STL Ocarina Blog

Over the years, I have taken part in many international violin competitions. From my experience, I have found that these competitions have not only given young performers a chance to display their skills, but have also served to raise the standard of violin playing worldwide. The first STL Ocarina International Star Search Competition did just that for the ocarina. 

As a non-voting member of the jury, it was my job to collect the applications. We received 126 applications from 17 different countries. Our youngest competitor was nine years old! The names, ages and countries of the applicants were not released to the voting members of the jury. Thirty-six competitors made the semi-finals, and ten were chosen to advance to the final round.

The level of skill displayed in the entries was impressive. Many of the techniques I did not even realize were possible on the ocarina. It was through watching the videos that I was able to see that the ocarina is capable of so much more than I could have even imagined. From Stonesoupnj's rendition of the Barber of Seville I could see that even a seven hole ocarina is able to play complex operatic music. He was able to present polyphonic texture with just a single line, which was ingenious. Jeremyfrancis's video showed me that the ocarina is well suited to the flashy pyrotechnics of American style fiddling. I also found the performances of subakuryu very innovative. While his the beautiful ornamentations on Raglan Road created a uniquely folksy Native American sound, his choice piece had a lovely Celtic quality. Even though he was playing the same ocarina in the two videos, he was able to get two distinct styles. Through his use of phrasing, Markal36 was able to bring out the singing quality of the ocarina, even in difficult virtuosic passages. His choice of the Theme from Thornbirds by Henry Mancini, was an inspired choice for ocarina and one I would never have thought of myself!

I was surprised by the number of talented young musicians involved in this competition. Although they were young, many of these competitors displayed a high level of musical talent. I was particularly impressed with the entries of fodibo, adhale2, teamsypgear7, and Incendeo. Of our ten finalists, two were young musicians who displayed a great deal of musical maturity. In addition to his beautiful tone quality, BiwaLuke has clearly mastered the double ocarina. That's no small feat! ShortyCaptain's videos were musically very mature. Although her tone and intonation were lovely, it was her uniquely arrangements that really brought out the beauty of her ocarina playing.

Then there's our prize winners. All four of of them displayed their own unique playing style. In each case, the music they chose fit their style beautifully. The clean and articulate sound of Ocarinadiva is perfect for the demanding complexity of the Bach Fugue. Classical music requires the absolute perfection that her disciplined approach to playing so clearly displays. I loved the rich Oistrakh-like tone of Radius226. Along with his lush, yet focused tone, his performance of The Blue Sky of Ljubljana was stunning. Each articulation was clearly defined and planned which added to the virtuosity of the piece.

Ocarevolutionary is a master of the Japanese style. His performance of his choice piece captured the serenity of Japanese flute music. Through his innovative technique, he created tone colors I have never heard on an ocarina before. Almartinocapri is clearly a brilliant performer. His composition was a wonderful blend of ethnic styles. I loved how he created a feeling of momentum and excitement through his use of advanced techniques.

Because of all of you, the ocarina will never be the same to me. Thank you for opening up my eyes to the possibilities of the ocarina!

Dr. Dennis Yeh

Director,

STL Ocarina