15 Questions to Dale Kavanagh

What is the status of the guitar in the 21st century? Dale has mixed feelings about this question. On the one hand, she admits there are a lot of good players around - some of which she actively fosters and features at her own festival, "Guitar Symposium" in Iserlohn, Germany. And there are still a lot of contemporary composers who are writing for it, expanding the repertoire and the vocabulary of the instrument. But, as she puts it, "profundity is as rare as it ever was." Profundity has, however, been a steady companion of her own career, which began at the Banff Center School of Fine Arts in her native Canada, kickstarted with her grabbing the attention in 1988 at the Scandinavian International Guitar Competition and reached new heights thanks to her collaboration with her partner Thomas Kirchhoff as the Amadeus Duo. In Germany, where she now lives, she has found a new home which provides her ample concert opportunities, media attention and a steady relationship with the Haenssler Classics label, which has by now released all of her 5 acclaimed solo offerings. On two of them, her latest eponymous effort and "Toccata in Blue", she also performs some of her own material, placing it next to Classical Guitar composers of the 20th century. It is a mix which takes the guitar out of its entrenched niche and carefully moves it in the direction of the more general appreciated solo instruments. And still, this approach can not be considered a guarantee for success: "There is no recipe to how a career works", she says. We do have a suspicion, however, what this recipe could be and it could point the way for some of the other performers on the scene and guitar music in geneeal: Allowing herself to open up emotionally without analytical constraints. After all: "I am not a researcher I am a performing artist."

Hi! How are you? Where are you?
Hi there, I am in Iserlohn, Germany.


What’s on your schedule right now?
Well I just finished a hectic spring consisting of performing and teaching in Canada, Italy, France, Germany and England. In 2 days I am off to a guitar festival in Koblenz to teach for 3 days and then have a couple of weeks off before the summer festivals in Canada, USA, Spain, and Malta.


If you hadn’t chosen for music, what do you think you would do right now?
I would be doing something involving nature either Biology or Oceanography


What or who was your biggest influence as an artist?
That is vary hard to say.... Nature, ....need to express without words............ Great artists in differrent fields ie: Pollock, Picasso and Monet, John Cage, Kurtag and Gismonti. And, and, and, and, and a never ending on it can go.................


What’s the hardest part about being a musician and what’s the best?
The hardest part????? Being strong when I am feeling weak............ never giving up when wondering why ........ but that is in any field............ or... figuring out how a career works as there is no recipe.......... The best is doing it living it and feeling music art and expression.


What’s your view on the classical music scene at present? Is there a crisis?
Not that I know of. There will always” be and not be” a crisis in the classical field. It depends and who you are talking to.


Some feel there is no need to record classical music any more, that it’s all been done before. What do you tell them?
Everyone is allowed their opinion. An artist must do what they must. If it means a new interpretation of an older work, then that is purely their calling and they must follow. There will always be complaints, no matter what we do. That is just fine.


What constitutes a good live performance in your opinion?
A good live performance is giving all you have, saying what the composer wants and being successful at it.


What does the word “interpretation” mean to you?
Perfoming a piece as I have come to understand it. (within the rules of performance practice of the time)


True or false: It is the duty of an artist to put his personal emotions into the music he plays.
Absolutely. Why else would we be doing this? I am not a researcher I am a performing artist.


True or false: “Music is my first love”
Most definitely


True or false: People need to be educated about classical music, before they can really appreciate it.
For some more complicated pieces, I must say that it is true, however, there is a lot of “easy to understand” classical music.


You are given the position of artistic director of a concert hall. What would be on your program for this season?
I would put on as much modern music as possible............both abstract,, intellectual, plus melodic rhythmic fun music.


What’s your favourite classical CD at the moment?
“Dancing in the Light” by Christos Hatzis


Have you ever tried playing a different instrument? If yes, how good were you at it?
I have played, piano clarinet , saxophone, mandoline, banjo, electric guitar and mouth harmonica.


Discography:
Solo:
Music for Guitar Solo (Haenssler)
Rêverie (Haenssler)
Toccata in Blue (Haenssler)
20th Century Variations (Haenssler)
Lyrical and Virtuosic Guitar Music (Haenssler)

With the Amadeus Duo:
Intimate Inspiration - The Very Best of the Amadeus Guitar Duo (Haenssler)
Baroque Moments (Haenssler)
Guitar Gala Night (Haenssler)
Hommage (Haenssler)
Dedication (Haenssler)
Mediterraneo (Haenssler)


Homepage:
Dale Kavanagh
Dale Kavanagh & Amadeus Duo


By Tobias Fischer, published 2007-05-23

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