SMCC
  • Home
  • About SMCC
    • Visions
    • SMCC Committee Members
    • Members
    • Membership Application
  • Opportunities
    • 2022 >
      • Borneo Ensemble Composer Series
      • Tunku Zain Piano Trio Composition Competition 2022
    • 2021 >
      • TNMAS 2021 Call for Scores
      • Malaysia Young Composers' Workshop 2021
      • New Music Room Call for Scores
      • Goethe Institut Digital Mentoring Programme
      • 10th Rivers Awards Composition Competition
    • 2019 >
      • 【衛武營當代音樂平台】國際作曲徵件與彼得.于特福許作曲大師班
      • ​Call for works - ACL New Zealand 2020
      • Call for works - Solo piano pieces by Malaysian composers ​
      • 1ST INTERNATIONAL EISENACH COMPOSITION PRIZE
      • The 10th China ConTempo Composition Competition
      • 第一届上海室内歌剧作品国际比赛章程
      • Passepartout Duo - Music Seminar and a Composition & Performance Workshop ​
      • PIERROT LUNAIRE INTERNATIONAL COMPOSITION COMPETITION 2019
      • 2019 年 第八届「百川奖」作曲比赛
      • 作曲专业 | 柏林音乐表演艺术学院 AfMB-恺撒堡 2019 冬季学校
      • Forum Wallis 2019
    • 2018 >
      • Call for score : ASEAN Youth Ensemble (AYE) 2018
      • 2018 Banaue International Music Composition Competition
      • Ding Yi - Composium 2018
      • Call for application: 2018 International Gugak Workshop
      • PYO CALL FOR SCORE 2018
      • ​Call for scores - 35th ACL Festival and Conference Taiwan 2018
      • Ars Electronica Forum Wallis 2018 CALL FOR STEREO OR QUADROPHONIC ACOUSMATIC WORKS
      • 寻找中国的声音——第六届刘天华奖中国民乐室内乐作品征集简章
      • 2018 Breaking music - International Composition Competition
      • Call for Composition - Breaking New Ground
    • 2016 >
      • ACL 2016
    • 2015 >
      • ACL Philippines 2015
    • 2014
    • 2013 >
      • 32nd Conference and Festival 2014, Japan: Call for Scores
      • ACL 2013 (Asian Composer League)
      • Ninth Thailand International Composers Competition 2013
      • 5th International Pharos Contemporary Music Festival and Ensemble TRANSMISSION
      • New Gamelan Music Festival: Call for Scores
      • Singapore Chinese Orchestra Composer Workshop 2013
      • Chamber•Sounds Regional Call For Chamber Opera Proposals 2013
      • Beijing International Composition Workshop 2013
  • Events
    • 2021 >
      • SoundBridge Virtual 2021
      • Hong-Da Chin Concert Presented by No Exit Ensemble
      • Ding Yi Music Company Composium 2021
    • 2019 >
      • Music improvisation workshop by Otomo Yoshihide
      • 琴弦两岸 - 马来西亚、新加坡小提琴与钢琴作品音乐会
      • Soundbridge 2019 >
        • Soundbridge 2019 - Flyer
      • Into the Sound
      • From NY To KL
      • Natural Spectra by Christoven
      • Cello Recital by Friedrich Gauwerky
      • 4th SoundBridge Contemporary Music Festival 2019
    • 2018 >
      • The 9th Malaysian Composers Concert Series 2018
      • European Journey
    • 2017 >
      • Piano Recital by Simon Nabatov
      • SoundBridge 2017 >
        • An Introduction to the festival
        • Support Messages
        • Gallery
        • 2017 SoundBridge Booklet
        • Soundbridge 2017 booklet for download
        • Post production review >
          • 五棰半 :音桥音乐节| 当代亚洲音乐的发光站
          • 邹向平 :​“音桥当代音乐节”见闻四则
          • Post production review by Teh Tian Yoon
    • 2015 >
      • SoundBridge 2015
    • 2013 >
      • KLC Malaysian Composers Concert Series 2013
      • Young Southeast Asian Composers Shone at Festival
      • ACME and Studio MusikFabrik (Chinese Version)
      • SoundBridge 音橋 2013 >
        • Festival Event Details >
          • Support Message
          • Concert 1 - SoundBridge
          • Concert 2 - Malaysian Voices III
          • Photography and Calligraphy Exhibition
          • Musicians and Artists
          • Malaysian Composers
          • Young Composers
          • Panelist
    • 2010 >
      • Composer Workshop Series I
  • Articles
    • SoundBridge 2021 - People's Music Magazine Feature
    • Sin Chew Daily Feature on SMCC & SoundBridge
    • Tracing Art Music Compositions and Composers in Malaysia
    • Malaysian Young Composers' Workshop 2021
    • 现代音乐永远的夏天 马来西亚第三届“音桥当代音乐节”之热效应 - 邹向
    • 森林里的艺术世界 - 李茜云
    • Interview with Peter Vaele - by Ruth Rodrigues
    • 新音乐中的新音乐 ——参观 2011 多瑙厄申根新音乐节 文/杨琳
    • 多元且專注─2011年第四屆上海當代音樂周總評-林芳宜
    • 亞洲音樂先鋒-亞洲作曲家聯盟暨2011亞太音樂節-林芳宜
    • SKETCHES: THE MANILA COMPOSERS LAB 2009 - BY HUEYCHING CHONG
    • JONAS BAES ON PATANGIS-BUWAYA [2003]
    • Koji Nakano New Approach to
    • Composers+ Summer Academy 2017 By Dr. HueyChing Chong
    • The Barcelona Modern International Composition Course 4th Edition 2017/18 ​By Dr. HueyChing Chong, Oct 2019
    • Atlas Lab 2016 By Dr. HueyChing Chong, Oct 2019
    • BUILDING BRIDGES: Concert 5 (SoundBridge IV), presented as part of the 4th SoundBridge Contemporary Music Festival By Jon Lin Chua
  • Contact Us

Interview highlights with Peter Veale - by Ruth Rodrigues

Special thanks to Ms. Ruth Rodrigues for providing the rights for SMCC to share the interview with Peter Veale.

Peter Veale speaks about his experience as a musician, author and conductor, and the process of creating the inaugural Southeast Asian Contemporary Music Ensemble

You are dedicating this concert to several World and Asian premieres. What motifs and thoughts guided you when planning the program?

The idea is to offer the audience a broad range of style. This diversity comes naturally when, as we will hear tonight, each of the four composers have a different cultural background and come from four different countries. I also believe that it is a wonderful and rewarding experience for the young musicians to be part of a world premiere and to be actively involved in the creation of a work from their time.

This concert places a lot of emphasis on Asian performers and composers, as well as young musicians. What their importance within this project?

One of the major goals for our youth ensemble Studio musikFabrik is to inspire other countries to form similar ensembles. We have found this particular age group (16-21) to be an ideal one for exposing young musicians to contemporary music. This knowledge and inspiration will help later in their education where they may be confronted with colleagues and audiences who are less receptive to challenging music. We hope that this project will also create contact between young composers and young musicians, and hopefully to a permanent and active Asian contemporary music youth ensemble.

You are a champion of contemporary music with more than 50 works written for you to date. What are your first impressions when you receive a composer’s new piece? How do you address the question of interpretation as a conductor when you are working with a living composer?

When I receive a new piece, I first try to musically comprehend it. At this point I am usually in close contact with the composer. If I feel I have been able to grasp the music, I then work on the technical demands. When working with composers as a conductor, I find that almost without exception that they are willing to be flexible about modifications or other alterations provided they sense that the piece has been taken seriously and that their aims and feelings have been understood.

What were some of the challenges involved in preparing for this concert?

One of the main challenges was the logistics. I travelled to all three countries in Asia in October to pre-rehearse the various ensembles and to meet the players. Naturally the pieces that involve all of the ensembles could not be rehearsed in their entirety until the end of December in Singapore. It was also an interesting experience to rehearse a piece in Kuala Lumpur with the composer connected to us via Skype!

What do you think are the most important characteristics of a conductor who wants to conduct new music?

The attributes necessary for a classical conductor are almost identical to those for contemporary music: i.e. to have a good ear, to have a clear musical plan and strategy for the entire work etc.  It is important of course to be rhythmically very stable, and to sometimes be creative as to how to solve certain complex passages to make them more accessible. When conducting youth ensembles, one has to be a good psychologist; It is often preferable not to let them know how difficult a piece perhaps really is, but rather to give them encouragement and motivation for the challenge.

Working with so many different kinds of ensembles, you must also have some strong opinions on how to interact with different kinds of audiences. Do you present yourself and/or the music differently for a new music audience like the one we have tonight?

In general I believe there is no such thing as a specialized audience. It is however important to have an idea of how accustomed the audience is to the modern repertoire. It is often a good idea to have a pre-concert talk or an introduction between pieces to help facilitate an understanding and positive reception to this repertoire.

It is interesting that we have three Asian world premieres at this concert. However, there is a perception that there is not a lot of international interaction between the Asian new music scenes. What is so different about these three composers’ music that allows them to cross international borders so well? Do you find there is some unique quality or characteristic about their music that makes it more “international”?

The multinational and culturally diverse program reflects the differing cultural backgrounds of the composers whose works are being performed tonight.  I think the Goethe Institute’s South East Asian composers’ competition has definitely helped the contemporary music scene to connect and I also hope that tonight’s concert and the formation of the Youth ensemble from Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok may help enable more collaboration across borders or indeed within cities. I think many schools could benefit through more collaboration in the Arts rather than competition.

You have played a leading role in promoting new music via your work with musikFabrik and the Elision Ensemble. What do you think are some of the biggest successes and failures that the new music community has had in bringing the works of living composers to audiences? What do you hope to see more or less of in the future? 

The so-called ‘new music community’ in Germany has expanded significantly during recent years to embrace a broader public. The biggest mistake in the past was to be too exclusive. There are now many education projects coupled with the idea of life-long learning. Ensemble musikFabrik’s new music is now communicated to the public on a more "normal" basis and has become significantly more accessible. It is wonderful to experience composers writing pieces for younger people and even for kids. This is a wonderful opportunity, along with crossover and intercultural projects, to give them a broader consciousness about music.

 

Peter Veale has won several prizes and scholarships including the first prize in the ABC concerto competition in Australia in 1979, and an international scholarship as performing artist-in-residence at the Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart from 1992 to 1993.

He is also a founding member of Ensemble SurPlus and a member of Ensemble musikFabrik since 1996. Peter Veale is also active as an author -  The Technique of Oboe Playing (Bärenreiter) written together with Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf, and as an editor of the series Contemporary Music for Oboe.

Since 2011, he is the artistic director of Studio musikFabrik.

 

Ruth Rodrigues is a musicologist and violinist specialising in violin-playing and pedagogy. Since completing her doctoral studies in the University of Birmingham (UK), she is now a teacher in Raffles Institution, and continues her research into performance practice. She has recently presented at the annual Sound and Performance conference, University of Bayreuth, Germany.

 Ruth is also a peer reviewer for the e-journal e-Pisteme (University of Newcastle, UK) and has a forthcoming publication on forgotten violinists of the early twentieth-century and their playing styles. As a performer, she has given solo recitals and is a member of The Philharmonic Orchestra, on which she serves as a member of the organising committee.

© Ruth Rodrigues

Posted date: 10 Jan 2013

Home
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • About SMCC
    • Visions
    • SMCC Committee Members
    • Members
    • Membership Application
  • Opportunities
    • 2022 >
      • Borneo Ensemble Composer Series
      • Tunku Zain Piano Trio Composition Competition 2022
    • 2021 >
      • TNMAS 2021 Call for Scores
      • Malaysia Young Composers' Workshop 2021
      • New Music Room Call for Scores
      • Goethe Institut Digital Mentoring Programme
      • 10th Rivers Awards Composition Competition
    • 2019 >
      • 【衛武營當代音樂平台】國際作曲徵件與彼得.于特福許作曲大師班
      • ​Call for works - ACL New Zealand 2020
      • Call for works - Solo piano pieces by Malaysian composers ​
      • 1ST INTERNATIONAL EISENACH COMPOSITION PRIZE
      • The 10th China ConTempo Composition Competition
      • 第一届上海室内歌剧作品国际比赛章程
      • Passepartout Duo - Music Seminar and a Composition & Performance Workshop ​
      • PIERROT LUNAIRE INTERNATIONAL COMPOSITION COMPETITION 2019
      • 2019 年 第八届「百川奖」作曲比赛
      • 作曲专业 | 柏林音乐表演艺术学院 AfMB-恺撒堡 2019 冬季学校
      • Forum Wallis 2019
    • 2018 >
      • Call for score : ASEAN Youth Ensemble (AYE) 2018
      • 2018 Banaue International Music Composition Competition
      • Ding Yi - Composium 2018
      • Call for application: 2018 International Gugak Workshop
      • PYO CALL FOR SCORE 2018
      • ​Call for scores - 35th ACL Festival and Conference Taiwan 2018
      • Ars Electronica Forum Wallis 2018 CALL FOR STEREO OR QUADROPHONIC ACOUSMATIC WORKS
      • 寻找中国的声音——第六届刘天华奖中国民乐室内乐作品征集简章
      • 2018 Breaking music - International Composition Competition
      • Call for Composition - Breaking New Ground
    • 2016 >
      • ACL 2016
    • 2015 >
      • ACL Philippines 2015
    • 2014
    • 2013 >
      • 32nd Conference and Festival 2014, Japan: Call for Scores
      • ACL 2013 (Asian Composer League)
      • Ninth Thailand International Composers Competition 2013
      • 5th International Pharos Contemporary Music Festival and Ensemble TRANSMISSION
      • New Gamelan Music Festival: Call for Scores
      • Singapore Chinese Orchestra Composer Workshop 2013
      • Chamber•Sounds Regional Call For Chamber Opera Proposals 2013
      • Beijing International Composition Workshop 2013
  • Events
    • 2021 >
      • SoundBridge Virtual 2021
      • Hong-Da Chin Concert Presented by No Exit Ensemble
      • Ding Yi Music Company Composium 2021
    • 2019 >
      • Music improvisation workshop by Otomo Yoshihide
      • 琴弦两岸 - 马来西亚、新加坡小提琴与钢琴作品音乐会
      • Soundbridge 2019 >
        • Soundbridge 2019 - Flyer
      • Into the Sound
      • From NY To KL
      • Natural Spectra by Christoven
      • Cello Recital by Friedrich Gauwerky
      • 4th SoundBridge Contemporary Music Festival 2019
    • 2018 >
      • The 9th Malaysian Composers Concert Series 2018
      • European Journey
    • 2017 >
      • Piano Recital by Simon Nabatov
      • SoundBridge 2017 >
        • An Introduction to the festival
        • Support Messages
        • Gallery
        • 2017 SoundBridge Booklet
        • Soundbridge 2017 booklet for download
        • Post production review >
          • 五棰半 :音桥音乐节| 当代亚洲音乐的发光站
          • 邹向平 :​“音桥当代音乐节”见闻四则
          • Post production review by Teh Tian Yoon
    • 2015 >
      • SoundBridge 2015
    • 2013 >
      • KLC Malaysian Composers Concert Series 2013
      • Young Southeast Asian Composers Shone at Festival
      • ACME and Studio MusikFabrik (Chinese Version)
      • SoundBridge 音橋 2013 >
        • Festival Event Details >
          • Support Message
          • Concert 1 - SoundBridge
          • Concert 2 - Malaysian Voices III
          • Photography and Calligraphy Exhibition
          • Musicians and Artists
          • Malaysian Composers
          • Young Composers
          • Panelist
    • 2010 >
      • Composer Workshop Series I
  • Articles
    • SoundBridge 2021 - People's Music Magazine Feature
    • Sin Chew Daily Feature on SMCC & SoundBridge
    • Tracing Art Music Compositions and Composers in Malaysia
    • Malaysian Young Composers' Workshop 2021
    • 现代音乐永远的夏天 马来西亚第三届“音桥当代音乐节”之热效应 - 邹向
    • 森林里的艺术世界 - 李茜云
    • Interview with Peter Vaele - by Ruth Rodrigues
    • 新音乐中的新音乐 ——参观 2011 多瑙厄申根新音乐节 文/杨琳
    • 多元且專注─2011年第四屆上海當代音樂周總評-林芳宜
    • 亞洲音樂先鋒-亞洲作曲家聯盟暨2011亞太音樂節-林芳宜
    • SKETCHES: THE MANILA COMPOSERS LAB 2009 - BY HUEYCHING CHONG
    • JONAS BAES ON PATANGIS-BUWAYA [2003]
    • Koji Nakano New Approach to
    • Composers+ Summer Academy 2017 By Dr. HueyChing Chong
    • The Barcelona Modern International Composition Course 4th Edition 2017/18 ​By Dr. HueyChing Chong, Oct 2019
    • Atlas Lab 2016 By Dr. HueyChing Chong, Oct 2019
    • BUILDING BRIDGES: Concert 5 (SoundBridge IV), presented as part of the 4th SoundBridge Contemporary Music Festival By Jon Lin Chua
  • Contact Us