Claire Edwardes
Percussion 
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CLAIRE EDWARDES
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ARTICLES Resonate Magazine 25 May 2009 Claire Edwardes - Coming a full circle
Kammerklang
brings young composers together
by
Anni Heino
A dozen or so years ago, Claire Edwardes was a talented young woman studying percussion at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and performing as part of the newly founded 'Spring Ensemble'. In 2009, with a wealth of experience under her belt, she is working with young composers from the Sydney Conservatorium as part of the Kammerklang initiative – and remembering her own immersion into contemporary music as an opinionated, second-year student. 'At the time when we started Ensemble Offspring, I definitely didn't have a particular passion for contemporary music. I guess the thing I really liked was the social interaction and the collaborative aspect of playing with people, and working with composers. I remember being really harsh on Matthew Shlomowitz, who is now one of my best friends. I was just, "This really doesn't work at all, I don't know what you were thinking but I think we have to rewrite the whole thing!" We often laugh at how harsh I was. But I think it is just in me to say it how it is! He was a really shy guy in third year, wearing his cardi, your typical daggy composer – which I can say because he is one of my favourite people in the whole world!' Now, at the receiving end of Claire's feedback are the composers associated with the Kammerklang concert at the Sydney Conservatorium on Thursday 28 May: Cameron Lam, Chris Williams, Amy Bastow, Peggy Polias and Jason Pestana. The program will be a mix of their new solo and chamber works and will also include a premiere of Peter McNamara's new work 'I urge composers to just remember that there is more than one sound per instrument...' entitled The Styx, and a performance of Stuart Greenbaum's recent Chamber Concerto for flute, percussion and large ensemble. In addition to the concert, there will also be an exhibition. Having the composers benefit from an experienced performer's advice was one of the core ideas of the Kammerklang project, explains Cameron Lam, a third-year composition student who initiated the project. The composers have been able to send drafts of their work to Claire for comments, but the bulk of the work has been done in real-time, face-to-face sessions at the Conservatorium. 'This brings some real educational opportunities in this esoteric niche of new music. You can really sink your teeth into the practical things. Having a performer's experience is extremely useful – not only getting to hear the work, but getting real-time feedback on the playability,' says Cameron. Both Cameron and Claire admit that getting and giving direct feedback is a skill to learn, too. It can be a devastating moment for a young composer to recognise that what he or she has written might sound wonderful on MIDI-playback but is awkward or impossible for a flesh-and-blood performer to play. What can be helpful, then, is to learn that small changes will make the work more playable and consequently more attractive to other performers. And even more helpful is the realisation that even the most experienced composers seek and accept similar advice from percussionists. Claire remembers particularly well a recording session with the distinguished British composer, Sir Harrison Birtwistle. The piece in question was The Axe Manual, written originally for Evelyn Glennie and Emanuel Ax, and picked up by Claire and Nicolas Hodges. The composer travelled to Cologne for their recording session, sat in the recording box and talked openly with the performers about some changes that proved necessary for a successful recording. 'It was a quite a long recording session for a 25-minute piece – I think we spent two-and-a-half or three days recording it, so it was a pretty full-on process. He was amazingly open – I was really quite surprised: there is this composer who I really revere, and his parts were of course very well written. I felt that if I couldn't quite play something well enough, it was more to do with my inadequacies and not his inadequacies of how he conceived the music. I'd be getting frustrated trying to play a hard section, and I'd say, "Look, I just don't know if this is possible in this moment right now." And he was very much like, "Claire, I trust you and whatever you suggest, I think we should change it, you can just buy me a beer", basically.' 'I think this just makes a point that, as a composer, of course you get intertwined in the 'All the talking in the world about my recent successes would not make any difference as to how they treated me.' music and you are invested in it, but hopefully over time you can take a step back and realise that it is not the end of the world if a few little things change. Because the involvement of the performer leads to making the piece more idiomatic, and in the end this can only benefit the work.' Claire is known for suggesting that composers sometimes use fewer instruments and make the most of them, rather than expanding the set-up bit by bit in order to add yet another sound or effect. 'Percussion has now developed so far, and composers are getting more well educated as to how to write for it, that I urge them to just remember that there is more than one sound per instrument, that you can go really far into the possibilities of that one instrument. For example, something simple like a cymbal has many different things that you can do with it, you can bow it and roll it and you can get a crisp sort of sound. And then there are all the different stick possibilities. I'm very much into using lots of different sticks to get different sounds out of instruments! I guess it is a practical thing on one hand, the frustration of moving around with too many instruments sort of gets to you after a while, but it's a musical thing, too. In reality the difference of the effect between, say, four drums and seven drums is not that much, so why wouldn't we try and use less and get more out of that? It is so tempting to just keep adding and adding and adding, and you can, because you are just writing stuff down on a piece of paper, you know!' The Birtwistle CD went on to get some five-star reviews and was one of Claire's 'European successes', along with first prizes in European competitions and a third prize in Gaudeamus Interpreters' Competition in 2005. Success came gradually, though. At the beginning of her years in the Netherlands, Claire found herself starting from scratch as far as recognition was concerned. 'I was on top of the world and thought that I must be okay – I'd just won this big competition in Australia (Young Performer of the Year 1999) so I thought they must have a bit of respect for me and it must be possible for me to get some nice opportunities there. And pretty much the first thing that all the teachers said to me was – the Dutch are very direct, you know, and I guess that's where I've learnt a bit of my directness from as well – "We really don't care what you have done. You have to prove yourself here first". It was a really harsh reality. All the talking in the world about my recent successes would not make any difference as to how they treated me. I was just another student who had come from overseas, who had to prove myself through the music-making.' Claire Edwardes returned to Australia after seven successful years overseas and re-established her career here – a move that was helped by her determination to return regularly to Australia to play concerts during her time abroad. 'I was lucky in that I kept coming back about once or twice a year, and I made sure I had performance opportunities. I played concertos with orchestras and I did occasional concerts with Offspring when I could. I think that was just enough to keep my face known and my name known, and I think that was important because you don't really want to disappear off the face of the earth for seven years.' Claire's current involvements include a series of concerts with Ensemble Offspring which she is now co-directing with composer Damien Ricketson. Her collaborations also include a new percussion concerto Golden Kitsch by Elena Kats-Chernin for the Sydney Youth Orchestra, which Claire will premiere in July. And when it comes to maintaining her career in Europe, she is now trying to travel back there once a year or so to perform – not easily accomplished for a mother of a one-year-old baby girl. She has just recently returned from a series of concerts in the Netherlands – solo performances as well as with various ensembles, her Antipoduo partner, violinist Sarah Oates and her Duo Vertigo counterpart Niels Meliefste. A more recent collaboration is her duo work with the Australian pianist Bernadette Balkus. This has prompted her to think once again what collaborations really are about. 'I used to think it was important to keep finding people to collaborate with who were interested in contemporary music – that's one thing. But almost more important than that is that you just have to have a personal bond with them, and a feeling when you play together and then you can find pieces that you both like. Bernadette, she just has this thing where she listens so well and is so open that you don't even have to talk about it most of the time. It is not very often that you come across people like that. When you play with people like Bernadette, it's just amazing. Then you go back to the other sort of people that you don't necessarily have the bond with, and you realise how amazing the situation is, where you don't even have to talk about the music. I guess that is what string quartets often have.' 'At the end of the day you do find that your best collaborative relationships are often with people who you are close to on a personal level. For example, with the members of Ensemble Offspring: we are all very good friends and love playing together. It makes sense because music is an extension of your personality in a way, it's more than just how you play. The rehearsal rapport is extremely important - how you get along with each other on a personal level is at the core of it, you know!' "French Music Magazine" / "Australian Music Centre Magazine" / "Beyond the Premiere" Interview "French Music Magazine" 2005 I understand you started your studies in Australia. What was your 1st contact with percussion. I began playing music when I was 5 – on piano. It wasn’t until late primary school that I discovered the magical world of percussion. As I wanted to play with other musicians in wind ensembles and orchestras I decided to give percussion a go – I actually auditioned on piano when I was 10 (as I couldn’t play any percussion then) and they put me on the xylophone as they were low on people who wanted to play xylophone. I was the youngest in a group of teenage boys who liked to bash drums really loud – so I never got to play snare drum or timpani – only the “girly” instruments like xylophone and glockenspiel. When I was 18 and finishing high school I knew I wanted to become a professional musician so I decided to give percussion a go (even though I couldn’t really even play a snare drum roll at this stage) and I got into the Sydney Conservatorium Bachelor program! In my first year I worked very hard on the basics – 4 mallet technique on marimba, timpani and snare drum rolls and multiple percussion set-up pieces. I realised quite fast that in the world of percussion you have two styles of music – transcriptions and often quite “corny” music composed by percussionists for percussionists to play and listen to and then you have “contemporary” music. I was like most other students – I had almost only been exposed to classical piano music as well as tonal and tuneful wind band music, so my ears were not at all used to the often challenging world of contemporary music. Through a new music ensemble which I was asked to join in my second year at the conservatorium I grew to love contemporary music, realising that it had a lot more to offer me musically! To this day it is still my passion! I realise that not all audiences are often exposed to or even fond of contemporary music but I believe that through balanced programming as a soloist and chamber percussionist and musician, I can help to bring contemporary music to a wider audience. Somehow, because of its visual element, contemporary percussion music is I think, easier to digest for audiences. It is a slow process but I believe that people like to be aurally and visually challenged and that is what percussion offers. Why did you go to Holland? What kind of training were you looking for? What did you learn ? My passion for new music is what took me to Holland for my post-graduate studies. I knew that there was a lot of government support for the arts in The Netherlands and especially for contemporary music ensembles. Also because it is such a small country I knew that if I was based in a particular city I could always easily travel to other cities to attend concerts and even play in concerts and festivals. I initially decided to study at the Rotterdam Conservatorium. A lot of my Australian peers had chosen to study in Amsterdam and I wanted to try something new and different. Although the department itself was quite young I learnt a great deal from my teachers Richard Janson and Hans Leenders, which I will carry with me for the rest of my career. As well as being exposed to a huge amount of new music by both young and established Dutch composers and also having the opportunity to meet a lot of composers, I learnt a lot about performance technique and how to present myself on stage – this was invaluable to me. I had already won a competition in 1999 (directly prior to moving to Holland) in Australia called “Young Performers” which is like BBC Young Musician – a national instrumental competition. I guess I had a good basis of technique and a natural presence on stage but it was something I had never spent so much time dwelling on and it was amazing (and also quite alarming) to find how much more there was to learn in relation to communicating with an audience at the same time as being true to the music! I went on to be awarded first place in a percussion competition (2000 Tromp Concours) in Holland which led to some great performance opportunities in Europe, as well as the Llangollen International Instrumentalist in 2001. As well as boosting my confidence these competition wins meant some very good exposure in Holland and Europe and also helped financially whilst I was still studying. I went on in 2001 to spend the last two year’s of my Master’s degree at the Amsterdam Conservatorium. I wanted to stay in Holland and wanted to make the most of the fact that there were still several teaches who I felt I still had more to learn from in the Netherlands – in Amsterdam I studied with Peter Prommel, Jan Pustjens and Nick Woud. I graduated with honours in 2003. What groups (orchestras, quartet, duo...) you enjoy the most? Now my career involves a mixture of solo performances (recitals as well as concerto’s with orchestra), chamber music recitals and performances as a freelance artist with small contemporary music ensembles as well as symphony orchestras. I have formed some of my own ensembles – “Duo Vertigo”, a percussion duo with Dutch percussionist Niels Meliefste as well as a duo with oboe and a duo with violin. I play often with bass clarinettist Carlos Galvez as well as several amazing pianist – Nicolas Hodges (UK), Tomoko Mukaiyama (Japan) and Ralph van Raat (the Netherlands). I love the one on one contact of small chamber music ensembles – every musician has his and her own input and the level attained can be extremely high. Plus of course you are not the only one carrying around your percussion instruments (which is certainly the case as a soloist!) – this is a huge practical bonus! In the summer I will record “The Axe Manuel” by Sir Harrison Birtwistle with Nicolas Hodges on the label Metronome Recordings Limited. We peformed the UK premiere and will make the premiere recording of this fantastic piece by a living master of comtemporary music! I understand you are playing today’s composers. Would you like to talk about some of them? Other composers whose percussion and ensemble music I love to play include Iannis Xenakis, Luciano Berio, Franco Donatoni, Pierre Boulez and some of the music of Karlhienz Stockhausen (but not all!). As far as Dutch and Australian composers go I have close collaborations with a lot of the younger, up and coming composers who have written me pieces which are now a part of my repertoire. These composers include (from Australia) - Dominik Karski, Damien Ricketson, Mary Finsterer and Kate Neal and from the Netherlands, Rozalie Hirs, Michel van de Aa, Yannis Kyriakides and Richard Rijnvos. Are you teaching percussion? I don’t have a regular position teaching in a conservatorium yet (as I only graduated myself in 2003) BUT I would very music like to hold such a position soon! I feel that I have a lot to offer in regards to marimba technique, performance technique and a vast knowledge of repertoire. I now have some young private students and get a lot of pleasure out of teaching! Do you have some other interests beside the percussion you would like to talk about? It is difficult when you are a busy freelance percussionist to have time to spend on your other interests. I find that I am either completely stressed out and racing around with no time to practise let alone spend time with my boyfriend and other friends or I am sitting around wondering why the phone is not ringing (although the latter does not happen so often anymore). It is definitely hard to lead a balanced life style when you are travelling a lot. Having to organise and move instruments and every week is different but I do love to cook (from Australian cookbooks) when I have time and I also love to swim and watch good movies – the simple things in life. When I am in Australia my favourite thing is to lie on the beach all day and swim in the surf and then have a fresh salad at a laid back café by Bronte beach in Sydney. The lifestyle in Australia is amazing! Article "Australian Music Centre Magazine" by Claire Edwardes 2004 I originally moved to the Netherlands on a Dutch NUFFIC scholarship which funded my first years of postgraduate percussion study at the Rotterdam Conservatorium. I left Australia almost the day after winning Young Performers in 1999. I can honestly say that at the time I was quite aware of the younger as well as the more established composers in Australia (through my time at the Sydney Conservatorium and being involved in the founding of Ensemble Offspring) but as far as ever having commissioned a work or taking any really assertive measures towards stimulating or becoming deeply involved in the scene on a personal level, I had little idea where to begin. Obviously this had a lot to do with age (or lack thereof) as well as respect in the (Australian) musical community. I feel that finally these two aspects are beginning to develop as my career develops (although I could never say that I am overjoyed about the former). I believe very strongly in now attempting to use my experience in Europe and the fact that I am passionate about solo and chamber performance art. By commissioning new works for the ever-growing medium of percussion from Australian composers, I aim to include some of them in my "basic repertoire" and therefore perform them wherever I have the opportunity to, "overseas". This is already true of the music of young composers like Damien Ricketson and Domink Karski. I am still very much in touch with a lot of Australian composers and I am actively commissioning from my base in the Netherlands (with regular trips back to Australia). I often include classics of the repertoire as well as new works (often premieres) in my concerts as a part of a varied program. If the composition is strong, original and for a manageable set-up, I will try to include it (as much as possible) in my programming. I hope that by putting, for example, composers like Maria Grenfell and Jane Stanley alongside more world-famous composers such as Arvo Part and Iannis Xenakis in a program in the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam (as I recently did), Australian composers are given greater exposure that is wholly deserved. Often the rhythmic vigour and the optimistic and even light-hearted character of the “classic” Australian sound (especially found in the percussion music of Ross Edwards, Gerry Brophy and Peter Sculthorpe), excites the audience resulting in a really warm reaction to the music. Maybe it is just coincidence, but there seem to be a lot of exciting young Australian female composers emerging at the moment – Kate Neal, Kate Moore, Katy Abbott and of course Mary Finsterer, Elena Kats-Chernin and Liza Lim. I am by no means a feminist but, being a female, I am an obvious advocate of women in music. I actively pursue commissions and performances of works by women whose work I find inspiring! I hope, one day soon to return to Australia as an active musician. Whilst I am based in Europe though I plan to continue to include and advocate the Australian “voice” in my music making!
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