Claire Edwardes
Percussion 
|
|
|
CLAIRE EDWARDES
|
ARTICLES "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!
For More Information Contact: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
