A regular at sound, flautist Richard Craig will be joined by Margaret Preston to lead a Flute Course on Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 October in the Uni's MacRobert Building.
"sound have been on at me to make a contribution to their new blog, so I've finally prised myself away from the flute to mention the very first flute course at the festival. I can't take credit for the idea since the Sax weekend in 2008 paved the way for this project, but I hope to add something a bit different to the course by playing some tunes and demonstrating some new music techniques and ideas.
Last year's flute day established that there was indeed an interest in playing the flute in Aberdeenshire, and that we could do something along those lines. I also know that for a lot of you, the words contemporary, music and techniques all in the same sentence may sound like a cue to find an excuse NOT to come along, but before you do reach for the mouse and continue your cyber promenade, lend me your imagination.
You have to admit, that the flute (baroque, classical and romantic) has some beautiful works, and during the weekend we will certainly play these and enjoy some fine performances, but why should it stop there? Why don't we allow ourselves to be a little more inquisitive and imagine what other images or places that we can conjure with the flute...suddenly we have a new language which we never knew existed, waiting all the time, under our fingers or only in our imagination. This course is precisely that: opening these doors and complementing what we already know about the flute.
Ken Dempster, composer, has written a new piece especially for us, which is both melodic and exciting, as well as having many more colours and textures than you would usually expect. A master of flute writing, he came forward with lots of thoughts and interesting ideas for the piece, which is now being carefully gathered onto a score for us to play. Would you like to be part of a world premiere of a new work for lots of flutes? Meet players and generally have a great time playing the flute? Click here for more information and application form."
Richard Craig
