ÚBEDA 2011 (20-24 July)

this is going to sound really good, I'm especially looking forward to Behind Enemy Lines and Mikael's piece

I'll play my Kazoo here in Bristol for you. One day there'll be so many people with Kazoo's we'll be able to send 'film music messages' across the lands, it'll be like the lighting of the beacons in Lord of The Rings except street by street, county by county, boat by boat, country by country the Kazoo message will spread........

I see you ( like in Avatar) in 1 day!

Sorry Anthony, I can't help you with that one

And now a small report.

Back after a 5 day heat wave (going up to about 40 degrees during the day), the entire festival was one amazing experience. I've met a couple of composers, got the chance to talk to James Peterson, a Spanish composer who's talents I'll show you in a couple of weeks, and also got the honor to talk briefly to Bear McCreary, Mark Isham and Christopher Lennertz (to name but a few)

The four concerts ranged from pretty boring to pretty impressive. The recital and the Bear McCreary concert were fine, but hardly memorable considering it was mostly presenting us the calmer pieces. The second concert (the European one) was performed on a beautiful location, but for me it was the most boring one, because I hardly knew the pieces and I didn't like the style and voice of the composers anyway.

The third symphonic concert however threw every massive piece on the table, delivering a 2 hour experience that was massively enjoyable. The orchestra wasn't that good, and they definitely made a bunch of errors (Blake Neely even had to stop his performance because they were totally out of cue), but otherwise I enjoyed it immensly, because it at least sounded loud. Human Target and The Cape delivered great themes and some zany experiences, Lennertz brought us Conan the Destroyer and an amazing Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves suite, but the absolute highlight was Castlevania and most definitely the "Final Fight" cue. Boy what a brilliant piece to hear live with orchestra and choir. Definitely one of my top 10 experiences and it received by far the quickest standing ovation I have ever seen.

The final concert was the a cappella performance of the choir in a wonderful church. The performances were mostly good to great (though they once again sounded out of cue from time to time), but at least they were impressive to listen to. Mikael Carlsson's piece was by far the most emotional one (considering the Oslo experience) and Non Nobis Domine (Henry V) was simply brilliant. We even had the chance to sing with it the moment the conductor started to conduct the audience instead (which was f..king amazing)

All in all, I had a great time.

But if it wasn't for Bregt, Elin, Tino and especially Marcel and Jordi, I wouldn't have, because they made the trip so downright enjoyale. Marcel is truly one amazing guy and such a gentle soul, and Jordi is so cool and funny to talk to. Tino surprised me with his witty humor while Bregt of course made several God like miracles (THE SHOE will be my most favorite moment of the entire festival ).

Marcel and Jordi, thank you guys for one amazing experience. It looks like it will be the last Ubeda (that's what we heard when we left the final day), but I hope to see you guys a lot in the future. At least you're coming to Ghent. Elin made sure we got to know I think the entire Ubeda population and I will be forever grateful for that while Tino was the excellent desert I wasn't expecting .

So thank you all you guys and girls

A quick message from Bregt, considering he forget his password to the MainTitles site (the man does everything on this site, but he can't log in ) I needed to tell you the following: He'll return in about a week but I had to send his godly regards nonetheless

So that was it briefly, I'm going to bed!

Ubeda RULES

sounds like a blast!

Thanks for the great report, Thomas. Sounds like a fantastic experience!

I'm finally logging in, and I can see there is not much more to add, except that I feel so very fortunate to have been able to meet our MT gang. Bregt, Thomas and Tino I already knew of course (I mean they are my buddies, friends, confidantes etc), but 'discovering' the treasures that are Marcel and Jordi was just a blast.

All you guys rock

Maybe one little anecdote that Thomas forgot to mention: we made Bear McCreary an honorary Maintitles member, giving him a kazoo and asking him to use it in his next score.
Bear promptly used the kazoo to play Stu Philips' Battlestar theme and promised to use the kazoo in the upcoming 'The walking Dead' score.
He mentioned that he is now aware that there is an entire kazoo choir (us guys) out there that he might need for future recordings... So people, start practising those kazoo moves of yours...

It was a fabulous moment that was recorded by some people so i hope it will pop up on youtube.

Elin

I already said this to you guys.

I'm a really cool guy. A real blast. :P

I indeed forgot to mention that

it would be a lot easier, that's for sure

then Bregt will definitely join you, he was the only crazy one who wanted to do a picnic under the blazing sun, just because he said it would be cool to be surrounded by olive trees

...and I thought it was just mad dogs and Englishmen

Now that would be a great holiday - as long as no camping was involved!

Hmmmm...it's...OK, I would say.
I like the city (know a great fish restaurant there!)....but as far as hiking goes, once you've seen the citadel, that's pretty much it, I think.



Bregt "mad dog" de Lange...

Hm.
I dunno.


Bregt "Kazoo" de Lange.