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http://www.accordions.com/news.aspx?d=29-Apr-2022&lang=de&s=18785
http://www.accordions.com/news.aspx?d=29-Apr-2022&lang=de&s=18785
29-Apr-2022
by Harley Jones
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 Video: This new composition, commissioned and dedicated to Sonja Vertainen (accordion) and Otto Kentala (guitar), was recorded on 25th of March 2022 at the Camerata hall, University of the Arts Helsinki. This new work world premiere was the finale of the Master Recital of Sonja Vertainen.Sonja Vertainen writes: "I knew Kimmo Hakola before this project from his piece Arara for three accordions which he had composed for my fathers (Raimo Vertainen) accordion trio, Trio Fratres in the 90´s. I actually played this piece in my chamber music exam last year with my own accordion trio and liked it a lot. Trio Fratres had in fact commissioned another piece for accordion trio back then from Kimmo Hakola but for some reason it never happened. That got me thinking, that maybe I could bring that project back to life and Kimmo Hakola could compose the piece for me. This idea had been sitting in my head for years when I finally decided to act on it. At first I think I was just so eager to get him to write for me, that I suggested a number of instruments to pair up with the accordion: flute, viola, piano, one or two other accordions, and of course quitar. So, for me, the idea to write specifically for accordion and guitar wasn't written in stone, because I wanted to give some space for the composer to decide what he might be inspired to compose. But, during that phone call, I think it became clear that my interests were mostly in accordion & guitar duo because it´s such an interesting combo, so Kimmo Hakola took on the challenge. Hakola has said, that it would have never have crossed his mind to write for accordion and guitar, so a duo of accordion and guitar totally came from my side. My wonderful accordion professors Veli Kujala and Matti Rantanen helped by listening to me play and made some suggestions for the accordion part as well as the whole duo. In addition they have always given lots of support and some advice on how to work with composers and how to handle certain things in those situations. For example, how to write a contract between the player and the composer. Veli Kujala also wrote me a recommendation letter to get the funding for the project, which was a very nice. Kimmo Hakola and I talked on the phone quite a long time before we actually met in person, almost a year. How these types of things usually work in Finland, is that you make an agreement/contract with the composer saying that they have agreed to write piece (including fee and instrument combination) and then someone, usually the one commissioning the piece, applies for grants for the project and if they get the funding, the project will happen. It can happen, that the composer agrees to compose the music, but the funding fails, so the project won't proceed. So, for a long time with Kimmo Hakola it was uncertain if the project was really going to proceed because of the uncertainty of the funding. We actually saw Hakola only twice before the premiere: once for coffee to just chat about the piece and get to know each other and then a month before the premiere we played it to him. But of course we had phone calls, zoom sessions and texts all the time. He would call every now and then, to ask about some technical things and if it was possible. I liked those phone calls because often we would talk about music in general a little bit, which was always interesting. Otto Kentala was a big factor why I suggested a duo for guitar and accordion in the first place. We were actually in the same music school as kids but we only met when we started at the Sibelius Academy in 2015. We were friends for years but we had never played together and we were always talking about how we should play together. I have the best time playing with musicians with whom I'm already good friends with, so I thought that it would be a good idea. Another reason why I wanted accordion and guitar was because I had noticed that there isn't nearly enough repertoire for that combo, compared to how many accordion and guitar players, really want to play together. Personally I almost feel some sort of responsibility to contribute to new Finnish music and if I have the chance to widen our repertoire in any way, I should do it. Also in the Sibelius Academy, accordion and guitar are in the same "group" alongside piano and kantele (traditional Finnish instrument), so it's natural for accordion and guitar players to hang with each other and therefore play together. I guess I just felt the need to contribute to that somehow and make it a little bit more accessible for young players to find good pieces to play together." Thank you to Sonja Vertainen for sharing her experience of commissioning a new work for accordion. We hope this news article will also encourage other accordionists to commission new works for accordion. |