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Tango Oz 2014 – An exciting debut
Every year since TangoOz was formed in 2009, I look forward to sharing with incoming students the beauty and art of tango.
From the first rehearsal the students begin to bond with each other. They add to their already substantial instrumental technical skills, tango specific conversational tools such as arrastre, sincope and percussion. The collaborative, chamber music environment in which rehearsals are conducted encourages individual freedom within the group, particularly in the performance of solos and also sympathetic ensemble playing.
This year for the first time, a new tango history segment has been introduced at rehearsals. An initiative of curator Ewen McDonald (affectionately known as ‘Tango COP’ or Co ordinator of Performance/Practice), this involves a number of envelopes which are distributed in the mid time break in rehearsal. Randomly, two envelopes contain a tango topic for discussion. The recipient must do research and make a small presentation to the group at the next rehearsal. Topics have included Arrastres, Guardia Vieja/Nueva, The Golden Period, important composers, percussion in tango and many others.
On April 5th, TangoOz 2014 performed their first concert in the Verbrugghen Hall at Sydney Conservatorium of Music . The repertoire reflected their first term focus which were tangos by Alfredo Gobbi (Redencion), Anibal Troilo (Toda Mi Vida) and Osvaldo Pugliese (Recuerdo). Violinist Mimi Greenbaum, now in her 3rd year with TangoOz, presented a talk on percussion in tango, which included a display from the orchestra, received by the audience with much appreciation. This was followed by a performance of Astor Piazzolla’s Michelangelo 70. The finale was a spirited, arrastre laden version of La Cumparsita with dancers Amy Teuchert and Jairo Sanchez Rivera of Tangueros.com.au
The challenge this term has been to balance the sound of an orchestra which contains two double basses, three cellos, four violins, alto sax, clarinet, flute, piccolo, bandoneon and piano. It is due to the musicians’ listening skills that this was possible.
I look forward to an another exciting term beginning on May 5th
TangoOz is grateful to TangoVia.org for access to the archival tango scores from which they study.
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