BY LEAH BLANKENDAAL
Welcome to Con Fuoco – CutCommon’s interview series with emerging musicians across Australia.
Magdalenna Krstevska has been playing the clarinet since the age of nine. In 2015, she received her Bachelor of Music with First Class Honours from the University of Melbourne, where she studied with David Griffiths and Paul Dean.
Among numerous awards she received the Frances Quinn Arts Encouragement Award, the Catherine Grace McWilliam Scholarship prize, was a finalist in the Vera Bradford Youth Concerto Competition, and last year received first prize in the Clarinet and Saxophone Society of Victoria’s Buffet Crampon Competition and the Musical Society of Victoria’s Hepzibah Menuhin Memorial Award.
Magdalenna has played with the Australian Youth Orchestra, Melbourne Youth Orchestra, the University of Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the Australian International Symphony Orchestra Institute and the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2016, Magdalenna will commence her studies at the Australian National Academy of Music.
Your all time favourite piece of music?
The Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky. It might seem like a cliche, being one of the monumental works of the 20th Century, but really it’s one of the most fun pieces to play and listen to! It alternates between incredibly chilling, quiet moments and exhilarating, explosive, penetrative rhythms and dances. Whether I’m part of the orchestra or an audience member, it always makes me want to jump about.
Most memorable concert experience?
One of my most memorable concert experiences would have to be in Berlin in August 2013, when I participated in the Australian Youth Orchestra’s International tour to Europe. We had just performed The Rite of Spring in the glorious Berlin Konzerthaus to a full house and were greeted by rapturous applause and a standing ovation. I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face! That was one of the moments where I just thought, ‘This is what it’s all about! This is why I’m training to be a classical musician!’.
Biggest fear when performing?
I feel a great responsibility when I perform. Although it’s so easy to get obsessed with all the technicalities of your individual playing, I believe that when a musician walks onto the stage it’s no longer about them, it’s about the music. So I guess that, for me, one of my biggest fears is that my performance will be musically bland or boring. I work really hard to figure out exactly what I’m trying to convey to my audience and do everything I can to get there.
Best piece of musical advice you’ve been given?
In August 2015 I attended the International Clarinet University in Camerino, Italy, where I worked with Antonio Saiote, a clarinettist and highly respected teacher from Portugal. During that week of master classes he said many great things, including ‘the difficult thing about playing the clarinet is that we have to sing with our mouth closed’. I thought that was a really beautiful idea.
How do you psych yourself up for practice on a lazy day?
If I’m feeling particularly slow on a day when I know I should be practising, I go back to the basics and pump myself up with a little aerobic exercise! It’s not uncommon to see me doing star jumps and throwing my arms up and down in the air when warming up for a rehearsal. Occasionally my colleagues make fun of me if they see me jumping around, but I find it much easier to start playing when the blood is pumping. I feel ready for action!
Most embarrassing thing to happen to you on stage?
When I was in year 10 I had a solo performance at my high school. It was the first piece I had ever planned to play from memory and I was scheduled to play at the end of the concert. By the time I had listened to the other players and got up to perform myself, I had been so distracted that when I began to play, I got totally stuck! There was one bar that I just simply could not remember, no matter how many times I tried to replay it or pass it. It got to the point where I had to smile politely and leave the stage. I ran back to my practice room, grabbed my music, returned to the stage, took a deep breath and restarted the whole piece! At the time I was absolutely mortified, but it taught me many important things, including how to not take myself too seriously.
Favourite post-gig activity?
After a concert I really love debriefing with my colleagues, focusing on what went well and sometimes having a chuckle about things that maybe didn’t quite go as planned. I also find that it’s really nice to go out to talk to the audience afterwards. It’s great to get a feel for how the audience enjoyed the concert, what their impressions were and what was most memorable for them.
What are you most proud of in your musical career so far?
In 2015, I was very excited to win the 3MBS Freemason’s Victoria Young Performer of the Year Award. As a result of that competition, not only was my performance broadcast on the radio, but I progressed to the national finals in Canberra, and ended up also winning the Fine Music Network’s National Young Virtuoso of the Year Award. I also feel incredibly lucky to have been accepted into the Australian Youth Orchestra programs for a number of years now. I have learnt so much from working with like-minded young musicians from all around the country.
What do you love most about making music?
I think that there’s something incredibly special about being able to express yourself and communicate with an audience in a way that requires no words at all. There are so many possibilities, from completely intimate, introverted conversations to obnoxious, loud explosions of sound. Music is so alive. You can never re-play something in exactly the same way and as a musician you create another world.
What’s your ultimate goal?
For me, the dream is to get to a position where I am able to combine all forms of performance to an exceptional standard. I absolutely love performing, both as a soloist and in ensembles. So ultimately, I want to be playing both as a professional orchestral musician and as a soloist and chamber musician. It’s always difficult to know exactly where we’re going to end up as young musicians-in-training, but I will keep working hard to establish a career where I am lucky enough to continue performing!
If you’re an emerging musician and would like to be featured in CutCommon’s Con Fuoco interview series, give us a shout at editor@cutcommon.com.
Image supplied. Credit Peter Hislop.
