45th International Viola Congress 2018

Welcome Speech Karin Dolman
Welcome Speech Carlos Maria Solare on behalf of IVS
Welcome Speech Kristofer Skaug

For most violists, 1919 brings to mind three-large-scale masterpieces for viola and piano that were written that year: Ernest Bloch’s Suite, Rebecca Clarke’s Sonata, and Paul Hindemith’s Sonata, op. 11, no. 4. The first two of these works owe their existence to the Berkshire Festival of Chamber Music Competition, established by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, an amateur pianist and lover of chamber music. Coolidge is remembered as one of America’s great patrons of music, commissioning a number of renowned chamber works, including Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring, Béla Bartók’s fifth string quartet, Anton Webern’s String Quartet, Sergei Prokofiev’s first string quartet, and Igor Stravinsky’s Apollon musagète. But her first major contribution to chamber music started one hundred years ago, with the organization of the first Berkshire Festival in 1918.

While Mrs. Coolidge solicited the popular medium of the string quartet for the first Berkshire  competition, she demonstrated her progressive nature with the selection of viola and piano as the medium for the second competition. Coolidge consequently became the catalyst for the composition of seventy-two new works that were entered into the 1919 competition, and she specifically encouraged both Bloch and Clarke to compose their winning works. But what of the other seventy works entered into the competition? The conditions of entry deemed that the works would remain anonymous, and though lists have survived naming entrants for other years of the Berkshire competition, the entrants for 1919 have remained lost to history. But violists have continued to speculate about what works might have been entered (particularly wondering whether Hindemith’s opus 11, no. 4 sonata one of them).

This panel will take a lecture-recital format divided into two parts. The first part will provide biographical information on Coolidge and details about the six Berkshire Festival Competitions with a focus on the 1919 competition (including conditions of the contest, the jury, and known details about the judging process). Panelists will also discuss the effect that the competition had on the development of viola repertoire and the careers of the two winners as well as the stylistic features of each winning work and the influences that shaped them. The second part will examine select works for viola and piano, evaluating the likelihood of their being entered into the competition based on a number of factors, including date of composition, the composer’s relationship with Coolidge, and whether the composer was known to have entered any other relevant competitions around the same time. Excerpts from several works will be performed, some for the first time in modern history (if not the first time ever), fulfilling the IVC theme of Exploring New Ways to Perform by highlighting unknown works. Panelists may also speculate on how individual judges voted during the 1919 competition and whether Hindemith’s opus 11, no. 4 sonata was entered into the competition.

Excerpts from the following works will be performed:

William Henry Reed: Rhapsody for viola and piano
Granville Bantock: Sonata for Viola and piano
Karel Boleslav Jirák: Sonata for viola and piano, op. 26
Francesco Pratella: Sonata for viola and piano, op. 23
Andrew Braddock, viola

Christian Geisler: Sonata for Viola and Piano
Domenico Brescia: Sonata for Viola and Piano, “Work and Trust”
Richard H. Walthew: Serenade Sonata in f minor
Katrin Meidell, viola

Joseph Ryelandt: Sonate alto et piano, op. 73.
Arthur Foote: Sonata for viola and piano, op. 78A
Marcelle Soulage Sonate pour piano et alto, op. 25
Hillary Herndon, viola

Arthur Honegger: Sonate pour alto et piano
K. Dorothy Fox: Sonata for Viola and Piano, op. 7
Gustav Strube: Sonata for Viola and Piano
Daphne Gerling, viola

Wei-Chun Bernadette Lo,  piano

Viola Masterclass with Lawrence Power

Students:
Julien Praud: Forsyth concerto, 2nd mvt.
Martin Moriarty: Bowen concerto op.25, 1st mvt.
Dagmar Korbar: Reger solo suite no.1, Molto sostenuto

Pianist: Daniël Kramer

In theatre hall:

Speech by Neil Wallace, programme director, De Doelen

Leo Samama: Viola Pomposa, for 6 violas (première)
Introduction by the Composer
Performance: A co-production of of the  Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and the
Radio Philharmonic Orchestra
Francien Schatborn, Frank Brakkee, Francis Saunders, Veronika Lenartova, León van den Berg, Lotte de Vries, Viola

Benjamin Dale - Introduction and Andante opus 5
Rotterdam Philharmonic Viola Ensemble
Leon van den Berg, Maartje van Rheeden, Francis Saunders, Kerstin Bonk, Jan Navarro and Veronika Lenartova

Presentation ThatViolaKid

In foyer:
Violin makers speech
Viola pitch
Toast

In this lecture, I would like to present my findings on how classical (viola) players can
improve their performance for YouTube. This is part of the artistic research I am
undertaking as part of my Masters at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague.
Performing for Youtube is different than live performances, where the audience is
present, or CD-recordings, where the performer and the audience cannot see each
other. Even though YouTube is used a lot by musicians, we do not often consider the
particulars of this new way to perform. In this talk, I will discuss how performance
aspects such as sound quality, camera angles and the presence of a live audience in
the recording influence the performer-audience relationship.
Since YouTube was first introduced as a video-sharing platform in 2005, it has
quickly become a part of classical musicians’ daily life and practice. Musicians use
YouTube when learning new repertoire, for inspiration, to see masterclasses or to listen
to music. It is also a way to share our own performances, with the world or even just
with a single teacher. Sharing footage of performances online can be fun, scary, but
also practical or even a requirement for auditions. YouTube offers entrepreneurial
opportunities, such as creating revenue through YouTube itself or using videos to
promote other outlets, such as CDs or live concerts. However, from an artistic
perspective, the 'success' of a performance is qualified by the performer-audience
relationship.
A rising awareness of the performer-audience relationship is connected to the
'performative turn' in art, viewing classical concerts as an 'event' instead of an artefact.
Contemporary performance theory, based on the work of performance scholars and
musicologists such as Nicholas Cook and Philip Auslander, provides a framework for
this research.
In this lecture, I will show examples from several YouTube channels, showing the
different possibilities and results. This analysis will focus on the audio and video quality,
camera use and the setting of the performance (live concert/auditorium/living room
etc.). This will be combined with my own videos, in which I am experimenting with the
outcomes of my research. I will then provide practical advice for viola players who
would like to upload their own material to YouTube .

proposal ref.: 108

Slow Dancing: Poetry and Bach
Christine Rutledge, Professor of Viola, University of Iowa

For over 40 years I have been fascinated, almost obsessed, with the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, a composer who died almost 300 years ago. His music was so great that it transcends any notion that it was written in a style that died and was replaced by something newer, more modern, or “better.” I suppose that is the case with any great art, and is why it is considered “great.”

I regularly perform Bach’s music, especially his solo cello suites and solo violin works, and have done extensive research on the solo cello and violin works. This research has contributed greatly to my interpretations. But my performances have been presented quite traditionally. Now I am ready to take Bach’s music into a more abstract place, one that can reach listeners in more immediate and visceral ways, ways that will inspire them to think about Bach and music differently.

This approach to performance is part of my quest to take “classical” music out of the blue-haired realm in a truly meaningful way – not by pandering or “dumbing-it-down,” which I believe only makes the problems of elitism in classical music worse. Many musicians are now considering similar approaches in their programming, and it is about time!

"Slow Dancing" is a collaborative, interactive performance that intersperses slow dance movements by Bach with newly written poetry or words that are inspired by the music and the composer– the sound, the tonal colors, the visual aspect of the music itself, the textures, Bach’s life, or any aspect of the music or composer that inspires the writer. There are really no boundaries; the music itself has enough of those.

I have commissioned poets in the Detroit (Michigan) area, which has a thriving poetry community as well as being my hometown. The program will be performed in the fall of 2018 in Detroit with all of the poets reading their poems. For the Congress performance I plan on reciting the poetry myself, but may have a reader.

The program, though, is intended to be flexible and “portable,” and can be performed in many different ways. Examples could be: have a reader recite the poetry; have school children read the poetry; perform in prisons and youth centers; pretty much anything that could make the experience meaningful and reach people from diverse and unexpected backgrounds.

Excerpts from the following Bach music are considered :

• From the 6 Suites for Solo Cello
    o Sarabande from Suite No. 2
    o Sarabande from Suite No. 3
    o Sarabande and Allemande from Suite No. 6
• From the Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin
    o Sarabanda from Partita No. 2
    o Loure from Partita No. 3
    o Siciliana from Sonata No. 1
• From the Suite for Solo Flute
    o Sarabande

1) Bowen Pieces for Viola and Piano (25' )
Bowen - Melody for the G string
Bowen - Piece in E-flat for viola (unpublished)
Bowen -  Romance in D-flat
Bowen - Phantasy
Yue Yu viola, Anthony Hewitt, piano

2) ESMAE Viola Ensemble, Porto (Portugal): (30' )
The Influence of Lionel Tertis in emergence of repertoire for Viola in England at the century XX
Including the following repertoire performed by the ensemble:
Tertis: Three Sketches
Tertis: Sunset
Tertis: Hier au Soir
Tertis: Passacaglia from Suite No. 7
(all arrangements made by Buga Lopes)

Programme Notes:
The Bowen recital highlights some of York Bowen's lesser known works for viola and piano. In particular the short but surprising Piece in E-flat has remained unpublished to this date.

The students of ESMAE present the influence of Lionel Tertis (1876-1975) on the emergence of viola repertoire in the 20th century. A brief biographical context of the English musician is presented, where some aspects of his life connected with the appearance of outstanding works are shown, for his musical career as well as for the repertoire of the instrument.

Ensemble of the Viola faculty and students of the Amsterdam Conservatory,

Programme:

Maurice Horsthuis: Cohort, viola’s only (8’27’’)

Max Knigge: Achille, Ajax & Moi (2008), opus 4
- an imaginary ballet for solo viola & viola orchestra
 1. Introduction: They call me....
 2. Hospitalier accueil chez Menelas
 3. Intermezzo
 4. Hommage: Zonnewende (Kurtág-Kurtág)
 5. Premier Rêveur: Poseidon
 6. Deuxième Rêveuse: Calypso
 7. Pas de deux: Menelas & Agamemnon
 8. Korvai: Achille, Ajax & Moi
 9. Troisième Rêveuse: La Mer

Solo viola in Knigge: Takehiro Konoye
Conductor: Max Knigge

Viola 1:
Richard Wolfe (*), Sergio Montero del Pozo, Audinga Musteikyte, Tzu Chi Pan, Blanca Sellars, Liselot Blomaard
 
Viola 2:
Francien Schatborn (*), Dagmar Korbar (solo 2 in Knigge), Rita Proenca, Barbara da Souza, Alkistis Misouli, Seamus Hickey
 
Viola 3 in Horsthuis, Viola 4 in Knigge:
Marjolein Dispa (*), Hessel Moeselaar (improvisation solo in Knigge), Lotte Grotholt, Duleen van Gunsteren, Nils Joachim Jones, Elisa Misas Santos,  Arina Kuchmina
 
Viola 4 in Horsthuis, Viola 3 in Knigge:
Minna Svedberg (solo 3 in Knigge), Julien Praud, João Abreu, Lilian Haug, Lea van der Heijden,  Daniel Alves da Silva

 (*) Faculty

1. "Old wine, new bottles"
Hsiaopei Lee (viola), Chih-Chen Wei (composer)
Repertoire: Going Nowhere, Being Nobody (world première)

2. "From seed to première"
Anna Pelczer (viola) and Yoshiaki Onishi (composer)
Repertoire: (IV) "Betwixt-times" from Les six aspects du néant (Six aspects of nothingness) (world première)

This unique Lecture-Recital features two young composers and their collaboration with two young violists. Their works will be world premiered at this occasion. The Talk Show in the Theatre foyer, immediately following this session, will further elaborate and discuss the topic of composing for the viola.

Program Notes: 

Chih-Chen Wei:
Humming a single and simple melody might be a relaxing and enjoyable moment for everyone. No matter whether she or he is a musician or not. However, creating an original and meaningful melody
might be difficult for most of us.
Composition is very interesting but also very painful for me. When I first studied composition in college, I dare to write a beautiful and singing melody. I was afraid that people would think I don’t know how to compose. It seemed that we, as a composer student, had to write something very difficult and something people don’t understand, so they would think I was a good composer student.
However, this thought was completely changed after I went to Los Angeles in United States. This lecture-recital will talk about how I use simple, beautiful, tonal melodies and folk songs, in my composition. As regards the title to this abstract, “Old Wine” could be related to folk song and old melodies. “New Bottle” will represent a new composition. Using folks are one of the resources for composers. “How to restore ancient ways” and “how to rebirth oldness” are the ways to give the folks a new life. This is a 20-minute single piece, and it presents how I mixed my own composition and a 11-measure folk song. I will perform the entire piece at the end of this lecture. This will be a world premiere for this piece.

Anna Pelczer:
As a violist committed to the music of today, I collaborate with contemporary composers in order to develop new works to expand the standard repertoire. In contemporary music practice, often, composers and performers collaborate only for one single piece and for a short period of time. As a contrast, I propose a lecture-recital with my collaborator, composer Yoshiaki Onishi, that features one successful example of a collaborative model for performers and composers that already spans over a decade. In the first part, we will jointly present our working process that that culminated in Le quatrième pressentiment, a piece for viola solo that I commissioned him to compose. In particular, we will demonstrate in a detailed and transparent manner, the elements of collaboration required to achieve the musical result that that we mutually desired. In the second part, I will give the world premiere of the work.
I first met composer Yoshiaki Onishi during university where we were both working towards a Master’s Degree at the Yale School of Music. From the beginning, I found the unique sound of his compositions particularly intriguing and convincing – there was an authenticity and honesty to his music, rather than just being demonstrative and predictable.

In my own study of the viola, I wanted to be convinced by and be convincing in my playing, so I found a kindred spirit in Yoshi’s compositions even before we became collaborators. A free afternoon in April of 2007 confirmed my impression and has served as the basis for much of my motivations for becoming a performer and professional musician since.

On this day, Yoshi asked if I would consult on a potential composition for strings. As a proficient clarinetist, he was intimately aware of the capabilities of wind instruments, but the idea of extending playing techniques for strings required a colleague who could honestly evaluate and productively inform him on his ideas. We spent over three hours in a music school studio, starting with traditional technique and its ranges, and then testing and experimenting with the instrument as a blank canvas. Some suggestions were humourous, some proved to be more effort than payoff – but others were surprisingly successful, creating even sounds normally associated with non-musical contexts. Then came the process of creating a notation for this new language – Yoshi was very open to my suggestions, inventing straightforward symbols to represent the new effects we were discovering. I recently found out that the recordings we made ten years ago are still being used as the reference for Yoshi’s compositions, a fact I find very flattering and at the same time, rather unsurprising, since our work was so through. At this meeting, Yoshi and I discussed collaborating on a piece together – after ten years of personal and professional development, our situations have finally aligned to allow for its creation.

My development as a violist began like that of many others – finding the cello unwieldy, my parents gifted me with a violin whose study occupied me into my university years. In my development as a musician however, I became increasingly aware of an indescribable discontent – what was available from the instrument was ever more misaligned with my potential artistic inclinations. A lucky misunderstanding led to a sudden exposure to the viola, and through intense and concentrated study, I grew to realise the potential of this voice and my possible role in its promotion. The viola became a vehicle for adventure, and I was taught to explore it for its own identity and voice, rather than as a point of comparison to its instrumental cousins. With this approach, it was possible to find a convincing character for the viola itself through self-reference and exploration, rather than mimicking the familiar or expected sounds of a violin or a cello. A curiosity for the possible led me to a multi-faceted study of the instrument, including training in baroque playing, improvisation, and popular styles, in addition to a continuing advocacy of classical music through collaboration with living composers on pieces written exclusively for the viola.

Programme:

1) Sinfonia Concertante KV 364 for Violin, Viola and Orchestra,
      W. A. Mozart (1756-1791)

2) Sinfonia Concertante KV Anh. 104 (320e) for Violin, Viola, Cello and Orchestra,
      W. A. Mozart (1756-1791) / A. Solbiati (1956)

Daniela Macchione, musicologist and speaker
Alessandro Solbiati, composer
Gianluca Saggini, viola; Daniele Orlando violin solo;  Giulio Ferretti cello solo

This session starts with a Lecture which will be addressing the scordatura as a resource for players and composers, and will be delivered by the musiologist Daniela Macchione (historical perspective), the violist Gianluca Saggini (performer’s perspective) with the participation of Alessandro Solbiati, the Italian composer who was commissioned by “I Solisti Aquilani” to make a completion – more than a simple reconstruction – of Sinfonia Concertante KV Anh. 104 (320e). The recital will feature Saggini on the mistuned viola, together with the “I Solisti Aquilani” orchestra and its violin and cello soloists, playing Mozart’s KV 364 and the completed first movement of KV Anh. 104. The ensemble adopts classic bows and a pitch adjusted on 432Hz.

I Solisti Aquilani was founded in 1968. The ensemble comprises high-calibre musicians with
interchangeable roles so to enable them to perform extremely demanding and virtuosic works.
Their repertoire embraces a wide range of musical epochs, from the Baroque to the
contemporary.
I Solisti Aquilani have established themselves to be one of the most prestigious chamber orchestras in Italy. Through his 50 years career I Solisti Aquilani have made numerous highly-praised tours in Europe, the Middle and Far East, Africa and America. They have played in the best concert halls in Central and South America, Austria, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Ireland, Lebanon, Malta, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, USA, Yugoslavia, Esthonia, Lithuania, Vietnam, Singapore, Kazakhstan.  During last year they played in Berliner Philharmonie, Strasbourg - Cité de la musique, Milan -Auditorium Cariplo, Rieti - Teatro Flavio Vespasiano.

As viola educationalist in Stanislaw Moniuszko Academy of Music in Gdansk, currently I am ending my PhD on Questions of Performance and Interpretation. Regarding Selected Viola Works: Fyodor Druzhinin’s 1959 Sonata for Viola Solo and Mieczysław Weinberg’s 1982 Sonata for Viola Solo No.3, Op.135, which I`m planning to finish in March 2018. I would like to share knowledge and performance experience on the 45th International Viola Congress in Rotterdam 2018.

The lack of an autograph manuscript for Bach’s Cello Suites presents performers with a puzzling question: which edition should I use? Answer: your own! By studying the five original sources in facsimile, every violist can create their own edition, and can themselves become the “Sixth Source”. This process helps all performers to form a deeper connection to the music. In this session, I will present my method for developing one’s own edition, and show the myriad musical benefits learned from this intimate engagement with Bach’s masterpieces.

This project is necessary because the autograph manuscript of the suites is lost, so there exists no definitive source to which performers can refer. Instead, the closest sources available are four copyists’ manuscripts and the first published edition. The lack of a single definitive source explains the proliferation of published editions: over 100 for cello and over 20 for viola. While many of these editions are valuable, they all represent one person’s individual perspective.

This sheer number of editions can seem daunting to someone approaching the suites for the first time. Instead of evaluating the hundreds of published editions, a more engaging and exciting alternative exists: creating your own edition. I have developed a method which streamlines the process of comparing and evaluating the sources. My method enables violists to look for similarities across sources while also discovering the unique aspects of each. Additionally, this process allows for the incorporation of the performer’s own opinion and preference, based on a thorough and informed consideration of the sources.

This session closely aligns with the IVC’s theme, part 2: “Exploring unusual and different ways of performing canonical repertoire.” Anyone who embarks on this study will gain a unique and individual perspective to these beloved works, in addition to other widespread benefits. First, they will have their own edition of the suites for personal and professional use. Second, by its very nature, the close analysis involved in this project will give violists a deeper understanding of these works than if they had simply learned the notes from a published edition. Finally, they will experience the practical, performance-oriented results of manuscript study, which can serve as an easy and hands-on introduction to this field of musical study.

In this session, I will describe the need for this study, share my method through images and a PowerPoint presentation, discuss its benefits, and share practical troubleshooting advice.

The Well-Tempered Viola - Sounds from Middle and South America

Rafael Díaz - Enojado Allá Arriba, for amplified viola
   (English Title: “Will There be Someone Whose Hands Can Sustain This Falling?”)
Georgina Isabel Rossi viola

Modesta Bor - Sonata for viola and piano
Beatriz Lockhart - Capricho Montevideano for viola and piano
Orquídea Guandique-Araniva viola, Fernando Zuñiga-Chanto piano

Juan Esteban Cuacci  - Cromado
Cromado 1    
Loquedia 1    
Cromado 13    
Sheska        
Cromado 7    
Gato Sueco    
Silvina Alvarez viola, Juan Esteban Cuacci piano

Programme Notes:

Rafael Díaz (composition faculty, Universidad de Chile), is an ethnomusicologist whose compositions live and breathe the language and song of Andean indigenous culture. His writing is a rare exhibit of a sincere and familiar pining for communication. The piece "Enojado Allá Arriba" makes use of amplification and noticeable reverb to generate the effect of a lone voice calling out from a mountain-top. The poetic tunes are idiosyncratically expressed through the teeth of tremolando or  bird-like continuous trilling.

Modesta Bor was a Venezuelan composer and studied composition in Caracas with Vicente Emilio Sojo, graduating in 1959, and later, studied with Khachaturian at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory (1960-62).
The Sonata for viola and piano was composed in 1960 according with her first compositional period, embedded with the nationalistic movement of her time.

Beatriz Lockhart is and Uruguayan composer. She studied in Uruguay with Carlos Estrada and Héctor Tosar. From 1969 to 1970 she attended the Di Tella Institute in Buenos Aires to study composition and electronic music with Ginastera, Gandini and Kroepfl. During that period, she wrote orchestral, chamber and piano works, and electronic music.

Georges Enescu (arr. for viola by E. Goldstein)
>  Violin sonata no. 3
Arthur Benjamin (arr. William Primrose):
 >  From San Domingo - Mattie Rag - Jamaican Rhumba

Programme Notes:
In this new transcription for viola and piano, Enescu’s 3rd violin sonata was met with critical acclaim at Bucharest’s Atheneum in November 2017. This program also features lesser-known works by Arthur Benjamin arranged by William Primrose, including unpublished compositions only available in manuscript form.

Master Class: Pièces de Concours
Jutta Puchhammer: Firket Concertino

Students:
Yuxin Chen:  Rougnon - Allegro Appassionato
Jonas Meenderink:  Grovlez Romance, Scherzo et Finale

Caecilia Boschman, IVC PIanist

Scenes from Shakespeare's "Romeo & Juliet" by actors,
accompanied by Prokofiev's "Romeo & Juliet" suite viola/piano (arr. Borisovsky);
Actors and Viola students from Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
Anthony Hewitt, piano

Students from Royal Birmingham Conservatoire will perform selected movements from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet arranged by the great Russian violist Vadim Borisovsky. Birmingham is close to Stratford-upon-Avon, a medieval market town in England’s West Midlands and the birthplace of William Shakespeare. The close geographical proximity of these two places, intrinsically links them and for this reason we feel a representation of the Bard’s famous tragedy is a challenge especially suited to our department. However, this will be a performance with a difference.  Actors will narrate our performance, punctuating the music with spoken excerpts from Shakespeare’s play to create a truly immersive experience.

The theme of the 2018 congress; Exploring New Ways to Perform will be wholly represented in this recital which will not only see an orchestral masterpiece reduced to a duo but a ballet transformed to a dramatic presentation combining word and music. This performance demonstrably relates to the first two specified points on the call for proposals: 1. Exploring how to create and/or reach more diverse audiences and 2. Exploring unusual and different ways of performing canonical repertoire.

This lecture  could be subtitled: ways to find a deeper artistic understanding of the music to be performed, by means of psychological theories, methods and notions. Because there is such a great amount to tell about this subject, it will generally be done here with a bird’s-eye view. You will learn about a few useful theories that were developed by psychologists; besides this you will hear about emotional, physical and cognitive changes while playing and also about exploring compositions in (more) psychological
ways.

This lecture will feature a dialog between violists Dr. Rebecca Glass and Ms. Kathryn Lowman
about the unique tools and techniques that Dr. Glass, a blind violist, has acquired for
performance. We will discuss her tools for memorization, artistic expression and how her lack
of sight of the printed edition propels her artistic freedom.
Dr. Glass recently became the first blind student to receive a terminal degree in string
performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music. In order to complete this remarkable
accomplishment, Dr. Glass performed in the CIM orchestra, chamber ensembles and has given
many solo recitals. In learning the repertoire required to achieve such a feat, she has developed
a unique method of large-scale memorization that has allowed her to quickly absorb and
interpret the most challenging works of our viola repertoire. Because memorization is required
as the first step of learning new repertoire for the blind, Dr. Glass must make musical decisions
at the very onset of her learning process. Contrary to the majority of professional musicians, all
of these advanced artistic decisions are made without the visual influence of the printed edition.
The discussion will address a variety of questions including:

• Can the lack of a printed part help us in forming musical decisions?
• How does one go about structuring phrases without the minute details provided in the score?
• What variety of outside recordings should be consulted at the onset of learning a new piece?
• As pedagogues, how can we encourage our students to develop their own voice through auditory learning?
• For performers, what is the most effective form of long-term memorization?
• At what stage of learning should sighted players begin memorization?

Through this lecture we hope to highlight key skills that Dr. Glass has acquired and translate
them to the sighted player. By making the argument that every performer's learning process,
whether visual or auditory, carries with it certain unavoidable pitfalls, our goal is to encourage
musicians to reexamine their own procedure to see beyond the barline in performance practice.

This presentation will focus on what neuroscientists have discovered about how our brains learn and how
to apply these insights to practicing and teaching so that practicing becomes more efficient and effective,
leading to enhanced performance ability, enjoyment, and confidence. The presentation is divided into five
different sections, starting with the basics of how the brains learns, and an explanation of why the popular
practice method of “start at the beginning and play until you make a mistake” is so detrimental to actual
improvement and consistency.

Alternative methods of practice are offered that are rooted in scientific understandings how our brains learn and solidify new skills and information. The next section, on interleaved versus blocked practicing, addresses how to prepare most successfully for performance situations and how to alleviate the common wish that one could get a second chance after a concert or audition. The third section looks how to use a metronome most effectively to improve steadiness and sense of pulse. The brain behaves in a fundamentally different way when the metronome is off versus when it is on, so the standard way of using the metronome will not be effective in improving sense of pulse. After this, the presentation looks at the research on the importance and benefit to sleep in learning, especially when learning new skills and material.

Finally, it concludes with a look at mental practicing and the astounding ways this can actually change the very physical structure of the brain. Throughout the presentation, concrete, practical methods for utilizing this information in the practice room are given. This presentation relates to the theme of “exploring new ways to perform” because it will give violists new ideas on how to practice and prepare for performance. Although the information in this presentation is well-known in the scientific community, it is not all that well-known in the musical community. Most of our knowledge as musicians on how to practice has been handed down from teacher to student over many generations. As everything in our lives becomes more influenced by scientific insight, musicians should also seek to learn new ways of practicing and preparing for performance that are backed by scientific support.

Much of the standard viola repertoire is relatively recent, having been written mostly in the twentieth
century. The use of twentieth century compositional elements in the viola repertoire obliges viola
technique to include skills not addressed by standard etudes. Contemporary etudes focusing on these
skills are therefore essential to viola pedagogy, but such etudes are lesser known and are generally
under-utilized. By creating an online resource that organizes etudes by technique, they become more
accessible by student and professional violists alike.
My inspiration for building the "Etude Finder" is pedagogically-geared and comes from research on
knowledge organization and learning mechanisms. The National Research Council (USA) describes studies that demonstrate how experts organize their knowledge in a more concise manner than accomplished novices ("How People Learn", 2000). Their research suggests that "novices might benefit from models of how experts approach problem solving". Here, the development of a model of expert knowledge organization (an online database application) might help a viola student accurately and efficiently problem solve (choose an appropriate etude).
The initial design of the Etude Finder focused on the Kreuzter Etudes as a starting point. To reflect
characteristics of expert knowledge organization, the database uses no more than 4 hierarchical levels
(showing conciseness). Three books of viola etudes and one violin etude book have now also been
included in the Etude Finder: "Twelve Caprices for Viola" (Lillian Fuchs, 1950), "Viola Spaces:
Contemporary Viola Studies" (Garth Knox, 2009), "Rhythmical Studies for violin and piano" (Bohuslav
Martinu, 1932), and "Twenty Etudes for Viola" (Alfred Uhl, 1973). These were selected for their
exploration of technique skills relevant to twentieth century compositions, as well as for their availability.
My presentation will discuss: 1 -- research supporting the Etude Finder model, including characteristics of expert knowledge organization; 2 -- problems and resolutions encountered while building the Etude Finder; and 3 -- brief examples demonstrating the use of this resource to address technically challenging passages in three Canadian pieces: "Coriolis for viola and piano" (Allan Gordon Bell, 2003), "String Theory for viola and piano" (John Burge, 2011), and "Soulmate for solo viola" (Chan Ka Nin, 2001).

1)  Leo Smit (1900-1943): Viola concerto  (13' )
     Allegro ma non troppo - Lento - Allegro vivace
Ursula Skaug, viola solo
Tollens ensemble concducted by Marten Sijbrandij:
-  
2)  Mieczysław Weinberg (1919-1996): Sonata For Viola And Piano, op.28 (1945)
- Allegro, Allegretto, Adagio
Ásdís Valdimarsdóttir,  viola
Marcel Worms, piano

3) Dick Kattenburg (1920-1944): Sonata For Viola and Piano (1944) Allegro Moderato

4) Max Vredenburg (1904–1976): Lamento (1953),
    in memory of his sister who died in Auswitch.

Programme Notes:

Leo Smit (1900-1943) Viola concerto
Leo Smit, from a wealthy Portuguese-Jewish family, is considered one of the most talented composers of the first part of the 20th century. He studied piano and composition at the Amsterdam Conservatory with, among others, Bernard Zweers and Sem Dresden, and was the first laureate to graduate cum laude in 1924. He felt akin to French composers such as Ravel, Milhaud and Poulenc, but was also inspired by jazz. In 1927 he left for Paris. Via Brussels he returned to Amsterdam in 1937, now married to Lientje de Vries. His style is described as neoclassical with sometimes jazz influences, and sounds very French. In the viola concerto, influences of Hindemith in particular are noticeable. After the German invasion, it was gradually made impossible for him to work; yet he continued composing, and in February 1943 he wrote a beautiful sonata for flute and piano, two months before he and his wife were deported and killed in Sobibor on arrival (source: Leo Smit Foundation). His viola concerto consists of 3 movements:

In the orchestral introduction of the Allegro ma non troppo,  we are directly in French atmospheres. The soloist repeats and makes variations on the theme, after which the 2nd theme is started as a dialogue between orchestra and soloist. It gets faster and rougher, and then again the starting point. It ends up with a unison of the  starting theme with orchestra and soloist. A final solo, then a dry pizzicato ending.

The Lento is all about atmosphere and timbre. Although the harmonies are modern, the whole part breathes peace. There is a bit of melancholy, but no sadness. At the end of the movement the emotion seems to be increasing, but we return to the feeling of the beginning. It seems like a prayer in the evening sun in a summer valley.

The final movement Allegro Vivace is Introduced by pizzicati, then the vibrant solo theme. The orchestra follows the up and down motives until the cello section presents a rocking new theme, this time taken over by the viola. Time and again those four chords with fast runs in-between. A very virtuoso cadence, and an acceleration back to the starting theme in the orchestra, which returns with Rondo-like frequency, but more free of form and harmony than with Mozart or Rossini. Another short and virtuoso cadence, and suddenly it's all finished.

A brief summary of this black comedy; Abdul is a bank clerk with a deep hatred for his boss, devising an especially gruesome way to kill him. Finally he hits on the solution: death by modern music, deciding, “I will unlearn how to do everything I ever learned how to do on the viola”, “I will practice ‘anti-viola playing’ until my viola playing is so terrible it becomes lethal.” As the play goes on, increasing numbers of people die, each from a more ludicrous and hilarious cause than the previous, all triggered by the anti-viola playing. The soundtrack to Der Bratschenfimmel is horrifyingly bad playing of Hindemith’s own viola sonatas, to very amusing effect.
--
Paul Hindemith: a humorous, light-hearted composer who was also a radical playwright. Can it be true? Humour and Hindemith might not be synonymous in the popular imagination, but countless compositions, plays and artworks from his early years are testament to his mischievous and eccentric personality.
It seems surprising that his instrument of choice from the tender age of 24 was the viola. In the midst of a successful career as a solo, chamber and orchestral violinist, Hindemith served a mandatory period at the front during World War I, and almost immediately afterwards took the plunge and switched to the viola. It was a mere ten weeks before he began work on his first composition for the instrument, the Sonata op.11 no.4. Hindemith’s official public debut as a violist took place just a few months later in Frankfurt on 2 June 1919, in a concert dedicated solely to his own compositions, including his String Quartet op.10 with the Rebner Quartet and the premiere of his Viola Sonata op.11 no.4.

Violists will be familiar with several of Hindemith’s serious viola compositions from his early period: the two sonatas for viola and piano, op.11 no.4 (1919) and op.25 no.4 (1922), and the three sonatas for solo viola op.11 no.5 (1919), op.25 no.1 (1922) and op.31 no.4 (1923). His less serious compositional, literary and artistic pursuits from this time, however, are less familiar. The unknown treasure from this period is undoubtedly the play Der Bratschenfimmel (Viola Mania), the last of eight so-called Dramatic Masterworks written by Hindemith for his Urian Club between 1913 and 1920, intended for performance by Hindemith and his friends in their homes. In a letter to close friends on 28 December 1913 Hindemith wrote of the formation of the club, established solely for the performance of his Dramatic Masterworks, mentioning the members not by name but by nationality: ‘Three are Swiss and the rest German.’ Hindemith’s friend Albert Linder, a musically enlightened bank official who lived in Frankfurt, was certainly a member, and Der Bratschenfimmel is dedicated to him.

It is likely that Linder was a member of the club almost from the start, since one of the first plays, Der verschleierte Raub (The Veiled Robbery), dates from 1914 and features Linder in the lead role. Linder is in fact the dedicatee of three of Hindemith’s eight Dramatic Masterworks. The next play dedicated to Linder, Ein neues Traumspiel: Abdul Rednils Träumereien (A New Dream Play: Abdul Rednil’s Dreams) was written in 1916– 17. The protagonist is clearly named after Linder, whose nickname was ‘Abdul’, and whose surname spelt backwards is ‘Rednil’. This play re-enacts a quartet rehearsal that ends in a terrible fight and a collection of instruments being broken. The crazy scenes include the performers playing string quartets by a Russian composer in the music salon of Abdul’s wigwam and Queen Cleopatra arriving on an elephant. The play Winter (1919) recounts a Rebner Quartet rehearsal during a bitterly cold winter after World War I – and the bizarre events continue, as a picture of Brahms plummets to the floor and everyone except for Adolf Rebner (Hindemith’s violin teacher) ends up freezing to death.

It is thought that Der Bratschenfimmel was performed privately in one of the Urian Club members’ homes, but there is no extant documentation to confirm this. All eight Dramatic Masterworks focus either directly or indirectly on music, although none of the texts has a score. Under strict instructions from Hindemith, his Viola Sonata op.11 no.5 can be heard being performed appallingly throughout Der Bratschenfimmel.
The play is in four acts, with a quirky cast list and some truly bizarre settings, including a shop supplying articles of death, sales, procurement and advice (including testimonials from distinguished murderers); in front of the Affenstein (site of the old lunatic asylum); a room in Bornheim (known as the ‘Merry Village’ since it was in the red light district); and, last but not least, the toilet at the Cooperative Bank.

The main gist of the plot is that Abdul Linder, a dissatisfied, vengeful and not altogether sane bank official, concocts the elaborate and grotesque murder of his boss, the bank manager, by anti-viola playing – performing Hindemith’s own compositions so appallingly that the sound causes death to the listener. At various intervals throughout the play, heinous extracts from Hindemith’s Viola Sonata op.11 no.5 can be heard being scraped obsessively – these are Abdul’s crazed attempts to commit murder.

Act One begins with Abdul standing before a picture of his hated boss whining petulantly about his lot in life: ‘Thanks to the bank I am totally ill. I could leave. But then this play would not come to be written. Such a misfortune I must prevent. Abdul Linder – that’s me – remains alive. And desires to give Paul his chance to have his fling. My forbearance gives way to anger. My angelic patience and almost fairy-tale graciousness finally gives way. Long live vengeance!’ The act continues with Abdul seeking his perfect method of murder. When he finally stumbles upon an advertisement for 10,000 violas, divine inspiration takes over.

Act Two begins with Abdul standing in front of the old lunatic asylum pontificating on his chosen method for killing: ‘A terrible way to die – by “anti-viola playing”. I must practise till my fingers fall off; I must practise as long as it takes to unlearn the viola, until my skill has reached the point of absolute zero, and from this low point I must study anti-viola playing long enough to gain a superhuman perfection – only then can I attack my manager effectively. I must buy countless violas, for no one instrument can survive this manner of practising. A new one must replace it every half an hour.’ The remainder of the act reveals the extent of Abdul’s fixation with the task at hand as he cajoles, bullies and bribes various people to give him violas – a midwife, an old man, Julius Caesar and even a lady in the street with a viola case in her hand.

Act Three opens with Abdul talking to himself at home: ‘I want to be the anti-viola playing Paganini, even if my neighbours perish in droves in the process!’ He then talks joyfully about the wonderful violas he has acquired: ‘This one too is special; an Amati, costing 250 marks. Here is a Klotz. A credit to its maker and it costs almost as much as a pound of ham. That is only a selection. The pearl is undoubtedly the midwife’s viola.’

Abdul begins bumping off visitors, friends and even his cat with his appalling anti-viola playing, while exclaiming maliciously to all and sundry: ‘Here is something beautiful for you to hear: the latest sonata by my friend Paul Hindemith, who also wrote this thriller. With the help of this difficult piece I will become the greatest anti-viola player.’

In Act Four, Abdul stands laden with violas, music and a music stand in front of a toilet at the Cooperative Bank and recites a soliloquy:
‘What is life? A W.C.
Fate, making use of it, presses man
To its bright light and with clear eyes he sees
The wide basin of life spread out before him.
He plunges in with a bold leap,
Traversing the world impulsively.
Nevertheless life has but a short span.
Fate pulls the chain in question,
Death comes in the f

Presentatie Schoolproject "Ontdek de Altviool", met Letizia Sciarone en Ro Krauss

Kom 24 november 2018 om 9.30 uur naar de muziektheatervoorstelling Anders?! in het Hofpleintheater aan de Benthemstraat 13, Rotterdam.
Na de voorstelling kun je instrumenten uitproberen, zien hoe een altviool gebouwd wordt en nog veel meer.
Wil je alvast oefenen om mee te kunnen zingen, bekijk en beluister volgende linkjes:

Anders?! oefen video Je kunt het filmpje tussendoor stoppen en herhalen. Het duurt ongeveer 15 minuten waarbij de tekst rustig met pianobegeleiding wordt gezongen.
Anders?! concert uitvoering, bekijk en beluister hoe het lied in concertuitvoering wordt gespeeld en gezongen.

The repertoire for viola ensembles has always been a special field of interest within the Dutch Viola Society. The DVS Catalog for Viola Ensemble Music, available online, already lists nearly 700 works for 2-N violas (this was presented at the 44th IVC in Wellington, 2017).

In the context of IVC2018, a composition contest has been arranged, open to amateurs, (music) students and professionals alike. The challenge was to write new short pieces (max. 7 minutes’ length) for a quartet of four violas. Much to our surprise, at the closing date on October 15th, we had received more than 80 compositions from 27 different countries! So the jury, consisting of Leo Samama (chairman), Jeppe Moulijn and Mikhail Zemtsov, has a formidable task.

The winning composition in the student/professional category will receive a €500 prize.

Furthermore, the renowned Zemtsov Viola Quartet from The Hague, a unique family ensemble of violas, and anyway one of the rare “fixed formation” viola quartets in the world, will perform the two winning compositions during the award announcement ceremony on Saturday  November 24th.

VIOLA/PIANO MUSIC BY TURKISH COMPOSERS
Beste Tiknaz Modiri, viola
Caecilia Boschman, piano

Ekrem Zeki Ün (1910-1987): Yunus'un Mezarında (At the Tomb of Yunus)
Ayla Kocatürk (1976-): Bir Damla Yasemin (A Drop of Jasmine)
Betin Güneş (1957-): Beste
Melisa Uzunarslan (1985-): Sonat, 3. Bana... (To Me...), 4. Hasta... (Ill...)
Muammer Sun (1932- ): Köçekçe (a Turkish boy dance)

Total length: 25'
Proposal ref: RC117

1) Hillary Herndon, Jorge Variego and Matias Pedrana: 
Urban Haiku,  for viola, bass clarinet and bandoneon

2) Olivier Marin
Undō, composition for viola, electronic and video

Programme Notes:

Urban Haiku:
Urban haiku is a new work that places the viola in a new sonic environment. The piece incorporates elements of improvisation, characteristic textures of Argentinian tango featuring the sound of a viola that for moments becomes a hyper-instrument, enhanced by the power of the live electronics.
The piece is not a tango for viola, it is a suggestive work that is the result of the fusion of rustic urban sounds, melancholic bandoneón textures, with new soundscapes that involve the bass clarinet and the live electronics. Hillary, Matías and Jorge bring to this work their strengths from their fields of expertise. This new composition embeds chamber music excellence intertwined with traditional tango and new media.
The work fits the congress theme in two ways.  First, it presents the viola in a new compositional environment; the combination of the viola with bandoneón, bass clarinet and live computer electronics alone is a new ensemble never before explored.  Secondly, the exploration of new styles of playing combined with traditional textures of the Argentinian tango can reach a new audience of listeners.  The work can be equally at home in a concert hall as a milonga, the traditional home of the tango.

About Undō:
In Japanese, Undō means movement. After having created a show entitled «On the silk road» in which I incorporated «A String around autumn» by Toru Takemitsu (viola and piano) with musical haïku by Pierre Dutrieu (viola and voice), I studied more closely the Japanese haïku by Matsuo Bashõ, a great poet during the Edo era. I was inspired by a poem:

The autumn arrived
 coming to visit my ear
 a pillow of wind
Matsuo Basõ (1644-1695)
I’ve been fascinated by Japanese culture since I was initiated to martial arts. I even composed a few years ago a short work named Empi, for viola only, which was inspired by the movements of the Empi kata in karate. Undō is composed of fourth textures, first the soundtrack from my viola, second the ring bells from a sonogram analysis of the melodic sound of Iranian kamanche viola with the use of «AudioSculpt», and I finally used «Open-music» to recreate a harmonic texture. The chords thus created have been assigned to a midi instrument «Tubular Bells», which created these strange bells, sometimes with quarter of tones. Third, there are digital effects used at the same time in automation on pre-recorded tracks or controlled live with softstep; fourth, the viola sound with the written part which include several techniques of playing. The piece includes 3 scenes in Ableton-Live (A,B,C), which use different ways the digital processings. All is written down, the only part which includes improvisation is part B, but works like a pivot for the final theme. The initial harmonic and melodic material is quite modal and is inspired by pieces of the late Renaissance like Carlo Gesualdo. The contrapuntal and melodic part for «violas» contrasts with the intangible and clockwise movement of the bells. I wanted to bring together  the viola and the machine, earthly and digital time, ancient music and the «noise» of the ultra contemporary electronic music, and then to confuse the issue in the final part by bringing a bit of tonality and conferring a unifying role to the bells.

The video by Jullian Hoff, composer in digital arts, was pieced together from the music sheet. It explores the shock between two times since most of the shapes and the colors are from the patterns that Jullian calligraphed himself. We tried both alike to be thrifty in the material and tried to create a visual and musical space out of time.

Viola Masterclass with Kim Kashkashian, 
The repertoire is Kurtàg's "Signs, Games and Messages"
Selected students:  
Gonzalo Martin Rodriguez
Arttu Nummela

Seasoned viola Duo Black Büyü presents a world premiere commission at IVC Rotterdam 2018. Composed by violist Kellen McDaniel, Moonwalk is a new kind of work which pushes the boundaries of what two violists can do in concert. A semi staged piece, Moonwalk tells the story of an encounter in space between two travellers who overcome their differences through a shared affinity for the viola. Including elements of drama, dance, singing, electronics and more, Moonwalk charts an unforgettable journey demonstrating the power of the viola to help us overcome the distances between us and to bridge our cultural divides.   Watch the TRAILER here.

Black Büyü is a classical viola duo featuring Kardelen Buruk and Kellen McDaniel. With a diverse repertoire, rich in both contemporary and classical music, Black Büyü presents a one of a kind concert experience. Also composers and arrangers, Black Büyü is constantly adding new covers and original music to their show.

IVC2018 Viola Orchestra Performance
Marcin Murawski -  conductor

presentation That viola kid
presentation Viola made by the violin makers
Speech Carlos
Speech Kristofer
Handover for the next congress
Speech Boguslawa (TBC)