ccfq

CCFQ in La Gaceta

Mirna Ackers — Sun, 13 Sep 2020 11:52:00 +0000

For our performance in Septiembre Musical de Tucumán 2020, we were interviewed by Argentinian newspaper La Gaceta. Read our full interview (in Spanish): here.

For our English readers, here is the English version of our interview:

From Amsterdam comes beautiful wind music

Canal City Flute Quartet presents itself online on the escenario international (international scene) today, at 20h on Channel 10 and on the networks of Ente Cultural.

Amsterdam, the emblematic city of the Netherlands, is approaching today with online flute music in the “international scene” of the 60th Septiembre Musical.

Canal City Flute Quartet (CCFQ), the flute quartet consisting of Mirna Ackers, Ema Bajc, Rama Kumaran and Alexandre Tkaboca, appears at 20h on Channel 10 and on the networks of Ente Cultural.

Via email, the musicians revealed to LA GACETA that, while the group name is a tribute to the city of canals, they come from France, Slovenia, America, and the Netherlands. They know eachother because they studied together with extraordinaire flutist Kersten McCall (Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra) at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. Since 2019, their goal is to expand the flute ensemble repertoire and bring chamber music for flute ensembles closer to the audience. In addition to the traditional flute quartet repertoire, CCFQ writes programs for children, arrangements of well-known and lesser-known pieces, and original compositions. And that they don’t have a conductor: “actually, we’re a democracy! We each use our respective strengths to keep the group moving forward.”

– Are the four instruments you play technically similar?

– We play C flutes from Japan (Muramatsu), and America (Brannen Cooper). But we’re often playing every member of the flute family, from the tiny little piccolo to the big husky double contra, and lots of other cultural flutes besides (tinwhistle, traverso, bansuri, and more).

– During the covid-19 quarantine, you played online. How hard it was to play together in this format?

– Since our group was so new then, we were ready and eager for the challenge. It was surprisingly easy, after we found the right workflow.

– What are the pros and cons of playing music on line?

– The visuals are always an adventure, since you can record the nice clean audio first and the fun flashy video after. We replace live rehearsals with videochat “talk-throughs,” which took some getting used to.

– What can you tell me about the streaming shows with music in scene playing together without public?

– It is really weird to play our pieces without an actual audience. Normally, an important part of playing is communicating with the audience, and it is so rewarding to get applause after a piece! Luckily, the audience still communicates with us on social media after our performance is live streamed.

– How long have you been isolated without playing together because of covid-19 quarantine?

– We had to stay apart for four months, during which time we released several videos. We got back together after that to rehearse again together, and play two concerts in Amsterdam’s Grachtenfestival.

– How have you felt when you could play live again?

– It felt like a miracle! It felt like homecoming, after being separated for so long in France, Slovenia, Switzerland and the Netherlands. We rehearse in the beautiful Waalse Kerk in Amsterdam (featured in our Septiembre Musical video). You can only imagine the joy we get from entering that space as a quartet and playing beautiful music. Playing for a real audience felt really nice.

– What repertoire do you usually play?

– We can play orchestral classics, like Pietro Mascagni and Felix Mendelssohn’s Scherzo; chamber music of Franz Schubert and Ludwig van Beethoven, and new compositions from Rama and other real live composers.

– What program will you play on line for the September Musical?

– Our program begins with Ástor Piazzolla’s “Libertango,” then we play Rama’s piece “Glimmering,” and finally the intermezzo from “Cavalleria Rusticana” from Pietro Mascagni.

– How do you invite to the public of Tucumán to your show?

– It’s an honor to perform in the 60th Septiembre Musical! We can’t wait to see you in 2021 in person. We hope that the public of Tucuman will enjoy our music as much as we are enjoying playing it.

Septiembre Musical de Tucumán

Mirna Ackers — Thu, 03 Sep 2020 09:53:00 +0000

CCFQ is happy to be working together with Septiembre Musical de Tucumán! Septiembre Musical is one of Argentina’s most prestigious music festivals. It has featured many classic artists like Martha Argerich, Ravi Shankar and Astor Piazzolla.

For this occasion, we created a video about our ensemble. First you will hear Astor Piazzolla’s “Libertango,” then after a break we play Rama’s piece “Glimmering,” and finally Mascagni’s “Intermezzo” from Cavalleria Rusticana.

Watch our video here:

Holidays in The Netherlands

Mirna Ackers — Wed, 06 May 2020 11:29:50 +0000

Canal City Flute Quartet feels it is important to engage in the holidays of the countries we are from. At the end of April and the beginning of May, there are three national holidays in The Netherlands: Kingsday (April 27), Remembrance Day (May 4), and Liberation Day (May 5). Because of the coronavirus quarantine, we decided to make more videos!

Kingsday

Kingsday is the celebration of King Willem-Alexanders birthday. Every year on this day, cities turn into one giant party on the street, there are big street markets filled with food and other goods.. Dress code? ORANGE! Why? Because of the first Dutch King whose name was Willem of Orange, making orange a national color.
This year Kingsday (Koningsdag) was renamed to Home-stay Day (Woningsdag) due to the coronavirus. So we decided to celebrate it from our leaving rooms with the National Anthem, Het Wilhelmus, traditionally played on this day by all musicians of The Netherlands.

arrangement: Mirna Ackers
visuals: Alex Tkaboca

Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day is the day we remember the victims of the Second World War. Usually, a memorial service is held outside near a war monument, but today, due to the coronavirus, we have to create our own in our homes. After the 2 minutes of silence at 20h, the Wilhelmus is played. With this video we would like to bring the Wilhelmus to your home.
Pass on the freedom!

arrangement: Mirna Ackers
visuals: Mirna Ackers

Liberation Day

The day we celebrate our freedom! Freedom, Liberty, Libertad… Libertango!
Freedom is a strange word for today, maybe… But we still feel very much free in our imagination, spirit, love towards music and to each other!

arrangement: Mirna Ackers
visuals: Rama Kumaran
dancemoves: Ema Bajc
improvs: Alex Tkaboca and Rama Kumaran

We were on the radio!

Mirna Ackers — Mon, 23 Mar 2020 11:59:43 +0000

On January 15th we were invited to play as a guest on de Concertzender, a Dutch radio station. Unfortunately, Alex was unable to join us, but we were happy to have Anna May van der Feen join us for this occasion!

Listen to our performance:
https://www.concertzender.nl/programma/concertzender_actueel_539122/

We played:
– F. Kuhlau: Grand Quartet in E minor, 1st mvt
– R. Kumaran: Scherzo for four flutes
– G. Rossini: The Barber of Seville (arr. Mirna Ackers)