A day with Sphaera

Posted on 12 January, 2010 by Ryan Youens

Recently in São Paulo, Brazil, I had a great time working with the very fine Sphaera Ensemble and writing with their conductor and arranger Alexey Kurkdjian. I got to know these guys a few years ago and since then have done several arrangements for them and in 2009 they had two of my pieces in their repertoire, giving several performances. Initial plans were made to have a concert together, but early on we decided to take a different path. We decided to get together for a day and rehearse my music, introduce some NZ classics and then make a recording of our work together. This I was very happy with.

The Sphaera Ensemble consists of:

  • Bebel Ribeiro – Flute
  • Will Tomao – Clarinet
  • Alexey Kurkdjian – Violin I
  • Luiz Cadorin – Violin I
  • Mariana Ribeiro – Violin II
  • Wagner de Souza – Viola
  • Pablo de Moraes – Violoncello
  • Douglas de Freitas – Double Bass

The music we worked together on was:

  • Reclusion (2005, revised 2009)
  • In Their Light (2008)
  • The Attic (2005, revised 2009)
  • Pokarekare Ana (arr. Ryan Youens 2009) – classic, they loved it.
  • Te Haranui (arr. Ryan Youens 2009) – it was Christmas after all, went down a treat.

It was wonderful to meet the players and have a very productive and rewarding afternoon. They will perform my three pieces as part of their 2010 repertoire. During the afternoon I even managed to get a new piece requested by Will Tomao and his clarinet and double bass duo, Sopro do Contra.

The second project for the trip was a collaboration between Alexey Kurkdjian and myself. The piece is to be premiered at the major New Music Festival in Brazil during August/September 2010, and is for solo violin, flute, clarinet, two violins, viola, cello, contrabass, electric guitar and drums. Fun! Over the week I was there we worked on the piece most days and it shaped up extremely well. It’s a wild fusion between Brazilian and New Zealand rhythms and harmonies. Stay tuned for more on this project.

Some photos from our day together (for the full album visit here):

20091220 Sphaera W-2

20091220 Sphaera W-124

20091220 Sphaera W-64

20091220 Sphaera W-80

20091220 Sphaera W-42

20091220 Sphaera WL-4

20091220 Sphaera L-2

20091220 Sphaera W-25

20091220 Sphaera W-56

20091220 Sphaera W-61

20091220 Sphaera W-58

20091220 Sphaera W-24

20091220 Sphaera W-77

20091220 Sphaera W-67

20091220 Sphaera W-126 copy

Sphaera Ensemble, conductor Ryan Youens, 20th December 2009, São Paulo, Brazil. Photos by Laira Dalileia and Wendy Youens.

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A few days in Wellington

Posted on 15 September, 2008 by Ryan Youens

Hey all, well I’m on my flight back to Auckland from Wellington, enjoying a wine with cheese platter – how posh is that, AND it’s with Air NZ. Impressive. I was down for this years NZSO / TODD Young Composer Readings. It was a great few days with the orchestra and of course seeing all the other young composers at this years event. Below is a picture taken during the readings.

NZSO : TODD 2008-28

Well I came down on Sunday afternoon, ready for the welcome dinner on Sunday evening at Nicolini’s Bistro on Courtenay Place. They have it there every year and if you’ve been there you’ll know why. Absolutely beautiful. YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY.

Monday was the first day of recordings. The morning was great, with two very good pieces in particular. I was first after lunch and was very happy with how it all went. Of course the first run through is always a little bit hairy, but once a few things were clarified and we worked on some passages, it started to sound pretty good. The final tracks laid for the recording were excellent and I can’t wait to get it. As well as from the composer mentor, Ross Harris, I had fantastic feedback from the players, saying how enjoyable and rewarding it was to play, and that it was very professionally produced (parts etc). This was fantastic as is what I am aiming for. How ridiculous to write a piece that the players and audience will not enjoy…

Scattered through the two days are some workshops with players in the orchestra, pretty much getting to know them and their instrument(s) a little better. These are always fun and is great to talk to NZ’s finest about their instrument.

The second day of recordings again had some very good pieces in. The day ended with some drinks, nibbles and “awards”.

So a successful few days – big thanks to the NZSO for looking after us all very well.

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NZSO / SOUNZ Readings May 2008

Posted on 17 May, 2008 by Ryan Youens

Hey everyone.

Well last weekend Wendy and I headed down to Wellington for this year’s readings with the NZSO. It started with a lovely weekend, we chilled, ate great food and experienced Wellington. Then it was Monday.

I was first up in the morning session and so all the players were fresh and ready for anything. “Rakaia” is not too much of a challenging piece, although plenty of notes for the strings. First read through they did fantastically well. The huge brass and percussion sound was just fantastic. After working with Ken Young and clarifying a few things both he and I wanted to work on, they pulled it apart a little and started work. Was wonderful seeing them work on my music once again. This piece is very clearly written and is enjoyable for the players and this definitely show through the rehearsal.

Later in the day was the recording session. After the long day this final run through and recording wasn’t as tight as they had it earlier in the morning, but still a remarkable performance.

I had wonderful feedback from the players. Complimenting the colourful textures, energy and effective writing. Also a comment about the likeliness of this piece to the music of Don Davis. A bit of a surprise, but came from a guy who used to play in Don Davis’ scoring orchestra, so I gratefully took his word.

The rest of the workshops were enjoyable. Was nice to get mine out of the way. Monday had a selection of other young composers which were shorter works. All very different and extremely well written. Tuesday had two longer works.

Check out photos from the workshops here.

Thanks heaps to SOUNZ and the NZSO for the wonderful two days.

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Orchestral Workshops

Posted on 13 September, 2006 by Ryan Youens

I’ve been thinking about a few things to do with orchestral workshops. Firstly, some pieces make the orchestra do silly, cheesy or comical things which are musically totally unnessary. This is not saying things need to be “serious serious” … of course, but the ideas need to be set within a “real” musical context. I’ve heard a few things lately in pieces, but they just cheapen the music so much. Personally, I don’t feel as though its a joke to be getting the NZSO … for example … to do stupid things. I may be wrong … let me know.

Secondly, the lack of respect for the players has been driving me nuts. There have been numerous examples of composers during rehearsals talking condescendingly and with no respent towards the orchestra. This drives the players crazy. I was talking to a player in the Auckland Philharmonia, and they as well have had some examples of this lately.

I don’t know, I mean, these are professional orchestras, and it costs a HECK of a lot of money to have them operating. Also the players are often rehearsing for many hours on end. I guess I’m just wondering how necessary it is for the presence of these two elements. I just think that composers should fully respect any professional performers they are working with and they should treat orchestral workshops as a rare and an extreme privilege.

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NZSO/TODD Readings

Posted on 13 September, 2006 by Ryan Youens

Well well well. The latest NZSO/TODD young composer readings were great. They were on 7th and 8th September at Michael Fowler Centre in Wellington. The event opened with a dinner with the sponsers and also representatives from SOUNZ, Concert FM and the NZSO. This was fantastic to catch up with other composers who flew in from out of town for the workshops, but also of course to talk with people from the various organisations.

So … the workshops. There were some really outstanding pieces. Of course there is never enough time to properly rehearse the pieces, but most came out sounding really great. My piece was … good. It was a really hard piece, and I was really pleased how some bits were sounding, but disappointed about other parts. I’m happy with how the parts were written, it was more about having enough time to tighten things up with the orchestra. Anyway it should be a reasonable recording I get back from it so fingers crossed. It was commended at the end of the workshops so am pleased with that.

The workshop was brilliantly organised once again by Penny Miles. The new additions this year, sessions with instrumentalists and and the NZSO librarian were great. It was a great few days and I look forward until next year.

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