The Universal Marimba Competition and Festival will be held in Belgium July 18-27, 2013. Their Facebook page and website have all of the details including the 50,000 Euro prize package for the winner.
Marimba One has launched a new tool on their website called “The Configurator”. This gives Marimba One buyers the ability to see what choices are available before actually making the purchase.
You can now select the frame, octave range, resonator type, and wood type (Traditional, Enhanced or Premium) and see a live preview of what that will look like.
Not only does this tool allow you to understand the different options, you can see the cost associated with those choices. Being able to have this information up front is a great feature of the Marimba One website.
There is still time to register for the Santa Fe Marimba Festival this June 6th-9th. The amazing lineup of marimbists include: Barry Olsen, Dane Richeson, Ludwig Albert, Ivana Bilic, Kevin Bobo, Puis Cheung, Chin Cheng Lin, Nanae Mimura, Valerie Dee Naranjo, Victor Mendoza and Gordon Stout.
For more information and registration information please visit: http://www.santafemarimbafestival.org
The Italy Percussion Competition is set for September 5-12, 2012 at Villa Nazareth” – FERMO (Italy). For more information about the event head over to their Facebook page or the event website.
The deadline for application is the end of this month (May 31st) so be sure to get your applications in soon.
Ivana Bilic’s Marimba Week will be held October 8-13, 2012 in Samobor. The faculty this year include:
IVANA BILIC, PAOLO CIMMINO, SLOVENIAN PERCUSSION DUO, NANCY ZELTSMAN and RACHEL(XI) ZHANG
The event is sponsored by Marimba One, Adams and Edition Svitzer.
The full brochure in PDF form is available here as well.
On March 11, 2012 at Faith Lutheran Church my friend Jenny Klukken performed a wonderful marimba solo called “Zamba para escuchar tu silencio” by Guillo Espel. I first heard about this piece at the Zeltsman Marimba Festival in 2009 and then heard it performed by Angel Frette at the Marimba 2010 International Festival and Conference.
I emailed Guillo Espel directly and he provided the following program notes:
“Zamba” is a traditional Argentine folk rhythm. For that reason, the title begins by giving an idea of the style of the piece, at least for the ones who are acquainted with traditional Argentine music. As to “para escuchar tu silencio,” we can translate like “to hear your silence”. The “Zamba” is an Argentine rhythm which is very popular & important in Argentina folk music. Rhythmically this song is unique as it is written in 6/8 instead of the normal 3/4 time and is usually accented on the last count of the measure than traditional simpler zamba music.Zamba music is often written in 6/8 and performed alternately in 3/4 and 6/8 time with the accents varying between measures. Traditionally zamba music has no relationship with chamber music. This piece is unique in that I bring my own connection to chamber music into a more traditional folk style by mixing the two styles. By shifting the traditional development of chords and the expanding the melody and by using the silence in the piece I am able to mix these two styles of music and expand upon a traditionalist zamba. By the way, the criterion of structuring the “musical silence” within each piece is one of my permanent concerns.
With Guillo Espel’s permission I was able to record and post Jenny’s performance below. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Guillo’s quartet also recorded a version of this which is also a great arrangement.
To learn more about Guillo Espel you can visit his website. Thanks to Guillo for this fantastic piece which I hope will be played more frequently throughout the entire world.
The 22nd annual Concordia College Day of Percussion will be held on March 31, 2012. This year’s featured artists include the Sauk Rapids-Rice High School Marimba Choir, Pius Cheung, David Stanoch, and the Omaha Percussion Ensemble. There is no charge for the event and it starts at 8am and runs until 5:30pm.
For more information please visit the Concordia College Day of Percussion website.
Ivana Bilic will host her Marimba Week in Samobor Croatia on October 8-13th, 2012. For more information you can head over to Ivana’s website or the Facebook page for this Marimba Week.
The Santa Fe Marimba Festival is set for June 6-9, 2012. Currently the artist list includes Gordon Stout, David Friedman, Dave Samuels, Ludwig Albert, Ivana Billic, Kevin Bobo, Pius Cheung, Chi Cheng Lin, Nanae Mimra, and Valerie Dee Naranjo.
Many of these marimbists were at the Marimba 2010 Festival and Conference so it would be a great opportunity to see many of them again. For more information on registering for the event, visit their website or contact Artistic Director Sam Lunt at “sam@santafemarimbafestival.org”.
Dame Evelyne Glennie is performing in St. Paul on November 13th at the House of Hope Presbyterian Church. The concert starts at 2pm and is free and open to the public.