Klarinet Archive - Posting 000190.txt from 2002/07

From: AnneLenoir@-----.net (Anne Lenoir)
Subj: [kl] Back from London and Stockholm
Date: Thu, 11 Jul 2002 10:44:50 -0400

I have been gone from Manitou Springs now since June 27, and I had a
wonderful trip but am glad to be home. In recent years, I have been
suffering from swollen ankles on trips. I don't know why, but my ankles
seem to swell up at sea level.
I spent a Saturday afternoon playing duets with Tony Wakefield and
Martin Powell, and was so glad to finally connect with them. Tony and
Martin are both wonderful musicians and a joy to be with. I stayed at
the Anne Boelyn Hotel in Staines and just loved it. In England they
serve you a great English Breakfast every morning. My legs were too
swollen to walk around much, so I watched some Brittish TV and was
amazed at how polite everybody was. I watched some English "Rap" groups,
and they sounded funny with their accents, and from what I could hear,
used very polite language. The next day there was a jazz trio performing
in the hotel, so we all had a great time visiting. I did manage to jam
with the band. I want to thank Tony & Pam, and Martin & Janet for being
such gracious hosts.
Stockholm is a great city, but the ClarinetFest seemed to be an
awfully long walk away from the Hotel Tegnerlunden. I met another
clarinetist/teacher from Seattle at the Tegnerlunden, Mary Cantor, and
she kept telling me, "Now Annie, old age is not for sissies". The second
day, I decided to go on the scheduled tour of Old Town and ran into
Nancy Buckman. I agree with Nancy, that Stefan Harg was a most gracious
host, but could have used some more support. This year only 300 people
attended ClarinetFest. I felt sorry for the exhibitors who had gone to
such an expense to come to Stockholm. I got very sick with the flu about
that time, and missed the next couple of days of events. I did manage to
catch Larry Guy's presentation on Daniel Bonade, and he was presented
with a $500 cash award for his presentation later on Saturday evening.
For me, personally, the most exciting performance that I was able
to attend was French bass clarinetist, Louis Sclavis, (I hope that was
his name), who played a very wild unaccompanied improvized solo that
included a lot of finger thumping and extraneous techniques. I usually
don't go for that kind of stuff, but this guy was great. I call him
"Wild Man"
The seats in the concert hall were very uncomfortable, and you had
to climb up about 60 steps to get there. There was no way to take a
little nap. I am very glad to be home in Manitou Springs. ANNIE

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