{"id":10763,"date":"2018-09-18T10:10:17","date_gmt":"2018-09-18T17:10:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/?p=10763"},"modified":"2018-09-18T10:10:17","modified_gmt":"2018-09-18T17:10:17","slug":"the-competition-life-dale-kavanagh-celil-refik-kaya-sabrina-vlaskalic-and-stefan-schmidt-talk-about-competition-pros-and-cons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/the-competition-life-dale-kavanagh-celil-refik-kaya-sabrina-vlaskalic-and-stefan-schmidt-talk-about-competition-pros-and-cons\/","title":{"rendered":"The Competition Life: Dale Kavanagh, Celil Refik Kaya, Sabrina Vlaskalic, and Stefan Schmidt talk about Competition Pros and Cons"},"content":{"rendered":"
BY BLAIR JACKSON | FROM THE FALL 2018 ISSUE OF\u00a0CLASSICAL GUITAR<\/em><\/a><\/h6>\n

F<\/span>ew people reading this magazine will be surprised to learn that one of the driving forces behind the first international solo classical guitar competitions in Europe\u2014birthplace of the musical genre\u2014was Andr\u00e9s Segovia, during the mid-1950s. So, put that on the list of the Maestro\u2019s innumerable achievements, which also include his much-copied technique, the development of the instrument\u2019s modern repertoire, and the very notion that a classical guitarist could have a successful performing and recording career. What might surprise you, however, is that first major guitar competition was held in Tokyo, of all places, in 1949, and then irregularly until 1957, when it became a reliable annual event. Since 1982 it has been known as the Tokyo International Guitar Competition; still a prestigious affair, and more truly \u201cinternational\u201d than it was 70 years ago.<\/span><\/p>\n

During the 1960s and \u201970s, more contests were created, some of them explicitly endorsed by Segovia, such as the \u201cFrancisco T\u00e1rrega\u201d in Benic\u00e0ssim, Spain, and what is today known as the \u201cMichele Pittaluga\u201d competition in Alessandria, Italy. France had its Concours International de Guitare beginning in 1959, and starting in the early \u201970s, Rome hosted the \u201cFernando Sor\u201d contest (and in the mid-\u201970s the city of Gargnano, Italy, joined the competition club).<\/span><\/p>\n

Even with the success of those events, however, the virtual explosion of guitar competitions since that era would have been difficult to predict. The Guitar Foundation of America started its International Concert Artist Competition (ICAC) in 1982, and in the decades since, competitions big and small have proliferated everywhere<\/i>, it seems, with hundreds of events all over the world\u2014truly, in just about any country you\u2019d care to mention. Guitar powerhouses such as Italy, Spain, France, Germany, the UK, and the United States all hold multiple events every year, as you might expect. But it\u2019s been the proliferation of classical guitar competitions in locales such as Singapore, China, Mexico, Russia, and the former Soviet-bloc countries of Eastern Europe, that has signaled the global reach and influence of the instrument. Today, there are more competitions\u2014and guitarists playing in them\u2014than ever before.<\/span><\/p>\n

For so many young guitarists around the world, competitions are seen as an important training and proving ground for a professional career\u2014a place where musicians can test their mettle in a high-pressure environment, gain exposure to new audiences and to professionals who judge and\/or attend the competitions, meet some of their peers, and, in many cases, see the world in the process. Does performing well in competitions guarantee a successful concert career? Absolutely not. But it undoubtedly helps, especially in this era in which the news of who won which competition becomes \u201cnews\u201d on social media. Of course, the great majority of players won\u2019t make their living primarily from concerts; today, as it has been for decades, teaching is still the best route to actually making a living as a classical guitarist\u2014and it\u2019s hard to say how competition success might influence that pursuit, besides perhaps giving a player a recognizable \u201cname\u201d in the guitar community, and whatever self-confidence might follow.<\/span><\/p>\n

Recently, we contacted a handful of professional guitarists and asked them about some of the pros and cons of \u201cThe Competition Life.\u201d Admittedly, this is a very small sample, but they make a number of interesting points about what has become a huge part of the classical guitar world. In email interviews, we heard from Turkish guitarist\/composer Celil Refik Kaya; Sabrina Vlaskalic, a Serbian currently living and teaching in the Netherlands; Canadian Dale Kavanagh, half of the Amadeus Guitar Duo (with husband Thomas Kirchhoff), and cofounder of the Iserlohn festival\/competition in Germany; and German Stefan Schmidt, one of the most <\/span>successful teachers of young guitarists\u00a0in Europe, having tutored such extraordinary young players as Jessica Kaiser, Jakob Schmidt, Amanda Jones, Nadja Jankovic, Isabella Selder, and Leonora Spangenberger, to name just a few. All had some experience in competitions, some more than others. <\/span><\/p>\n

Vlaskalic\u2019s first was in Belgrade: \u201cMy nine-year-old self was convinced that I was to win this competition with my very fine performance of Giuliani\u2019s Agitato Op. 51, No. 3<\/i>. However, it turned out that the competition\u00a0results\u00a0were quite agitating to me instead: When the lady from the competition called to\u00a0inform me that I was awarded only a special prize for the\u00a0youngest\u00a0participant and that the 1st prize went to some Academy student, I decided to hang up the phone. My parents were not happy with my\u00a0attitude, and to my displeasure I had to go to accept the award anyway.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Kaya\u2019s first was at age 12 at Forum Gitarre Wien (Vienna) \u201cwhere I got 2nd prize in competition with 20-year-old players.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Kavanagh notes, \u201cAs a child, I did youth competitions in Canada, however, not for guitar, but for piano and clarinet. I had lessons on both of those instruments for ten years each and did the usual local competitions that everyone does. I started very late with guitar competitions. In fact, I only did six in my life and they were all international competitions during and right after my studies in Basel, Switzerland. I was lucky because I won 2nd prize in my very first competition, which was in Neuch\u00e2tel, Switzerland, and was successful in all of the others ones also except for one in Chile. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI had a great time and enjoyed it immensely. I liked the pressure and the friends I met. I looked at it as a test of my own strengths and also as a game. The game ended because I started getting concerts and had no more time to do competitions, but I would have loved to continue!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Schmidt, who has been teaching since he was 15 and has groomed so many young players, says he only took part in two competitions as part of a duo, \u201cboth without much success.\u201d Asked if he is usually able to discern whether a young guitarist who comes to study with him has what it takes to succeed in competitions and\/or the concert stage, he replies, \u201cIn most cases I am able to tell. However, a precise prediction is impossible because competitive success depends on so many different variables. A good competitive guitar player needs to be extremely self-confident, mustn\u2019t get easily frustrated, and should feel joy in competing with others in a fair and amicable way.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The pressure, of course, in unavoidable, and hits the players from many fronts. These days it usually involves quickly learning one or more new required pieces for each competition, and the trend has been toward more abstract modern works\u2014sometimes written expressly for the competition\u2014which do not automatically play into the strengths of guitarists raised on more conventionally structured classics. That is on top of delivering on command the player\u2019s own chosen repertoire with precision and personality in each round, conscious that every mistake has the potential to doom his or her chances of taking home a prize or any sort. And all that does not take into account the stress of traveling and, usually, financing trips to competitions.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe downside of the competitions is that they are emotionally draining and can lead to a loss in self-esteem,\u201d Kaya says. \u201cCompeting in the music world requires that you have a peaceful mindset, nerves of steel, and the capacity to control your emotions, so as not to be upset about the things we cannot control. Because we are human and have emotions, it is easy to fall into the dark side of these feelings, but it is important to have the ability to control them and rise above them. My own approach is to be myself and not try to impress anyone, but to share the joy of what I do with the audience\u2014even if it is a competition.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Vlaskalic recalls being incredibly scared when competing as a youth: \u201cI was terrified to hear those loud guitars howl down the hallways, and fast scales piercing my ears through the doors of hotel rooms.\u00a0Nevertheless, the scariest of all was the applause of the audience after my fellow\u00a0competitors\u00a0played. This was often paralyzing, and I\u00a0would wonder if my performance would withstand the judgement of the same audience that just a moment ago, according to my perception of the\u00a0applause, very much enjoyed the performance of a colleague\u00a0competitor. Therefore, I did everything possible in order to avoid hearing that applause.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also cautions, \u201cI don\u2019t believe that winning competitions necessarily results in a stable, long-term concert career on its own, and I think that all\u00a0young\u00a0competitors should be aware of this seemingly innocent trap.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n