Well, I'm glad this week is over. I just noticed I haven't posted anything for a couple of weeks. A little bit slack on my part, but I have had to keep up with things occurring with work. The tuition work is still busy with a lot of travel involved, and there will be even more coming up in a couple of weeks time with the New England Regional Band Camp at Lake Keepit. Even though it is a further distance to travel, it will seem like a holiday remaining put in the one place for a week while still working.
I finished submitting my students for exams. All up I will have 12 students completing 13 AMEB exams in clarinet and saxophone ranging from 1st Grade through to the new Certificate of Performance. It's a massive difference from having one student take the exam, which happened last year. It will be a challenge to not only provide the material for the students, but to make sure they keep up the practice and commitment. Plus, we can't forget the extra tasks involved including general knowledge and aural exercises.
In Grafton, a combined schools concert band has been formed to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the town. Several students of mine (most from primary school) have been selected to play in the band. I'm really pleased for them, not only for selection but having the determination to be involved in making music for a rare occasion. Even though none of them have been selected for front desk (1st clarinet) parts, the work they will put in for the other desks (2nd and 3rd) will reinforce and make the ensemble quite strong. They have their work cut out for them but they are prepared to put in the practice.
With some other news from Grafton, for the last few weeks I have two students make the second page of their local newspaper for activities in general, associated with or directly related to music. The conservatorium clarinet choir, that I run, even got a small plug from one of the students. The little group is doing well, but it does have its difficulties with a large age difference and some small restraints on ability. The age difference I cannot control, but the musical ability amongst all of the players is improving as individuals and as ensemble players.
The AMEB exams will be held between late July and late August for our series, so it would make sense to get some performance practice in for preparation. Several students will be taking part in the Coffs Eisteddfod, including some for the Open and Junior Championship sections. Last year's competition proved to be the most interesting in quite some years, and hopefully the same standard can be produced this year.
It's really disappointing to see the program for the Coffs Eisteddfod downsized so much in comparison to what it was ten years ago. To start with, there are fewer age divisions causing a wider difference in age between competitors. In the instrumental sections there will be age differences of up to three years, potentially having people aged 12 competing against people aged 15. If anything, this will really hurt the numbers taking part since the younger children will feel intimidated and fear taking part.
It would be nice to see the section "Instrument Solo" reintroduced, but not as an open section like it used to be. "Instrumental Solo - Unaccompanied Work" would be a tremendous section, seeing pieces or studies performed on solo instruments (except for piano and voice since they have separate programs). No longer would studies be treated as "technical works", but would force the performer to bring out the musicality of the work. There is so much repertoire out there for solo instrument alone, and I think it is something all eisteddfods should consider doing.
A couple of years ago I e-mailed the eisteddfod committee about their large ensemble sections, stating that they were willing to allow orchestras to compete but had no section for concert and symphonic wind bands. Also, the lack of sufficient wording to determine what ensembles are allowed to compete is left open to much controversy. The section "Orchestral Instrumental Group" has immediately after it in brackets "must include strings". If anything, this is left open to a lot of interpretation. A concert band can have a bass guitar or a double bass, which would fulfill the criteria. The clarinet and saxophone sections of a concert band are essentially the "strings" of the ensemble, replacing violins, violas and cellos with the range of their instruments providing a different colour of sound. The committee should just scrap these separate sections and just have one section called "Orchestral Instrumental Group", just like it used to be, with no strings attached (pardon the pun).
The smaller ensemble group sections are much fewer than what they used to be. We used to have duets and trios with and without piano accompaniment, having several age divisions for each section. Now we only have duets and trios with a total of six age sections, with the removal of the open age division for the duets section (a section that my duet partner and I won three out of four years running, something of some sentimental value). Why can't there be a 12, 14, 16 and Open age division for duets and trios? Straight away you have eight sections. Then instead of having an "Ensemble (4-8 players)" section you could have "Quartets" for 15 years and under and an Open division, followed by "Ensemble (5-12 players)" allowing for more ensembles to take part. There is plenty of scope for the program to expand and to encourage more ensembles and nearby towns to take part.
Next Sunday I will be leaving for Lake Keepit, and I will definitely be reporting of the band camp for the New England region. After a bit of a dip, due to many senior musicians moving on, the standard is lifting as we bring the next generation of musicians and leaders through. I think it is safe to say the students and tutors will all be looking forward to the week that is ahead of us.
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