vrijdag 29 juli 2011
Sunday, July 24
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Today began as every day with a good breakfast, which was needed because today was the big day; the day we were to play in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, which for anybody who hasn’t been there, is certainly one of the finest concert halls in the world, combining beautiful 19th century architecture and wonderful acoustics. We were to play in the Kleine Zaal (the small hall, located behind main hall) to a sellout audience of about 500.
After breakfast we all packed our bags and left to Amsterdam on the coach. When we arrived we went through the artist door, through a wonderful hall to an even more beautiful room. We spent some time rehearsing stage presentation and walking on and off stage, which gave the performance a slick, professional appearance as well as making it flow well. We had a quick lunch in the artist’s area before getting ready for the main event. At 14.15 the concert started.
The highlights of the concert were undoubtedly Roberta Alexender’s extremely moving performance of Purcell’s When I am Laid in Earth from his opera Dido and Aeneas, with the bass and contra bass flute providing a suitably earthy ground bass. Emily gave a beautiful performance of Gluck’s Dance of the Blessed Spirits accompanied by the flute choir, and the encore featuring Emily, Roberta and Andrew West was a pleasure and privilege to hear. There were also stellar performances by the soloists from the YIP and NTK courses, and beautiful rendition of Faure’s Sicilienne by Jeroen and Wieke. From the flute choirs perspective, all the weeks practice paid off, as everything went smoothly. We loved playing and the audience loved listening. It was a wonderful afternoon!
The concert was a fitting end to what has been a fabulous week, ending as it started in magnificent surroundings. We have benefitted enormously from expert teaching in our individual lessons and masterclasses with Emily, Jeroen and Wieke. On top of this, we were really impressed with how the course dealt with other aspects of our musical life, whether it be with physiotherapy, lectures on how the brain function and how this affects effective practice methods, and performance and presentation classes. We also made many likeminded friends from all over the world, which helped make an intensively learning environment fun.
Gemma, Marloes, Rebecca
zaterdag 23 juli 2011
Saturday 23rd July
On our final warm up of the 2011 Neflac course we laughed and giggled as we played ‘Tikkertje’, which was a first for a number of the YIPers before we stretched. We were lucky and most people had some free time after this to rehearse in their groups before the afternoon concert. Robin and Kate (us) got together with Robin’s NTK group as they performed the first two movements of Bozza’s Jour d’été à la montagne while Kate’s group played the last two. It was terrific to hear Robin play with Jennifer, Katinka and Kim. Robin thought Kate gave really good tips, (she is a really good teacher) which made Kate blush. We were worried about the open air concert this afternoon as the clouds came menacingly overhead, but aside from one shower it held off and we had about 300 people come to listen to our flute orchestra. The gardens were a beautiful place to perform and it was highly successful, especially the final Samba with Niels. After some time in the gardens to chat to the audience, we went back to our cosy Coach House to eat dinner and with our first free night of the week spend quality time with each other. A big walk, DVDs, piano and flute playing, we’re having a lovely time hanging out.
Robin and Kate
On our final warm up of the 2011 Neflac course we laughed and giggled as we played ‘Tikkertje’, which was a first for a number of the YIPers before we stretched. We were lucky and most people had some free time after this to rehearse in their groups before the afternoon concert. Robin and Kate (us) got together with Robin’s NTK group as they performed the first two movements of Bozza’s Jour d’été à la montagne while Kate’s group played the last two. It was terrific to hear Robin play with Jennifer, Katinka and Kim. Robin thought Kate gave really good tips, (she is a really good teacher) which made Kate blush. We were worried about the open air concert this afternoon as the clouds came menacingly overhead, but aside from one shower it held off and we had about 300 people come to listen to our flute orchestra. The gardens were a beautiful place to perform and it was highly successful, especially the final Samba with Niels. After some time in the gardens to chat to the audience, we went back to our cosy Coach House to eat dinner and with our first free night of the week spend quality time with each other. A big walk, DVDs, piano and flute playing, we’re having a lovely time hanging out.
Robin and Kate
Friday 22nd July
This morning Niels our great percussionist did the warm up so we could rehears ‘’TAKETIKA’’ and our samba song while we got warm for our lessons and practice. When you walked in the main building you could hear trios and quartets playing everywhere. In the afternoon we had a really long general rehearsal for our first concert. It was mainly about going on and off stage with all the small and big instruments. Emily aimed for 30 seconds to get on stage ready to play so she was using a kitchen alarm to measure it. First we made it in 33 seconds so we were really proud of ourselves but it was just beginners luck: next time it was getting worse and we ended up walking on stage in 55 seconds so Emily was getting grumpy – she said she was also very hungry and so were we. There were other confusions: which instrument you need (Alto? Bass? Normal flute?), who you are sharing the stand with, who is taking the music sheets, which alto flute you take – we ended up playing different alto flutes the whole day which made US grumpy.. The concert went very well after all. Our special guest star was the wonderful soprano Roberta Alexander who made this flute recital very special. The programme contained Neflac (NTK+YIP) orchestra, YIP and NTK ensembles and soloists. The audience seemed very pleased with the pieces and the performers and we think their favourite was the Haydn Farewell symphony where we left the stage one by one in funny ways (waving goodbye, running away, pulling each other by the arm and even our conductor, Jeroen left before the piece ended). We gave two encores, Gershwin’s Summer time with Roberta accompanied by flute orchestra and Ravel’s La flûte enchantée performed by Roberta, Emily and Andrew- wonderful colours. Big success, YAY!
Maartje, Danielle and Zsuzsi
This morning Niels our great percussionist did the warm up so we could rehears ‘’TAKETIKA’’ and our samba song while we got warm for our lessons and practice. When you walked in the main building you could hear trios and quartets playing everywhere. In the afternoon we had a really long general rehearsal for our first concert. It was mainly about going on and off stage with all the small and big instruments. Emily aimed for 30 seconds to get on stage ready to play so she was using a kitchen alarm to measure it. First we made it in 33 seconds so we were really proud of ourselves but it was just beginners luck: next time it was getting worse and we ended up walking on stage in 55 seconds so Emily was getting grumpy – she said she was also very hungry and so were we. There were other confusions: which instrument you need (Alto? Bass? Normal flute?), who you are sharing the stand with, who is taking the music sheets, which alto flute you take – we ended up playing different alto flutes the whole day which made US grumpy.. The concert went very well after all. Our special guest star was the wonderful soprano Roberta Alexander who made this flute recital very special. The programme contained Neflac (NTK+YIP) orchestra, YIP and NTK ensembles and soloists. The audience seemed very pleased with the pieces and the performers and we think their favourite was the Haydn Farewell symphony where we left the stage one by one in funny ways (waving goodbye, running away, pulling each other by the arm and even our conductor, Jeroen left before the piece ended). We gave two encores, Gershwin’s Summer time with Roberta accompanied by flute orchestra and Ravel’s La flûte enchantée performed by Roberta, Emily and Andrew- wonderful colours. Big success, YAY!
Maartje, Danielle and Zsuzsi
donderdag 21 juli 2011
Thursday, July 21: The perfect day
Ensemble rehearsing, tasty food and a fun workshopThursday started early again with a warm-up with Joost, who walked with us into the woods to do exercises. Fresh air and different movements woke us up and we were breathing properly within minutes.
Wieke talked with the NTK about "DINO" and "BOB" - practicing scales with and without tension. In the mean time, Jeroen discussed breathing with the YIP, a subject that's on everybodies mind.
The rest of the morning was scheduled for private lessons, practising and relaxing.
In the meantime, flute teachers and other interested guests arrived at Rhederoord with increasing number, because today was our open day. They went to listen to lessons given by Emily, Wieke and Jeroen, had a talk with Suzanne and ask questions to us participants, especially during lunchtime.
During the afternoon, there was time for ensemble coaching for the NTK, which was really fun to do because Wieke showed a totally different approach to learning the music and communicating with each other by singing and dancing. The YIP had a masterclass with Emily on orchestral excerpts, where we learned how to prepare for an audition and specific things to focus on while practising and auditioning.
After flute orchestra rehearsal and supper (comprising of "bitterbal" and french fries, as well as other typical Dutch foods), there was the long awaited and already famous workshop with Niels van Hoorn! Niels is already giving this workshop for the third time, but is always keeping things fresh. He surprised us again with some thrilling rhythms, that we had to say, sing, shout, stamp, clap and play on different percussion instruments - all of this was fun and revitalising! Now we have enough energy to jump into the upcoming concerts this weekend!
Marieke, Tirza and Waldo
woensdag 20 juli 2011
Wonderful Wednesday, July 20
Concentration, communication and coordination - these were the three C's that greeted us for our warming up with Joost this morning. We had to clap, click and stomp a repeated sequence that was a bit of a mind boggler(and reaction times were dependent on coffee intake at breakfast), but by the end, we'd woken up and were ready for the rest of the day!
Then the NTK'ers went to the Coach House where Wieke led scales and taught the group flutter tonguing, whilst the YIPpers were led into the forest by Jeroen, where they breathed the fresh air and focused on the more physiological aspects of flute playing. The rest of the morning was taken up with private lessons with Emily, Jeroen and Wieke, rehearsals with Andrew and individual practice.
After lunch, we all attended masterclasses and a combined Flute Ensemble rehearsal, where Emily played Gluck's Dance of the Blessed Spirits to the accompaniment of 30 inspired flutists.
We had a wonderful evening with Pieter Wispelwey (cello) and Emily, who were both accompanied by the hardest working pianist in The Netherlands (at this moment)...Andrew West! Schubert's Arpeggione Sonate in a minor was originally written for the arpeggione, an instrument that lasted in history for merely a decade. Tonight we heard renditions on both cello and flute, with insightful commentary given by the trio of performers. The night was capped off with a magical performance of Trockne Blumen by Pieter.
All in all, it was a very interesting, inspiring and insightful day... even this blogging experience - with the two Aussie YIPpers learning some grammatical skills from their two Dutch buddies who politely corrected them throughout.
Now, at 11pm, we call it a day!
Signing off,
Marije and Nicky,
Then the NTK'ers went to the Coach House where Wieke led scales and taught the group flutter tonguing, whilst the YIPpers were led into the forest by Jeroen, where they breathed the fresh air and focused on the more physiological aspects of flute playing. The rest of the morning was taken up with private lessons with Emily, Jeroen and Wieke, rehearsals with Andrew and individual practice.
After lunch, we all attended masterclasses and a combined Flute Ensemble rehearsal, where Emily played Gluck's Dance of the Blessed Spirits to the accompaniment of 30 inspired flutists.
We had a wonderful evening with Pieter Wispelwey (cello) and Emily, who were both accompanied by the hardest working pianist in The Netherlands (at this moment)...Andrew West! Schubert's Arpeggione Sonate in a minor was originally written for the arpeggione, an instrument that lasted in history for merely a decade. Tonight we heard renditions on both cello and flute, with insightful commentary given by the trio of performers. The night was capped off with a magical performance of Trockne Blumen by Pieter.
All in all, it was a very interesting, inspiring and insightful day... even this blogging experience - with the two Aussie YIPpers learning some grammatical skills from their two Dutch buddies who politely corrected them throughout.
Now, at 11pm, we call it a day!
Signing off,
Marije and Nicky,
Jennifer and Vanessa
Tuesday 19 july
Today is a sunny day. After breakfast we did the warming-up with Wieke outside. We learnd the YIPpers Dutch children songs like 'Hoofd, schouders, knie en teen' and 'Annemaria Koekkoek'. That was really funny, and we enjoyed it a lot. After that we also did motion exercises. Then NTKers went to Jeroen to do a flute warming-up and the YIPpers did the same with Wieke. After the warming-ups NTKers had a theme lesson about tuning and after that some had one-to-one lessons with Wieke and Jeroen. Some YIPpers had a lesson with Emily, some were practicing and some had a rehearsal with their ensemble. Then was lunch, with some nice salads. After lunch we had a busy afternoon. We had masterclasses from Emily and some rehearsals with the flute orchestra. Then was dinner. With rice with salads and peanut sauce. It was lovely! After meal we all had a very interesting and funny workshop from Wieke about effcient practice. Now we hope we know how to practice, hahaha!
Aida and Mirna
Aida and Mirna
dinsdag 19 juli 2011
Tuesday, July 19
As the first sunny day of NeFlAc, we were able to do our non-flute warm up outdoors with some traditional Dutch games, including Annemaria Koekoek & Hoofd, schouders, knie en teen (Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes). We followed this with some physical warm ups to use in the practice room, which will help with our flute playing. In both the NTK's and YIP's flute warm ups we played scales, focussing on relaxation for the YIPs. Some of the YIPs had individual Technique classes; Nicky Crowe and Anna Cooper worked on breathing, legato playing and vibrato in a very in depth class with Jeroen. The NTKs had a theme lesson about pulse and tuning with Wieke. Because of the beautiful weather, the sound of the flute could be heard inside and out! An afternoon of masterclasses and flute ensembles was followed by an engaging talk given by Wieke titled making music, practicing and the brain'.
Julia Oostdam and Anna Cooper
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