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http://www.accordions.com/news.aspx?d=04-Nov-2016&lang=en&s=12380
http://www.accordions.com/news.aspx?d=04-Nov-2016&lang=en&s=12380
04-Nov-2016
"Beyond Amazing" Accordion State Youth Orchestra, Baden-Wurttemberg - Indiaby Harley Jones |
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 Video: Accordion State Youth Orchestra of Baden-Wurttemberg performing Brahms' Hungarian Dance No.1, "SWR Sonntagstour" TV channel in 2009. Conductor: Stefan Hippe. Silke D'Inka was recently awarded the Silver Conductor Award of the German Deutschen Harmonika-Verbandes (DHV) national accordion association for her past 10 years of conducting successes. Review and Interview by CatchNews.com, New Delhi, reporter Durga M Sengupta, published 28 October 2016. Heading: 50% of this German accordion orchestra is under 18 and they're beyond amazing Excerpts: This was how India International Centre's Festival of the Arts closed. Picture thirty-odd people seated on a stage, each armed with a shiny accordion, belting out music ranging from the Hungarian Rhapsody and Dance of the Comedians to Aaja Sanam Madhur Chandni and Dragon Fight. Young musicians from the Accordion State Youth Orchestra, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany, aged between 16 and 26, played some of the most soulful and yet entertaining music we heard at the festival. Their conductor and managing director, Silke D'Inka, enthusiastically guided them through the 2-hour-long set. Catch met Silke backstage after the performance and she talked to us about the orchestra. Q: You used two Bollywood songs (Taal Se Taal & Aaja Sanam Madhur Chandni) in your set. Do you play these around the world or is it something you decided to play in India? A: Yeah, it's just for this tour. They don't exist normally for accordion orchestra so we switched some notes and so [we incorporated it] in the orchestra as well. Q: I noticed that the only accompaniment you had to such a large number of accordions were the drums. And that too minimal. Do you think the accordion can cover a diverse range of sounds? A: Yeah I think so. Perhaps you noticed that the accordions have different switches? We also have electronic accordions - keyboards but in accordion form. We also have accordions with amplifiers. There's the first accordion, second accordion, third accordion and fourth accordion, like in symphony orchestra... Q: I believe the Accordion State Youth Orchestra gets in new people every year? And they're mostly very young, often minors. How do you train them so young year after year? A: We always have about 30 people. Every year, a minimum of 10 [shift] and mostly the new ones are young. They're usually well trained from their teachers and have won prizes, so they are very good. Not everyone can play with us. It works out because they learn from the older [members]. It's never a problem. They can be as young as 15-16, sometimes even 14. Q: How many minors played tonight? A: Half of them here are under 18. Q: There were different kinds of music that you played today. Is there a binding theme that we may have missed? A: I always try to mix the programme so that we have [pieces that are] original, and also from classical music. Q: Your orchestra was founded in 1985. So it's been over 30 years. So, tell us, what do you think has remained consistent? Also, what has changed over the years? A: Well the quality in the beginning was high but it went higher and higher. So now I think the quality of the orchestra is higher than [it was] at the beginning. Then, they took the players [they got] and now we have to say no and tell people we can't take no more. We also have better trained players now. We are sponsored by Goethe-Institut. Unfortunately, they have to pay a lot for every tour. I don't know how it is in India, but in Germany 10 years ago you got more money but now it's not that much. Q: Do you also feel the pressure of modern music? Like you picked Bollywood today. Do you feel the need to do that most places you go? A: Yeah I think so. That's why I said we try and get pieces from every sort of music. Also, for the players. Q: Lastly, what does the accordion mean to you? A: Well, for me and for every accordion player it's very special because it's an instrument you [hold] close to your body. You feel the music much more, I think. I've played some other instruments, and for me, that's the big difference. |
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