12 July 2012
Dear fellow accompanists and Guild members,
It is hard to believe that the first 6 months of the year have already passed by! Chilly mornings…Christmas in July…the carbon tax … we are well and truly in the second half of the year – and as the wheel of 2012 keeps turning on, your committee is working consistently behind the scenes to make the Accompanists Guild accountable, active and beneficial to all its members.
Already, we have taken some positive steps to ensure higher visibility and awareness of the Guild in the musical community. As mentioned previously, we have produced and are now distributing some attractive promotional posters. At present, 23 A3-size posters are being placed in the music department of high-profile schools and in other suitable venues around Brisbane. A further dozen or so will go to other selected private schools outside Brisbane including the Gold Coast and Toowoomba. These advertisements should generate some work to all our accompanists, especially at busy auditions and examinations time when instrumental and vocal candidates are desperately looking for pianists!
A number of country Eisteddfods are also benefiting from the generosity of the Guild. To date, 16 cheques have already been accepted by various Queensland Eisteddfods as prizes for potential “best accompanist” performers. It is an on-going commitment from the Guild to award these prizes biennially and encourage young pianists to engage in musical partnerships with their friends and peers.
Accompanists do not generally get a great deal of mention on the airwaves, so it was wonderful to hear a couple of months ago an in-depth interview with renowned international accompanist Malcolm Martineau on ABC-FM (and thanks to Juanita for bringing it to our attention!). Martineau was in Australia as partner to famous American mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, on a concert tour which, most unfortunately, did not include Brisbane. However, another imminent event which will benefit Brisbane accompanists is the workshop to be given by Lynne Jordan on the 22nd July in the MTAQ auditorium. Details of this have already been circulated and we hope that we will see many members in attendance. (Don’t forget to book and pay in advance!)
Finally, the committee would like to welcome new members Heidi Loveland, David McNeven, Amanda Rosenfeld and Tim Li who have recently joined, and to take the opportunity to remind everyone that the Annual General Meeting is fast approaching! The date has now been set for Sunday 16 September and members will be contacted very soon about this important occasion, when we hope to meet many of you. Please make a note of it in your diaries!
In the meantime, happy accompanying – and all the best from the Committee!Regis Danillon
President
Accompanists Guild of Queensland Inc.
