Thanks to the heroic organizing skills of Jan van Olffen and co-organizer
Remco Helbers this was the largest Stick gathering ever in Europe. Over the
course of the weekend twenty-five players converged on this small city in
the north of Holland.
Students came from Holland, Denmark, England, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland,
Italy and Spain, and represented a wide variety of Stick instuments, skill
levels and ages.
Instructors Greg Howard from the U.S.
and Ron Baggerman from
Holland, gave a concert on Friday at the Theater Romein, a beautiful
converted church in the heart of Leeuwarden. They were joined by seminar
organizer Jan van Olffen on bass, Jan Wolfkamp on acoustic and electronic
drums and loops, and Hubert Heeringa on saxophones and electronic wind
synthesizer.
The seminar was held in the PARNAS Cultural Center, with a wide variety of
subjects ranging from basic tapping techniques and instrument setup to
complex chord voicings and polyrhythms.
Concerts were presented for the general public on Saturday night (featuring
seminar co-organizer Remco Helbers and the duo of Virna Splendore and Roberto
Fiorucci) and on Sunday, with all of the participants performing in small
groups and asome as soloists. Next year's event promises to be even larger.
The dates will be posted as soon as they are available. Use the following
link to view the slide show of photos from the event.
