Sneak Peek

Saturday, March 29^th, 2014

Group Photo

It’s the last day of this year’s Kaleidoscope. A wonderful experience. Great teachers, interesting participants, beautiful music, fascinating ambient. A world of its own. And most certainly a very different kind of double bass festival. To remember it by – a small tradition – a group photo.

Final Concert

Michaelstein seemed like a ghost town today. No lessons, no concerts, just tireless rehearsals for the final concert. And it paid off. The event was magnificent. The concert hall was again full, and judging by the response of the audience the program was surprising, exciting and a great success. From Bach to Hooverphonic, from Bottesini to Matt Dennis, all spiced up with an improvisation by Octetto Experimentale.

Concert program:

Szymon Marciniak

Chiel Meijering (*1954): The Ultimate Workout

Jussif Barakat

            Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): from the Cello Suite No. 3 – Bourée 1 and 2

Alexander Tegtmeier

            Carl Ditters von Dittersorf (1739-1799): from the Concerto in E major – Allegro moderato

Lai Wen-Jyun, Kevin Zenteno, Yao Wang

            Sergei Koussevitzky (1874-1951): Concerto in F sharp minor – 1. Allegro, 2. Andante, 3. Allegro

Yao Wang

            Daniel van Goens (1858-1904): Scherzo, Op. 12

                       * * * pause * * *

Henning Kiehn

            Matt Dennis (1914-2002): Angel Eyes

Octetto Experimentale (director Sebastian Gramss)

            Unknown Composer

Marta Costa Soares

            Hooverphonic: Mad About You

Felix Liebig

            Henry Eccles (1685-1745): from the Sonata in G minor – 1. Largo, 2. Allegro con spirit

Ömer Faruk Dede

            Giovanni Bottesini (1812-1889): from the Concerto in B minor – Allegro moderato

Accompanists: Tomoko Takahashi, Emilio Peroni

Friday, March 28^th, 2014

Teacher’s concert: Szymon Marciniak

Concert program:

Adolf Mišek (1875-1955): Sonata in F major, Op. 7

Chiel Meijering (*1954): Ultimate Workout

Participants Recital 2

The second recital was as eventful as the first one. After the event, the teachers gathered to decide on the final concert program, and announce the results to the students at Remize.

Thursday, March 27^th, 2014

Maggie Urquhart: Introduction to Early Music

After getting familiar with the violone and the gut string bass, and the approach to early music, the focus of the 3^rd lesson was on applying that knowledge to playing baroque music and Bach.

Sebastian Gramss: Open rehearsal “Thinking of …” with a Bass 11tett

Since the previous two lessons lead to developing a piece together, Gramss decided not to go through with the ‘Thinking of…’ 11tett, but rather continue the work, and finish the piece for the Participants Recital. The composition consists of 4 elements – long arco notes theme, pizzicato rhythm theme, building up to the song sang by one of the students – Marta Costa Soares, and ending with a fade out walking bass.

Participants Recital 1

During lunch hours, all interested participants had a chance to enlist for the first evening recital, and the response was impressive. Best performers from today’s and tomorrow’s participants recital will be selected by the teachers for the final concert on Saturday.

Recital program:

1. Franziska Petzold

2. Hanna Cypionka

3. Javad Javadzade

4. Alexander Tegtmeier

5. Felix Liebig

6. Javad Javadzade

      *** pause ***

7. Sebastian Gramss Bass 8ett

8. Marta Costa Soares

9. Jussif Barakat

10. Lai Wen-Jyun

11. Fang Chen

12. Omer Faruk Dede

Wednesday, March 26^th, 2014

Maggie Urquhart: Introduction to Early Music

Continuing the lesson on early music, Margaret brought us closer to understanding the specificity of playing on gut strings. Students had a chance to try adapting their playing technique on the old English gut string double bass. Moving on, we were introduced to Diego Ortiz’s approach to improvisation both in theory and in practice.

Sebastian Gramss: Jazz & Beyond

Today’s practical group work moved towards building up the improvised elements for a composition. The first element was slowly building a cluster of arco notes. For the second, pizzicato element, the group was split into quartets, playing the same chord in different registers with a set tempo. Combining the two quartets produced a wonderful play of tempi. The group was getting more synchronized, developing a better feeling for other players and one’s role in the team.

Maggie Urquhart – violone, Jussif Barakat – violone, Pär Engstrand – double bass

Margaret Urquhart decided to take us to a little journey through time and space, compiling a colorful program. She was accompanied by her student Jussif Barakat. Although he started playing violone quite recently, he gave a wonderful performance, contributing perfectly to Margaret’s mastery. They were joined by Pär Engstrand on the gut string double bass. The quality and specificity of these pieces was truly brought to light by the subtle sound of these old instruments, bringing our imagination closer to how they probably sounded in their time.

Concert program:

I Giovanni Battista Vitali (1632 -1692): Partite sopra diverse sonate (per il violone)

        Toccata

        Bergamasca per la lettera B

        Chiacona per la lettera B

II Giuseppe Colombi (1645 – 1694):

        Tromba a basso solo

        Partite sopra il basso di Ciaccona

III Telemann: Sonata in C major (no. V, Vivace)

IV William White: Fantasia (for 2 bass instruments)

V Diego Ortiz: Trattado de glosas

        Recercada prima sobre doulce memoire

        Recercada ottava

Concert (public): BassMonsters – Classic meets Rock

The band of one of this year’s Kaleidoscope teachers – Szymon Marniciak – attracted a wide audience. Every seat for this public concert was filled. BassMonsters is a band comprised of four double bass players, playing arrangements of popular rock and pop songs, arranged by  Richard Whilds. The exception is a composition Bassmonsters, composed by Simon Garcia specifically for them.

Concert program:

Kashmir (Led Zeppelin)

Sweet Child o’ Mine (Guns n’ Roses)

Creeping Death (Metallica)

Don’t Stop Me Now (Queen)

La belle dame (Sting)

Beat it (Michael Jackson)

            *** pause ***

Bassmonsters (Simon Garcia)

Nothing Else Matters (Metallica)

Netclip (Freudenstein)

Smooth Criminal (Michael Jackson)

Born To Be Wild (Steppenwolf)

Hotel California (Eagles)

Tuesday, March 25^th, 2014

Maggie Urquhart: Introduction to Early Music

Margaret Urquhart is a true expert of the early music and the history of double bass as an instrument, both in theory and in practice. An endless source of insight and information, with a warm, interactive approach to teaching. This first lecture focused on the history of the instrument, interpretation of its position and application in the early music. Participants had an opportunity to learn about and try out first hand five string Krouchdaler violone (8’, from 1692, Basel), six string copy of the Krouchdaler violone (8’, made by Dan Larson, cc. 1998, USA), and a four string double bass (about 300 years old, England).

Sebastian Gramss: Jazz & Beyond – A Practical introduction to improvisation

To players accustomed to classical music, dealing with improvisation often seems quite tricky. On one hand, it allows more freedom and flexibility, and on the other it asks for more creativity and responsibility. Through practical work in a group, Gramss tried to familiarize the students with the ways of thinking about and approaching improvisation. As in all performances, there’s a great difference between a solo improvisation and playing with others, both in terms of content and choices you make. Since this was a group lesson, the emphasis was set on relating to other players.

Exhibitor’s presentation: Bass, bow and string makers present themselves and their work

Most experienced musicians are very particular with their choice of the instrument and equipment, and if you find yourself in a situation to witness a casual conversation about the double bass between players, it will often lead to the topics such as types of rosin, bows and hair choice, string types, etc. This event offered a possibility of the first-hand information from people who actually make them. A number of bass, bow and string makers did a little ‘show and tell’ giving us an insider’s insight into the secrets of the trade.

Teacher’s concert: Silvio Della Torre

Silvio Della Torre – double bass, Tomoko Takahashi – piano

This highly lyrical performance of classical music influenced partially by jazz and popular music was a preview of Silvio Della Torre’s future release. What dominated the atmosphere and intensified the performance was such a clear feeling of a very personal and intimate relation Della Torre has to these compositions, as well as the brilliant contribution of Tomoko Takahashi. All the pieces were composed by Stefan Schäfer, who honored us with his presence at this event.

Concert program:

Stefan Schäfer (*1963): Histoires

Cérémonie

Sicilienne

Vocalise

Prière

Destinée

L’Adieu

Dance Joyeuse

Monday, March 24^th, 2014

The official opening of Kontrabass Kaleidoscope set the tone for the whole week – a combination of serious work, casual humor, and interactive collaboration among participants and teachers. The host, Julia Ivancenco, provided present participants with necessary information about the workshops and the stay in Michaelstein. Then she found a playful way to get everyone to know each other – she had everyone sit in alphabetical order, and then pair up, having 2 minutes to get to collect some information, and then present the other person to everyone. It is always interesting to see what we choose to say about ourselves, and what we decide to ask other people.

Those who are interested in working on themselves without the instrument, have an opportunity to join Silvio Della Torre’s morning meditation every day from 7:30 to 8:15 a.m.

After the introduction, participants had a chance to familiarize themselves with Angela Gebler’s physio and fitness for double bass players, a practice that is available every morning after breakfast. This class is an excellent combination of warm up, custom made for the double bass players, and instructions on how to take care of your body while playing, avoiding pain and long-term injuries. Angela has been a part of Kaleidoscope team for years, also providing personal treatment to both teachers and participants during the workshop. With her previous experience, she is proving to be a wonderful unofficial host sharing stories and useful information on how to get around and fully enjoy the stay.

After lunch, the first block of lessons started – DaXun Zhang and Petru Iuga broke the ice and held group lessons for all participants. The structure of the lessons is left to the will of the teacher, so they vary from lectures to masterclasses.

DaXun Zhang - group lesson

A lot of the participants are in the process of preparing for Academy entry exams or orchestra auditions, so the opportunity to learn through practice from such an experienced performer as DaXun Zhang is priceless. Although it was the first lesson, and everyone was still a bit shy, the masterclass was very productive. Working one on one with three students, DaXun Zhang gave a great insight into optimizing body position while playing, playing techniques (especially bowing and vibrato), as well as his personal approach to playing.

Explaining his process, he emphasized that, for start, the process of learning to play a new piece needs to be simple, without ornaments and advanced techniques. The first thing is to get the piece into the muscle memory, in order to get to a point when you no longer need to think about what you are playing, but it comes naturally instead. Singing the melody helps to memorize it. The emphasis needs to be first on the rhythm, then on the quality of the sound. Work on speed and ornaments comes after you have a hold of the piece.

Teacher’s concert: Sebastian Gramss

Moving away from the classical music towards contemporary approach to double bass, this solo performance offered a great insight into a wide range of the possibilities of the instrument. Gramss uses a full capacity of the bass to produce sound – every part of sting and body is applied. We had an opportunity to see many extended techniques in action – two-hand pizzicato, playing with two bows, sonic events… All pieces (except Irish song) were composed by Sebastin Gramss himself. The last two pieces Gramss dedicated to Stefano Scodanibbio, as a friend, a colleague, and a source of inspiration.

Concert program:

Opening

Sonic

Irish Song

Free Improvisation

Research 1

Research 2

Prospect Park Blues

Fluidum

Voyager

Sunday, March 23^rd, 2014

Sunday was a day for settling in and relaxing. Those who arrived earlier had an opportunity to see the final concert of Double Bass Kaleidoscope Junior, which took part from March 21^st to 23^rd. After dinner, the day ended with a treat - a double concert of two of this year’s Kaleidoscope teachers – Petru Iuga and DaXun Zhang. In the first set the audience had a pleasure to hear Petru Iuga on double bass accompanied by Emilio Peroni on the piano. The second set was reserved for DaXun Zhang on double bass, accompanied by Tomoko Kashiwagi on the piano. An inspiring interpretations of music from Romania and Mongolia.

Concert program:

PETRU IUGA & Emilio Peroni

Béla Bartók - Romanian folk dances

                       Jocul cu bâta (Stick Dance)

                       Brâul (Sash Dance)

                       Pe loc (In One Spot)

                       Buciumeana (Dance from Bucsum)

                       Poarga Româneasca (Romanian Polka)

                       Maruntel (Fast Dance)

Cirpian Porumbescu - Romanian Ballad (Andante flebile)

Teppo Hauta-Aho - Sancho's Dream (Allegretto capriccioso)

Camille Saint-Saëns - Introduction et Rondo Capriccioso (Andante manincolico, Allegro ma non troppo)

DAXUN ZHANG & Tomoko Kashiwagi

Mongolian Traditional – Horses

Yan-Jun Hua – Moon Reflected in the Spring

Adolf Mišek – Sonata No. 2

       I.              Con fuoco

       II.             Andante cantabile

       III.            Furiant. Allegro energico

       IV.           Finale. Allegro appasionato