Welcome to Toolbox International Creative Academy 2021! Let's greet the cross-timezone faculty and we will walk you through the three weeks events!!

Speaker: Adrian Fung and Dr. Gary Beckman

The Arts Management Public Lecture and Workshop: Sustaining Creativity impact amid Crisis series aims to provide practical solutions for independent artists, arts businesses and emerging arts entrepreneurs when dealing with the crisis faced in the art industry, especially in the current time where the health and economic crisis has affected the industry like never before. Associate Dean of Weitzenhoffer College of Fine Arts in the University of Oklahoma, Adrian Fung and Director of Entrepreneurial Studies in the Arts in the NC State University, Dr. Gary Beckman will share a few models that you can use to navigate yourself in crisis, survive and thrive in uncertain times.

TICA faculty Dr. Patrick Yim will share his knowledge in string playing in this masterclass. Dr. Patrick Yim is the Assistant Professor in the Department of Music at Hong Kong Baptist University. He has performed in the violin sections of the Hawaii Symphony and The Cleveland Orchestraand, and has performed as soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, and orchestral violinist throughout the world. The masterclass encourages participants to present the piece they have been studying for the lecturer's advice.

TICA faculty Dr. Min-jeong Koh will share her knowledge in string playing in this masterclass. Praised for her “extreme versatility” and “simply unbeatable beauty of tone” (Berliner Zeitung), Dr. Min-Jeong Koh is the Associate Professor of Violin in University of Oklahoma and the first violinist of the former Cecilia String Quartet. The masterclass encourages participants to present the piece they have been studying for the lecturer's advice.

TICA faculty Colin Currie will share in this masterclass with the topic of playing the line and making the marimba sing, which dissect and analyze lines from different repertoires to show how to play the marimba with more efficiency and optimizing the sound played with a marimba. The masterclass encourages participants to present the piece they have been studying for the lecturer's advice.

The TICA Masterclasses encourage participants to present the piece they have been studying for the lecturer's advice. TICA faculty David Herbert will explore the fundamental understanding of compositional language and interpretation through technical simplicity. By identifying and eliminating unnecessary 'tricks', any musical challenges faced in timpani performing can be resolving with simplicity.

How do we choose to distinguish between music from noise? The omnipresence of sound challenges our perception of sonic information. By bridging sonic arts and music, we create pathways to directly communicate with audiences’ perception of sound, space, and time. From Bach, John Cage, Max Neuhaus to the works of contemporary artists, this micro lecture meanders through different genres and look at ways to turn sonic perception into a powerful creative tool.

In this occassion, composer and UC Berkeley professor, Ken Ueno, will present a masterclass, working with the three composer finalists of the Toolbox Percussion International Composition Competition (TPICC). Part therapy, part a rite of passage, the composition masterclass is, essentially, a private composition lesson on public display. It is a kind of middle ground between the intimacy of a private lesson and a concert or pre-concert lecture.

Performance Lecture will be playing a pre-recorded performance, followed by live analysis and dissection by TICA Faculty. Participants can communicate with musicians LIVE, while enjoying the masterful performance by professional artists, and appreciating innovative performative techniques for percussion. The first Performance Lecture will feature Colin Currie Quartet, the world-known percussion legend from the UK. Through performance that is paired with analysis, artist sharing and lecture on different repertoires including ‘Drumming: Part 1’ by renowned minimalism composer Steve Reich, ‘Pillar IV’ by Andy Akiho and new mallet quartet by Dave Maric.

Masterclass will be split between presentations by the faculty / speaking artist and participant work with faculty feedback. In order to get feedback, participants are required to submit score of their own creation that will be viewed in the class, either way will be followed by a teaching / short open lesson with the faculty member. Each class will cater up to 4 composers on a first-come-first served basis.

Echoing its major tone for innovative performative techniques for percussion and string, the panel discussion will be led by three composers, Dr. Fung Lam, Dr. Matthew Schreibeis and Timothy Page, the topic of innovative composition technique will be analysed and discussed.

Echoing its major tone for innovative performative techniques for percussion and string, the Gala Concert is an extravaganza of cultural diplomacy. Gala concert will feature commissioned lecture performances by Colin Currie Quartet, the world-known percussion legend from the UK; grammy-award winning quartet Third Coast Percussion; Synergy Percussion, Australia's oldest and foremost contemporary music ensemble alongside music by local musicians, celebrating the virtuosity and diversity of percussion music.

The Arts Management Public Lecture and Workshop: Sustaining Creativity impact amid Crisis series aims to provide practical solutions for independent artists, arts businesses and emerging arts entrepreneurs when dealing with the crisis faced in the art industry, especially in the current time where the health and economic crisis has affected the industry like never before. Associate Dean of Weitzenhoffer College of Fine Arts in the University of Oklahoma, Adrian Fung and Director of Entrepreneurial Studies in the Arts in the NC State University, Dr. Gary Beckman will share a few models that you can use to navigate yourself in crisis, survive and thrive in uncertain times.

A Musical Approach to Snare Drum Excerpts

As orchestral snare drummers, we often approach practice and performance with the attitude that evenness of sound and deadly accuracy are to be ideally sought. We neglect the fact that, in actuality, the snare drummer can offer so much more than this; we can bring a dance to life, or evoke military drama by how we play certain excerpts.

Sam Walton is Co-Principal Percussion of the London Symphony Orchestra, and Principal Percussion of the John Wilson Orchestra. He is a member of the Colin Currie Group and Quartet. He is Professor of Percussion at the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music. He is also Percussion Tutor for the European Union Youth Orchestra.

Nathaniel Stookey was born in San Francisco and he was just 17 years old when the city’s Symphony Orchestra commissioned him to write a new work for them. He has collaborated with many of the world's great orchestras including The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Los Angeles Philharmonic and so on. In 2006, The San Francisco Symphony commissioned, premiered, and recorded The Composer Is Dead. It has been performed by hundreds of orchestras worldwide and cited as one of the five most performed works of the 21st century.

Performance Lecture will be playing a pre-recorded performance, followed by live analysis and dissection by TICA Faculty. Participants can communicate with musicians LIVE, while enjoying the masterful performance by professional artists, and appreciating innovative performative techniques for percussion. The Second Performance Lecture will feature Synergy Percussion, Australia's oldest and foremost contemporary music ensemble. Through performance that is paired with analysis, artist sharing and lecture on different repertoires of specific themes, the group will be meeting you online to enjoy the exclusive recital for this festival!

Due to the lockdown situation happening in the UK, the percussion workshop by Adrian Spillett will be postponed.

My playing career covers both orchestral and contemporary percussion so I've chosen 2 very different style excerpts. 2 auxiliary instruments which often get neglected are the Tambourine, but more so, the Tam Tam... in fact, have you ever had a Tam Tam lesson? I know I certainly haven't!

We're going to take a brief look at the tambourine part in the Storm from Benjamin Britten's Sea Interludes. It's a famous excerpt over here in the UK, but not so familiar overseas and catches many percussionists out. We'll check out the different techniques involved, discuss the pros and cons to using thumbs vs fingers, how to navigate the tricky crescendo's & diminuendo's whilst keeping an eye on the general musicianship around the excerpt.

Speaker: Dr Min-Jeong Koh and Dr Caitlin Boyle

Making music together is one of the most satisfying human experiences; it brings us together in a way that words cannot. However, it is significantly more challenging to do so during COVID-19, as people feel alienated in isolation. This means that we need to come up with new ways of understanding and creating music together. In this presentation on chamber music, we will delve into different issues such as practical techniques for living through uncertainty, in the present as also for the future; breathing and how it can be used from cuing and relieving anxiety; and finally, tips on effective practice.

Speaker: Samuel Chan

Widely being regarded as the keyboard percussion instrument with the most versatility and expressive depth, the marimba has become a standard concert instrument in recent decades. Besides traditional marimba repertoire, it has become a common practice for percussionists these days to adapt classical pieces on the instrument. 

This clinic will further explore these polyphonic possibilities with a focus on how to play classical transcriptions on the marimba using four-mallet technique. These ideas will also be supported by demonstration of exercises to develop specific techniques and musical examples from my own transcriptions.

The work on intonation in a string quartet is based on a careful, indissoluble blending of each of the four independent voices to obtain homogeneity of timbres and equality of voices. In this presentation, the history of intonation and how it specifically applies to the string quartet genre and literature for this formation will be reviewed. Basic principles of string ensemble playing, intonation, matching sound production, cueing, etc., will be addressed.

The Arts Management Public Lecture and Workshop: Sustaining Creativity impact amid Crisis series aims to provide practical solutions for independent artists, arts businesses and emerging arts entrepreneurs when dealing with the crisis faced in the art industry, especially in the current time where the health and economic crisis has affected the industry like never before. Associate Dean of Weitzenhoffer College of Fine Arts in the University of Oklahoma, Adrian Fung and Director of Entrepreneurial Studies in the Arts in the NC State University, Dr. Gary Beckman will share a few models that you can use to navigate yourself in crisis, survive and thrive in uncertain times.

As someone who has a pretty varied musical life, it is really important to be able to adapt and prepare for the very different scenarios. One day I can be in tails playing the xylophone in a shostakovich symphony, the next day could be in blacks playing some stockhausen, and the day after I could be dressed as a fairy playing the sugar plum fairy out the front of an orchestra. All of which are enjoyable!

In the class we will be discuss simple technical and mental warm-ups, then what happens when we first see the music, to what happens before we play the first note. Once all that is decided we then move onto the actual music, and becoming a better musician...

In light of the recent developments of the pandemic, the lunch-time concert will be postponed.

The returning of Toolbox Percussion Platform to HKU’s University Museum and Art Gallery greets everyone this winter with the rearranged concerto L’inverno (Winter) from Vivaldi’s well-known work, La Quattro Stagione (The Four Seasons).

Currently showcasing is UMAG’s collection - exquisitely woven and embroidered pictorial and calligraphic works, conjuring up tersely vivid depictions of images and text. Adding a speck of mirth is our selection of Matt McBane’s For Triangles and J.S. Bach’s famous tune, while the percussion-rearranged L’inverno winkles as living light in times of turbulence, igniting winter’s own delights.

Performance Lecture will be playing a pre-recorded performance, followed by live analysis and dissection by TICA Faculty. Participants can communicate with musicians LIVE, while enjoying the masterful performance by professional artists, and appreciating innovative performative techniques for percussion. The Third Performance Lecture will feature grammy-award winning quartet Third Coast Percussion. Through performance that is paired with analysis, artist sharing and lecture on different repertoires of specific themes, the group will be meeting you online to enjoy the exclusive recital for this festival!

Looking forward to seeing musicians around the world in TICA2022!