BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
The Australian National Academy of Music doesn’t care when a piece of music was written – as long as its fulfilling. Fulfilling for its emerging musicians playing the notes; and fulfilling for you, too.
That’s why ANAM’s artists will be time travelling from the eras of Strauss to Raff, Berio to Globokar, Mozart to Brett Dean in its March 14 concert.
The musician who will direct this event is Stefan Dohr, who the New York Chronicle described as the “king of his instrument” and who has performed horn with Berlin Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic, Shanghai Philharmonic, Osaka Philharmonic, and many more.
The Time Travelling for Winds and Brass, and the 20th Century Masters that precedes it, is a fitting event for Stefan, who holds the belief that “music dies” if we don’t program new works alongside the old.
We chat with him to find out more about his value for ‘contemporary’ music (and why he hates that description).
You have quite a history of performing music from the older periods as well as commissioning new music; a great fit for your Time Travelling for Winds and Brass performance. How do you feel the works in this program are interwoven, regardless of when they were written?
It can be quite difficult to put together programs for wind instruments that don’t always rely on the usual suspects. I wanted to make a program that challenges the students and shows the versatility of what these instruments and the players can do.
They’ll need to do a bit of everything here: reciting text in the Berio, shaping and structuring the romanticism of the Strauss and Raff, dealing with Brett’s not-uncomplicated rhythms without a conductor; even playing their colleagues’ instruments while rotating on office chairs in the Globokar.
Ultimately, this concert is about what it is to be a performer, which is so much more than just sitting and playing the notes.
You’re also presenting a concert of the 20th Century Masters, which will feature ANAM Musicians. Through programs such as these, what do you enjoy most about introducing ‘contemporary’ music to the next generation of performers?
Well, none of these pieces are what I would call ‘contemporary’; I think Stravinsky outlived them all, and he died back in 1971! That’s much more the territory of the other program.
I think it’s a problem when the terms ’20th Century music’ and ‘contemporary music’ are used interchangeably. But if we use another term, lots of these pieces are ‘lesser-known’, and I love getting to work on music that the students may not have come across yet. Some of them are even new to me, so we can discover them together, which will be a great privilege for me.
You’ve taught at the Royal College of Music and Sibelius Academy, among others. Have you found young musicians’ attitudes to embracing newer or ‘lesser-known’ works?
I think I can say […] that every time I’ve brought something new to work on with students, they’ve always been enthusiastic and interested, even if it sometimes takes them out of their comfort zone.
Do you feel it’s a responsibility of future performers to present more music by living composers?
Of course! But it’s also the responsibility of managements to program it and audiences to be open to it.
In terms of ‘why’, the only reason I can give is because otherwise, music dies. (Not to be too dramatic about it, or anything.)
You started very early yourself, at just 19 years old with the Frankfurt Opera. When teaching now, what messages do you like to pass along to budding artists looking to achieve such success in their own careers, too?
Play, play, play.
Play for other people, play in different venues, play lots of different music. Always be curious and go for the risk.
Oh, and listen to all the music you possibly can, and figure out what it is that you like.
I tend to tell people that they should have a musical idea first, and figure out what technique they need to achieve that, as opposed to just pursuing technique for technique’s sake. But, in order to do that, you need to have musical ideas, which are only going to develop when you listen as much as you can.
Having worked across the world, what would you say are some of the common challenges that all young musicians face, regardless of where they forge their initial career paths?
Having time to open your mind to new ideas in a foreign country, especially with a foreign language, can only be a good thing, musically and culturally. Whether you choose to build your career there or at home is a matter of what opportunities are available and where you feel you fit best.
In terms of the common challenges, I sometimes think that young musicians focus on the wrong ones. For example, a big thing that lots of my colleagues and I have been talking about recently is that it seems that young players are often more concerned with playing “correctly” than finding their own musical voice and going for it. I think young musicians should be thinking of that as their biggest challenge, because everything comes from there.
Tell us a little bit about how you’ll be working with ANAM Musicians.
The way things are arranged in ANAM is honestly my favourite way to work with students. It’s a combination of one-to-one lessons for the horn players, and taking the rehearsals. I’m conducting some pieces and playing in others, which gives me lots of different perspectives to engage with the students, and hopefully they’ll be able to take something out of it.
Why would you encourage audiences to come along and listen to these performances?
Lots of these pieces don’t get performed often, and some of them really can’t be experienced properly in recordings (the Globokar, for example), so it’s a really wonderful opportunity for audiences to get to hear them.
Also, the ANAM students are some of the most talented young musicians I’ve ever come across, so it’s always worth hearing them.
What do you hope to gain from them by the end?
It’s a cliché, I know, but I really do learn just as much from the students as I hope they learn from me; possibly even more.
Ultimately, my aim is just that we’re able to make good music together that an audience can enjoy!
Experience Time Travelling for Winds and Brass at 11am March 14. Stefan will also feature in 20th Century Masters at 7.30pm March 8. Both events take place at ANAM, South Melbourne Town Hall.
We’re teaming up with ANAM throughout 2019 to bring you interviews about music education and industry. Stay tuned for our next story!
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Images supplied. ANAM captured by Pia Johnson. Stefan captured by Simon Pauly. Harry captured by Judi Mowlem Melbourne Camera Club.
