ITA award winners meet in St. Petersburg
The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra played two great concerts in the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg.
Ben van Dijk in the Mariinsky Theater
with the RPhO
Mahler Symphony no:6 and Berlioz Requiem were performed during the White Night Festival under chief conductor Valery Gergiev.
Alex Verbeek, Remko de Jager, Wouter Iseger, Ben van Dijk
and tubaist Hendrik Jan Renes
during the general rehearsal of Mahler 6
Ben van Dijk and his colleagues of the RPhO low brass had a lovely meeting (Beer, Vodka and food) with some of the trombonists and one of the tubaists of the Kirov Orchestra after the Mahler performance.
Victor Sumerkin, Wouter Iseger, Remko de Jager, Ben van Dijk, Maxim Ignatiev, Igor Yakovlev, Andrey Smirnov, Pierre Volders, Mikhail Seliverstov, Hendrik Jan Renes, Ivan Krijov, Nicolai, Alexander Verbeek, Alexander Gorbunov
All the Russian colleagues listened to the Mahler concert and were very delighted with what they heard.
The meeting was also a reunion with Professor Victor Sumerkin of the St. Petersburg Conservatory.
Sumerkin gave some master classes at the Rotterdam Conservatory 5 years ago and it was great to see him again. Pierre Volders, Alex Verbeek, principal trombones and Remko de Jager, second trombone of the RPhO had good memories of their lessons with the Russian professor during his classes in Rotterdam.
Sumerkin is now 70 years young and most of the trombonists in the major Russian orchestra's are students of him, he is the Chairman of the Council of Professors of the St. -Petersburg Conservatory, Head of the Brass Wind and Percussion Instruments Department, member of the Academic Council of the St. -Petersburg Conservatory and member of the Council of the Orchestral Faculty.
Viktor Sumerkin has been named the recipient of the 2003 Neil Humfeld Award and as Ben won the ITA 2003 Award it was nice to see both award winners together in St. Petersburg.
ITA Award winners Professor Victor Sumerkin and Ben van Dijk
Both will be in Helsinki to receive the awards during the ITF 2003.
Professor Sumerkin invited Ben for a master class at the St.Petersburg conservatory for next season.
Ben van Dijk and his student Wouter Iseger
in front of the Mariinsky Theater.
The Kirov Orchestra will take part of the 2003 Gergiev Festival in Rotterdam and plans are made to do some concerts with a trombone/tuba ensemble consisting of members of both orchestra's. More about this later!