A letter from Dane Lam
Dane Lam, a graduate of our program and subsequently of Juilliard, New York, is currently in the position of Junior Fellow with the Royal Northern College of Music. Dane sent the following update on his current activities:Greetings from Bonn! I'm writing to you with an update on my adventures since I've last been in contact. It was great to see you, albeit briefly, in Melbourne. Lots has happened since then, and I just wanted to keep you informed.
I'm in Bonn at the moment on a masterclass focussing on Beethoven's music with Kurt Masur. The resident orchestra for the course is the Beethoven Orchestra, Bonn who play very well. I ended up conducting them in a concert on Friday night in the first movement of Beethoven's Fifth -- it all went very well, and Maestro Masur and the orchestra were both happy.
Apart from that, life in Manchester has been hectic but very rewarding. In my first week and a half as Junior Fellow I had three different appearances: the first was a masterclass with Sir Mark Elder; the second a concert of new music by student composers at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM); and the third was a concert with the Manchester Camerata, a really excellent chamber orchestra in Manchester. The third concert in particular was very interesting as it was part of a world forum on Climate Change in Venice. So, the Camerata was collaborating with the ensemble Ex Novo in Venice via video link. We played a newly commissioned work for the occasion as well as some very hardcore new music by Oliver Knussen. We also did the Ives' Unanswered Question with the ensemble in Manchester and the trumpet in Venice! It was quite an effort to coordinate it all and surmount problems posed by the technology, but it came together very well in the end.
Since I've been in Manchester I've also taken on the Principal Conductorship of the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. It's a very good youth orchestra based in Liverpool (and was Sir Simon Rattle's first conducting gig I believe!) It's been alot of fun programming the first season and taking many things into account that I would have to face as a regular Principal Conductor: budget, audience tastes, level of orchestra, instrumentation etc etc.
There are three "subscription" programs with the LPYO and one Christmas Concert. The programs I've chosen for the three subscription programs are:
1. Britten: Young Person's Guide
Sculthorpe: Sun Music III
Brahms: Symphony No. 2
2. Wagner: Tannhauser Overture
Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 2
Dvorak: Symphony No. 7
3. Glanert: Argentum und Aurum (with extra spatial music)
Strauss: Four Last Songs
Stravinsky: Firebird (1945)
Should be a fun season!
On top of all that, there are some great projects at the RNCM that I'll be working on. Next week, after my Beethoven experience in Bonn, I'll be conducting Beethoven 8 in a lunchtime concert at the RNCM. I'm assisting Garry Walker on a new production of La Clemenza di Tito in March, and this includes the opportunity to conduct two fully-staged performances. I'm also working with Mark Elder alot, both in masterclasses, privately and I also attend as many of his Halle rehearsals as possible - I was astounded by its quality when I arrived; a truly spectacular orchestra! I'll also be having a private masterclass for three hours in December with Gianandrea Noseda and the RNCM Symphony Orchestra on Brahms 2. And then of course, there are many smaller concerts: new music, wind music, cello ensemble, opera excerpts, cover conducting. I've also taken on a choir at the Junior RNCM. It's been an experience for sure, but a good one as these are all young singers who receive private vocal tuition, which makes it easier.
Overseas I've got a few exciting projects coming up in the next few months. I've been engaged as the Assistant Conductor to Kurt Masur for the Orchestre National de France's tour to Asia in January 2010. The programs will be all Beethoven. I'll also be coming back to Queensland to conduct the Queensland Symphony Orchestra three regular concerts and four education concerts on their Northern Tour in September 2010. The repertoire for this will be Schumann Manfred Overture, Chopin 2nd Piano, and Dvorak 7.
