Competitions and stuff

(Sorry, this post was supposed to be posted on Wednesday last week, but I ran out of internet data on my computer then....so here it is anyway)

As the Sydney International Piano Competition continues on the radio, I have to admit to not having listened to any of it so far. Maybe I will tune in for some of the last bits, but honestly, I have to admit to not actually desiring greatly to listen to it at all. Mostly because I cannot stand that much piano (yes, I know, I am a pianist. And apparently a very atypical pianist, which I think is a compliment). And also because I don't really believe in competitions in general. This blog entry is interesting and highlights many aspects I agree with, about competitions being flawed and what not. What do you think?

Having said that about competitions, I find myself in one this weekend, the Mietta Song Competition. To tell you the truth, I'm rather bemused by it given my stance on competitions in general. In general, I remain a fairly uncompetitive person in the field of music - this is what makes somewhere like ANAM so attractive to me, and somewhere I love being. But I realise that competitions are good for some things, like having a (large) goal to work towards. They perhaps used to launch a career, but nowadays, they don't guarantee that much except for some exposure, some opportunities (usually built in with the prize) and winning some money is always a nice perk. But one of my teachers once said that I shouldn't enter a competition with the goal of winning, but because it's a good reason to have repertoire and date goals. Apart from the competitions at ANAM (which are compulsory) and uni (free to enter, why not?), I don't think I have been seriously in a competition since the age of about fifteen. Apart from having to pad out my bio when required, I am perfectly happy with not listing all the prizes I have won from this-and-that competition.

So, the Mietta Song Competition. The audition for this was actually on the same day that I had to perform Brahms g minor Quintet. So yeah, a pretty stressful day. But we performed and I was happy with it, so no matter as to the result, I was pleased. Getting through to the semi-finals was just a happy outcome. A few months later, I am staring down the barrel of performing in Iwaki Auditorium in a public concert (not just in orchestra or playing for MSO auditions). The rigorous thing about this competition is that there are eight semi-finalists, who will perform a twenty-minute recital on Saturday. Four of these singer-pianist duos will proceed to the finals, which is the next afternoon, and present a thirty-minute recital, of which the repertoire is completely different. I think it's the turn-around time that is the hard part. It's that you have to effectively prepare a 50-minute programme that may not all be heard! Good thing we did a concert on Sunday just gone, to prepare for it, and also if we don't get through, we will have performed it anyway! I'm trying not to think about the competition aspect too much, mostly because it's quite weird for me to even think that I'm in one, and also because it should just be about making music. It's just another concert - I do heaps of these all the time! - of which there might be fun perks to it.

Last weekend, in addition to the song recital at Richmond Uniting Church, I also played second piano in a performance of Brahms' German Requiem. Wikipedia tells me that an average performance lasts for about 60-80mins or so, and that it is Brahms' longest work. I suppose in theory, I though to myself, "Oh yes, that's do-able. Hard, but I'm up for the challenge." so I accepted the gig. The rehearsals (for me) were squished into three days - the choir had been preparing for a little while. What I found craziest about the entire experience was actually preparing it, and the energy requirements for this! In learning it since a month and a bit ago, I found myself wondering how I was ever going to learn such a large work. The score was really fat, it seemed like there were always still so many pages to go. I felt like it might have been a piece that while listening, you never wanted it to end, but while playing, you just wanted the number of pages left to quickly dwindle down! In trying to replicate what it might be like to play it all, I did several runs of the piece, but of course, this took about an hour! Just an hour to play it from top to bottom, crazy! And I never thought that I might recall large sections of it - there are many bits to it, after all (though some bits are repeated). But I got to my first rehearsal, a fairly easy read-through and found that I could actually do most of it, including the difficult passages (double octaves, difficult for me to sustain over six pages on account of having small hands!). The two-piano version was actually sanctioned by Brahms, and does a pretty good job of capturing the orchestral score; there are so many great lines to be had, and intricate textures in the orchestra that one piano alone cannot hope to even replicate. In performance, of course, many things are heightened, I think largely due to adrenalin. I knew that I would have to rely on keeping calm, but also the adrenalin kick (long one!) to sustain me through this work. Thankfully it did, but the concentration required for such a thing is, and was, quite taxing! Honestly, I was surprised I didn't have a headache at the end of it (from concentrating and focussing that long, as well as from the general choir and audience illness *cough cough splutter sneeze* between movements!) but I did enjoy a well-deserved chocolate croissant to celebrate the end of the German Requiem on Bastille Day. Oh, the irony.

Today a group of girls from my old school in Perth came to visit ANAM. They are on tour in Melbourne, performing a few concerts around Melbourne and what not, and going to visit placesand stuff, y'know, the stuff you do on school tour. I was asked to talk a bit about how I came to be at ANAM and in telling my very uncanny story, and the equally uncanny story of how I am going to be at AFCM Townsville next week, I realised that my life, particularly in recent times, and some of the best bits, is (are) a set of amazing "coincidences" that I could not have planned, or even dreamed of. It is a great lesson in trust, determination, integrity and faith!

So, holidays, I hear you ask? Well, most days I can't practice past about 5pm. I think that's quite holiday-like. But I am going a slight bit nutty from spending so much time alone. The other morning, I went to pick some lemons from the tree in my backyard: I was in my pink flannal pyjamas, climbing up and reaching up as high as possible, and trying to avoid over-balancing and falling in the pool. I hope there were no neighbours looking! I look forward to seeing friends soon (in a few weeks, though not sure how long I'll last!) and life returning to it's "noraml" craziness. I'm not sure which I prefer....! If we get through the finals on Sunday, I'm taking Monday morning off. If we don't get through, I'm taking Sunday morning off. Either way, relaxation has been built into my plans! There is still much to prepare for, especially for Townsville. The artistic administration team has been incredible in getting information to me - I just received a rehearsal schedule today which looks like a schematic for a very complex problem, which it probably is. I am struggling to make sense of it all, especially the part where it says I am supposed to be in two places simultaneously - not sure how I'll manage that one! Upon returning to ANAM after Townsville, there is much to do - Les Six week, Concerto Comp Round 2 (how did I manage to get myself into this in the first place?!?!), Open Day, a few concerts with an old friend, and my own recital in September. Much to look forward to and do!