Category Archives: Nieuws

IVC Paris blog – Day 3

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The landmark 50th International Viola Congress took place in Paris (yes, France) from January 19th – 23rd, 2026. A day-by-day post-congress blog is delivered to you by Kristofer Skaug.

Day 3: Wednesday, January 21st, 2026
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Today the epicentre of this congress shifted from the downtown CNSAD conservatory to a more remote site, the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP for “short”, pictured below), which is the main music conservatory of Paris situated in the North-Eastern part of town, flanking the Cité de la Musique, where the new Philharmonie de Paris is also located.

This morning’s Viola Orchestra rehearsal was cancelled due to the overwhelming interest in the masterclasses of Tabea Zimmermann and Kim Kashkashian, which took place simultaneously. We did not attend either of these, but headed straight for the session “Engaged Music” in the Ravel studio.

Here, the first recital was “Paradise Lost, Voices Rising: Music and Poetry from Ukraine and Taiwan” by the duo Alto Nova (Emlyn Stam and pianist Sherry Grant). The world première arrangement of Valentin Silvestrov’s Kitsch Music , originally conceived in a very different era (1977), acquired a glow of its own against today’s backdrop of the Ukrainian war. The premiere arrangement of Fu Tong Wong’s “Taiwanese Aboriginal Suite” brought to mind the threat against this island and its native culture.

Seamlessly extending this program, the Taiwan Radiant Ensemble (Shu-Ching Hsu, viola; Sabina Shu-Chun Chiang, flute, and Chao-Pei Chen, harp) brought a recital wiht the title “Tides of Memory: Music Echoing Taiwan’s Historical Silence“, premiering three Taiwanese female composers’ works written for this ensemble. The program is said to “explore Taiwan’s cultural pluralism and its dialogue with France’s ideals of liberty and unity“. Some of this pluralism we were already fortunate to glimpse at the 2023 IVC in Thailand, where Hsu performed with a Taiwanese viola quartet.

The next session I attended was themed “Eastern Europe”, featuring two recitals from Poland. First, in “Poland meets Chile”, Wojciech Kolaczyk and Carola Fredes played viola duos from Poland and Chile, celebrating the emerging (albeit long-distance) intercultural union of these two countries. Their performance was enthusiastically received. Concluding the Polish recital, prof. Boguslawa Hubisz-Sielska (founder of the Polish Viola Society and twice IVC host) made an impression with the piece “Farewell” by Marcel Chyrzynski (originally for cello and piano). I had to miss her rendition of the Preludia taneczne by Lutoslawski, as a compromise was required to catch the next event at the CNSAD downtown.That event was the recital of prof. Pauline Sachse‘s Viola class from Hochschule für Musik und Theater (HMT) Leipzig, the oldest university conservatory in Germany, founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn. Prof. Sachse had composed or arranged all the pieces in this programme. Appropriately, they started out with the arguably most famous Leipzig citizen, Johann Sebastian Bach. The “Goldberg variations” have already been popular for some time in a string trio arrangement, but here prof. Sachse had re-arranged it for three violas, reaching much farther toward abstractions and extended techniques than its string trio counterpart. This was a true joy to hear, I sincerely hope this version will be published some day!

Another fun surprise was the arrangement of the 3rd movement of Schumann’s Märchenbilder for viola quartet (!). It could be argued that it is easier when the four players get to share the strenuous fast triplets, alternating every few bars. But that instead creates a challenge at the handover points, to avoid disruption of the flow.

Three students (Momoka Okada, Sophie Kiening and Gesine Hadulla) performed solo works written by prof. Sachse. I enjoyed most the piece “Hidden spaces“, which was an obvious big nod to Garth Knox, but had its own ideas as well. Finally the whole class took the stage in a celebratory “Dance” for 8 violas, with entertaining dialogues and catchy rhythms.

Time for the evening programme, which in our self-inflicted itinerary meant catching 3 concerts in about 5 hours on two different sites.

We first convened in the CNSAD main theatre, for a concert designed and performed by featured artist Garth Knox. He played two of his own solo compositions (New Spaces and Three Little Entropies), evocating curiosity and humour like only he can. He was then joined by none other than Kim Kashkashian in duos by Luciano Berio and himself. This first part of the concert conluded with pieces by Erik Satie, arranged for two violas and cello.

After a brief intermission, Knox stayed (mostly) off-stage during the premiere of his commissioned work “The Ancient Mariner“, featuring Lawrence Power as soloist with  the Ostinato string orchestra. This was a dramatic piece, where the orchestra also served as the ship’s crew, sailing this way and that, while the soloist struggled with curses thrust upon him (a dead albatross – please don’t ask me to explain the plot!). Anyway this concert remains one of my most vivid impressions from this congress.

As much as we would have loved to stay and shout for encores, as soon as the applause swelled up, we had to run off to catch our appointment at Paris’ splendid new concert hall (opened in 2015), the Philharmonie de Paris, where Tim Ridout and Lorenza Borrani were playing their hearts out in Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante. What a joy to hear Ridout, and Borrani was certainly a good match and a pleasant new discovery for me. Oddly enough, this exquisite concert was not part of the official IVC programme, although I think it may originally have been intended as such. The original announcement of the congress also alluded to hosting events at the Philharmonie, but in the end it seems this one fell off the wagon.

Once again we continued our cherry-picking tour through the musical landscape of Paris this evening, leaving the Philharmonie behind as soon as Ridout had left the stage. We rushed back to CNSAD to catch whatever might be left of IVC featured artist Tatjana Masurenko‘s recital. We were in luck, because the start of her recital had been delayed, so we arrived just before the intermission, which was around 21:45h. And it became clear immediately how she set and owned the stage. It starts with her appearance, the fiery red hair and the cape. The chocolate textured viola sound with a red hot core.

Her monumental performance of Rachmaninov’s one and only cello sonata had the late-night audience swoon. I literally heard sighs all around me as the final chord sounded off. In this day and age we’re conditioned to be cynical about any degree of romanticism beyond Netflix Christmas movies, but here it was all or nothing. She conquered. I think I needn’t say more. Goodnight children, more tomorrow!

Disclaimer #1: Any opinion expressed here is the author’s own, not that of the DVS.

Disclaimer #2: Due to the incredibly rich programme at this congress, it was physically impossible to see (and hence report from) more than perhaps 25-30% of all the events. A high level summary (listing also all of the Dutch contributions) is given on this page, and more details can of course be found on the official congress website.

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IVC Salaya Blog – Day 4

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The 48th International Viola Congress took place in Salaya, Thailand from June 6th – 10th, 2023. With a significant delay due to extreme workloads both professionally and privately, this final installment of the IVC Salaya blog is delivered to you (more than 2.5 years late!) by Kristofer Skaug.

Day 4: Friday, June 9th, 2023
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There’s nothing as beautiful as Second Chances. For example, this Friday morning’s 2nd chance to experience Nehir Akansu‘s IMPROVIOLA JAZZ workshop. Only trouble is, it started practically in the middle of the night (8.30am) … some of us managed, and judging by the pictures they sent me, it was lots of fun!

A gem of a lecture was given by Dorotea Vismara, with the somewhat mystifying title “Who is afraid of the Older Violist“? While it was initially pointed out that “oldness” is a relative quality that cannot be directly implied by calendar age, Vismara anyway went on to list various physical, psychological and social challenges that at least tend to increase with age. Muscular issues, balance, stamina, hearing and eyesight; mental agility to learn new music and embrace new insights, stage fright arising from bad experiences, social pressure. It all accumulates over time, and the “older” violist would be the one who is more troubled by the sum of these issues.

In preparation for this lecture, Vismara interviewed the famous Italian violist Bruno Giuranna, who recently turned 90 years old, but who is still teaching and performing. It was pointed out that specific technical exercises and yoga could slow down some of the negative physical aging effects. DVS secretary Ursula Skaug, one of Giuranna’s students, briefly demonstrated some of his left-hand gymnastics,

At this point, Vismara turned to explore external factors: The world around us is continuously changing. The disruptive effects of societal changes, migration, wars and political upheavals (e.g. various “cultural revolutions” around the world) influence how and what we learn, play, and teach on the viola. The current standard repertoire of Walton, Bartók and Hindemith concertos was mostly unknown in Vismara’s native Italy, even in the mid-1970s. It takes a concerted effort for “older” violists to keep up with developments, in the broadest sense. Editorial note: Let this be a warning for today’s student generation. And of course, attending IVC congresses is one really great way to ensure you’re updated!

Next, a recital with the appealing title “Sound Images from Formosa” was brought by the Taiwanese delegation. In particular I was fascinated by the piece ‘Tâi-uân’ for viola quartet, written by Yi-Cheng Chiang for, and premiered at, this very occasion. Performed by the Radiant Ensemble (Ming-Li Wu, Shu-Ching Hsu, Yvonne Yung-Hwa Liu and Chia-Hsin Chang)i, this composition was inspired by indigenous music from Taiwan.

The Taiwanese government recognizes 16 groups of indigenous Taiwanese aborigines, and the most famous music in these cultures is the Bunun Pasibutbut, a rich male polyphonic choir tradition that I found oddly similar to male choir traditions from Sardinia (Italy): Inward-turned circles of singers with crossed arms, exploiting microtonal shifts and overtone effects… did these two traditions arise completely independently of each other, or did some cultural migration event play a role, unlikely as it may seem over such a distance?

In the part “Thâu”, the violas were equipped with what I at first thought was an advanced acoustic device to achieve special sound effects, especially when plucking the strings.

I had a chat with the ensemble players later, revealing that this “advanced device” was nothing more than a regular plastic hairpin clipped onto the string. So cool! Furthermore, the score for this piece had hardly any pitch indications, it should not be ‘in tune’ according to the composer. This listening experience along with the unexpected cultural learning made me extremely enthusiastic, it felt like this one session alone had justified the investment to come to this congress.

After lunch, the MACM stage was set for a concert with Mahidol (University) Symphony Orchestra. First out, Patcharaphan Khumprakob (whom we heard playing the Rebecca Clarke sonata on Day 2) was the soloist in the Bartók concerto. Well done!

Nevertheless, ms. Khumprakob and mr. Bartók will have to forgive me for saying that the hands-down highlight of this particular afternoon concert was the subsequent world premiere of Marco Anzoletti’s (1867-1929) viola concerto no. 1 in f minor. The composer originally wrote this concerto in 1900 with a piano reduction only, so Ken Martinson (of Gems Music Publications) took it upon him to create and publish an orchestral score from that. Since Anzoletti didn’t leave too many hints of the conceptual orchestration, Martinson had significant freedom of choice, and made use of it to give us some delightful surprises such as celesta solo’s to cool down the hotly temperamental music (Brahms on steroids), and a concertino group of double bass and celli to open the 2nd movement.

Virtuoso viola soloist Marco Misciagna gave this concerto all the passion and brilliance it demanded, and threw in a stunning self-written cadenza (in authentic Misciagna style!). The performance was very much appreciated by the audience, to put it mildly. And yet another great example of why Viola Congresses are worth organizing and attending. You can now see the entire premiere performance in this YouTube recording made by the score publisher.

 

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IVC Paris blog – Day 2

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The landmark 50th International Viola Congress took place in Paris (yes, France) from January 19th – 23rd, 2026. A day-by-day post-congress blog is delivered to you by Kristofer Skaug.

Day 2: Tuesday, January 20th, 2026
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Browsing through the Congress programme booklet during breakfast on this 2nd day, it dawned upon me how many difficult choices I’d have to make. So many interesting and must-see events! The programme booklet offered to help, with a chapter called “What kind of congress attendee are you?” …

This chapter provided a questionnaire that was designed to lead you to a track suitable for “your type”, which could be e.g. “The Engaged Explorer”, “The Experience Collector”, “The Guardian of Memory” and so on. A very nice idea (applause for whoever came up with it!), given the numerous options. But unfortunately my tastes were too varied, so this did not help to draft up a personal “itinerary”, even just for today, and desperation grew as my wishlist ballooned. I even missed most of the morning sessions, paralyzed by indecision. In the end we chose the pragmatic solution of just walking down to the nearest metro station (Bonne Nouvelle) to buy ourselves week passes, so that transportation at least would not become an issue.

We then bit the bullet and headed for what promised to be an interesting programme at the Conservatoire municipal Nadia et Lili Boulanger – 9me arrondissement (for short CMA9), at some 10 minutes’ brisk walking distance from the CNSAD main venue.

Starting with core viola topics: Nitya Isoard‘s deep-dive lecture explored Hindemith’s musical language, offering new insights into his compositions. Taking examples from the 1937 solo viola sonata, she demonstrated some of Hindemith’s characteristic use of the sonata form, counterpoint, rhythm, tonal language, dynamics, ornamentation and so on. This was truly for the connoisseurs, and although I have heard this particular sonata several times, a few listening examples along with the shown score fragments might have helped my ability to follow. Nevertheless the bits I did manage to swallow in real time were interesting enough.

Moving on to Brahms, Paul Silverthorne presented his first-hand experiences from researching and playing the viola / clarinet sonatas op.120. Side-by-side comparisons of the manuscript, viola and clarinet versions would reveal how the sonata originally had passages that were technically overdemanding for clarinet (e.g. breath-wise), yet relatively playable on the viola. Also the draft manuscript of Wilhelm Kupfler’s viola adaptations (with annotations from Brahms) shows some deviations (e.g. octave choices) which were approved by Brahms but have since been “lost” in the published parts. Some of these variant fragments were performed by Silverthorne. Although the story of Brahms’ seminal encounter with clarinettist Richard Mühlfeld is well documented, these oddities do leave some space for viola conspiracy theories about the originally intended instrument.

The third composer in focus this afternoon in CMA9 was Berlioz. Luca Trombetta presented the lecture “The Humor of Harold in Italy: Navigating Comic Irony from Score to Stage“, based on his cooperation on this topic with musicologist Marianna Ritchey. The key thesis seemed to be that one could “re-imagine” the narrative of Harold as bathed in irony rather than heroic romanticism. The supporting arguments included autobiographical aspects from Berlioz’ life, as well as a proposed tendency of French Romantic authors to lean heavily on irony, thereby superimposing comedy upon tragedy. Both arguments were supported by Ritchey’s research on the writer Théophile Gautier (1811-1872), who knew and even collaborated artistically with Berlioz. A fitting example was identified in Gautier’s short story “Onuphrius” (published in 1833, one year before Berlioz premiered his “viola concerto”), in which the anti-heroic protagonist exhibits striking analogies to Harold. Trombetta even ventured to characterize the relationship between Berlioz and Gautier as “A 19th-Century Bromance“. 🙂

We stayed put in the CMA9 auditorium to hear Dutch violist Anna Jurriaanse‘s recital titled “The Composers in my Life“, consisting of solo miniatures written for her by composers from all over the world. In the list of names, I recognized Dutch composers Amarante Nat, Joshua Herwig and Kaja Majoor. It proved to include highly varied and surprising ideas to exploit the possibilities of the viola in contemporary music idioms.

Sadly before Anna’s recital was over, I had to rush back to the CNSAD main venue to participate in a roundtable discussion with fellow former IVC hosts in the beautiful theater hall, reflecting on the challenges and impacts of organizing such congresses, and perspectives for the future. IVS Treasurer Emlyn Stam moderated this session, and IVS president-elect Karin Dolman had prepared a short film to introduce the topic(s), which you can see here (YouTube):

The most senior congress hosts present were Marcus Thompson (13th IVC, Boston 1985) and Peter Slowik (21st IVC, Evanston 1993). It was certainly somewhat thrilling to sit in the descending line from these “congress pioneers” on stage, along with many others that i have met through the years. I don’t think there have ever been this many – 14 in all – former IVC hosts together on a stage. This very unusual reunion was celebrated with cake & bubbles afterward :-).

I had high hopes for Frédéric Lainé‘s lecture “Viola Players in France from Casimir-Ney to Théophile Laforge (1850-1918)“, eyeing an opportunity to learn some local history. However, the lecture was held in French, with real-time audio-to-text translation through Google projected on the screen. The print was too small to read comfortably, and the translation was continually reworked as each sentence progressed, so it was simply too hard to follow. I should have spent more time reheating my school French! I was told we could probably get a printed copy of the manuscript later, on request. The musical examples performed by Jean Sautereau were anyway enjoyable.

Finally then, the evening concert with featured artist Tabea Zimmermann in the splendid Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. She played Kurtág’s “Movement for viola and orchestra” with the Orchestre de chambre de Paris, conducted by Gábor Káli. This was a big treat, a rarely performed piece. She followed up with a selection from Kurtág’s Signs, Games and Messages. You could tell from the exuberant applause that the concert hall was full of viola fans :-).

All in all a day packed with events, and I felt pleasantly tired. So instead of hunting for a reasonably-priced beer, I decided to go back to my room in order to plan tomorrow’s itinerary carefully, so as to avoid another choice-overload anxiety attack similar to this morning’s.

Disclaimer #1: Any opinion expressed here is the author’s own, not that of the DVS.

Disclaimer #2: Due to the incredibly rich programme at this congress, it was physically impossible to see (and hence report from) more than perhaps 25-30% of all the events. A high level summary (listing also all of the Dutch contributions) is given on this page, and more details can of course be found on the official congress website.

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IVC Paris blog – Day 1

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The landmark 50th International Viola Congress took place in Paris (yes, France) from January 19th – 23rd, 2026. A day-by-day post-congress blog is delivered to you by Kristofer Skaug.

Day 1: Monday, January 19th, 2026
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It is no exaggeration to say that the viola world had been looking forward to this special 50th International Viola Congress in Paris. A spectacular lineup of featured artists and a programme counting some 200 events awaited us, and violists from all around the planet eagerly booked travel and tickets to enjoy every millisecond of it. I went there with my wife and daughter, along with many other Dutch viola friends.  Already at 8am on the first day, a long line of congress participants formed outside the Conservatoire National Supérieur d’Art Dramatique (CNSAD for short). This was only one of some 7 different locations throughout the city where congress events would take place, but it was the main venue for the first couple of days.

The host team of the Société Française de l’Alto seemed somewhat overwhelmed by the sheer number of participants and events that had to be handled. The internal logistics on the site were challenging, for example connecting two adjacent facilities (the main Theatre and the smaller recital halls) in creative ways, including (to my amusement) main crowd passages through the bathrooms on two floors.

Unfortunately I had made a wrong bet on the timing of the opening ceremony, so I missed these formalities as my train from Rotterdam arrived too late. But I made it past the registration desk on time to attend the first rehearsal of the Viola orchestra at 10:30. Here Karin Dolman was laying the orchestral groundwork for her musical theatre piece Raiders of the Lost Tone. Some 100 violists attended this first rehearsal, filling the room to the brim. Whew, what a start!

The lunch break was spent admiring the displays of violas in the designated luthérie rooms, and trying to greet as many old friends as possible. But there were so many people, all heading to different sites at all times. That’s the price one has to pay when a viola congress becomes really successful – in fact, in the case of several viola friends, I only learned that they had been present when their jubilant social media posts started appearing after the congress!

After lunch, I found myself a comfy seat in the main CNSAD theatre, an amazing old concert hall (see picture at the top of this post) where Berlioz in his time had premiered Harold en Italie (!). Under the chosen session title “Arabian Tales“, some quite exotic themes awaited us here: First, the MENAT Modern Music Ensemble led by violists Nadine Oussaad and John Stulz brought a programme based on traditional Algerian / Arab music, supported by oud and percussion. I thoroughly enjoyed this unusual combination and the varied style of works.

This was followed by “Two Turkish Violists in Paris“, featuring Beste Tiknaz Modiri and Baris Kerem Bahar with contemporary works – of which many premieres – for 2 violas. It reflected the energetic community that has been built around the Turkish Viola Society, with a significant output of new works for the viola (among other things).

The session was concluded with “The Persian Viola – Viola Music from the Iranian Diaspora“. In collaboration with composer Daniel Reza Sabzghabaei, violists Daphne Gerling and Wendy Richman had put together an eclectic selection from five different exiled Iranian composers. The current violent upheavals in Iran, which were not in the picture when the program was proposed, gave the program an extra poignant feeling.

At this point we needed a break to get checked into our apartment (just around the corner), missing no less than 5 interesting congress events in just one hour. We raced back to catch the two young emerging violists Paul Zientara and Sarah Strohm, for a varied “rotation” recital of Stravinsky, Enescu, Bridge, and Brahms among other things. The quite distinct styles of the two violists brought additional variety to the performance, already so rich in musicality and virtuosity.

After a quick re-heat dinner (leftovers packaged from home) back in the apartment, we once again found ourselves in the CNSAD Theatre for the evening concert with viola superhero Lawrence Power. The hall was packed with people, with long lines of remorseful “late buyers” outside who had to wait for spare seats, if they could get in at all. First I must mention the opening act, in which Odile Auboin premiered Joan Magrané Figuera‘s commissioned piece “Two Meditations for Viola and Harp” (the latter instrument played by Ghislaine Petit-Volta). This was certainly more than just a parenthesis to Power’s concert! Well chosen by the organizing committee.

After the obligatory joke about never having seen so many violists in one place, Power dove straight into the heart of the matter together with his pianist Simon Crawford Philips, making a grand opening statement with York Bowen’s Phantasy in F, op. 54 – one of my favourites from his acclaimed Bowen recordings. This virtuosic piece feels like a roller-coaster, and Power’s performance brought me tears of pure joy. In retrospect one of the absolute highlight moments of the congress!

This was followed by a wonderful selection of pieces by Purcell, Adès, Britten and Turnage. I need to particularly mention the two last pieces: The transcription of Hector Berlioz’ song Death of Ophelia, which was of course a nod to the composer’s strong ties with the hall we were gathered in; and concluding with the popular viola transcription of 8 pieces from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet ballet music.

After his concert, Power was awarded the Silver Alto Clef by IVS President Jutta Puchhammer and president-elect Karin Dolman. So very well deserved!

We took a nightcap at Le Royal Bergère, the official “Viola café” just down the street from CNSAD. They had “happy hour all day” for IVC participants, but in this case that mainly meant the beer was 8 euros instead of 9, so it didn’t get very late.

Disclaimer #1: Any opinion expressed here is the author’s own, not that of the DVS.

Disclaimer #2: Due to the incredibly rich programme at this congress, it was physically impossible to see (and hence report from) more than perhaps 25-30% of all the events. A high level summary (listing also all of the Dutch contributions) is given on this page, and more details can of course be found on the official congress website.

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Première Altvioolconcert van Martijn Padding

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Beste Altvioolvrienden,

De vooraanstaande Nederlandse componist Martijn Padding heeft een nieuw altvioolconcert geschreven! Dit werk, met de titel Ma vie en couleurs, wordt deze week in première gebracht door altviolist Emlyn Stam, aan wie dit werk ook is opgedragen.

De concerten zijn op:

🎻 April 9 – TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht
🎻 April 10 – Muziekgebouw, Amsterdam
🎻 April 11 – Amare (Paleiskerk), Den Haag

Als oud-bestuurslid draagt Emlyn de DVS een warm hart toe, daarom biedt hij DVS-vrienden korting op de kaartjes voor deze concerten! [actie verlopen, link verwijderd]

Britten Altvioolconcours 2025

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door Kristofer G. Skaug, DVS
15/03/2025

Het was weer zo’n zonnige (maar beetje koude) maart-weekend, de narcissen staan al klaar, en het tweejaarlijkse Britten Altvioolconcours is er weer!  Een DVS-delegatie reisde dus vol verwachting af naar het conservatorium in Zwolle.

Het niveau was – in mijn oren – gemiddeld hoger dan ooit. Een verklaring is dat er steeds vaker eerstejaars conservatoriumstudenten meedoen, maar ook in de jongste klasse liet ik me verrassen door de kwaliteit.

Ik kan helaas niet in detail ingaan op alles wat ik gehoord en gezien heb, dus ik beperk mijn bespreking tot de prijswinnars:

Categorie I (10 t/m 14 jaar):

Eerste Prijs en Jongerenprijs: Zoi Degtiareva (14) – speelde een hele mooie en beheersde Romance van Sulkhan Tsintsadze (het verplichte stuk in deze categorie) en een speelse “Thema met variaties” van Paganini. Dik verdiende waardering.

De DVS bladmuziekprijs in de jongste categorie ging terecht naar Sibylla Harbach (14). Haar interpretatie van het concert van Casadesus/Händel bevatte hele aardige fraseringen en dynamiek. Ik ben zelden zo geboeid geweest van dit stuk!

Categorie II (15 t/m 18 jaar):

Het verplichte stuk in deze categorie was de mooie Pavane van Arne Werkman, die in september jl. is overleden. Het is altijd mooi om te zien hoeveel vrijheid dit stuk biedt om de musici zelf klank en kleuren te bedenken.

Eerste prijs: Jolie Bisoendial, die naast een hele mooie Pavane ook het eerste deel van de sonate van Rebecca Clarke speelde – zeer overtuigend, mooi en muzikaal. Zij mag met het Britten Jeugd Strijkorkest solo optreden bij het galaconcert in april.

De tweede prijs (en Jongerenprijs) ging naar Alix Rodenburg, die met haar volwassen en krachtige toon grote kwaliteiten liet horen, zeker in de Suite Hebraïque van Bloch.

De derde prijs (en DVS bladmuziekprijs) ging naar Julie Gielen, die als keuzestuk de hele suite van Arne Werkman speelde, waarvan de Pavane het 3e deel is. Zo konden we deze Pavane in zijn oorspronkelijk bedoelde context horen. Zeer volwassen gespeeld, complexe en interessante muziek.

Grote dank aan de Britten-organisatie voor dit geslaagde concours en hopelijk weer tot in 2027!

 

 

 

HVVS: Verslag Schumann-project met Johannes Leertouwer

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door Roald van Os, HVVS

English version below! Follow this link.

Namens de Historical Violin & Viola Society (HVVS) doe ik graag kort verslag van een heel bijzonder project waar ik recent aan meedeed. In het verlengde van de dissertatie van Dr. Johannes Leertouwer hebben we 6 dagen onder zijn bezielende leiding mogen werken aan historisch geïnspireerde uitvoeringspraktijk zoals hij het zelf graag noemt. Dit keer stond de 2e symfonie en het vioolconcert van Schumann op het programma. Als solist mochten we met niemand minder dan Shunske Sato samenwerken: dat was op zichzelf al een feest en een fantastisch ervaring!

We repeteerden in het Conservatorium van Amsterdam en in aanloop naar deze week kwam ik er achter dat de altvioolsectie waar ik deel van uit mocht maken almaar groter groeide tot uiteindelijk wel 10 altviolisten!

Nu is een grote groep altviolen in een symfonieorkest dat 19e-eeuws repertoire speelt niet uitzonderlijk te noemen, wat de ervaring voor mij persoonlijk en ik denk ook voor de deelnemende studenten van conservatoria van o.a. Amsterdam, Den Haag en Utrecht bijzonder maakte was dat we allemaal op darmsnaren speelden. Ook de klassieke studenten die naast de studenten historische uitvoeringspraktijk deelnamen, hadden voor dit project hun eigen instrument voorzien van darmsnaren of hadden de beschikking over een ‘historisch’ instrument. Veel studenten speelden bovendien voor het eerst in hun leven op darmsnaren. Natuurlijk bijzonder leerzaam om een week lang met ander materiaal te werken als je dat niet gewend bent. Ook de keuze in strijkstokken was gericht op Schumann’s tijd. Ik gebruikte zelf bijv. een originele stok van rond 1830. Ook interessant vond ik de verhoudingen in aantallen tussen de violen 1 en 2 en de altviolen , celli en bassen, dat was 10-10-10-9-4. De orkestopstelling was ‘Duits’ zoals je die vandaag de dag bijv. nog bij de Wiener Philharmoniker ziet.

Het orkest was natuurlijk niet compleet zonder blazers en een paukenist op instrumenten uit de juiste periode: de (vroeg)romantiek. Ook de stemming verschilde nog van wat wij vandaag de dag gewend zijn: a=438hz

Als altviolen zaten we op een voor ons gebruikelijke plaats nu als het ware tussen de in de stereo geplaatste 1e en 2e violen en dat maakte dat we deze individuele stemmen goed konden horen. De 1e violen waren achter de celli nog prima voor ons waar te nemen. Wat ik zelf vooral opvallend vond en veel terug hoorde van collega’s binnen de altviolengroep: het orkestvolume is een stuk beter te verdragen dan wanneer je in een ‘modern’ geïnstrumenteerd symfonieorkest speelt. Daar kwam nog eens bij dat , althans in mijn beleving, het mengen met andere stemgroepen ook een stuk makkelijker tot stand kwam. Bijv. in passages waar houtblazers zoals houten fluiten en altviolen melodielijnen deelden dat mooi in bereik van volume en kleur samenviel.

Johannes vroeg ons als strijkers een aantal zaken met extra veel bewustzijn te benaderen en toe te passen; denk aan portamento, vibrato alleen op specifieke momenten, snel opvolgende tempowisselingen veel gebruik van de bovenste helft van de stok.

Concluderend kan ik wel zeggen dat we veel geleerd hebben van grondig geïnformeerde Vroegromantische uitvoeringspraktijk, waarbij we nieuwe tools hebben leren kennen en toepassen waar we een week lang mee hebben kunnen experimenteren, kennis hebben genomen aan de hand van enkele voorbeelden van de context en op welke wijze deze van invloed was op de componist Schumann zoals o.a. Mozart, Beethoven en Mendelssohn. Samen met Shunske Sato heeft Johannes Leertouwer mij, en ik geloof ook vele andere studenten, geïnspireerd verder te zoeken naar de mogelijkheden van praktisch onderzoek in historischere uitvoeringspraktijk.

Roald van Os, masterstudent Historische Altviool, Utrechts Conservatorium (HKU)


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English Version:

HVVS report: Schumann Project with Johannes Leertouwer

On behalf of the Historical Violin & Viola Society (HVVS), I would like to briefly report on a very special project I recently participated in. In line with Dr. Johannes Leertouwer’s dissertation, we were able to work for 6 days under his inspiring leadership on historically inspired performance practice, as he likes to call it. This time, Schumann’s 2nd symphony and violin concerto were on the program. We had the privilege to work with none other than Shunske Sato as our soloist: that in itself was a party and a fantastic experience!

We rehearsed at the Amsterdam Conservatory and in the run-up to this week I discovered that the viola section I was invited to be part of was growing steadily, eventually totaling 10 viola players!

Now a large group of violas in a symphony orchestra playing 19th century repertoire is not exceptional, what made the experience special for me personally and I think also for the participating students from conservatories in Amsterdam, The Hague and Utrecht, among others, was that we all played on gut strings. The classical students who participated alongside the students of historical performance practice had also fitted their own instrument with gut strings for this project or had a ‘historical’ instrument at their disposal. Many students also played on gut strings for the first time in their lives. Of course it was particularly instructive to work with different material for a week if you are not used to it. The choice of bows was also based on Schumann’s time. For example, I myself used an original bow from around 1830. I also found the ratios in numbers between violins 1 and 2 and the violas, cellos and basses interesting, which was 10-10-10-9-4. The orchestral setup was ‘German’ as you can still see today, for example, at the Wiener Philharmoniker.

The orchestra was of course not complete without wind instruments and a timpanist on instruments from the right period: the (early) romantic period. The tuning also differed from what we are used to today: a=438hz

As viola group we sat in a place that was customary for us, now as it were between the 1st and 2nd violins placed in the stereo, and that meant that we could hear these individual voices well. The 1st violins were still perfectly audible to us behind the cellos. What I found particularly striking and heard a lot from colleagues within the viola group: the orchestral volume is a lot more bearable than when you play in a ‘modern’ instrumented symphony orchestra. In addition, at least in my experience, mixing with other voice groups was also a lot easier. For example: in passages where woodwinds such as wooden flutes and violas shared melody lines that nicely coincided in range of volume and color.

Johannes asked us as string players to approach and apply a number of things with extra awareness; think of portamento, vibrato only at specific moments, rapid successive tempo changes, extensive use of the upper half of the bow.

In conclusion, I can say that we learned a lot from thoroughly informed Early Romantic performance practice, in which we got to know and apply new tools that we were able to experiment with for a week, learned about the context based on a few examples and how it influenced the composer Schumann, as did Mozart, Beethoven and Mendelssohn. Together with Shunske Sato, Johannes Leertouwer inspired me, and I believe many other students, to continue searching for the possibilities of practical research in more historical performance practice.

Roald van Os, master student Historical Viola, Utrechts Conservatorium (HKU)

IVC Campinas Blog – Day 5

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The 49th International Viola Congress takes place from 17-21 July in Campinas, Brazil. Your intrepid DVS bloggers bring you the daily debrief from the pulsating heart of the viola world.

Day 5 – Sunday, July 21st 2024

After 4 full days of intensive viola programming, you might think there’s a risk of running out of steam. But while some of us – speaking for myself, at least – have indeed drifted into the red zone in terms of figurative “battery charge level”, the 49th IVC Organization team had clearly saved some of the best parts of the programme for last.

The last congress day started out with a big tribute manifestation for the 95-year-old German-Brazilian composer Ernst Mahle. He has had a significant influence on Brazilian music, composing pedagogical pieces and learning books for all kinds of instruments. He’s still actively composing today. He was flown in for this concert and was showered in extensive speeches and performances of his works for viola, of which there are quite a few (we already heard his Concertino for Viola on Thursday night with Renato Bandel!). I particularly liked the Duetos Modais (performed by Eric Licciardi and Pedro Visockas), acting as a showcase for different modal scales (pentatonic, mixolydian etc). The Quartet for Violas (2021, a world premiere performance) had my mouth watering in anticipation of a hearty main course, but it surprisingly wrapped up after only about 2 minutes. The actual Viola Concerto (C228, 2015), performed by Marco Catto, in the end provided a fitting anchoring point.

Due to the long Mahle programme (almost 2 hours), I had to miss Karin Dolman’s “Puss in Boots: A Lecture Recital on new approaches for successful concert venues“, but fortunately I had heard the dress rehearsal in Dordrecht 2 weeks ago.

Next it was time for the yearly shopping spree at Ken Martinson’s (Gems Publishing) table. He always makes sure to have some novelties to present at a congress. This year’s catch included two Sinfonia Concertantes by Karl Stamitz, both discussed at Ken’s lecture on Friday afternoon (which I could not attend). Furthermore we bought viola duet books by Félix-Jean Prot, Mathieu Blasius, Leopold Jansa, and “44 18th Century Italian Viola Duets” (in 2 volumes) by “various” anonymous composers.

As mentioned above, a certain fatigue had started to creep into my head, so I allowed myself a late but generous lunch break to catch up on note-taking (and update my viola ensemble music catalogue!) before rejoining the congress programme later in the afternoon.

The Quarteto Ensaio de Naipe is a Viola Quartet from the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra: Lianna Dugan, Eric Licciardi, Bruno de Luna and Pedro Visockas. They kicked off with a Scherzo Pastorale by Leonardo Martinelli (a São Paulo based composer), in fact nothing less than a brand new set of La Folia variations – sure, why not! They’re interesting listening and even more interesting to play, by the looks of it.

The transcriptions of a Piazzolla tango and the Choro standard “Feira de Mangaio” (hey, there it is again!) were very decent, but more interest went out to the two World Premiere performances on the programme: Firstly “A Viagem” by Nayara Tamarozi (1991), inspired by the memory of passing carnival rhythms (Maracatu again).

Secondly the work “A Mariposa” (The Moth) by Carlos Moreno, dedicated to the memory of Ricardo Kubala. In this piece, undulating arpeggios emulate wings, with long waves of dynamics and delightful shifts in the sound tapestry, eventually morphing into a melody. Big bravo’s resounded in the audience for this piece (and I joined in)!

Symbolically starting the transition to next year’s congress in China, the last recital on the regular congress roster was brought by Yue Qi with the title “Emoting through the Landscape: A Lecture Recital of Five Chinese Viola Compositions“. These new-romantic pieces by leading Chinese composers are often inspired by poetry, which prof. Qi heroically tried to translate for us, with variable success. The piece “Thunderstorm” by Juan Zhou was based on incidental music to the play of the same name; according to Qi a cornerstone of Chinese realistic drama (written in 1925). In terms of musical language it was the most “modernistic” of the set, and by far the most dramatic. The pieces were all very well played (with good backing by pianist Jennifer Alexandra), but I may need to do some cultural stretching to grasp the deeper layers of this music. A nice challenge for the coming 12 months until we head for Xi’an!

The Final Evening Concert was a two-part deal: The IVC Viola Orchestra (in which I took part) played first – as Former IVS president Carlos Maria Solare conducted two movements of the Suite for 8 Violas by Gordon Jacob. As a tribute to the next IVC hosts, we also played the Chinese traditional “Jasmin Flower“. The big showpiece (which had also captured most of our rehearsal time) was however “Festa para Donatella“, composed and conducted by Newton Carreiro. And Yes, without false modesty, the Viola Sisters Ursula and Sunniva shone in their solo parts, using a pair of borrowed “sister” violas kindly provided by our host Emerson.  The audience clearly appreciated this piece of swinging Brazilian rhythms (and yes, these themes are still dancing around in my head as I write this, 3 days later).

The orchestra cleared the stage and then, suddenly, there she was – Jennifer Stumm, IVC featured artist and passionate viola advocate – but sadly only able to join us for this one evening. Her brilliant orange tunic made every bow stroke a feast of wavy motions. At the piano she was accompanied by the great André Mehmari. Under the programme title “Flow, my Tears“, together they blazed new trails in Dowland, Kurtág, Schubert and various Brazilian classics (yes, more choro!). Britten’s masterpiece “Lachrymae” op.48 (variations on Dowland songs) was in my ears the climax of the concert.

Obviously, the evening did not end with this concert. There was a long afterparty at the hotel, where notes were compared and joint plans drafted for next year’s congress. Well, that too, but mostly just enjoying snacks and drinks in each other’s company. This year’s congress has been a great success both programmatically and socially – the atmosphere was always relaxed and friendly. Infinite thanks – muito obrigado!!! –  to our host Emerson de Biaggi and his ABRAV team, they have set a great example.

See you all in Xi’an next year!

Kristofer Skaug, DVS

 

IVC Campinas Blog – Day 4

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The 49th International Viola Congress takes place from 17-21 July in Campinas, Brazil. Your intrepid DVS bloggers bring you the daily debrief from the pulsating heart of the viola world.

Day 4 – Saturday, July 20th 2024

One of the many extra nice aspects of this year’s congress in Campinas is that almost all Congress Presenters are in the same hotel, “The Visiting Professor’s House” (CPV for short) on campus. It’s a mere 10 minutes’ walk to/from the Music Institute (Congress venue), and it even features a luxurious swimming pool, which there is unfortunately absolutely no time to hang out in. But we all meet and mingle during the café de manhã (breakfast), accompanied by a handsome variety of Brazilian bolos (cakes) and pasteles (pastry).

After the daily 08.30am Viola Ensemble rehearsal, the first lecture of this fourth congress day was “Bowing Practices in the Baroque Era” by prof. Christine Rutledge (University of Iowa). She had prepared a really nice handout with lots of bowing examples from Bach and Telemann classics. She discussed the controversy over dogmas such as the “wretched rule” (sic, Geminiani) of the French baroque school, prescribing a default down-bow on every first beat. To get past this, prof. Rutledge suggested a number of aspects to be considered when designing your own ‘best bowing’. These are essentially corollaries to key principles of “informed performance practice” such as knowing the style and rhetorical aspects of the work, and to be aware of the characteristics of various baroque-era dance styles (e.g. Courante, Sarabande, Gigue, Minuet). She showed with played examples how also tempo could influence the choice of slurring. Prof. Rutledge also mentioned the relevance of using a baroque bow, insofar as this changes the physics of the bowing game. One should avoid the temptation to compromise the stylistically ideal strategy simply because one is using the wrong materials. A perfectly fine baroque bow can be bought for a fraction of the price of classical bows.

The French delegation at this congress – Karine Lethiec and Francoise Gneri – had a full program in the auditorium this morning. Due to the Bach lecture upstairs I had to miss the first part – a very intriguing program of viola duos. But I was able to attend the recital “MUSICoMAN – The French contemporary new viola repertoire” with Karine Lethiec. Herein new works for solo viola were combined with poetry and images relating to prehistoric archaeological finds such as the Dame de Brassempouy – a 30,000 years old stone carved femaie head. It was a very artfully curated video – with glimpses of Karine herself playing in ancient locations. The audience clearly appreciated all the work that had been invested in this project! Here’s the compete playlist on YouTube (including interviews and extended clips not shown in the recital).

In the afternoon I attended the workshop “Teaching music with visualization” by our Finnish colleague Lauri Hämäläinen. He has literally created “The Amazing Violin Comics: Tips for practicing and mental images for learning stringed instruments“, a comic book that visualizes various ergonomic / physical tips and insights related to violin and viola playing (Amazon link here). The common denominator of these exercises – practiced in the workshop – is that they visualize physical analogies of various posture / motoric motion aspects of playing the viola (or violin).

This year, the IVS Annual Presidents’ Meeting functioned (for the first time!) as a hybrid online / live event. The presidents from a handful of societies (Canada, Italy, Finland, Poland, Portugal) joined us online, while the rest (South Africa, Norway, Brazil, Netherlands, France, USA, China plus the IVS board) were together in classroom 41 in Campinas.

First some key announcements: The next IVC Congress will be held from 13-17 August 2025 in Xi’an (China), with the theme “The Silk Road through the four strings of the Viola – East, West, Tradition, Novelty“. Featured artists include Ning Shi, Atar Arad, Garth Knox, Paul Silverthorne, Haofu Chang and Antonello Farulli. The congress website is already online (link here – note: you can switch to the English-language version using the top right menu selection).
The 2026 IVC Congress has also been decided: it will be only 5 months after the Xi’an congress, 19-23 January 2026 in Paris (France)!

One key general discussion topic was (same as last year in Salaya) the urgent need for rejuvenation of the IVS and some of the older sections that have been declining in recent years. The newly established IVS youth chapter “Juventus“, spearheaded by Nehir Akansu and friends, could hopefully become a catalyst in this process by developing a new and enthusiastic generation of “viola society leaders”. Several constructive ideas were fielded by the meeting delegates.

Due to the IVS meeting, I unfortunately missed the introduction to the much-anticipated performance “Works for Viola and Taonga Puoro” by Sophia Acheson (viola) and Ariana Tikao (taonga puoro, a collection of traditional Maori musical instruments); and I also missed the poignant circumstance that this performance had been dedicated to Sophia’s sister Helen, who died suddenly one year ago today. Those of us who attended the 2017 IVC in Wellington will be able to remember that Helen performed (as a mezzo-soprano) together with Sophia at that congress.

The taonga puoro programme did not disappoint! It held a full hour of captivating soundscapes – a feast for the eyes and the ears (although the airco once again snuffed out the subtler parts of the audible spectrum). I lack the language to properly describe what I saw, heard and felt –  but it was overwhelmingly beautiful! The performance culminated in a veritable viola quartet (big soft spot for me!) when Sofia’s former teacher Donald Maurice and others joined her on stage. Now that Donald has declared his final retirement, it seems that his former pupil is picking up where he left off with his Taioro collaboration.

Next, Emlyn Stam and Sherry Grant took the stage with “Vio-Latino: new works from the South American diaspora”, a program consisting entirely of specially commissioned (and hence World Premiere) works by contemporary South American born composers who have since moved to other continents. This music was accompanied by projections of South American art and poetry. The two musicians showed excellent command of the powerful musical language – virtuosic and dynamic, so the performance was very engaging. After the congress they will tour this programme in São Paulo, Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile.

The evening concert with the accomplished Chilean violist Georgina Rossi and her pianist Milena Lopes featured a predominantly Chilean programme with works by Osvaldo Lacerda, Federico Heinlein, Ernani Agular, David Cortés and Juan Orrego-Salas. It was an impeccable performance, offering insights into a sphere of music that is rarely heard in Europe (although she did perform a work by Chile-based composer Rafael Diaz at the congress in Rotterdam, 2018).

A late-night “Viola Café” had been announced to take place in a pizzeria some 20 minutes’ walk from the Unicamp Music Institute. Rather against my principles, however, I succumbed to my feeling of fatigue and walked in the opposite direction towards our hotel, only to be hijacked by a spontaneous pizza-and-beer event in the hotel mezzanine foyer. The battle cry “Kaaah!!” (borrowed from Emlyn’s VioLatino concert) served as mandatory entry password. Live choro improv arose from one corner of the room, while repeated sips of Cachaça and chocolate liqueur made a blur out of time. That’s the true spirit of viola congresses working its magic!

Kristofer Skaug, DVS

IVC Campinas Blog – Day 2

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The 49th International Viola Congress takes place from 17-21 July in Campinas, Brazil. Your intrepid DVS bloggers bring you the daily debrief from the pulsating heart of the viola world.

Day 2 – Thursday, July 18th 2024.

Viola Ensemble rehearsals started at 9am today – there was some unavoidable chaos trying to cram 50 fanatical violists into a simple classroom and then split them into 8 groups so as to be able to rehearse Gordon Jacob’s Suite for 8 violas. It was worth the trouble – exciting sounds definitely happened!

At 10, we gathered to hear Dorotea Vismara and Andrew Filmer (via video link) give a lecture about “Viola Family Trees”. They explored the commonalities between the generational shifts in viola culture in Malaysia and Italy, and the significance of “lineage” when the next generation takes over.

Hella Frank gave a lecture (in Portuguese) titled “Aprenda mais rápido! Torne seu estudo mais eficiente!“, or in other words “Learn faster, make your studying more efficient“. According to one attendee it was a very interesting talk.

After lunch, the incomparable Marcin Murawski gave a masterclass in the Main Auditorium. It was admirable how he was able to level with each student and and make his points subtle, even though the levels were quite diverse.

Meanwhile in the upstairs lecture room, Jorge Alves presented a 4-piece Suite by the Portuguese composer Fernando Lopes Graça. Born in 1904, Graça had to spent most of his life in opposition to the regime. Only in 1974 did he obtain full freedom of speech. While he composed the Suite, he was also working on the Requiem to the victims of the Fascism. Jorge, whose parents also suffered during the dictatorial regime, gave a clear picture of the oppression and its influence on this composition. The score was shown on-screen during Jorge’s very good performance, and Graça’s “accusation” against the regime could be both seen and heard.

Daphne Gerling presented the program “Music from Latin and North America for Viola and Piano”, assisted by Tomoko Kashiwagi on the piano. Although currently teaching at the University of North Texas and being a long-standing board member of the American Viola Society, her family is rooted in Brazil, and in this congress she is firmly on home turf. The program featured works by Jessie Montgomery, Modesta Bor and Ilza Nogueira. Most appealing in my ears was the sonata by Marcelle Soulage, a French composer who earned a spot in this programme by being born in Lima, Peru. Finally Daphne gave an encore where she delighted us with a very good soprano voice rendering a Brazilian song.

After this it was time for the pitch talk “Toward an International Working Group for Viola Music Catalogues”, promoted by Daphne Gerling, Myrna Layton and yours truly, intended as a follow-on of our talk at the 2017 congress in Wellington. Instead of summarizing here, as promised in the lecture I leave you here the download link for the presentation slides. Please send us a mail (mail@dutchviolasociety.nl)  if you’re interested to join this working group.

The evening concert was presented by the Unicamp Symphony Orchestra and its conductor Cinthia Alireti. From the name, I had expected a good student orchestra,  based on a core of conservatory students. Instead it turned out to be a very decent professional orchestra. The climax of this concert was no doubt the Concertino for viola (1978) by Ernst Mahle, featuring one of today’s foremost Brazilian violists, Renato Bandel. While the Concertino itself may be quite modest in thematic material, Bandel made it a colourful and vivid Brazilian festa with his powerful sound and energetic musicality. We were left longing for more!

Back at the hotel, the IVS board had arranged a tribute event for prof. Donald Maurice, who has declared that this may be his last Viola Congress. Former host of multiple IVC congresses himself, he was an easy target for ad-hoc limericks and various viola choruses of thankfulness and encouragement, including some beautiful poetry, song and Taonga Puoro – playing from his fellow Kiwis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

More action from the 49th IVC tomorrow!

Kristofer Skaug and Karin Dolman, DVS