Reviews
mandolin orchestra. For our part
we played our usual eclectic
mix as well as our BMG Rally
set – the audience particularly
liked Machine II by Oliver
Kälberer! It’s a powerful engine
of sound. (I was lucky to meet
Oliver at Eurofestival and he
recommended his Balloon if we
liked Machine.) We joined forces
to play Waltz of Lost Dreams
by M. Hadjidakis conducted by
me, and WED’s theme tune
Edelweiss, conducted by their
leader Birgit Pezza. This is clearly a popular number with
their audience as the crowd insisted we play it again as an
encore!
The following day we performed at a residential home.
We had been advised not to play Machine II but I think
we should have, to energise and jolt the residents. That
afternoon we went to Frankfurt and returned for a meal
at WED’s custom-built clubhouse. WED was formed in the
1930s as a hiking and mandolin club – they actually played
mandolins as they walked – but since the 1950s they
divided into the two separate
interests. After dinner
everyone got out instruments
for a jamming session – piles
of music came out of the
store room and we had a
great time making a glorious
noise together and drinking
beer and wine from their very
own bar. Heaven!
On Thursday we left early
for the incredible Eurofestival,
which everyone should go
to at least once. It truly is
not to be missed. Friday we travelled home. The trip was
a wonderful experience and chance to meet new people
and hear different music played in different styles, and to
play our music for others – we had a lot of comments from
players and audience on how refreshing it was to hear our
way of playing. This cross-fertilisation can lead to new ideas
– having heard the voice soloist in Germany we are now
planning to hold a concert here with a soprano soloist in
October. Hopefully WED will come next year for the return leg
of the trip – we’ll keep you posted!
British BMG Federation Summer School 2014
Henry Girvan
building
Knuston Hall is a listedglorious
set within beautiful parkland
and we were blessed with
sunny weather throughout yet
another very successful summer
school weekend. This year’s tutors
and courses were Elias Sibley:
Classic 5-string banjo, Travis Finch:
Classical Mandolin & Guitar, Nigel
Gatherer: Celtic Music, Gaio de
Lima: Brazilian Choro. The feedback
below is from some of the 41
students who took part.
Anne Moller: “I Ё݅́ѡ