Tonight I'll be teaching my first theremin class! As a part of the preparations for Thereminfestival.nl I will give a lecture on the ins and outs of composing for theremin at the Rotterdam Conservatory. Especially for this lecture I wrote a short introduction on this subject. This was something I've been thinking of for some time now, and the lecture was a good occasion to finally execute this plan.

Bestand: 

ComposingForTheremin.pdf

It is hard to believe but in a few weeks I will have a new Theremin instrument: this time it's a Theremincello. What is a Theremincello? It is actually the same as a Theremin but played in a more traditional way, like a cello. The pitch is controlled through a ribbon and the right hand has a lever, used for controlling volume and articulation, just like the left hand of the space controlled Theremin (see pictures).

Last weekend (July 30th/31st) I visited Hands OFF 2011. This festival took place in the British seaside resort Scarborough, which made it a very pleasant weekend to begin with.
After arriving in Scarborough, I first met up with my fellow Thereminists, some of which I’ve already met, like Lydia Kavina and Carolina Eyck, and others who I met for the first time, like Barbara Buchholz and Thomas Grillo.

A couple of months ago someone tipped me about a competition in which you could win a performance on the main stage at the Hofvijver in The Hague, with an audience of 1200 people. I hesitated, but finally enrolled in this competition.

After having waited in anticipation, I received the results of the competiton: I won! I’m selected to play at Festival Classique and furthermore I’ll be interviewed by Radio 4 (the classical radio station in the Netherlands). This broadcast will also feature a live performance.

Two weeks ago I visited Thierry Frenkel in France. During this stay, Thierry fitted my Theremin with his ESPE01 module. After several practise sessions I can’t imagine ever playing another instrument than this one. The number of improvements due to this module can barely be described.