The first session, 12th – 15th April 2022, focuses on the preparation of not only Mediterranean Youth Orchestra symphonic and Medinea auditions, but also orchestral auditions in general. Three webinars concentrate on string instruments, woodwind instruments and brass (and percussion) instruments, respectively. Mental preparation is addressed as well. A technical section is devoted to advice on how to make a proper video application for Mediterranean Youth Orchestra auditions. Participants are also introduced to techniques and practices that help them to connect with their audiences. A more historical and cultural section investigates the notion of Mediterranean identity and explores Turkish musical traditions.
Programme
Tuesday 12th April :
14:00*: What is Medinea on Air ? What can it offer me? An introduction | Audition and Competition Preparation
During the first part of this webinar, Pauline Chaigne, deputy director of the Mediterranean Youth Orchestra (MYO) and of Mediterranean programming at the Festival d’Aix, will present the current training sessions of the MYO — e.g. the Symphonic Sessions, the Medinea Sessions, the Outreach Skills Sessions — and introduce the artistic mentors. The presentation will provide an overview of these opportunities open to young artists from the Mediterranean Basin and an explanation of how to access them (audition process, application forms, etc.).
In the second part of the webinar, Martin Guerpin, pedagogical coordinator of the Medinea On Air programme, will introduce you to the different themes that frame the programme (Audition and Competition Preparation; Digital Technology; Career Development and Human, Social and Entrepreneurial Skills; and Aesthetics, Cultures, Identities and Artistic Encounters).
He will also present the objectives of the programme in the specific context of preparing for MYO auditions, and in the broader perspective of developing and/or sustaining a professional career in the world of music. After the presentations, Pauline and Martin will take time to answer any questions (including practical and technical queries) about the programme and/or how to participate in the webinars in the best conditions.
Speakers: Pauline CHAIGNE and Martin GUERPIN
Proposed by the Mediterranean Youth Orchestra and the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence.
15:00*: Preparing orchestral auditions – String instruments | Audition and Competition Preparation
If you have an upcoming audition, you may need to study some orchestral excerpts. The process of preparing such excerpts for an audition is both challenging and rewarding. They demonstrate a musician’s lyrical and technical capabilities in important passages of various pieces and are the foundation of any orchestral audition.
In this webinar, you will receive general tips and advice on how to be successful during the Mediterranean Youth Orchestra audition, and other orchestral auditions for string instruments as well, from professors at the University of Ljubljana Academy of Music who are also experienced at playing in professional orchestras.
Speakers: Gal FAGANEL, Zoran MARKOVIĆ, Janez PODLESEK, and Maja ROME
Proposed by the Academy of Music, University of Ljubljana
16:00*: Preparing orchestral auditions – Woodwind instruments and percussion | Audition and Competition Preparation
If you have an upcoming audition, you may need to study some orchestral excerpts. The process of preparing orchestral excerpts for an audition is both challenging and rewarding. Excerpts demonstrate a musician’s lyrical and technical capabilities in important passages of various pieces and are the foundation of any orchestral audition.
In this webinar, you will be given general tips and advice on how to be successful during the Mediterranean Youth Orchestra audition, and other orchestral auditions for woodwind and percussion instruments as well, by professors at the University of Ljubljana Academy of Music who are also experienced in playing for professional orchestras.
Speakers: Simon KLAVŽAR, Jože KOTAR, and Karolina ŠANTL ZUPAN
Proposed by the Academy of Music, University of Ljubljana
Wednesday 13th April:
14:00*: From Performance Anxiety to Flow in Musical Performance | Audition and Competition Preparation
The aim of this presentation is to highlight the importance of psychological skills in honing your performance. The main topic is: how to efficiently re-direct pre-performance excitation towards your flow, in an optimal performing state (i.e. with total absorption in the activity, and internal motivation and enjoyment), instead of towards performance anxiety. The relationship between performance success and pre-performance excitation will be outlined. We will also discuss some specific, effective strategies for dealing with pre-performance excitation on a physical, emotional and cognitive level.
Speaker: Katarina HABE
Proposed by the Academy of Music, University of Ljubljana
15:00*: Preparing orchestral auditions – Brass instruments | Audition and Competition Preparation
If you have an upcoming audition, you may need to study some orchestral excerpts. The process of preparing orchestral excerpts for an audition is both challenging and rewarding. Excerpts demonstrate a musician’s lyrical and technical capabilities in important passages of various pieces and are the foundation of any orchestral audition.In this webinar, you will be given general tips and advice on how to be successful during the Mediterranean Youth Orchestra audition and other orchestral auditions for brass instruments, by professors at the University of Ljubljana Academy of Music who are also experienced at playing in professional orchestras.
Speakers: Jure GRADIŠNIK, Dušan KRANJC, and Boštjan LIPOVŠEK
Proposed by the Academy of Music, University of Ljubljana
Thursday 14th April:
14:00*: Making a proper video application for Classical and Medinea auditions | Digital Technology
With the Covid 19 pandemic, more and more organisations are recruiting artists through a video application system that requires you to film and record your own artistic performance to apply.
This webinar offers practical tips on how to technically prepare your video application for programmes that require it.
Aurélie Granier, head of the audio-visual department of the Festival d’Aix, will share with you the different points of attention that you have to keep in mind while recording your video by yourself, with your smartphone (and little means), in your search for the best possible technical quality in terms of image and sound. She will also share some elements about her rich professional background and her current professional reality at the Festival.
Speakers: Aurélie GRANIER
Proposed by the Mediterranean Youth Orchestra and the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence.
15:00*: Connecting with your audiences | Career Development and Human, Social and Entrepreneurial Skills and Aesthetics
We will offer performers ideas on how to connect with audiences by creating personal, engaging, and ethical content to share with them. Media to be discussed include social media videos and posts, program notes, concert talks, and the recording of liner notes. Beyond giving basic information about the pieces in a performance, how can performers and composers build a sense of durable and meaningful presence in the lives of their audiences? When speaking about cross-cultural compositions, how can they respect sources of inspiration? We will pose a series of questions that performers can ask themselves about what they are seeking to communicate and offer some tips as well about how to use the aforementioned media in fresh ways
Speakers: Robert O. BEAHRS and Jane HARRISON
Proposed by Istanbul Technical University MIAM.
Friday 15th April :
14:00*: The Taksim tradition within Makam music | Identities and Artistic Encounters
Makam music in Türkiye, a tradition almost six hundred years old, flourished during the Ottoman Empire. It was nourished from different identities and is still a living tradition in today’s Türkiye. Makam, one of the main characteristics of makam music, is a set of rules of melodic progression, called seyir, on a specific scale. Taksim is an improvised instrumental composition. The instrumentalist shows her/his knowledge of makam, the ability to create original musical ideas, and mastery of such instruments as the tanbur, the kemençe, the ud, the kanun, and the ney. There are different types of taksims, such as Giriş taksimi (“Introduction”), Ara taksim (“Interlude”), Geçiş taksimi (“Modulation”), and Beraber taksim (“Collective”, coined by three leading twentieth-century performers: Niyazi Sayın, Necdet Yaşar and İhsan Özgen). Since recording technology came to Türkiye in the 1910s, there have also existed recordings from the masters of taksim, such as Tanburi Cemil Bey.
Speakers: Neva ÖZGEN and Yelda ÖZGEN
Proposed by Istanbul Technical University MIAM.
15:00*: Traditional and trans-traditional music of the Turkish Mediterranean coast | Identities and Artistic Encounters
This webinar focuses on the diversity of musical traditions on the Anatolian coast of the Mediterranean and Aegean seas. We will explore the musical cultures in this region and discuss the possibility of transcultural musical creation, drawing on the experiences of Michael Ellison, an American composer who works with local musicians. We will be focusing on the importance of “regional” instruments and non-dominant narratives for composers who are seeking to raise the bar in their engagement with source music and in their efforts to create direct collaborations with musicians. The first example we will explore will be a workshop conducted in MIAM in 2018, where musicians from this region read through music that Ellison had written for them for the first time. The example illustrates problems, challenges and potentialities of communicating across cultures and styles. A second example — a sipsi (a regional instrument) “orchestration book” recording — will demonstrate how this instrument exemplifies music values that differ from those of Western wind instruments and orchestration concepts.
Speakers: Şirin ÖZGÜN and Michael ELLISON
Proposed by Istanbul Technical University MIAM.
Medinea On Air is a European Union Erasmus+ funded programme that unites six partners from the Mediterranean region: the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence (France), the Ente Musicale di Nuoro (Italy), ARC Research and Consultancy (Malta), the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa (Portugal), the University of Ljubljana – Academy of Music (Slovenia), and the Istanbul Technical University (Turkey).
Medinea On Air aims to provide specific preparation for classical musicians and improvisers who wish to audition for the Mediterranean Youth Orchestra’s symphonic and Medinea Sessions; and more broadly, to enrich young musicians’ musical training. Therefore, in addition to Audition and Competition Preparation, the programme provides three other modules: Digital Technology, Career Development and Human, Social and Entrepreneurial Skills and Aesthetics, Cultures, Identities and Artistic Encounters.
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