report - Winston Churchill Memorial Trust

The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust of Australia Final Report Clint Allen – 2011 Churchill Fellow The Dr Dorothea Sandars and Irene Lee Churchill Fellowship: To study contemporary trumpet performance techniques from leading practitioners involved in the creation of crossover music (Netherlands, France, UK) I understand that the Churchill Trust may publish this Report, either in hard copy or the Internet or both, and consent to such publication. I indemnify the Churchill Trust against any loss, costs or damages it may suffer arising out of any claims or proceedings made against the Trust in respect of or arising out of the publication of any Report to the Trust in which the Trust places in a website for access over the internet. I also warrant that my Final Report is original and does not infringe the copyright of any person, or contain anything which is, or the incorporation of which in to the Final Report is, actionable for defamation, a breach of any privacy law or obligation, breach of confidence, contempt of court, passing off or contravention of any other private right or of any law. Signed: Dated: Clint Allen
31/7/12 2 Clint Allen: Winston Churchill Fellowship Report Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 3 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................... 3 Executive Summary ................................................................................................................... 4 Highlights ...................................................................................................................................... 4 Major lessons ............................................................................................................................... 4 Dissemination and implementation in Australia ............................................................ 5 Itinérary ........................................................................................................................................ 6 The Netherlands ......................................................................................................................... 7 Rehearsals with Zapp4 and Martin Fondse. ............................................................................... 7 Recordings in Osnabrück .................................................................................................................. 9 International Keep An Eye Summer Jazz Workshop ............................................................. 10 Meeting with Jacob Ter Veldhuis .................................................................................................. 12 Performance by Eef van Breen (Dakota Theatre, Den Haag) .............................................. 14 Trumpet lesson with Wim Van Hasselt ...................................................................................... 15 Work/study with Markus Stockhausen (Cologne) ................................................................. 15 Work with Frank Anepool (Clazz Ensemble) ........................................................................... 17 Lesson with Ruud Breuls (Metropole Orchestra, Amsterdam) .......................................... 18 Meeting with Gerard Kleijn ............................................................................................................ 19 France .......................................................................................................................................... 20 Trumpet lesson with Thierry Gervais (Conservatoire Aubervilliers, Paris) ................. 20 Eric Aubier (Académie Internationale De Trompette du Grand Nord de la France) ..... 21 Aruan Ortiz concert (with trumpeter Raynald Colom) at Sunset/Sunside (Paris) ..... 22 United Kingdom ....................................................................................................................... 23 Meeting with Gavin Higgins ............................................................................................................ 23 Attended production of ‘Desdemona’ at the Barbican Centre ............................................ 24 Meeting with Gabriel Prokofiev & attendance at ‘Nonclassical @ V22 Club’ ................. 24 Attended ‘Jazz at Café Society’ (The Triangle Theatre, London) ....................................... 25 Recommendations .................................................................................................................. 26 Clint Allen: Winston Churchill Fellowship Report 3 Introduction This research trip provided me with a wonderful opportunity to travel to Europe (UK, France and Netherlands) to study advanced contemporary trumpet performance techniques from leading practitioners, and those specifically involved in the creation of confluent/crossover music. I was able to gain knowledge of new ways of approaching contemporary trumpet literature, gain an understanding of how and why these musicians approach an extremely diverse variety of material and develop a method of linear thinking that could have an impact on my own artistic practice and teaching studio here in Australia. Many of our musicians (in particular, trumpet and brass musicians) in Australia operate exclusively in either the classical or jazz field, seldom both and almost never by looking to combine the two. I believe I had exhausted the opportunities available to me here in Australia, and was interested in extending my knowledge base by studying and learning from the leading performers and pedagogues in this field. Acknowledgements My sincere thanks must go to the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust of Australia for their assistance in making this dream a reality for me. As the recipient of a sponsored Fellowship, I am indebted to Dr Dorothea Sandars and Ms. Irene Lee for their generosity for providing this incredible opportunity and life changing experience. I would also like to thank all the amazing Dutch, French, German, English, Flemish, Canadian, Luxembourg, American, South African and Icelandic musicians that I've met, interviewed, studied, collaborated, performed and recorded with during this research fellowship. Special thanks must go to Martin Fondse and Oene Van Geel for their warmth and enthusiasm. I have seen some incredible classical, jazz, theatre, and cross-­‐genre music that will forever change how I think and approach the art form from now on. 4 Clint Allen: Winston Churchill Fellowship Report Executive Summary Clint Allen 3/26 Zenith Ave Chermside QLD 4032 0402 310 312 [email protected] The Dr Dorothea Sandars and Irene Lee Churchill Fellowship to study contemporary trumpet performance techniques from leading practitioners involved in the creation of crossover music. Highlights • Recording session of works by Australian and Dutch composers, with the Zapp4 String Quartet and Martin Fondse in Osnabruck, Germany (Fattoria Musica). • Attendance at the Eye On Summer International Jazz Workshop, where I worked with some of the world’s leading jazz artists and pedagogues (Amsterdam). • Performance at the BimHuis (in central Amsterdam) • Intensive workshop with Eric Aubier at the Académie Internationale De Trompette du Grand Nord de la France studying contemporary French recital works (Beauvais). • Performance at the Cathédrale de Beauvais. • Opportunity to meet and work with trumpet virtuoso, Marcus Stockhausen (Cologne, Germany) Major lessons • It is difficult to quantify some of the performance and specific technical guidance that I have experienced on this research trip. Needless to say, the many new ideas and insights into contemporary trumpet playing will stay with me for the rest of my life. • This project has brought forth further avenues for thought and future research: crossover techniques may not simply be classically inspired jazz, or jazz-­‐influenced classical, but something entirely different that needs a completely different set of paradigms and techniques in order to perform. • I have been exposed to some extraordinary new repertoire and idioms that I am excited about bringing to Australia; the implementation of other performance techniques (such as theatre, images, art, sound-­‐production) seem to be more prevalent than here in Australia. • Despite living in a world that is exposed to all types of music, it is still very rare to find musicians (and institutions) that are actively promoting the performance and study of this type of music. This results in a general ‘disconnect’ with what students are listening to, and what they are studying and performing. In general, I found that the jazz trumpeters were curious to know how I was able to play with such clear and precise technique, and I found the classical trumpeters curious to find out more about jazz licks and improvisation. • In general, the musicians I met were genuinely concerned about recent economic problems, resulting in financial cuts to arts funding and associated budgets. This may enforce musicians to be more versatile than ever before. Clint Allen: Winston Churchill Fellowship Report 5 Dissemination and implementation in Australia This project will benefit the Australian community in a variety of different ways: • Many new Australian works have been commissioned and this has given exposure to Australian composers’ works in Europe; a full length of this recording will be released in the coming months. • I am involved extensively with the classical and jazz community in Queensland, so I am now able to share my experiences and skills acquired with fellow musicians and colleagues here. • As I have actively sought to combine artistic programs with popular (post-­‐modern) culture, audiences to these events have grown considerably; this impacts positively on creating a culturally rich demographic in a growing and vibrant city. • This knowledge will impact on creating a music curriculum that can encourage students to study and connect all styles of music. • I now have many new ideas on developing ways of presenting repertoire both in my own artistic practice and with my work with students at University of Queensland and my teaching studio. • Film and sound material of my performances overseas is currently being edited, and will be available on my professional website. 6 Clint Allen: Winston Churchill Fellowship Report Itinérary The Netherlands 19-­‐20 June 21-­‐22 June 24-­‐29 June 28 June 29 June 29 June 30 June 1 July 2 July 3 July 3 July 4 July France 6 July 7-­‐11 July 11 July 12 July 14 July UK 16 July 18 July 19 July 20 July 20 July 21 July Rehearsals with Zapp4 and Martin Fondse (Amsterdam) Recording session in Osnabrück, Germany (Fattoria Musica Studios) Eye On Summer Jazz Workshop (Amsterdam) Performance at BIMhuis (Amsterdam) Met with Jacob Ter Veldhuis (Utrecht) Concert and meeting with Eef Van Breen (Den Haag) Study with Wim Van Hasselt (Amsterdam) Attended Dutch/Cuban music concerts in Noorderpark Work/study with Markus Stockhausen (Cologne) Work/study with Frank Anepool (Amsterdam) Work/study with Ruud Breuls (Amsterdam) Met with Gerard Kleijn (Amsterdam) Work/study with Thierry Gervais (Conservatoire Aubervilliers, Paris) Master class with Eric Aubier and Ahn Hee Chan (Beauvais) Académie Internationale De Trompette du Grand Nord de la France Performance at Conservatoire Aubervilliers (Paris) Performance at Cathédrale de Beauvais Attended Aruan Ortiz concert (with trumpeter Raynal Colom) at Sunset/Sunside (Paris) Met with composer Gavin Higgins (Brixton, London) Attended BBC Orchestra “Prom Concert” (Royal Albert Hall, London) Attended “Desdemona” (Barbican Centre, London) Met with composer Gabriel Prokofiev (London) Attended ‘Nonclassical @ V22 Summer Club’ (London) (Featuring Aisha Orazbayeva/Peter Gregson/Consortium5) Attended ‘Jazz at Café Society’ (The Triangle Theatre, London) Clint Allen: Winston Churchill Fellowship Report 7 The Netherlands Tuesday 19 June / Wednesday 20 June Rehearsals with Zapp4 and Martin Fondse. After corresponding with renowned Dutch pianist Martin Fondse and Oene Van Geel (leader of the Zapp 4 String Quartet), we generated the idea of a recording project that featured our playing a selection of Australian and Dutch music. This was to come into fruition when I arrived in Holland. Eight Australian and Dutch composers were asked to write new music for this ensemble that would blur genres and incorporate different approaches and techniques. I envisaged that the resulting music would be a mixture of classical, jazz, rock, hip-­‐hop, ethnic, mixing written music with improvisation. Composers included Robert Davidson, Thomas Green, Nigel Sabin, Robert Maggio, Martin Fondse, Leonard Evers, Mick Morgan, Steven Newcomb and Oene Van Geel. After shaking off some initial jet lag, I embarked on the first part of my journey. I walked to Roode Bioscoop (The Red Theatre) about 1km from my hotel for the first of two 5-­‐hour rehearsals. I met with musicians Jasper le Clerq (violin), Jeffrey Bruinsma (violin), Oene Van Geel (viola), Jorg Brinkman (cello) and Martin Fondse (piano). It was an extraordinary experience to work with musicians who are so well versed in both “classical” and “contemporary” music. The Zapp4 is a very organized, professional ensemble, and the 5-­‐hour rehearsals on the two days flowed very quickly. With this group of musicians, discussions turned to why it seems Dutch musicians are so open to many sources of inspiration. They suggested it could be because everything in their culture is really just a collection of other cultures – the food, the language, and of course, the music. This made me consider Australia's multicultural diversity and confirm in my mind that, as musicians, we should also be more willing to explore the combination of cultural influences in our music. After the first rehearsal, Oene (violist) suggested that there was a new composer in Amsterdam with whom he had recently met, and he was very much into crossover music. We hoped he might be able to also contribute a piece. That evening, a new work from composer Leonard Evers was sent by email, and this brought the entire repertoire to nine works. We rehearsed this new work on the second day of rehearsals. 8 Clint Allen: Winston Churchill Fellowship Report Core musicians for this recording project were: Martin Fondse (piano): Martin Fondse’s warm, dynamic and highly communicative music has been influenced by many sources and inspirations. Always searching for new and open ways of creating music, he establishes a remarkable balance between composition, improvisation, dialogue and personal expression. Martin studied piano and composition at the Arnhem Conservatory and Musikhochschule Köln with Dolf de Kinkelder, Bob Brookmeyer, Bill Dobbins and then in New York with Kenny Werner. His compositions have won awards in both the Jazz Composers Alliance (Boston) and the Euro Jazz Big Band Association (Paris). Jasper le Clerq (violin): Jasper le Clercq is one of Holland’s most well-­‐known improvising violinists whose life is full of diverse musical activities, including touring around the world with Zapp 4. As an improvising violinist he is a member of New Niks; a high-­‐energy band that can really rock but also includes lots of (free) improvisation. Jeffrey Bruinsma (violin): Jeffrey Bruinsma has proven himself to be one of the most remarkable jazz violin players of his generation. He studied classical and jazz violin at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague and the Conservatory of Amsterdam, graduating cum laude in 2002. Jeffrey has since led his own group Bruinsma Syndicaat, a contemporary jazz ensemble, releasing their first CD Area 51 in 2009. May 2006 he won the Deloitte Jazz Award in the Bimhuis of Amsterdam. Currently Jeffrey is also teaching jazz violin at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. Oene Van Geel (viola): Influenced by jazz, Indian music, chamber music and free improvisation, Composer/violist Oene van Geel has applied his virtuoso improvisation skills and his composition talents to a wide scope of musical activities. He has won the Deloitte Jazz Award (2002), Dutch Jazz Competition (2001), Jur Naessens Music Prize (2000) and has received composition commissions from the Amsterdam Cello Biennale (2008), November Music (2006), the North Sea Jazz Festival (2005), SJU Jazz Festival (2002) and the Marathon Festival (2002). Jörg Brinkman (cello): Cellist Jörg Brinkmann, born in 1976 in Kempen, is musically active in a lot of various genres. He studied at the college of Arnheim, Netherlands, under Michael Gustroff. His engagements as stage-­‐musician for different productions at Schauspielhaus in Bochum, his work as a music-­‐
pedagogue at music school in Wuppertal and as an instructor at university of Witten-­‐
Herdecke and most of all, his free way of playing the cello with bands from jazz to pop are significant for his rage and flexibility. Together with his trio with Oliver Maas and Dirk-­‐
Peter Kölsch he won the jazzwerkruhr-­‐award in 2007. Clint Allen: Winston Churchill Fellowship Report 9 Thursday 21 June / Friday 22 June Recordings in Osnabruck The decision had been made to travel to Osnabrück, Germany (about 3 hours drive from Amsterdam) to record in the famous Fattoria Musica Recording Studios. The studio is located on a beautiful old farm and is considered to be one of the leading facilities for music production in Germany and beyond. There was an outstanding Steinway D Grand Piano that was perfect for this type of music that blended classical and jazz sensibilities. Under the guidance of sound engineer Chris Weeda, we recorded seven of these works. In absence of the actual recordings (in this report), I think it is important that I give a brief description of each piece: Tom Green, “Impulse”: Brisbane composer combines angular melodies with very lush lines in the string quartet. The trumpet improvises over 2 main modes (A Aeolian and A Locrian) before an extended section in F#7sus4 leads the work into the final recapitulation. In this particular work, the string lines act predominantly in an accompanying role. Steve Newcomb, “To Walk”: An extraordinary work that uses improvisation both in the trumpet and piano parts (although this is quite sparse). This piece defies genres, borrowing and feeding from jazz, impressionism and romanticism. Leonard Evers, “Song 2”: This complicated work needed to be mastered in one rehearsal and took concentrated effort to perfect. The result was quite amazing, and I’m so glad and thankful that Oene took the time to contact the young Dutch composer, Leonard Evers, to contribute to this project. The work opens with an aggressive statement by all members of the ensemble, before settling into a rhythmic groove stated by the viola. The cello joins, followed by the rest of the string quartet, before the trumpet enters with an ethereal, haunting melody that returns several times throughout the piece. Pianist Martin Fondse, and violinst Jasper le Clerq take tasteful improvised solos, while the rest of the group improvise backing figures, and cellist Jörg Brinkman performs a bass line with the technique and finesse that has established the cellist as one of Germany’s most renowned. The work sees the melody again stated by the trumpet, before concluding with material previously stated in the preceding development. Martin Fondse, “Crystal Silence”: This piece is made up of improvised sounds, based around melodic figures that work together in a variety of combinations. Improvisation is, of course, needed by all players in the ensemble to make this work. Martin had me punch holes in a ‘paper roll’ that was then fed through a music box, and this became part of the composition in its exposition. The result is a highly atmospheric and imaginative piece held together by the cues by Martin, as the melodic fragments appear and disappear as the piece progresses. Oene Van Geel, “The River”: The song was written for a pop-­‐band Oene had called Voer, but he arranged this for trio (trumpet, cello and piano). It’s a slow, melancholic tune, but one of the most beautiful compositions I could ever hope to play on trumpet. The trumpet part 10 Clint Allen: Winston Churchill Fellowship Report requires a very ‘classical-­‐type’ technique, but the piano and cello parts require extensive improvisation throughout the work. Robert Davidson, “Glare”: Composer Robert Davidson has made a name for himself in Australia with minimalistic (postclassical) works. Reminiscent of a Michael-­‐Nyman film score soundtrack, this piece is essentially a 10 bar phrase (Dm /Fm/ B(#13)/Bm/Gm/A/ C#m-­‐
/Em-­‐Gm/?-­‐F#/F#). The C trumpet is featured in this piece, with no improvisation from any of the players required. Robert Maggio, “Surfarara” (I Have Forgotten My Life): Robert Maggio’s “Surfarara” is a Sicilian sulphur miner’s song. He had made a transcription of a recording that musicologist Alan Lomax recorded in Sicily years ago, and then made an arrangement for violin and piano for Lara St. John, but when I asked him to write something for this recording project, he immediately thought of this tune again, and made a new version, which included a lot of improvisation throughout. Tuesday 25 June – Friday 29 June International Keep An Eye Summer Jazz Workshop An opportunity arose for me to audition for a place in the ‘International Keep An Eye Summer Jazz Workshop’, an innovative program in jazz studies run by the Conservatorium van Amsterdam in conjunction with the Manhattan School Of Music, New York. Places in this program were then offered to around 60 professionals and university graduates from around the world, with participants hailing from throughout USA, Russia, South Africa, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg and Chile. I was honoured to be the sole representative from Australia. For the first time the two traditional majors of performance and composition were combined with training in improvisation and pedagogy to create perspective on jazz study. Participants in the Summer Jazz Workshop program would benefit from this innovative and comprehensive curriculum, and have direct access to the most advanced and current musical styles and trends. In addition to performances, sessions, and master classes under the direction of established master artists, the Workshop would culminate with a major performance at the infamous Bimhuis. When I attended the workshop, we were organized into small combos (instrumental ensembles) and each ‘faculty’ artist took turns in coaching us each day. These sessions were very well structured, with each person having a different focus or slant on how they saw both improvisation, and the function of the ensemble. During the week, we worked with Yaniv Nachum, Justin DiCioccio, Dick Oatts, John Riley, Jasper Blom and Scott Wendholt: Yaniv Nachum: Focused on ‘free playing’, attempting to create space and time whilst improvising over standard chords or tunes. Yaniv also explained his thoughts about upper structures, harmonic super impositions, chordal structures and changing rhythms to create tension and interest throughout the musical phrases. Clint Allen: Winston Churchill Fellowship Report 11 Justin DiCioccio: Served as type of musical ‘life coach’ throughout the week, encouraging us to let ourselves come out in the music. He was full of stories and anecdotes about many musicians (such as John Coltrane). The gruffly spoken New-­‐Yorker would use his entire body to ‘unsettle’ the group, insisting that the concept of ‘call and response’ was occurring throughout the music at all times. Dick Oatts: a very high level of technical skill, but maintained that exercises and patterns built on the ‘Dominant 7th’ chord were the most important concept (“the godfather chord”) that has commenced him on his path. John Riley: As a drummer, John was interested in time and rhythm, and its implications for the jazz musician. After playing various tunes, he then had the ensemble perform these songs in 7/4 (7 beats in a bar) and then create time and space within that framework. Jasper Blom: Jasper offered some practical applications to playing over modal structures. We played a new work of his, entitled Vaduz. Part of his style included ways to create tension in the music by improvising outside the chordal structure of the piece. This included alternating intervals (major 2nd/minor 3rd) throughout phrases, and creating pentatonic melodic fragments that, when modulated over the 12 keys, inverted over and over to create very interesting ways to playing “outside” the tonal centre of the piece. Jasper preferred to think of improvising in elongated phrases, adopting a more horizontal methodology in this practice. To demonstrate this, the soloist would improvise for 16 bars as normal, then the rest of the band would stop playing, only to clap on beat 1 every 4 bars, with the soloist to maintain a sense of flow and motion during this silence. Of course, the tendency is to play only eight notes (crotchets) in order to fill in this silence. Scott Wendholt: Trumpeter Scott Wendholt offered some practical ways to improve one’s jazz vocabulary, including learning to play along with a variety of transcribed solos. He was a strong advocate for ear training and so the selected trumpeters were required to improvise on unseen chords that he played on the piano (such as Dmaj7#9/G or Csus#11/A) and also be able to express it as a mode and as an extended chord. He also talked about his expansive career as a jazz soloist and session player in New York. In these sessions, questions that I have been pondering frequently arose from others at the workshop such as, how much time each day should be allocated to pure instrumental methodology and technique, and how much should be dedicated to the individual’s specific artistic pursuit? To hear these questions being asked by so many people from around the world suggests a number of things to me: 12 Clint Allen: Winston Churchill Fellowship Report • Generally speaking, there is a still a lot of uncertainly about where artists believe they should be heading in their career, which also indicates that there is still a clear divide between more ‘classical’ and ‘jazz’ playing techniques and methodologies. • That performing works of a ‘crossover’ nature may not in fact be a mixture of the two, but a separate thing altogether and require a specialized approach. • Artistic practice, in general, is in a rapid state of flux, with recent technology contributing significantly, requiring not only performers to not only question their own approach to their music, but to the delivery and marketing of their music. • Current worldwide phenomena and concerns (such as current unstable economic factors) may contribute to the shape of musical performance in the next few years with the current generation of performers essentially forced to be more eclectic in their approach because of the lack of performance opportunities. The week was an intense learning experience, and certainly was aimed at exposing players’ weaknesses, mine included! The very high level of playing by all participants was both invigorating, but also terrifying, giving me many ideas on ways to improve my own approach to the trumpet that I have never before considered. My only criticism was that the week was very highly focused on ‘hard-­‐bop’ or ‘be-­‐bop’ playing, and didn’t really address some of the free improvisation that the Netherlands jazz scene had been founded upon. I found this quite puzzling, as this was a joint project between the Manhattan School of Music and the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, yet it was certainly more based on the American history and style of improvisation. The week also featured guest artists and presentations that push the limits of what jazz is. I attended additional workshops by Jos Zwaanenburg (“Software & Live Electronics”) and a concert/workshop by Hong Kong ensemble, SIU2 (“Fusing modern and traditional Chinese and Western elements”). The week ended in the culmination of a concert held at the famous Bimhuis (at the Muziekgebouw). Our 8-­‐piece group premiered three new jazz/impressionistic works, all from members in the band (Chick’s Tune by Elijah Thomas; Amsterdam by Pol Belardi; Eyes Closed by Alekos Syropoulos). Friday 29 June Meeting with Jacob Ter Veldhuis I travelled to Utrecht (around a 30minute train trip from Amsterdam) to have lunch with one of the most acclaimed contemporary composers in the Netherlands, Jacob Ter Veldhuis (known internationally as Jacob TV). Clint Allen: Winston Churchill Fellowship Report 13 He is a musician and composer with whom I feel a very close affinity. I told him some of my concerns with the jazz workshop, and he agreed the musical landscape in contemporary society is too diverse to have any excuse not to be eclectic. Jacob was surprised that the Conservatorium van Amsterdam had been so “bebop” heavy in its pedagogy, quoting a variety of older musicians who had formed an important part of the Dutch Jazz Scene. He told me the Bimhuis, (where I had performed the night before), had been established in 1974 by musicians such as saxophonist Hans Dulfer and pianist Misha Mengelberg. These musicians were members of the Beroepsvereniging voor Improviserende Musici (BIM) and had sought to create improvised music with a conscious choice to depart from traditional approaches, and combine jazz with the older Dutch brass band music (“oom-­‐pah-­‐pah”). In the Netherlands this led to the formation of such progressive ensembles as the Instant Composers Pool and Willem Breuker Kollektief. These musicians didn’t think of their style as ‘jazz’, but more as ‘improvised music’ and he was shocked that this Dutch jazz tradition wasn’t being more followed in the school and its faculty. For three hours, we talked about a variety of topics including the state of Dutch culture and recent concerns with budget cutbacks, the implications of “classical” and “jazz” musicians performing his works, arts funding bodies and their disassociation with composers who are anti-­‐establishment, and his own recent work which has caused significant controversy around the globe. Jacob’s latest work is a video opera called The News, and he had only recently returned from Rome, Tokyo and Chicago where the work had been staged recently. We talked about the exciting concept of bringing this production to Australia, and the implications and logistics of doing so. He talked about being censored in Italy (over some vision/speech fragments of Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi) and also other pieces (Grab It and White Flag) that had been named as too inflammatory to be performed in the USA. However, I believe the flip side of this is that this controversy does attract media attention and publicity, which can result in larger audiences attending concerts of his music. As an example, part of The News contains fragments of a speech given by a Japanese politician in which he advocates for Japan to adopt nuclear weapons. By unfortunate coincidence, a couple of weeks later, the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami (on 11 March 2011) triggered the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. During subsequent protests against nuclear energy and weaponry in Japan, it was Jacob’s musical footage that was used by the protesters in the streets. Jacob asked me about any recent political scandals in Australia – so stay tuned! 14 Clint Allen: Winston Churchill Fellowship Report Jacob has been successful in obtaining a grant from the Dutch Cultural Fund to write a piece for solo trumpet and samples (for myself), so he was curious to talk to me about different extended contemporary techniques that I knew on the trumpet, as well as other ideas, such as trumpet solos or voices that had been influential on me. Ideas included taking the second valve off the instrument to create a sound that is similar to the prepared piano technique now making more of an appearance in jazz. I suggested the Miles Davis’ haunting trumpet solo on the infamous French Film Noir, Elevator To the Gallows which would be an interesting sample to use. I also suggested some vocal speech samples by Dizzy Gillespie and Chet Baker with which I was familiar. The trumpet piece is due to be completed in September, so it will be interesting to see if any of these ideas make it into the final work. Friday 29 June Performance by Eef van Breen (Dakota Theatre, Den Haag) After meeting Jacob, I continued on to Den Haag (The Hague) to meet with a person who must be one of the world’s most eclectic and innovative trumpet players. He was performing with his 7-­‐piece ensemble (trumpet, 2 violins, cello, double bass, piano, harp) at a beautiful modern theatre (Theatre Dakota) located at Leyenburg. I had heard his CD, Playing Games and thought that the instrumentation and scoring for trumpet, strings, harp and piano was very interesting indeed as it encompassed so many different genres in a new cohesive way. His new CD, Changing Scenes had more of a conceptual edge. Although trained as a jazz trumpeter, tonight’s performance was conceived as a collection of multimedia events that seamlessly worked together. Players were asked to play not only their own instruments in both orthodox and unorthodox ways, but to also pick up various whistles, children’s toys and sirens, typewriters, music-­‐boxes and metal bowls. At various times throughout the performance, the 1st violinist picked up a trombone and did an "oom-­‐
pah-­‐pah" riff, a photographer made an entrance and became part of the music, a dancer (who had been sitting in the audience) acted out a part of one of the shows, and videos flashed up on the large screen. Eef also performed not only on the trumpet, but also sang a few numbers, yelled through a megaphone, sawed a log to create a rhythmic beat, played euphonium, digitally manipulated various sounds using a small mixer, controlled various visuals on the large cinema screen using his MacBook computer, and became a newsreader at one stage on a separate framed projector. The result was part jazz, part classical, part theatre….and possibly one of the most compelling concerts I’ve ever seen. As I chatted to Eef after the show, I couldn’t help but be inspired by the man. He exudes enthusiasm. He told me he had been a “hard-­‐bop” jazz player, but didn’t feel like it was like playing real music. He recalled that extraordinary feeling of nostalgia experienced when strumming a suspended chord on the guitar for the first time. It is this deeply emotional and profound reaction that he wants to find when writing his music. As well as releasing and touring with this new album, he is involved in writing and performing the music for a modern adaption of Swan Lake. It is a mammoth artistic work featuring a choir of 60 singers, 26 dancers and 7 musicians who take the audience on a contemporary Clint Allen: Winston Churchill Fellowship Report 15 journey through a choreography created by Lonneke van Leth. The story starts where the original ended, with the tragic suicide of the main characters: Siegfried and Odette. The famous last seconds, where you see your life passing by, are realised as Swan Lake scenes occur in Siegfried en Odette’s thoughts. The performance presents scenes never shown before, for example how the tears of Odette’s mother and how young ladies change into Swans during the day and originally create the lake. Eef Van Breen is a true visionary, and is displaying how music can transcend genre, and meld with other art forms and technology. Saturday 30 June Trumpet lesson with Wim Van Hasselt Wim Van Hasselt is a member of the trumpet section of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, who teaches at the Conservatory of Amsterdam and regularly gives recitals and master classes at home and abroad (Europe, North America and Japan). I was particularly interested in meeting Wim because, although predominantly an orchestral (classical) trumpeter, he had recently released a CD (On The Road) on the Channel Crossings record label, which features an eclectic repertoire of classical, contemporary and jazz-­‐tinged works. Wim is very clear in his philosophy towards trumpet playing. He used the Vincent Chicowicz method in his teaching. He insisted it was important to be consistently musical, even when just playing technical (flexibility) exercises. He also suggested that when thinking about breathing in, to act like you’re yawning to have that sense of everything opening up. He liked the NIKE slogan of “just do it”, in order to eliminate the question marks in one’s playing. Wim was a very strong advocate to sing everything you play. He used a “Mack” mouthpiece buzzer aid, to again accentuate that sense of flow when playing the trumpet. He used the analogy to think of playing like a golfer or a tennis player in how they “follow through” in their stroke. This is similar to the attack of the tongue when articulating the trumpet. Although predominantly a classical orchestral trumpet player, he mentioned that he admired Chet Baker in that he “sings exactly how he plays”, and that he often listens to his Live In Tokyo album. I enjoyed hearing his approach as a contemporary orchestral player who is often called upon to do many different styles. In general, he tries to feel very relaxed in all manners in his performance practice. As we finished our chat over coffee, I asked him if he thinks he will ever perform all the works on his CD, On The Road in a recital. He replied, probably not, as there are 16 players on the album and so it would be difficult to have them all available for a single recital. Monday 2 July Work/study with Markus Stockhausen (Cologne) Markus Stockhausen is a hard man to pin down. Originally, I was to travel from Paris to meet him, but that fell through when he was offered some concerts in Italy. However, he was 16 Clint Allen: Winston Churchill Fellowship Report someone with whom I really wished to meet. I had nothing planned on this day, so not wanting to give up, I asked if it was possible for me to travel the 3 hours to Cologne to spend the day with him. The day didn’t start well, with my train being cancelled at the last moment. I managed to find another train going to Switzerland that went via Cologne. From there, I took another train to Erfstadt, and then found a private taxi service waiting for me, under the name of “Stockhausen”. I tried my high school German, managing to tell the driver my name, that I was from Australia, and that I played the trumpet. The rest of the journey was done in silence. Marcus lives with musician/partner Lara and their three-­‐year-­‐old daughter on a semi-­‐rural property. He leads a life of balance, eats only vegetarian food and told me that he tries to do about 20 minutes of practice every day, just to keep his lip in shape. They have an extensive garden, and grow most of their own food. Of course, most musicians know of his father, Karlheinz Stockhausen. Many of Karlheinz’s latter compositions were written for his extraordinary son, who also showed signs of genius from an early age. From 1974 he studied at the Cologne Musikhochschule, where he began on piano with Klaus Oldemeyer, then classical trumpet with R. Platt and jazz trumpet with Manfred Schoof, graduating in 1982. For around 25 years, he collaborated closely with his father, who has composed many solo works for him. The trumpet parts of the following works were written for and premièred by him: Sirius 1975-­‐77 (with Aries 1980); Thursday from Light 1978–81 (especially the major parts in Examination, Michael's Journey around the Earth, Dragon-­‐Fight, and the Thursday Farewell); Saturday from Light (Upper-­‐Lip-­‐Dance, 1984); Tuesday from Light (Invasion, Pietà, 1990-­‐91); Europa-­‐Gruss (1992); Michaels-­‐Ruf, version for four trumpets (1978/1994); Trumpetent (1995); In Freundschaft (version for trumpet, 1998). As a composer he has received commissions from the RIAS chamber choir, The London Sinfonietta, the Orchestra d‘Archi Italiana, the Cheltenham Music Festival and The 12 Cellists from the Berlin Philharmonic. In 2007 he wrote the ultimate crossover classical/jazz work, Tanzendes Lich (Dancing Light) for trumpet, big band and string orchestra for the Swiss Jazz Orchestra and the Camerata Bern. I found him to be the most generous man. We played trumpet together for a while, and then he invited me to have lunch. He told me a lot about his ideology of free improvisation, and how he controls the different groups he works with using hand signals (for e.g., the shape of an “A” for atonal, “T” for tonal and so forth). After lunch, we talked about being trumpeters that cross over genre. I said that, as I didn’t fit in strictly to either the ‘orchestral’ (classical) or ‘bebop’ (jazz) realm that I often felt like an outsider playing music on the fringes. He said he had always felt the same. His father (Karlheinz) had told him to choose classical music, but he knew it was not for him. Most of the day consisted of his playing, and myself copying his extraordinary abilities over the full range of the trumpet. He has a sense of being able to float on top of the notes, which is really quite amazing. He said he had mastered all the great contemporary works (Henze’s Sonatine, and Ligeti’s Mysteries of the Macabre…) but realized he didn’t really enjoy Clint Allen: Winston Churchill Fellowship Report 17 that sort of music. It has to have truth and beauty, and that was the type of music he wanted to hear. As he didn’t hear it yet, he composed it. He showed me some practical things on the trumpet that I have never heard from anyone else before. He suggested drilling a hole into the 3rd valve so that the pressure of the 3rd slide doesn’t impact on the air in that slide. He suggested always playing high “D” as open, instead of first valve. He talked about vibrato coming from the lip, using bends, instead of using the hand. I found Marcus to be an extraordinary teacher, and it was a shame I wasn’t able to spend more time with him. Throughout the afternoon, we tried a host of mouthpieces and trumpets that were all different makes and models, but I had the impression, he didn’t really show me for the sake of showing me equipment, but more as a means to see what is possible. He believed I needed a mouthpiece with a bigger ‘backbore’, and he gave me a custom-­‐designed mouthpiece to take with me. I now own an extensive CD collection of Marcus Stockhausen, including some rare titles that I’ve never heard or seen before. I asked if I could pay him for his time spent with me, and he only replied that time is relative and he didn’t want any payment. We talked about his compositions, including future projects coming up. I was quite curious about his work with children’s songs (from Oliver’s Adventures) and he talked me through some of them. I said I loved the song Mondtraum, and so he jumped on the piano and played it to me. By this stage, we had been playing for over four hours, and I have to admit I was feeling weary, especially after such an early start to the day. He took me for a walk around the property and showed me his garden. As we walked, he picked raspberries and johannesberries and gave them to me to eat. We posed for a photo, and you can see me trying to hold the berries in my hand without dropping them. The taxi was late arriving to take me back to Erfstadt station, so after hurried goodbyes, I jumped in and sped away, thinking how inspired I am about the trumpet once again, and about the infinite possibilities that Marcus has opened up for me. Tuesday 3 July Work with Frank Anepool (Clazz Ensemble) The day before had been a long day to Cologne, but I was very keen to meet with another couple of trumpet players who worked predominantly as ‘crossover’ players. I caught the train out to Uitgeest (which is about 35km north-­‐west of Amsterdam, almost at the North Sea) to see the trumpet player, Frank Anepool. He joked that he is the tallest trumpeter in Holland, which perhaps he is, as although I am quite tall myself, he towered over me. Frank 18 Clint Allen: Winston Churchill Fellowship Report plays in the Clazz Ensemble (a mixture of jazz and classical – “CL/JAZZ”) but is also involved heavily in the baroque trumpet, and the “hip” (historically informed practice) movement as well. I related well to Frank, as we seemed to almost share the same sort of existence. He's a music teacher like myself, who also has an interest in a wide variety of music. After he picked me up from the train station, we went to his music school and played through some contemporary repertoire together. He told me about his own methods that he used to warm up on, and we played a host of advanced duets and solo material for a while. The Clazz Ensemble recently did a series of concerts with the well-­‐known composer, Louis Andriessen. Andriessen has written only two solo trumpet works (Very Sharp Sonata and Very Sad Sonata), and Frank opened each of these concerts with the first of these works. He told me that he’d asked Andriessen about some of the articulation in the piece, but that he really didn’t have any preference! I’d never heard of the Very Sad Sonata, so it was fantastic to be introduced to this new work. Frank has recently published a book of children’s songs for trumpet (Elf composities voor trompet en piano), of which he also generously gave me a copy. This is certainly a resource that I will use back in Australia. We travelled back to Frank’s home, where he showed me his collection of period instruments, and to my surprise, his collection of didgeridoos! He insisted that playing the didgeridoo was a technique to improve the embouchure for trumpet players. I had never before considered such an idea! That evening, I received an email from Frank to say that he just enjoyed meeting and playing with me very much, and that the exchange of ideas has inspired him. I believe this will be a friendship and contact that I will draw upon in the future in my profession. Tuesday 3 July Lesson with Ruud Breuls (Metropole Orchestra, Amsterdam) Ruud is arguably one of the most well known musicians in the Netherlands, due to his many television and radio appearances with the Metropole Orchestra. The Metropole Orchestra is a jazz and pop orchestra based in the Netherlands, and is the largest full time hybrid large ensemble in the world. The 52-­‐member hybrid orchestra is the combination of jazz big band and symphony orchestra, and is equipped with a "double rhythm section“ -­‐ one for pop and rock, and one for jazz based music. It was founded in 1945 by Dolf van der Linden, but is now conducted by Vince Mendoza who took over in 2005. Ruud is the solo trumpeter in this group, and had only just played with the Metropole Orchestra backing Al Jarreau at the Concertgebouw a few nights earlier. Ruud sees himself as a jazz player first, but is adamant that it is important to play with a clear sound, that is versatile around the world. He talked a lot about identity, and how it relates to the contemporary musician. He told me I have a sound/technique that could stand up on the world stage, but his advice to me was to expand my jazz vocabulary. Clint Allen: Winston Churchill Fellowship Report 19 Ruud was very clear and methodical in his teaching. During my time with him, we discussed many jazz concepts that can be implemented on the trumpet, including: • Turn-­‐arounds • II-­‐V-­‐I in one bar • Licks based on Gm7/C7 • II-­‐V-­‐I movements (starting tones) • Altered (melodic minor) patterns • Half-­‐diminished II-­‐V-­‐I • Motives • The forward motion – “target more” concept • Some outside ideas He found that books and methods that deal specifically with improvisation by Jerry Bergonzi were very useful to him. Ruud was very interested in my endorsement with the Bach trumpet company. He said he wasn’t playing a Bach at the time, but had always liked the sound and ping of the Bach trumpets. He was certainly very keen to play my new Bach Artisan model. I enjoyed my time with Ruud very much. He told me he would post some CD’s to me in Australia, which was very generous of him. It was particularly interesting to see that he has very much a jazz perspective towards the trumpet, even though he spends a large amount of his time playing in an orchestra. He did mention that he had a classical trumpet teacher, so it is obviously something that he thinks about and works on himself. Wednesday 4 July Meeting with Gerard Kleijn Gerard Kleijn is the leader of the Clazz Ensemble, and he brought me a copy of their latest CD featuring Frank Calberg (Federico on Broadway). The ensemble has now undertaken a number of concert series’ over the past five years including : Adventures (2007), In Clazz Zealand (2009) and featuring Louis Andriessen, Jacob ter Veldhuis and Frank Carlberg (2011-­‐
2012). Gerard has also released a number of solo CD’s, his most recent giving a jazz perspective of the music of French impressionist, Erik Satie (Le Flirt de Satie). Over coffee at Café de Jahre, we talked about his work, and also that of many other trumpet players, especially those on the Dutch scene Like Ruud Breuls yesterday, Gerard seemed to see himself as a jazz player who is interested in the form and structures of classical music. As well as leading the Clazz Ensemble, he also has another project called ‘Bach Reflections’ where four jazz musicians improvise and reinterpret the work of J.S.Bach. 20 Clint Allen: Winston Churchill Fellowship Report Gerard told me about the conception of the Clazz Ensemble, and about some of the composers they have worked with over the past five years. The Clazz Ensemble is particularly interesting, as it features 12 of Holland’s top classical and jazz players. The ensemble uses multimedia and theatrical elements in their performances, and actively seeks to blur musical boundaries and prove that parochialism no longer exists in the 21st Century. After coffee, we went to the Amsterdam’s largest specialty CD/music store, Concerto (in Utrechtsestraat) and browsed through countless albums of European jazz artists. France Friday 6 July Trumpet lesson with Thierry Gervais (Conservatoire Aubervilliers, Paris) Paris is not a city that I know well at all, and so I was a little concerned as to how I was going to find my way to Conservatoire Aubervilliers (north-­‐east of Paris). I was to meet and learn from Thierry Gervais, one of the most celebrated trumpet soloists and teachers in Paris. I had frequently listened to his latest CD where he played a mixture of works by Alexadra Pakhmutova, Reinhold Gliere, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Richard Galliano and Olivier Vonderscher. and marveled at his technique and virtuosity on the instrument. He had been a student of Pierre Dutot, and then later with Antoine Cure, graduating from the Paris Conservatory in 2003 with the trumpet prize. After navigating the metro line, I finally found myself in Aubervilliers where I met Thierry at the Conservatoire. We battled a little with the language difference, but he spoke English very well, and understood me as long as I spoke slowly! For over two hours, we played various technical exercises, and worked on various repertoire including concertos by Tomasi, Haydn, Hummel and Charlier. He was very particular with technique, pointing out little flaws in my playing as we went along. He believes that the trumpet should be seen as a sport. There is the warm-­‐up, the technical work, and then the music. All three of these are separate, and should not be combined in any way. I mentioned that I still play the Arban’s Method (the famous French method) and he said that most French trumpeters work on the cornet, not the trumpet, when they play the Arban’s method, but that he personally hates the sound and feel of the cornet. Thierry’s favourite sportsman was tennis player Roger Federer, and he referred to him many times during the lesson. He would say things like, ‘playing a note is like hitting a tennis ball. It is one action, not many different actions.’ Many times, Thierry said that he believes that the piano is an instrument, but the trumpet is not. We have to play the trumpet, therefore it is the player who is the instrument, not the trumpet. Clint Allen: Winston Churchill Fellowship Report 21 I began to see the trumpet more from a mental perspective in my time with him. He would utter little phrases as we went along: look forward as you play, never at your valves and you are a very good trumpeter, now you must believe you are a very good trumpeter. He gave me (and signed) a copy of his latest CD, where he plays with American trumpeter, Allen Vizzutti. I offered to pay him for the lesson, but he declined telling me that when he was a student, he went for a lesson with the infamous Pierre Dutot. Dutot said to him, "Ok, I will teach you for free for 3 years. But in 3 years time, you must be one of the top trumpet players in Paris, otherwise you must pay me back for all the lessons." So, Thierry became one of the top players. He told me that he feels that he owes Pierre Dutot so much, that he never charges for trumpet lessons ever. We walked up to the local coffeeshop/bar, and had some of the strongest coffee I’ve ever tasted in my life. 8 -­‐ 12 July Eric Aubier (Académie Internationale De Trompette du Grand Nord de la France) Beauvais is around 90km north of Paris, and is the home of the Conservatoire Eustache Du Caurroy where the Académie Internationale De Trompette du Grand Nord de la France was hosted. Eric Aubier is the artistic director of the academy, but he also invited Ahn Hee Chan (principal trumpet of the KBS Symphony and the most widely known trumpeter in Korea) to teach and perform during the week. Eric Aubier is considered the most prominent French trumpet soloist and professor. He was a student of Maurice Andre when he was admitted to the Paris Conservatoire at the age of 14. By 19, he was the principal trumpet in the Paris Opera Orchestra, and has since won various prizes in international competitions. He has a reputation as the major interpreter in the French trumpet (French wind) tradition throughout the world. I caught the train to Beauvais, and after briefly wandering through the winding streets, I found my way to the Conservatoire. The afternoon started at 2pm, where I was ushered into another room only to be joined by Eric a few minutes later. As this week was designed for classical trumpet soloists, I decided I would play Tomasi’s Trumpet Concerto. The week was run in typical ‘French conservatoire” style, where each player would perform and the rest of the group would observe. This 22 Clint Allen: Winston Churchill Fellowship Report really was wonderful, as I was introduced to repertoire that I have never come across before, and at the same time, learned how to play these works through others’ experiences. Each morning, Eric would take us through his different approaches to warming up, and extending technique and range on the instrument. Many of these involved pedal tones, and what seemed like a mixture of flexibility slurs and some of the exercises that I had previously learnt with Laurie Frink in New York. Eric talked about many advanced trumpet techniques on the trumpet, but it was his mental insights into how he approached certain trumpet specific issues that I found to be most illuminating. He was also very insistent about how the phrases were constructed within the music. Ahn talked about how he approached much of the solo repertoire, from a orchestral perspective. This differed quite a lot from Eric, so it was wonderful to be able to work with these two exceptional soloists during this time. There were also sessions where topics were discussed, such as physical problems (like with the tongue) or becoming nervous when performing. Some unusual solutions (including surgery and prescription drugs) were discussed, which came as a great surprise to me. Eric Aubier formed a trumpet ensemble with all the participants, which was to become the main ensemble to perform at the Cathedral at the conclusion of the week. Again, the standard was exceptionally high, and a fantastic highlight in my studies overseas. There were three concerts during the week, which featured everyone performing the solo works and concertos they had been working on. Many of the participants were preparing for the Lieksa International Trumpet Competition (in Finland) the week after, and so were using this workshop as a way to ‘polish’ up these works. The week ended with a concert at the Cathédrale de Beauvais, where a large crowd was treated to over two hours of trumpet ensemble and solo works. Saturday 14 July Aruan Ortiz concert (with trumpeter Raynald Colom) at Sunset/Sunside (Paris) I returned to Paris the next day, just in time to see Paris celebrating ‘Bastille Day’. It was wonderful to observe the parade down the Champs Elysees, which started with around 50 trumpeters in fanfare, as they charged on their horses. Around the city were many French brass bands, and other ensembles and so I spent the day soaking up the atmosphere. I also noticed that there would be a jazz event at the famous Sunset/Sunside jazz club, which saw French and American jazz artists combining to create some cross-­‐culture music. I attended Cuban pianist Aruan Ortiz’s quartet, which happened to feature the French jazz trumpeter, Raynald Colom (Vincennes (France)). Raynald is also known to use many influences in his own jazz playing, such as Bartok, Coltrane, Bix Biederbecke, hip-­‐hop and French chanson. These events provided a great ending for my musical experiences in France. Clint Allen: Winston Churchill Fellowship Report 23 United Kingdom I flew to London the next day, to find the city buzzing with anticipation of the London Olympics, which were due to start the next week. Although there was plenty to see and do in London, it seemed to be that my contacts were being difficult to pin down. However, I was still able to converse briefly with trumpeters Marco Blauuw, and Andrew Crowley. Andrew had just returned from a tour with the London Brass, and was recording a new soundtrack at the Abbey Road Studios. Like with the many others I had met over my time in Europe, I asked him how he saw himself as a player (particularly that he often worked ‘between genres’), the impact on his creative practice, and whether it affected how he taught his students at the Royal College of Music. He replied, “I see myself as a musician – I have many influences in my playing as I never just wanted to go down a straight orchestral route. My practice was done in my early twenties – that sounds strange! I now optimize myself for studio work – staying strong, supple and fresh is the key. It is mentally very different from any other discipline playing-­‐wise. This can be a very sterile environment to be ‘creative’. My concert work is mainly more classical, where I have to perform at a high level in public. It’s all about comfort zones and being ‘in the zone!” Monday 16 July Meeting with Gavin Higgins Composer Gavin Higgins had just completed his orchestral piece for the BBC Proms when we met in Brixton for lunch. I’ve known of his works for some time, and have a lot of interest in bringing some of his music to Australia. Gavin has written music for some of the UK's finest orchestras and ensembles, such as; Rage Dances for the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Dancing At The Edge Of Hell for the BBC Symphony Orchestra and While Time Quietly Kills Them for the Manchester Camerata Orchestra. It was fantastic to meet Gavin, as he was able to give me an in-­‐depth idea of the schools of thought and composition in London at the moment. We chatted about upcoming commissions, his studies under Mark-­‐Anthony Turnage, and some of the economic pressures that are having an impact on staging contemporary music programs. I was also very keen to hear about his influences, and where he saw himself as a composer. I’m very glad that I was able to connect with Gavin, as I’m sure there are going to be many opportunities to work together in the future. 24 Clint Allen: Winston Churchill Fellowship Report Thursday 19 July Attended production of ‘Desdemona’ at the Barbican Centre For some time, I’ve been interested in investigating how different genres of music can be combined with theatre successfully, and so I decided to attend the controversial production of Desdemona, which was being staged at the Barbican Centre. I was also very interested to see how African and Western musical textures could be woven together by the performers, without compromising the overall concept of the dialogue. This production of Desdemona, by director Peter Sellars and Nobel-­‐prize winning writer Toni Morrison, revealed the untold stories behind William Shakespeare’s Othello. Desdemona is the dead wife who reconciles matters with herself and the African maid, Barabary, who raised her. In the afterlife they are free to talk, being free of constraints of class, race and gender. On the stage were four grave sites, each topped with glassware. In the pre-­‐concert talk, the director explained that this was a Congo tradition of creating a shared space where the living and dead meet. Singing with quiet assurance in her native Bambara and accompanying herself lightly on the guitar, Malian singer-­‐songwriter Rokia Traoré sang in her native Bambara and accompanied herself on the guitar, with accompaniment by Mamah Diabaté on the lute-­‐
like n'goni and Mamadyba Camara on the kora. This was a very profound experience, and gave me many ideas on how simple details can make a big impact. There were some elements that I felt were not successful, but it was certainly a very interesting and worthwhile experience, and one that I felt I could incorporate into my own creative work. Friday 20 July Meeting with Gabriel Prokofiev & attendance at ‘Nonclassical @ V22 Summer Club’ This was one of the great highlights of my trip, as I was very keen to meet Gabriel Prokofiev, founder of the pioneering UK-­‐based record label, ‘Nonclassical’ and the associated experimental London club nights. He is known for composing music that both embraces and challenges western classical traditions, and has emerged at the forefront of a new approach to classical music in the UK at the beginning of the 21st century. His Concerto for Turntables was performed at the BBC Proms in August 2011 to critical acclaim, conducted by Vladimir Jurowski with DJ Switch as soloist, and broadcast on BBC2 television. Other recent works include a poly-­‐stylistic 'orchestral remix' of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony commissioned by John Axelrod and the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, France. The night was held in a in a huge converted biscuit factory in South London, and featured sets by three different acts: Aisha Orazbayeva (violin), Peter Gregson (cello), and the Consortium5 (a recorder quintet). I like the idea of bringing classical works to an urban space like this. In a way, the event was presented almost like a rock concert, with Gabriel Prokofiev even presenting some of his works in a DJ set. I chatted to him about this concept, and really Clint Allen: Winston Churchill Fellowship Report 25 enjoyed his openness in discussing his perspective on the state of contemporary music in London. I was able to pick up some of his CD’s (of his string quartets, complete with remixes), but told him that I was disappointed that I couldn’t find his Concerto for Turntables and Orchestra. He said that he would be sure to send this to me, which was really very generous of him. I am a prolific reader of American authors such as Alex Ross and Greg Sandow, who often write about the emergence of the ‘indie-­‐classical’ scene, but I wasn’t so aware of what was occurring in the UK. Sandow suggests that “young composers for years have been writing music that sounds like the culture around them, drawing on sounds not just from classical music, but from jazz, Jimi Hendrix, hip-­‐hop, metal, whatever music they love. Their music might well have a beat.” And of course this is true, but it is only recently that it has been written about. Gabriel’s evening was more about the presentation of the music, but it goes hand in hand with the music itself and the audience it attracts. Saturday 21 July Attended ‘Jazz at Café Society’ (The Triangle Theatre, London) Today was the last day of my research trip. However, my flight wasn’t until the evening, so as I was keen to squeeze as much out of my time away as I could, I decided to attend a theatre event that featured the music of Billie Holiday, Lena Horne, Sarah Vaughan, Count Basie and many others. Pianist Alex Webb’s revue charts the rise and fall of Café Society, New York’s first non-­‐
segregated nightclub in the 1940’s. The club’s founder Barney Josephson (played by Max Reinhardt) narrated the story of this pioneering establishment using extracts from his memoirs. I’m very glad that I went to this, because it was a fantastic example of how the standard jazz repertoire could be presented through theater! This production has instigated many ideas for me to produce some works back in Australia. 26 Clint Allen: Winston Churchill Fellowship Report Recommendations • Australian musicians must not to be afraid to push the boundaries in their artistic pursuits and continue to explore a variety of music genres and the way they can be intertwined to create a style of music that is both individual and exciting. • It is important for Australians to embrace both their individual ethnicity and Indigenous culture, and to allow these to influence their compositions and performances, so that the musical exports from Australia reflect our multicultural society. • It is plausible for tertiary institutions to include studies in crossover styles of music. • There are many urban spaces in Brisbane that currently lie dormant, but could be used more efficiently for musical and art practices. • It is imperative that Australian musicians are exposed to European musical developments, and that our music is also promoted overseas.