BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
Welcome to our series, What the Fact?!
Throughout 2018, we’re teaming up with talent at the Australian National Academy of Music to bring you informed answers to real questions and topics about your music career.
Ever wondered why you feel performance anxiety? What the deal is with tuning to 440Hz – or not? How to lead an orchestra? We’re here to tell you all about it.
This time, we chat with Dale Vail. Dale is a legend. And that’s because he’s giving his ANAM Recital pretty soon – and the program consists only of his own music.
In fact, all the works on the program are world premieres of Dale’s compositions (except Romance for Trombone and Piano, which he performed last year in the Gisborne International Music Competition, and has played in class, too).
We figured it was pretty interesting that Dale chose to feature his own works in his recital, especially considering a trombone recital is no easy task of its own. Obviously multi-skilled, Dale picked up the trombone as a kid and has hit up the New Zealand brass community – performing with the Royal New Zealand Air Force Band, Orchestra Wellington, and Wellington Brass Band (not to mention founding his own New Orleans jazz group the Brass Bandits).
He’s won plenty of awards, too, and we think this gives him a great deal of experience to share about what it’s like to play your music in a high-pressure situation.
Hacking the performance of original music!
Dale, you’re a trombonist set to perform your ANAM Recital this month. If that wasn’t enough, you’re also programming entirely your own works inside the recital. How and why did this happen?!
ANAM offers us a chance to do a masters program through the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University alongside our regular ANAM studies, which I have chosen to enrol in this year. The topic I have chosen is ‘composing and performing new works for the trombone’.
I studied composition alongside my trombone studies at the New Zealand School of Music in Wellington, and have always wanted to properly combine my two skills. In fact, this specific project is something I have dreamed about doing for years, and at the start of this year, it clicked that this was actually possible!
How did those around you respond when you told them you were dedicating your concert to your own music?
It’s a funny thing to tell someone that you also compose music. Until they have actually heard what you have written, there is inevitably a little scepticism at first… But once I showed them scores, and performed in class to my teachers and peers, there has been a lot of support!
My recital includes 12 other musicians, which has really helped get my colleagues involved in the process, and makes the experience a lot less lonely! I believe they have enjoyed working through my pieces, and are looking forward to performing them.
It’s certain that you know these works intimately. How does this give you an advantage as a musician, compared to a recital in which you’d play other people’s works?
There is a lot of debate over the subject ‘should a composer conduct/perform their own work’. In a lot of ways, it is easy to miss musical ideas and interpretations that a performer brings to another composer’s music. On the other hand, I have found the experience absolutely freeing. I have no fear of doing something not intended by the composer. I have no fear of breaking a performance tradition. Preparing a recital of all my own works has allowed me to focus less on note learning, studying interpretations, and truly allows me to express my own voice.
I am no longer a mouthpiece for another person’s story – this recital is my story, as told by myself with no danger of ‘Chinese whispers’ adjusting the final product.
What’s been the rehearsal experience, and how has your music (or your understanding of it) evolved through the process?
The ‘rehearsal’ experience has been extremely different! There has been much less rehearsal in the traditional sense than you would expect from a normal recital. My concerto for trombone and brass band required me to multi-track an entire 25-piece band, which is a long process! You don’t have to rehearse parts to make sure it’s perfect – you record and fix things as you go. This is much more time-consuming than having a live band come in and play, but allowed me to complete this project with only three musicians – myself, and two of my trumpet colleagues from ANAM. By layering each part one at a time, you cannot help but develop an intimate familiarity with the work!
The trombone quartet has required the most ‘traditional’ rehearsal, and has been brilliant to work through with our teachers, unlocking every musical line, balancing the crunchier harmonies, and bringing the music off the page into the real world.
What additional responsibilities are placed on you when you must convey your own performance technique and compositional skill and voice to an audience?
Well, you certainly can’t blame the composer for your mistakes anymore!
I think you do feel a responsibility to make sure that everyone in the audience leaves the recital having loved at least one thing. For this reason, I have composed five completely contrasting works, in style, genre, and orchestration.
You feel a lot more exposed, as you are no longer portraying another composer’s story. This is myself, on stage, telling my story, and if the audience doesn’t like it, that can be absolutely crushing. But their reaction is not in my power. All I can do is present a well-rounded concert, portraying music I care deeply about, with messages, values, and emotions I strongly wish to share with the world. If I can do that, I have fulfilled my responsibility as a musician.
Now, when it comes to your instrument choice, things get a bit weird: you play the trombone because – as the story goes – when you were 2 years old, you saw a brass concert with your dad and pointed to the silliest-looking instrument on stage. When did you start to take your performance life seriously?
When I was 14, I won a spot in the National Secondary Schools Brass Band of New Zealand. This was an absolute turning point. To play wonderful brass music with other musicians my age who were far more accomplished – and much more importantly, loving every minute of what they did – was life changing.
We performed Behold the Narrows from the Hill by New Zealand composer Dwayne Bloomfield, which was a huge work for such a young band, and dealt with huge topics, depicting the ANZAC’s landing at Gallipoli. From then on, music meant something to me, and was no longer just something I do because I got dropped off at band every Tuesday…!
Are you an equally serious composer? And in that way, does this recital bring an even more fulfilling opportunity for you to perform to the public?
I am an equally serious composer. I have a large portfolio of works spanning different genres of brass music, and many of these are published with Experianza Music. I truly feel that this recital represents ‘the complete package’ of what I can offer as a musician at this point in my career. It is super exciting, a completely different and unique experience for me, and I’m sure a different experience for the audience as well!
So what’s your favourite piece in the recital?
It is genuinely hard to pick! Due to the large-scale nature of the work, I think I have to say my favourite is Psyche concerto for trombone and brass band. The amount of hours spent on this work – composing, recording, rehearsing, and finally performing – is astronomical, and I believe the quality of the work and the performance reflects this level of time invested.
The work is titled Psyche as I consider it an insight into my mind. The work reflects aspects of trombone playing that I value most highly, and also that I’m best at! It also has a lot of quotations in the music, that refer back to some of my most valued compositions I’ve written in the past, including Christchurch Alive written about my hometown and the recovery of the earthquakes; and Genesis, a reflection on the creation of the universe. Every bar has a little bit of myself in it, and it is incredibly emotional to perform.
What advice would you give other young musicians looking to premiere their own work, but may lack the confidence?
I am not going to lie, you are right to be nervous! I have been composing seriously for 7 years now, and it has been a rollercoaster of good responses, bad responses, and some soul-destroying moments. The most important thing is that you never stop trying to tell your story. If you compose, it is because you need to express something, and it is important that you never stop trying to let that out. It’s hard sometimes, but the reward for hearing your music being performed for the first time is mind-blowing, and very worth it.
Be thick-skinned, remember that your voice matters, and eventually people will hear it.
See Dale perform his music with pianist Aidan Boase and ANAM Musicians as part of his ANAM Recital, 1pm October 22 at ANAM, South Melbourne Town Hall.
UPDATE: Due to unforeseen circumstances, today’s ANAM Recitals will take place at Federation Hall, Victorian College of the Arts.
We’re partnering with ANAM to hook up with some of the strongest talent in the world in our new educational series! Check back in soon for our next What the Fact?! with professionals in the music industry.
