Rui Ozawa (Japan) - Noema by Claude Ledoux (Dinant 2019)

7th Adolphe Sax International Competition From Tu 29 Oct. to Sa 09 Nov. 2019 Dinant The Adolphe Sax International Competition is for advanced saxophonists of any nationality who may not be aged more than 30 years, i.e. they must have been born after 9 November 1988. Its musical development is in the hands of a Musical Committee, which is made up of saxophone teachers from Belgium’s higher conservatories. The Competition is preceded by a selection process based on videos. A total of 302 candidates submitted videos to be viewed by an international jury (Alain Crepin, Sergey Kolesov, Koen Maas, Masahiro Maeda and Timothy McAllister). They were required to perform the Concerto pour Saxophone - II. Final - Giration by Henri Tomasi and the 2nd Movement of Konsert för Saxofon by Lars Erik Larsson. The jury had to decide whether each candidate was of the level required to take part in the public part of the competition, by awarding a "yes", a "no", or a "maybe". At the end of the preselection process, 94 candidates were accepted. The public rounds are as follows: - a first round, in which candidates play for a maximum of 20 minutes; - a semi-final, in which candidates play for a maximum of 40 minutes, to which the 18 highest-ranking candidates from the first round are admitted; - a final, in which candidates play for a maximum of 40 minutes, to which the 6 highest-ranking candidates from the semi-final are admitted. A saxophone of any kind may be played in the works chosen by candidates, but the compulsory works must be played on an alto saxophone. In the first round and the semi-final, candidates are accompanied on the piano; in the final they are accompanied by an orchestra. Since it was first launched, the Competition has been a great success, both with specialists and with a broad public: it attracted 104 candidates from 21 countries in 1994, 114 candidates from 26 countries in 1998, 134 candidates from 23 countries in 2002, 114 candidates from 25 countries in 2006, 170 candidates from 33 countries in 2010 and 109 candidates from 26 countries in 2014. In this 7th Edition, 94 candidates are taking part, from 19 countries. The compulsory works for the finals of previous competitions, commissioned by the International Adolphe Sax Association, were: Caprices de Saxicare by Henri Pousseur (1994), Ostinati by Frédéric Devreese (1998), Pathetic Story by Frederic van Rossum (2002), Kotekan by Piet Swerts (2006), Rhapsody for Alto Saxophone by André Waignein (2010) and Images by Jan Van der Roost (2014). For the 2019 edition, the composition of the compulsory work, Noema, was entrusted to Claude Ledoux. For the first round and the semi-final the Competition management places official accompanists at the disposal of those candidates who wish to avail of them: Reinaert Albrecht, Geert Callaert, Flavien Casaccio, Paul Hermsen, Tomoko Honda and Anastasia Kozhushko. The finalists will perform with The Chamber Orchestra of Belgium CASCO Phil, conducted by David Reiland. The Jury, chaired by Alain Crepin, is made up of musical personalities who represent different schools around the world: Koen Maas, Vice-President (Belgique), David Alonso Serena (Spain), Roberto Benitez Alonso (Mexico), John Harle (United Kingdom), Sergey Kolesov (Russia), Shyen Lee (Taïwan), Masahiro Maeda (Japan), Timothy McAllister (United States), Debra Richtmeyer (United States) and Christian Wirth (France). For the semi-final they will be joined by Vykintas Baltakas (Lituania), Eddy Vanoosthuyse (Belgium) and for the final by Claude Ledoux (Belgium) (p. 96). The jury will be assisted by a Secretariat-General made up of Simon Diricq. The Arbitration Committee is chaired by the Honorary Alternate Judge of Dinant, Guy de Reytere, and is made up of Peter Cverle, Pieter Pellens and Romain Zante. A Mediator, Maitre Gyllen Kiabu, will ensure that the Competition runs smoothly in legal terms.

[@clicmusic]

Brillant playing! Brillant music! Brillant orchestra!

[@rloomis3]

If I may offer a little friendly constructive criticism...
In all of these videos of the finals, I think the focus should be on the soloist; he/she should be on screen basically the entire time. Especially because this is documenting a competition, the primary nexus of interest is naturally the soloist; the constant cuts away from him/her detract from the viewer's ability to "evaluate" the competitor's performance. Also, it seems like at least half the time when the shot switches to players in the orchestra, they're not even playing. This was particularly puzzling when we were shown glimpses of the orchestra members _during the cadenza._ The soloist is the only one on stage playing at that moment, but the video displays orchestra members sitting and waiting to start playing again. What are we supposed to draw from that? Just show us the person whom the entire audience (live and virtual) is focused on, rather than worrying about providing "variety," or whatever. Simple is best!

[@AdolphesaxTV]

Thanks for your feedback. We are totally agree with you. This production was made by the local tv in Dinant and they gave us the signal. We couldnt do anything...

[@rloomis3]

@@AdolphesaxTV Ah, I see. Thanks for replying and explaining the situation. Good to know we feel the same way. :)

[@agnesschmidt4337]

👍🏻👍🏻🤷🏼‍♀️