Slagwerkfestival 2009
The clock has just passed ten when Filippo Lattanzi and Svet Stoyanov kick off the Adams Percussion Festival with their marimba workshops. It marks the beginning of an engaging but above all educational day. A wide range of activities is offered for both beginner amateur musicians, conservatory students, and professionals. "You're never too good to keep learning," says Svet Stoyanov during his workshop.
His session focuses on horizontal and vertical time, balance points, phrasing, and mallet selection. How can I do more with the notes I study? Meanwhile, in another room, the Italian Filippo Lattanzi addresses more fundamental topics, teaching essential techniques that must be mastered before advancing further. He leads the marimba workshop for beginners. Afterward, both gentlemen take plenty of time to answer participants' personal questions in depth.
By then, the second round of workshops has started. The concert percussion workshop led by none other than Vincent Cox is extremely popular. The percussionist of the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra gives a captivating 90-minute presentation, demonstrating through exercises how small adjustments in hand position can make a significant difference in interpreting music. He emphasizes that as an orchestral percussionist, you often have a supporting role and need to think like a "wind player" or "string player." With several examples, he illustrates his points.
Later in the day, it’s the turn of Vincent's colleague, Paul Jussen, the principal timpanist of the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, to lead a timpani workshop. “Unlike the percussionist, the timpanist has a leading role in the orchestra,” explains Jussen. Using an étude by Nick Woud, Paul shares his insights. He begins with tuning the timpani, having participants sing intervals and stressing the critical importance of this skill for all timpanists. During the workshop, Paul invites participants to play and provides corrections and tips. The results are immediately noticeable, and when Paul himself picks up the mallets, smiles of admiration spread across the faces in the room.
Amid the educational moments, there’s also plenty of time for music appreciation. WMC competitors Concordia Obbicht and Soli Deo Gloria each perform an extensive concert, showcasing their repertoire as they prepare to compete for the world title in Kerkrade this summer. Both percussion ensembles demonstrate how diverse the percussion repertoire has become today, presenting two entirely different programs with a wide array of instruments.
The two concerts are separated by a lunchtime performance from Rafael Lukjanik and his Modern Classix Ensemble.
The 2009 Percussion Festival concludes with a concert by the Adams Percussion Group. The musicians were brought together for a performance celebrating the opening of a new theater in Bari, Italy. Their program is modern in style, with “Persephassa” by Iannis Xenakis as a standout composition. In this piece, six percussionists are positioned in a circle around the audience, dispersed throughout the hall. Svet Stoyanov explains that the piece is all about imagination, playing on the spatial qualities of sound. From each position in the hall, the composition is experienced differently.
With a massive crescendo, the Adams Percussion Festival 2009 comes to an end. See you next year!
