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What
often does not go to plan in a performance exam?
This is most usually the Technical Work Section of the exam as well as the List A section. Have you ever recalled a situation when you ask your student if he or she has practiced their scales at home? What we hear is ‘Yes I do’ but two weeks before the exam date we discover the naked truth that the student’s technical work is a disaster and that suddenly C major has two sharps! With most lessons lasting about 30 minutes we can be excused from not hearing every single scale, as it is a big task to check all scales with all the required articulations and in addition to listen to the other Lists as well. Time management is good for the lower grades but how about in Grades 5 or 6? There are many more important things apart from scales. Similar issues apply to the studies in List A, often because the student finds it boring to practice a study. How can we remedy this situation?
From my experience I observe that many students don’t sacrifice a second to think and they begin to play too fast with unfortunate consequences, causing many silly mistakes. Good luck! Michal Rosiak This article has appeared in the AMEB newsletter in 2009 Scherzo at the Australian Flute Festival3rd – 5th October 2009 You must admit, that was a wonderful and busy weekend! During these days my contentment has reached the top of my expectations. I had a truly fantastic chance to listen to my own compositions in a variety of performances. “Scherzo” – a compulsory piece for an ensemble competition has been performed a dozen times by competitors as well as by myself and KSHEMA Flutes and also by Fisenden Ensemble. Honestly.… it’s hard to describe the feeling surrounding me while listening to all of those performances. Every single one was different and showed how many ways of interpretation can be achieved. Each ensemble taking part in the competition presented a variety of styles, approach and understanding of Scherzo. The message coming from myself was simple: “Enjoy, have fun and let the audience join you!”.…And that was exactly what I heard! Thanks! As a tool performers used a whole bunch of articulations, surprising tempos, variety of colours and wonderful communication between themselves. However I can’t say that every performance was as good as required from the competition point of view. Being one of the adjudicators made me a bit schizophrenic, on one side listening as a composer and on the other as a flute player and chamber musician. Great fun, though! Scherzo itself is hiding lots of technical challenges, even though it is written by a flautist (!). Still, some spots can be tricky and bring some sleepless nights.I can picture you now, practicing figure G bars 164-167 in the basement at midnight… Can I say more? Thank you for putting this piece together and having fun performing it! The icing on the cake was an absolutely delightful performance of Scherzo given by Fisenden Flute Ensemble.This particular version prepared with Neil Fisenden’s co-operation requires the usage of both bass and contrabass flute. No doubt, adding a rich bass line makes almost a symphonic piece of it. The power and constant pulse, as well as the never-ending energy and beauty of slow movements gave me breathless moments while sitting among the audience. I was fortunate enough to listen to my other piece performed by Fisenden Ensemble, a world premiere of Valse Giocoso written specially for Neil and his group. My excitement soared high. Besides catching up with my own compositions I also had a great opportunity to attend masterclasses with all festival guests and listen to the concerts and recitals during the festival. Many thanks go to Elizabeth Koch for organizing such a fantastic event! I hope you are on holidays now Liz ! Cheers ! Michal Rosiak This article has appeared in the South Australian Flute Society newsletter in 2009
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