BTS COMPETITIONS

OLD BONES – THE INAUGURAL BTS SACKBUT COMPETITION

BY TOM LEES

The BTS tries to be as broad a church as possible, and although the thought of a sackbut competition might have seemed a bit ‘niche’, the idea was to support young players interested in this area of study by giving them something to work towards, as well as a chance to get some professional mentorship. To that end, the competition was supported by the English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble (ECSE) who offered all entrants access to open rehearsals and a chance to meet each other and play together, with further mentoring and ‘side by side’ sessions for the selected finalists. The competition was also generously sponsored by Egger Instruments from Basel, Switzerland, who offered a £500 voucher towards one of their instruments as first prize and a historical mouthpiece for the runner up. They also provided a magnificent trophy from their workshop and came to the festival with many of their beautifully made historical trombones.

The first round saw recorded entries submitted from students across Europe, and from those, Sam Barber, Pau Hernández Santamaria and Emily Saville were chosen to play in the final. All three competitors demonstrated a very high standard of musicianship and virtuosity, with a studious and considered approach to their programmes. Special mention too to Robin Bigwood of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire who sympathetically accompanied all of the finalists. Stand out highlights were the performances of vocal music, authentically appropriated for their instruments and full of nuance of articulation and tone that characterise what the sackbuts are often required to do. Knowledge and expression of the text are key to these, and Pau’s performance of Dowland’s Flow my Tears was an honest and heartfelt performance that made a real impression and earned him second place. In the end, Emily Saville was awarded first prize; her performance of Orlando di Lasso’s Veni in hortum meum with her own written diminutions (the Renaissance art of taking a popular song and embellishing it by ‘diminishing’ longer notes of the melody with lots of shorter notes) was a perfectly stylish and authentic account that really impressed the judging panel (myself, Adrian France and Conor Hastings from ECSE).

It was an entertaining and informative competition and there was a lot to learn from it. The trombone has a 500-year-old tradition of performing vocal lines and the voice is very much part of its legacy. How often do we ask pupils to make the instrument ‘sing’? Even Frank Sinatra credits Tommy Dorsey with influencing his breathing and singing style! These young sackbut players beautifully demonstrated where it all began…

Click here to learn more about Emily Saville.

L-R: ADRIAN FRANCE, CONOR HASTINGS, TOM LEES, EMILY SAVILLE, PAU HERNÁNDEZ SANTAMARIA, SAM BARBER, PETER BOEKELS (EGGER INSTRUMENTS). PHOTO CREDIT: ALISON KEEP.

L-R: JAMES OWEN, MEGGIE MURPHY, FELIX ROCKHILL, SAMUEL DAWES, BENNY VERNON, JAMIE TWEED, HUW EVANS. PHOTO CREDIT: ALISON KEEP.

BTS TROMBONE QUARTET COMPETITION

BY JAMIE TWEED

Along with my Slide Action colleagues Benny Vernon and Huw Evans, I had the pleasure of judging the BTS Trombone Quartet Competition, sponsored by World of Sound. Competitions are a difficult thing to prepare for, due to not knowing what each juror is looking for, in repertoire choice, playing ideals and such like, and so when our own group has prepared for competitions, we simply strive to represent ourselves and our sound to the best of our ability. As long as we achieve that in our own minds, it has been a success. Both ensembles, 221 Bones and Genesis Trombones, were obviously striving for this and brought varied programmes that showed off the best of their skillsets and both played brilliantly to a small but packed room.

Although there was a good audience on this occasion, often in competitions you can find yourself playing to a panel only. In either scenario, however, performing, not just playing, is absolutely key and this was the theme of the day for all performers. There is an saying I’m sure most of us have heard, that we listen with our eyes as well as our ears, and seeing a group visibly enjoying and engaging with the music is a massive part of the experience for a listener. It is especially tricky when we have frustrating rectangles of plastic in front of us called music stands! My advice to begin with is get the stands (if needed) as low and as out of the way as you can. Make sure there is a clear path from you, your trombone and your bell to the audience. This stops us hiding away and forces us to confront the thought that we may not be as totally comfortable with the music as perhaps we thought we were!

Once we decide we are going to really perform to people, this gets our minds off the dots on the page and into the room. We start to address questions like, how did that really sound, what do we want to do here, and, why are we doing this? We felt that Genesis Trombones could have done with a bit more decision-making, musically. Don’t be afraid to get outside your box, and outside of your comfort zone. Ask yourselves the above questions every single time you pick up the instrument, in the rehearsal room; too many ideas are better than none. Articulation, tuning and blend often happen naturally when we put the sound of music itself at the forefront, rather than meeting technical challenges just because the dots on the page say so. That being said, the technical challenges of their programme were met, but it’s just time to go beyond that now.

In the end this is what gave our winners, 221 Bones, the edge. We really enjoyed the various colours and textures that were achieved throughout a difficult and pretty chop-busting program. As mentioned on the day, their next step is undoubtedly developing the showmanship that any performer needs to engage their audience. It’s not enough to put some talking into the programme (which both groups did, bravo) but hold our attention! I remember looking up on several occasions and you could have been playing the same thing each time, due to how still you were! Silence and composure just before a tender, soft section can draw us in one moment, while a sudden burst of energy and movement as you all get going on a faster energetic passage, can show us what you’re striving for, the next. Congratulations to 221 Bones and thank you to both groups for a very enjoyable and interesting afternoon.

Click here to learn more about 221 Bones.

BOB HUGHES BASS TROMBONE COMPETITION

BY JOSH CIRTINA

BTS INTERCOLLEGIATE TROMBONE CHOIR COMPETITION

BY BOB HUGHES

In this year’s Bob Hughes Bass Trombone Competition, sponsored by Mercer and Barker, Dan West and I were treated to some wonderful playing from Jan Kruijsse, a recent graduate from the Royal Academy of Music. He gave strong performances of two of Brahms’ Four Serious Songs and Claude Pascal’s Sonate in 6 minutes 30. He impressed us with his rich, sumptuous sound and some lyrical playing in the Brahms. In our round-up afterwards, we gave some general feedback, aimed at both competitors and audience members, on relaxing into a high-pressure performance, enabling us to take our solo playing to the next level. We look forward to watching Jan’s career progress in the coming years!

Click here to learn more about Jan Kruijsse.

L-R: JOSH CIRTINA, JAN KRUIJSSE, BOB HUGHES, DAN WEST. PHOTO CREDIT: ALASTAIR WARREN.

RCM TROMBONE CHOIR. PHOTO CREDIT: CHRIS SOWERBY. The four entries to the BTS Intercollegiate Trombone Choir Competition, kindly sponsored by Warwick Music Publishing, treated us to an entertaining and inspiring couple of hours.

To kick off proceedings, the Royal Northern College of Music Trombone Choir, under the baton of Murray Greig, gave a rousing performance of Hex Files by James Kazik. In Helen Vollam’s arrangement of Nine sili nebesaniye by Alexander Scheremetiev, the ensemble demonstrated high levels of balanced and controlled playing. Steven Verhelst’s The River Bells was a lively and spirited finale to the recital.

The Guildhall School of Music and Drama Trombone Choir, conducted by Eric Crees, opened its spot with the extremely challenging Scherzo Funebre by Derek Bourgeois, with solid rhythmic ensemble playing and wide dynamic contrasts. Eric’s arrangement of Gabrieli’s Sonata Pian e Forte with antiphonal trombones made the most of the warm, spacious acoustic of the Bradshaw Hall. Charles Ives’s Putnam’s Camp was captivating. The complex rhythmical nature and wild dissonances were executed with admirable clarity.

All 19 players of the Royal College of Music Trombone Choir presented Chris Sharp’s arrangement of J. S. Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. This was an impressive performance with excellent blend and ensemble playing; even more impressive with no conductor. Anton Bruckner’s Os Justi displayed fine control and intonation. In complete contrast Pee-Wee Ellis’ The Chicken, arranged by Richard Edwards, gave the opportunity for the RCM Choir to let its hair down with some jazz funk and some entertaining solo spots.

The choir from Trinity Laban, directed by Graham Lee chose a lighter and more relaxed programme featuring Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah, Stevie Wonder’s Isn’t She Lovely and music from The Lion King. It was clear that all players thoroughly enjoyed themselves and their performance was enthusiastic and energetic. There was a fine jazz solo in the Stevie Wonder number by James Wade.

To reach a decision to choose a winner was a close-run thing but my fellow judge, Amos Miller, and I did agree that the Royal College of Music Choir deserved first place due to its polished presentation and performance, a varied programme and all without a conductor. ◆