A month of New Zealand music

Posted on May 1, 2012 by ryanyouens

New Zealand Music Month is here again. Make sure you get out and enjoy some New Zealand Music – well, more than usual, I hope!

You may remember for last year’s Music Month I wrote 31 microscores in 31 days. It was a huge success and loads of fun. Check out this post to read about the project or listen to the microscores.

This year I don’t quite have a project like that ready to go, but here are some events that my music is involved with this Music Month:

3rd May: William Green performs This Day this Thursday

As part of Auckland Central Library’s FREE Thursday lunchtime concert series, William is playing my piece, This Day, as part of his “NZ piano music of the 2000s” concert.

Thursday 3rd May, 12:10pm until 1pm. Whare Wānanga, Level 2, Central City Library, 44-46 Lorne Street – don’t be late, my piece opens the concert. Click here for the lunchtime concert series brochure.

9th May: Auckland Philharmonia Tiraki read-through

The Auckland Philharmonia reads through the first drafts of my piece, Tiraki, written for the orchestra and the Auckland Town Hall organ. You may like to check out my post on the project or my photos from a recent tour of the organ.

18th – 20th May: Making music for V48 Hours

I will be working again with Sideways Productions, making music for their production. You may like to see my post from last year’s film.

31st May: Hook Line and Sing-along

Every year the NZ Music Commission runs a competition for school students to write a song for Music Month. The song is sung by schools across New Zealand at 12pm on the last day of Music Month. The idea is to get as many people singing together as possible – for fun and to focus on the fundamental pleasures of life, music, and the importance of music education.

This year the song is 21 Degrees by Bruce Taiapa. I typeset the lead sheet and created an arrangement for a variety of instruments so instrumentalists can play along with the track as well.

Download everything you need here.

Have a good month.

Making music in Rotorua

Posted on April 15, 2012 by ryanyouens

It is always fun gathering at the beginning of a weekend with a new group of people and by the end of it presenting a concert of great music. That was the case this weekend at another Bay of Plenty Music School.

Combined orchestras performing "Westside Story"

Combined orchestras performing "Westside Story"

Combined orchestras and choir performing "A Te Tarakihi"

I had a wonderful group of players, we worked hard and had fun putting the music together.

At the informal concert on Saturday night we performed the crowd pleasers:

Prokofiev – Triumphal March from ‘Peter and the Wolf’
Barry Gray – Thunderbirds

On the Sunday concert we performed:

Khachaturian – Armenian Dances
Ryan Youens – Bubble
Rossini – William Tell Overture (Allegro Vivace)
Bernstein/Sondheim - West Side Story (combined with orchestra)
Trad. – A Te Tarakihi (combined with orchestra and choir)

It was a pleasure to work with fellow conductors Peter Watts and Peter Thomas - thanks for your support. Thanks to my brilliant wind orchestra players and to those who organised the very successful weekend.

BOP music school hits Rotorua!

Posted on March 22, 2012 by ryanyouens

The Bay of Plenty Music School is about to make some music once again!

This year the school is happening between April 13th to 15th in Rotorua. It is an opportunity for choral, orchestral and band musicians to work on some fantastic repertoire in a relaxed environment.

I conducted there last year and it really is a wonderful weekend, meeting some great people, eating some great food and making some fantastic music together.

This year Peter Watts is conducting the choir, Peter Thomas the symphony and chamber orchestras and myself the wind orchestra (concert band/symphonic band…).

In the wind orchestra we will be working on:

Rossini – William Tell Overture
Prokofiev – Triumphal March from ‘Peter and the Wolf’
Ryan Youens – Bubble
Bernstein/Sondheim - West Side Story, ‘selections’
Khachaturian – Armenian Dances
Barry Gray – Thunderbirds
Philip Norman – The Ballad of Settler McGee
Kamen – Robin Hood Prince of Thieves Suite

It should be another very enjoyable weekend finishing with a concert on Sunday afternoon. If you are interested in attending I would love to see you there. Enrollments need to be in by Monday 2nd April so visit the music school website and download the information and enrollment details.

2011 through the eyes of a blog

Posted on December 30, 2011 by ryanyouens

And just like that, another year is gone! Here is a look at my posts for the year.

The blogging year started in March with my favourite book arriving, “Behind Bars”, which I preordered in 2010. It is definitely the most used book on my shelf! I then talked about two approaching projects:

In April I introduced my new work, “blimp”, and reviewed two projects – a song I helped a friend create and my work at the BOP music school:

May was a busy month, so in June I talked about what I had been up to – writing 31 microscores and the premiere of “blimp”:

In July I posted the video I worked on with Sideways Productions:

48 hours to say “Goodbye Gilbert”

In August and September I covered my involvement in the KBB Music Festival and some composition tutorials that I held in Kerikeri:

October was the kick off of the Rugby World Cup here in New Zealand, I talked about my involvement in the opening ceremony and also made a post about what exactly I do when “preparing music” and why you would need someone like me to do it:

December means Christmas and I posted some Christmas carols that I prepared for my students. I also composed a new “holiday” piece for my Christmas post:

Happy New Year everyone, bring on 2012!

Great company, excellent food … and some music

Posted on April 26, 2011 by ryanyouens

Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of conducting at the Bay of Plenty Music School, held for the second year in Tauranga. Check out my previous post if you’d like some more info about the music school.

It was a really fantastic weekend. The wind orchestra players (my group) were really keen to do some hard work, loved the selection of music, were really positive and after the 13 hours of rehearsal arose to present a really tight and energetic performance on the Sunday afternoon.

Rehearsing the massed item, Handel's "Zadok the Priest".

Timpani anyone?

The (very good!) horns.

Peter Thomas rehearsing the combined orchestra item, "Danse Macabre" by Saint-Saëns.

Conducting the wind orchestra, possibly "October" by Eric Whitacre.

David Squire conducting the choir.

The choir, in fine form.

Peter Thomas conducting the string orchestra in Elgar's "Serenade for Strings".

Conducting my section of the massed item, Handel's "Zadok the Priest".

David Squire conducting his section of Handel's "Zadok the Priest".

So, where is it next year? Rotorua! Interested in going? Stay tuned in to their website and I’ll see you there.

About to bop at the BOP Music School

Posted on March 24, 2011 by ryanyouens

This year the Bay of Plenty Music School is in Tauranga from the 15th to the 17th of April.

“This will be the 42nd year for the Bay of Plenty Music School which is run with the assistance of the University of Waikato. It caters for choral, orchestral and band musicians of all levels, providing a unique learning and working opportunity in a relaxed atmosphere under the guidance of experienced conductors and section leaders.”

I am very pleased to be conducting the wind orchestra and working alongside Peter Thomas (symphony and string orchestras) and David Squire (choir).

The Music School has been going since 1966 and is now the largest surviving music school in New Zealand. It moves around towns within the Bay of Plenty region, although this is the second year in a row that it has been held at Tauranga Girls College. This year the repertoires include:

SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Danse Macabre (Saint Saens)
Symphony No.1 (Sibelius)

STRING ORCHESTRA
Waipoua for Clarinet & Strings (Gareth Farr)
Serenade for Strings (Elgar)

WIND ORCHESTRA
Overture in B flat (Caesar Giavannini)
October (Eric Whitacre)

CHOIR
Neckereien (Johannes Brahms)
Turot Eszik A Cigany (Zoltan Kodaly)

Entries are still open and they are looking for more players (especially string players). The entry fee is a wonderfully affordable price for a fantastic weekend of music. So, get enrolled - you have until Friday April 1.

Interested in finding out more about the Bay of Plenty region? Visit the tourism site here, or the Wikipedia site here.

Three pieces performed by Brazil’s Sphaera Ensemble

Posted on July 29, 2010 by ryanyouens

On July 9, the Sphaera Ensemble performed three of my pieces, The Attic, Reclusion and In Their Light, in a concert at the Sesi Theatre, Santos, São Paulo, Brazil. I conducted these three and other pieces with the ensemble while I was there in December/January. They first performed The Attic in 2008. Reclusion and In Their Light have been added to their repertoire this year.

Here are some photos of the concert and a video of The Attic performance (taken by Laira Dalileia):

The winds recede

Posted on October 23, 2009 by ryanyouens

Sunday’s concert, “North Winds, South Winds”, was a success. Thanks very much to all those who came and supported – it was a very impressive, receptive and appreciative audience.

It was a challenge putting on such a demanding programme, but the orchestra definitely rose to the occasion and did a fantastic job. It is horrifying to realise that the time signature changes totaled around 160, and the tempo changes also added up to something drastic. Looking back, I thought it was a shame that we didn’t get to run the pieces more during the rehearsal period and hear them in their entirety, as some certainly aren’t done justice until done so. But I guess, we always have the best intentions.

It was very refreshing seeing so much New Zealand music being performed, AND with five of the eight composers being present. It was great having the older works which have been widely performed, alongside two premieres, and other works by younger composers. I had a few comments saying that NZ music is in very safe hands … which it is … of course. Judging from feedback, it seems the audience had a great time. I think they really enjoyed the balance in the programme, the top standard and of course the intros (thanks Harold).

It was a joy working with the wind orchestra. They have a wonderful committee which seem to take care of absolutely everything. The standard is excellent and I hope that I can work with them again sometime in the future.

My piece, Guardians of the North, went well. I placed it at the end of the programme, which could have been trouble after the workload before it, but it sounded great. I had made several revisions since its premiere in 2007, including a new ending, which I was very happy about. It now seems to sit more comfortably with the players, which is definitely a good thing.

The “North Winds, South Winds” have definitely receded, but what a breath of fresh air! Another concert down, more New Zealand music is in the mix – that makes me happy.

Ryan Youens

music composer, copyist, arranger

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