Again, I have become slack when it comes to updating my blog. I had an update ready to post earlier this week, but unfortunately I only saved it on my wife's (Emelia's) laptop and didn't transfer it to my memory stick. I will still upload that entry when I get the chance to.
Yesterday brought to a close my candidates for the 2009 AMEB exams. In all, I had nine candidates this year sitting ten practical exams along the North Coast.
Last month I had four candidates from Grafton. These candidates I currently teach through the Clarence Valley Conservatorium music and schools programs. All of them being clarinet candidates, I had two sitting their 1st grade, and one each on 2nd and 3rd grade exams. Leading up to their exams in the afternoon, the examiner had not awarded an A to any candidate. When I was asked how I thought my students would fare, my response was "Well, I know they are all going to walk out with at least a B." The first grade candidates completed their exams one after another, and both returned marks of As. The front office was elated with the results. The 2nd and 3rd grade candidates came out with a B each after the first grade candidates, two very pleasing results to go with the As. Big thank you to Sarah Westman and Robert Eather for accompanying these candidates.
Yesterday (Saturday 22/8) saw my students that I teach as part of my private music studio from Coffs and Bellingen. Five candidates, down from eight, sitting six exams. One of the candidate withdrawals was due to school studies, but the other two were taking part in state sport championships in Sydney! When these things come up, unfortunately there isn't anything that can be done about it. You have to choose from one or the other.
In the last week leading up to the exams the location was almost a real shemozzle. Three days out from the exam the accompanist for the Bellingen students, Mei Wei Lim, gave me a call stating that the director of the Coffs conservatorium knew nothing of my candidates sitting their exams at their establishment. Even though the paperwork had been released by the AMEB two months before, somehow it had never reached the conservatorium. If I hadn't felt what it was like to really panic with students still working on technical preparations, then I knew what it was really like to be worried and in some distress. As of Wednesday evening, we did not have a location for the exams. On the way to Grafton that evening I was on the phone texting and calling family and friends for suggestions, and if not that then a bit of prayer for the situation.
Thursday morning I was on the phone to my dad when he suggested a couple of the churches. For those people that do know, I do teach at the Coffs Family Church (formerly known as Bethel Christian Centre) but there were a couple of factors why I decided against this location. First of all, it can be quite boomy with the acoustics and the sound does linger in the room (especially for saxophone). Second, the piano is in storage and not being used at all. It would need to be tuned, which wouldn't be a problem, but the touch on the instrument is known for being heavy and it can be difficult to deliver a soft touch to the instrument. In the end I was able to book St John's Anglican Church in Coffs, with many thanks to Lenore. All of this was before 9 AM, which was when I rang the AMEB and explained the situation. After spending 15 minutes talking to them, I was told I would be contacted after they spoke with the Coffs con to find out the situation. It wasn't until nearly 11 o'clock I received a phone call back. The end result was I told the person in control of the region that I had a location, and would inform everyone immediately (and the AMEB would inform the examiner).
The lesson I learnt from this experience; if you do not have a suitable location and ask the AMEB for one, make sure you ring the location where you are going to as soon as you receive your paperwork to make sure they've received theirs. At least you are checking then to make sure it has been sent, it has been received, and that it hasn't been thrown out.
After all of that, we had an assortment of clarinet and alto saxophone candidates sitting exams for 2nd grade (two), 5th grade, 6th grade (two), and 7th grade. The final results were 5 As, and 1 B. Everyone received an A that completed their exam. The only B we had was the result of a candidate completing their second exam on the same day. When I asked him how he could avoid this fatigue in the future, since you could hear it in his playing, his response was "A bigger break between exams next time?". My response; "More practice". Even his mother backed me on that one!
In general, the main aspects that stood out in everyone's playing were tone and musicality. The youngest candidate I had is only ten, but he covered the basic ensemble skills of leading and cutting off, giving direction to the accompanist. Everyone delivered terrific performances with standout moments, even to the point of having eagerly waiting parents shed a tear at the tone and maturity of what their children were doing in their performance. The passion of Ravel, the sneaking around like Mancini, the "nun-like" (heavenly) qualities of Tartini, the pleading of Puccini, and the funk of Cockroft.
I was quite satisfied with the results of the technical work overall, but there is still more to be accomplished in this area. I am currently drawing up technical workbooks for clarinet and saxophone myself that will not only cover what the AMEB requires but beyond exploring further harmonic and scale patterns. I have my own strategies for teaching technical work these days, and a lot more students are adopting these strategies now as part of their practice.
The challenge has been set now by some of the parents for next year's exams; aim to achieve an A+. I think this is very much possible, especially with the high standard already set by not only myself but the students as well. For a six month preparation for the Bellingen students, as opposed to twelve months, these candidates have achieved a lot and will hopefully encourage their peers as well to get in on the act.
From here, a lot of the students will be focusing on upcoming recitals and ensemble performances in the next month. For myself, the next lot of performances, audition opportunities and exams for 2010 start to be organised now.
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