Snow, music and study

It's the end of February, and I cannot start my next post without mentioning the weather. Over the last few weeks, the real winter has been in Stockholm, and I certainly cannot complain about the lack of snow, which also reminds me where I am studying, this is the real north! Hand in hand with the cold weather, a lot of interesting events, concerts and new projects have appeared lately, and I have been able to take part in them.

First, I would like to mention that we, as Rydén & Řehák duo, have succeeded in the audition for playing for Swedish schools. I have briefly written about the preparation for this audition in my last post, but now, I can say with joy that we have succeeded, and we will be able to perform our project "With Music Around The World" in public next year, which makes me really happy. This project is not only a musical performance but also has a slightly educational character. We have chosen several countries throughout whose traditional music we present the culture of those countries to the audiences, and we do so not only through the live music but also the spoken word. Next month, we will introduce the final version of our program to the producers and school representatives in one of Stockholm's most important concert halls "Musikaliska". At the same time, we are preparing for another audition with our duo Rydén & Řehák. This next audition is for playing for seniors during the summer holiday, which would be a completely different experience. In addition to these projects, we try to perform as much as possible at both school and extracurricular concerts, especially with our program based on Tango Nuevo genre. And this is not the only duo that I currently play in. For example, through the Christmas holiday which I spent in the Czech Republic, I played several concerts with the excellent clarinettist Anna Paulová, including charity concerts within the "'Three-Kings' Collection". Of course, besides the chamber music, I play solo a lot as well. As a soloist, I enjoyed playing several Christmas concerts in the Czech Republic last year, but I am already starting to practice for a solo recital here in Stockholm early this spring. I will certainly mention many of the upcoming concerts in my next blog, where among other things, I will also mention my plans how to spend my summer holiday in the most creative way. The plans are starting to grow up slowly in my head already now. Besides these musical activities, I also spend a lot of time writing my master's thesis which I have already started to work on this year. I have chosen the theme of "Recording and Amplifying of the Accordion". I think that this theme is a burning issue not only for me but also for many other accordionists. Unfortunately, unlike the other classical instruments, there are almost no professional researches in this area, and most of accordionists try to amplify this relatively new instrument their own improvised way, which is not always ideal. This is the reason I decided to take advantage of the technical background of the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm, and to make several tests and experiments with the local facilities. I hope that my research will help not only me but also other accordion players to achieve the best possible sound when recording. In connection with this subject, I have also arranged a few extra hours with teachers from the department of music and media production, from whom I can get other useful information and skills. And this is a moment when I realized again how lucky I am to be able to study at this university. The local modern recording studios, the equipment and the overall technical level bring me undoubtedly better conditions than those I had during my studies in the Czech Republic. I am so grateful for this opportunity and try to make the most of it. 

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