The 36th Annual Ern Keller International Soloist of the Year and Band of the Year takes place today at the St Marys Band Club, Penrith, Sydney.
Adjudicator: Steve Rosse
Accompanist: Tony Baldwin
Producer: Ken Bradley
Compere: Robert Pearce
The winner of the 2010 Ern Keller Memorial International Soloist of the Year is:
Bruce Myers
Performances:
1. Rogan Clancy, Queensland, “Concerto for Bass Trombone”, Derek Bourgeois
Cracking pace set — a high benchmark for the day.
2. Matthew van Emmerik, FABB, “Euphonium Concerto Part 1, Philip Wilby
Running fast to try and catch the pace of the opening performer. Safe and secure first movement. Greek dance a lot less cautious and flamboyant — mostly coming off too. Popular with the crowd.
3. Bruce Myers, National — New South Wales, “Concert Fantasie”, Gustav Cords
Beautiful soft playing and technique with the same finesse. Takes a moment for soloist and piano to agree on tempo. Transition dramatic and cadenza sings. Great spacing. Theme steady yet stylish. Right on top of this one all the way to the finish. Great job.
4. Atsuhiko Okamoto, Japan, “Concerto F minor”, Oskar Bohme
Looking very much like he means business. Very pretty sound and after a couple of minor mishaps settles in well with very impressive agility secure high extremes. Bit crossed with piano at times but great strength. Cadenza a couple of sticky moments in the slower section but triple tonguing brilliant. A real test of endurance this. Stylish but probably a bit inconsistent to be a contender today.
5. Jef Vermeiren, Great Britain (Belgium), “Concerto No. 1”, Vladimir Peskin
Nice sound after a shakey start. Peskin is certainly a tough chart. Recurring theme is excellent although there are a few sprays in the tech bits and intonation not 100%. Much better pitch in 2nd movement. Very classy. 3rd mov starts similarly but tech not always secure. Great strength of sound throughout.
6. Ben Noonan, Western Australia, “Slavische Fantasie”, Carl Hohne
Tending a little flat throughout, and a bit hurried, but generally sounding much better this year.
7. Jennifer Magoulas, Victoria, “Anna Karenina”, Helen Johnston
Tasteful with good sound. Tech work clean but high register a let down today.
8. Kevin Joughin, South Australia, “Slavische Fantasie”, Carl Hohne
Strong and secure. Not always together with accomp — neither wants to lead. Minor blips but great run to end.
9. Chris Williams, Tasmania, “Rustiques”, Eugene Bozza
Just stepped off the plane from Tassie looking in charge but relaxed. Great sounds from the start. Beautiful artistry, and space — semis and runs are so even and effortless. Very polished and we are loving it, and so is he. Mr Smooth and style. A couple of minor blips towards end is all.
10. Phillip O’Neill, New South Wales, “Cornet Concerto”, Ernest Tomlinson
Starts extremely well and looks confident. Sounding well in control and nicely in tune. Cracking piece. Only plays movt 1 — maybe too short?
11. Nate Gay, USA, “Euphonium Concerto”, Vladimar Cosma
USA makes a great start. Lovely eupho sound and so effortless. Shaped and really filling the room without overblowing. Couple of minor blips but quickly recovers. Great lower register and extremely well controlled. Spellbinding — great piece with Spanish flavours. This could be the one.
Philip Johnston, New Zealand, unfortunately underwent an emergency appendectomy late yesterday evening and is unable to attend.
What do we think?
So for us, Nate Gay would have the edge from Chris Williams, then Bruce Myers, with Matt van Emmerik just outside the top 3 frame.
21st Annual Ern Keller “Band of the Year”
Winner: St Marys Band Club Brass
Best Soloist: Mark Howcroft
Adjudicators: Stephen Rosse, Toshiaki Kameyama, Greg Aitken
Draw:
1. Holroyd Brass, Mark Strykowski
2. St Marys Band Club Brass, Matthew van Emmerik
3. Warringah Concert Brass, John Saunders
