape for four guitars. What a shame that only half the quartet turned up for the master-class. Well, I was roped into playing a little thing as promo for the next evening’s concert…6 hours on the bus, two beers and a wine had me feeling not so confident, but pulled through with a little Latin American piece. The concert went well and the following morning was time for the master-class. Now I had been asked about 10 ten times “What are you going to do for the class?” of which I said it was up to the society. No one made a decision, so we turned it into a big Guitar Orchestra rehearsal, where we workshopped and played through a fair bit of Richard Charlton stuff. My favourite comment of that day was “Can we do that again please?” after we had finished workshopping the Partial Eclipse and had just played through the whole thing. This probably meant that they class were really enjoying their class, and my kids in Australia don’t usually come out with such requests!!! Well I had a great time catching up with people in New Plymouth, watching guitar DVD’s (including the live recording of John Couch and Matthew Marshall 2003) with Ross and John. Ross’s library of music is fantastic to browse through. A good couple of laughs – just be careful of the “Townsend Handshake” Now Hamilton is my old hunting ground. So it was lovely to catch up with my brother and another sister (I have four) and a few friends. The day before the concert had me in the Radio Network Studios on a link to Wellington for an interview on Concert FM. The concert was to be mid-week at lunchtime and at the Univeristy of Waikato. Up to now, every concert had had a small but enthusiastic audience. In fact I don’t mind this – especially if it is like a house concert where the setting is intimate for the guitar. I didn’t expect this concert to be any different. Well it was!!! It was the first time that I have played in the Wel Energy Trust Academy of the Performing Arts Concert Chamber…what an awesome hall to play in. The lighting and acoustics made for a very professional setting. As I was warming up, the secretary mentioned that they were expecting about 100 people – and one estimate (Mike) had the hall at 130…I am very happy that the playing went well (hate it when it goes belly up), but the post concert was very unexpected, where it turned into a school reunion. Some faces that I haven’t seen for many years (Ruth and Max Stewart (high school music teacher), Nikki, Karen, Nana, Karen Long, Dianne, Murray (clarinet) etc) but also people who had come down from Auckland (Mike, Sally, Michelle Birch and Hadley…). I had a box of Cd’s that I put down as I talked to people, it turned into an honesty box and as I turned around all the Cd’s had gone and turned into cash!!!! I got the impression from a few of the Auckland people that had come down to the concert in Hamilton that there were a few people that would have liked to have come down if it weren’t for work. I was negotiating with the School of Music for a while for an Auckland leg but it was pulled on me without letting me know why. So I’m sorry to the Aucklanders for not coming up there, maybe next time. With five concerts down the final was held in Tauranga. Once again we went back to a small but enthusiastic crowd. In the tradition of beginning the tour with a round of golf, I finished the tour with one full day fishing on a charter boat past Motiti Island with a few friends. Having flown in late at night, I was up at 4am to catch the early flight to Australia. Thank you everyone who attended the concerts, I hope you all enjoyed yourself as much as I enjoyed playing.

Humming Along

Just when I thought that there not many people actually reading this dark corner of the web, I get these emails commenting about the latest submission and when the next one is due. Well I’ve been humming along (‘scuse the pun!) in Canberra – stuck in the routine of life. I have moved house just recently and have managed to set up my own practice space again. It’s so great to have a studio that one can spread out in and then close the door! I have played one competition in April for the Young Performer Australia. I presented the Concerto in D by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco with the excellent pianist Paul Glass. Although I really enjoyed the experience we were unsuccessful in our bid to progress in the sectional finals. Guess it’s like fishing though, “a bad day fishing is better than a good day in the office” There are many cards on the table, but not many confirmed. There is a concert tour of New Zealand coming up in the next few weeks which I am very excited about, and violinist Judith Hickel has invited me to Germany and Sweden for a five concert series in November. We have put in an application to the ACT government to fund a recording for 2007 and are still waiting to hear back from them. I have been playing only a couple of smaller concert locally around Canberra since I got back from Quebec in early February. It’s a great opportunity to break out the new repertoire. In particular I have been studying the solo guitar work of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. It dawned on me a few years ago that even though this Italian/American composer has written over 100 pieces for the guitar, none are really known…time to find out why! So far I think it is because he just fell out of fashion, but like with every great artist, it takes a lot of milk to make the cream, eh? Couchie

Reflections of Quebec

Last month I played a concert tour of Quebec in Canada. I must say that it was probably the coldest place I've been to so far! Before the first concert, my host Dave, took me into Quebec City via the ferry. I think it hit about -35C with the wind chill. My "All Blacks" bini, just didn't cut it. But in direct contrast to the weather I found the people to be really lovely and warm, even when Dave lost a game of Cyber Ice-Hockey on the X-Box 5-2!!! (HA) I arrived in Montreal, and caught the first available bus up to Quebec. We did a little sight-seeing around the area for a couple of days, and I must say the snow is really cool (you don't get a lot of it in Australia). The first concert was great. There were many people and they were a very responsive audience, even though my french was a little rusty! A couple of days later we drove into the rural area of Quebec and played a concert in St-Georges. What a lovely place, where the concert near sold out. It was a little chapel that played in with nice acoustics, and one of the local artists in the audience drew a protrait of me as a gift. That was really unexpected but totally cool! The following day Dave and I drove to Montreal, where I was dropped off to my host Isabelle's place. Once again the concert there near sold-out and the people were so warm and friendly. I fooled them to think I could speak french...but I only said "Good Evening, I am sorry but I don't speak french". I was looked after by Christian, who took my all around Montreal, and gave me some idea of the history of the place. Thank you Christian - that was a great day. Now I'm back in Australia. It is about an 70C rise, from -35C to about 35C. I didn't like it when the captain said over the pacific "Ladies and Gentlemen, we have to go back to Vancouver as one of the Engines isn't working..."...!?!?!? But I'm now back into the practise mode, getting ready for the Concerto (Tedesco) in April and a concert tour of New Zealand later this year. John

Desdemona's sings a tune

Next month I will releasing my second CD Album Venue; Welsey Uniting Church on National Circuit, Canberra Date; 17th December, 2005 Time; 7.30pm The CD album Desdemona's Song, is named after the Shakespearean character Desdemona from Othello. It was written by the New Zealand composer Douglas Lilburn in 1944 for a stage setting of the play in Christchurch. Although written originally for string quartet, I have arranged it for solo guitar and have recorded it here. The album features favourite classical guitar pieces such as; Asturias (Albeniz), Recuerdos de la Alhambra (Tarrega) and Cavatina (Myers). Not to forget other beautiful pieces by the Latin American Guitarist Composers Agustin Barrios Mangore, Julio Sagreras, Antonio Lauro, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Jorge Cardoso and the Spanish Guitarist Composer Francisco Tarrega. It touches the UK, with some Celtic arrangements of David Russell, and a personal favourite of mine is a piece by a good friend Marian Budos in Canberra. His Southern Cross is very spacious, dreamy and reflective. A few years ago when I was on the road, this was a favourite from every audience. The Whole CD finishes with a special treat. My own touch on the famous Maori Song Hine e Hine which, along with 'TV Kiwi' and his cat, were a New Zealand National icon. It was used by the Channel 2 television station to signal the end of transmission late at night. As the piece progressed a cartoon kiwi TV technician would turn the studio lights out, and along with his cat retire to bed, which was in the TV transmitter tower. Thus Hine e Hine gained the nickname Goodnight Kiwi.