15-17 October 2007 (Serbia)

15-17 October 2007 (Serbia)
Mark Twain
United States of America

Dear Mark,

Belgrade is beautiful. It was a really quite a stark contrast to the constricted overpopulation of Sofia. As I was picked up by the assistant of the BEMUS Festival and driven to the city, I was enthralled by the rolling green hills and winding highways. Modern architecture arose next to Soviet-style buildings, both at odds and complimentary to each other. The assistant was a congenial young chap; we talked of jazz and the 1980’s Boston Celtics. Jazz, America’s most worthy export, it seems has left it’s mark on the culture and entertainment of the city.

BEMUS is the largest festival in the Balkans. Although primarily a classical music festival, it has expanded to include more modern music as well. The concert in which I would be participating would be feature Serbian (Yugoslavian) born composers who have moved elsewhere, returning to present their creations back home. Here I was to present “BAJALICA”, a work by composer Natasha Bogojevich with a film by Hurt McDermott. The most interesting part of this was the fact that even though Natasha and I had worked closely on the concept and scope of the work, we had never met in person. This was to be a unique experience.

After my rather difficult previous evening in Sofia, compounded with an early morning flight and seven hours of traveling, I immediately collapsed in my hotel room for a few hours. Only to be awaken by a phone call from the University of the Arts inviting me to talk and give a master class the next day-I said yes, even though I’m not sure that I really remember saying yes-but when I awoke again after another couple of hours the information was scrawled on a pad next to my bed. So I was booked.

I must say that the opportunity to meet and work with Natasha was a wonderful experience. She is a wonderful composer and beautiful person and it’s been an honor knowing her. We hit it off immediately, which was great considering the difficulties that lay ahead…

That evening was my first rehearsal in the hall with all of the electronic and film components. This was to begin at 7PM. Well…it didn’t. Everything was running late, which really one learns to expect. Although when the hours started to pile up I started to have my concerns. First they didn’t have the right sound equipment, then the video didn’t work, then the video was in black and white, then the microphones stopped working, then many groups dress rehearsed on stage at the same time with the engineers sound checking everyone simultaneously…pandemonium! I finally played my first note well after 11PM, the fatigue from travel and illness had hit me at this point and during my one run through of the piece on stage (all of 11 minutes, which was to be my rehearsal and sound check…) I basically gave up the last 3 pages due to exhaustion, smiled, pack up the horns, went across the street to the hotel, and duly collapsed.

The University of the Arts. Ah…THIS was an experience. I must say that even in the worst of academic circles in the US, I have never met such small-mindedness and bigotry that I had encountered there. I was asked to give a master class to the flute and clarinet students (no saxophone was taught there, which should have been my first red flag, but I digress…). I was told later by many folk outside of the University that this was the biggest mistake possible considering the very conservative and narrow point of view of the woodwind faculty; I “should have been sent to the composers“, they told me. Now I know why…

I started out by doing what I always do, which is talking to the students to get an idea of what they know, what they are looking for, and also to tell them a little about what I do so that they know the angle that I may be taking. The Dean/Woodwind Director stayed for about 4 minutes, then left. I didn’t understand why at the time. The students were OK; their knowledge of repertoire and contemporary issues was rather lacking, and the level of playing was not particularly high, or at least not as high as what was billed, but they seemed excited to hear what I had to say about my career and my experiences. I was with them for about 3 hours-for free, mind you; they played, I played, we talked about equipment, auditions, playing professionally, working with composers, and other important topics. It was I thought a good day. Come to find out that the Dean was complaining to his ‘subjects’ that I was actually talking to the students-how dare I! And, that since I am an improviser and multi-wind player that I can not be a real musician, since I’m not a true classical soloist…well, I’m NOT a true classical soloist, damn it! I never claimed to be-I am classically trained, but I am also a jazz and rock player and my focus is experimental music. I love Bach, I’ve played Bach, I even recorded Bach on my first CD, but I’m not in that place anymore. I worked as a classical clarinetist for years, but I don’t do it anymore. It’s the way I express myself now; it’s different than most but right for me. I’m happy that I can flip styles and instruments at the drop of a hat and be convincing. I don’t need a small-minded administrator who probably plays twice a year to qualify my career; I’m touring the world as a soloist, after all; he’s signing requests for bathroom tissue…

So I was annoyed. Not angry, annoyed. I don’t actually get angry when I am insulted, I can usually just laugh it off, assume that the offender is maybe even right in some way, and move on. The mood however worsened with the next rehearsal. My sound check for the evening concert was at 3. I had found out that there have been people waiting since 9AM who haven’t played on stage yet! Issue after issue and excuse after excuse. I finally went at about 6:30, and left for the hotel to change. I found out that the same Dean had been bad-mouthing other participants at the festival, in particular one musician who had left Belgrade to study in Germany (which, according to him, was a much weaker musical training than in Belgrade), making qualitative remarks about this person’s lack of ability. This person, by the way, was a wonderful person and beautiful player-the remarks, I had come to realize, were more bigotry than qualitative-this Dean was very anti-American and also it seems anti-anything not Serbian (especially German); but…that tore it for me. I was no longer annoyed…I was pissed-off, which is really an achievement for someone. “You don’t believe in an American multi-wind improviser” was going through my mind “I’ll show you!”. Anger is not an enjoyable feeling for me, but it does, at times, propel one to greatness…

The concert was…a mess. Tremendous tech issues and equipment failures galore dominated the evening. I truly felt sorry for the wonderful people organizing the concert, and the great artists participating. It was an embarrassment for everyone involved. Some pieces just fell apart due to these issues, some never quite got started-everyone was angry. But, my anger…that nasty need to conquer, allowed me to present a strong performance of Natasha’s piece for her, even overcoming our own technical issues, the main ones being the complete lack of monitor for me (someone forgot to turn it on), and the fact that my mic started 2 minutes after I did; we still made it convincing, even though I played it a little…angry…

Thus ends my experience in Belgrade. A pity, really. It’s unfortunate that the concert and events turned out the way that they did. The potential for a wonderful experience was there; the concert organizers, the composers, the musicians; but other factors got in the way of true realization.

Next, a letter from the home country (Greece)

Yours,
Demetrius