Drumsfest
Russia

From 29 to 31 of March 2013 the annual competition “DRUMSFEST” will be held where, as it happens every year, the participants in not only the nominations for the traditional (classical) percussion instruments but also a drum kit of different modern musical styles will compete.

In March 2012 the III Open competition “DRUMSFEST” ended. The fact that this competition was not the only one in 2010 and later was supported and carried out twice can prove that this is not a one-day-competition. The number and the entry list of the participants have showed it to the full!

In total, according to all the nominations, including “Ensembles of percussion instruments”, more than 160 competitors participated in the festival. The number of ensembles also increased, which was appreciated by the public interest in this nomination. For the first time the joint project “Time to live” (“Vremya zhit”) of Suvorov Military Musical Academy and the students of Children’s School of Art of Vidnoe city was carried out. There the audience heard the fragments of “Karmen-suite” of Rodion Schedrin. Twenty young musicians and students astonished the jury members and gained the people’s choice award. The performances of the other ensembles from Moscow and the Moscow region were also very interesting and fiery.

There were also the representatives from the other regions of Russia at the competition: Surgut, Nizhniy Novgorod, Saratov, Yekaterinburg, Engels, Syzran, Tula, Rostov-na-Donu, Asbest and Moscow. Also this year the participant from Estonia has taken part, so that made this competition an practically International one. Most of the competitors have come here for the second and the third times, which proves the importance of this festival. As the jury noticed, the participants who had come to the III competition “DRUMSFEST”, showed an extremely high level of training and the teachers – their professionalism and teaching mastery skill.

As for the previous years, this competition had the greatest and the most competent jury in orchestral drums nominations: L.I. Krasilnikova, G.V.Butov, K.V.Semyonov, I.M. Tsitrin, A.V.Suvorov, and also the conductors of the Central frontier troop of Federal Security Service of Russia А.А. Kapralov and А.N. Vashkin. The judges of the nomination “Solo on a drum kit” were famous rock-musicians Sergey Efimov (ex-band «Kruiz», band «Hippi Haos»), Aleksandr Yerokhin (band «Lyube»), Aleksandr Anikin (drummer of the band «Karnaval»). The president of the jury in this nomination, by tradition, was teacher of Moscow State University of Culture and Moscow State Musical College of Pop and Jazz Anatoliy Makurov, popular for the readers of the magazine «MUSICBOX» with his articles on researches and teaching the drum kit arrangement.

It must be noticed that the last competition was held in a real temple of arts, which was built by the Administration of Lenin Municipal area. The building of the Children’s School of Art has already been acknowledged as the best and the most modern musical institution in Russia. In huge and spacious halls of the school there was the trade exhibition of percussion instruments by the company «Muzikalniy Arsenal» during the competition.

At gala-concert of the last festival as a special guest the Children’s pop-jazz orchestra of Solnechnogorsk city “Aprel’Band” under V.R. Kotovich performed.

In 2013 the IV festival-competition will be carried out. It will be an outstanding event as it’s becoming a pleasant tradition for young drums performers. To run a few steps forward, we can say that the participation of far abroad competitors is being planned, and this fact will essentially increase the competition status. In the Program of the competition there will be some changes, connected with the organization. Now the competition in the orchestral instruments nomination will be held in 2 rounds. As usual, there will be the Grand Prix from the sponsors of the festival – a drum kit “MAPEX” and a xylophone “FORTE”.

To participate in the IV Moscow Open Regional festival-competition “DRUMSFEST” you should learn more about the Program, conditions of the competition and apply for the participation. More information you can find in the corresponding sections of our website.

It’s the fourth time when with the active support of the Ministry of Culture of the Moscow region and the Administration of the Lenin municipal area of the Moscow region at the base of the Children’s School of Art in Vidnoe city the wide-ranging festival-competition for drums performers has been held. At the festival almost all kinds of percussion instruments and such kinds of learning as classical, pop-jazz and rock were presented together with percussion. This year it was the first time when the beginning professionals (age group from 19 to 25) has participated in the nomination “Solo on a drum kit”. All the specialists appreciated the high level of the competitors, work of the teachers and the organization level of the competition. For the 4 years the competition has been visited by the performers not only from the Moscow region but from Surgut, Saratov, Engels, Syzran, Tula, Rostov-na-Donu, Nizhniy Novgorod, Asbest, Yekaterinburg, St.-Petersburg, Leningradskiy region, Krasnodar, Dzerzhinsk, Republic of Tyva (Kyzyl city), Republic of Tatarstan (Kazan city) and Moscow. For most of the competitors, it is the second or the third time when they have come to participate and that can tell us a lot about the importance of the competition for them.

In 2013 there were 190 participants of “DRUMSFEST” competition: 51 soloists, 25 percussions ensembles, 3 marching ensembles and 30 drum kit performers. They were accompanied by 66 teachers and concertmasters. The arrival of the participants from Belorussia, Ukraine and Estonia was a great pleasure for everybody and that, in fact, makes this competition the International one.

The youngest participant was at the age of 5 and the oldest – 25 and he has already become a successful professional. Nevertheless, in the Regulation of the competition there were the rules that had been specified and formulated according to different age categories in every nomination. The nomination “Solo on the orchestral drums” (the level of snare drums, xylophone, marimba, vibraphone, kettle-drums and multi percussion performance) provides 4 age categories: 7-9 years, 10-12 years, 10-12 years, 13-15 years and 16-19 years (music colleges and institutions).

In the Nomination “Ensembles of percussions” the groups form music schools (the youngest and oldest group), from secondary specialized music educational institutions and marching ensembles (with the defile elements and work at big open areas) are supposed to perform.

There were also battles on drum kits of the age categories to 12 years, 13-17 years and 18-25 years.

This year, as for the last competition, there was the second round for the Nomination “Solo on the orchestral instruments”. During the first round the participants perform the compulsory compositions of five-six levels of complexity. During the last competition there was an incident when there was a sixteen-years girl who performed in the nomination for 10-12 years because she had studied only 1 year at the moment of the competition.

The jury in the nomination “Solo on a drum kit” after the 4th festival has come to conclusion that it is necessary to make some changes in assessing the competitors. First, it is necessary to increase the number of age categories. It is impossible for a 18-years old drummer to compete with a successful 25-years-old professional. Second, it was noticed that there were some differences in manner and character of performing on a drum kit between boys and girls. Here we have strength, attack, especially on a bass-drum, and the way of thinking itself in solo variations. So, next time the charming ladies will compete in a separate nomination.

Everybody knows that the level, competence and the attraction of the competition depend on the jury members. In Russia almost all the competitions for drums students at children’s music schools and lycees, colleges at area, regional and even All-Russian level are carried out together with the performers on brass instruments. So, naturally, there is at least one member of jury who is a percussion instruments specialist. The rest of them – brass specialists. Moreover, objectivity doesn’t always correspond to the desirable level. So, only professional percussion instruments performers were invited to be members of jury in “DRUMSFEST”. Every nomination will be assessed by the specialists of their specializations: classical orchestral, ensembles, pop-jazz and modern arts. And the judges are the musicians that have great importance and authority among Russian professionals and teachers. We can assure you that the jury if one of the reasons why “DRUMSFEST” is competent and fair.

A great surprise for everybody was the presence of a special jury member. Danil PROKOPYEV – a young, talented but already successful as a specialists in modern, untraditional rhythms on percussion not only in Russia but abroad – in a moment he accepted our invitation to participate in our competition as a member of jury and carry out great master classes. As practice has shown, ensembles of different genres came to every competition, so the repertory was extremely variegated: from classics to afro-, latin- and even modern rock and jazz compositions. And Danil Prokopyev’s experience came in useful when assessing the percussions ensembles.

The master classes were organized by Danil Prokopyev together with Gumbi Ortiz (percussionist of Al di Meola), Columbian singer Toto la Momposina, Brazilian All Stars (including Andrey Kondakov), percussionist Cesar Granados (Munich). In 2004 he organized drums-percussions school «SPb Percussion Club». Through studying the traditional rhythms and songs of Cuba, Brazil and Western Africa students learn to play the traditional afro-cuban instruments: congo, bongo, timbales and others. In autumn 2006 he became one of the co-founders of the first Russian drums-percussions magazine «Community DRUM». Nowadays Danil is a drummer at St. Petersburg band “Marksheider Kunst” where musicians play SKA, Latin Jazz, afro-cuban and Brazilian music, funk etc. He is also the official artist of MAPEX, Tycoonpercussion, Masterwork, Vic Firth, Roland, Evans.

We would like to thank Danil Prokopyev for the easiness he accepted our invitation with and, through his magazine, he also provided the festival with the infotainment.

The organizing committee of the festival also express our gratitude to all who were with us during the three days of the festival: participants, teachers, concertmasters, the jury, all the guests of the festival and the sponsors without who wouldn’t be able to hold the festival. As during all the years of the competitions, the company “Muzikalniy Arsenal” gave us great support together with the company “FORTE”, which provided many wonderful prizes for the winners and laureates.

We are waiting for everybody in 2014 at the next “DRUMSFEST” which, we hope, will get the All-Russian and even more – International status!

The high level of the organization and the realization of the last four competitions “DRUMSFEST” were appreciated not only by the judges, sponsors and the festival participants, but the Moscow region Ministry of culture and the administration of the Moscow region. The decision to give to this competition the International status has been already made and the participants of the IV festival know that. As a result of that, at this point the organizational activities are being carried out together with the negotiations with the outstanding foreign musicians and drums teachers who would be able to participate as judges and perform master classes during the festival. Also there are the negotiations carrying out with the leading international companies «MAPEX», «MEINL» и «PAISTE».

At present the consent to participate in judging the nomination “Solo on a drum kit” was given by such outstanding drummers as Damien Schmitt (Germany) and Dom Famularo (the USA). Also for judging the nominations “Solo on orchestral drums”, “Ensembles of percussions” specialists of marching ensembles, famous drums performers and teachers will be invited form the other countries.

According to that fact, the Regulation of the Competition will be changed and will be directed to the participation of not only Russian competitors but the competitors from the CIS and non-CIS countries.

As a result of that there was made a decision that in 2014 the “DRUMFEST” competition will not be held. In 2015 since 10 to 15 of May (the exact dates will be published later) a renewed competition of a higher level will be carried out and, as a consequence, with a high level of performing technique of competitors.

GREAT THANKS TO ALL WHO HAVE SUPPORTED AND PARTICIPATED IN OUR COMPETITION FOR THE LAST 4 YEARS! WE’RE HOPING FOR THE FURTHER COOPERATION AND FESTIVAL SUPPORT IN 2015.

Follow the news on our website.

In 2015 the International competition “DRUMSFEST” will be held from 10 to 14 of May.

For four years of carrying out the competition about 600 participants, more than 200 teachers and concertmasters, 115 companies from 19 regions of Russia, Belorussia, Ukraine, Estonia and Kazakhstan have participated. The youngest participant was at the age of 5 and the oldest – 25. There are no analogues for such a large-scale and professional competition for the beginning percussion instruments performers neither in Russia nor in the near and far abroad. The door to the great and exciting world of music and rhythm was opened for a great number of young musicians thanks to their participation in this competition.

The competition if divided into 3 nominations: “Solo on orchestral percussions”, “Ensembles of percussions” and “Solo on a drum kit”. Every nomination will be rated by the competent jury using the individual criteria for each nomination. In fact, only participation in this competition can provide competitors the opportunity to try themselves in different genres and directions, to take part in master classes, share the experience with the contemporaries from the other countries and regions, study under established musicians and famous drummers. The uniqueness of this competition is also in the professional and clearly differentiated approach in rating the participants. By this, the jury takes into consideration not only the age qualification but the period of training (studying). It is stated that the boys’ and girls’ perception of the style and their sound performance on a drum kit are different, so that’s why the competitions of the “Solo on a drum kit” nomination will be carried out considering not only the age and the year of studying but the sex of the contestants.

In nomination “Ensembles of percussions” the genre and the instruments will be taken into consideration. In world practice apart from the classical ensembles the military marching drum ensembles together with the bands where welfare items imitating the drums are widely used have a great popularity and development. In this nomination ensembles are divided into 3 corresponding groups and the jury will take it into consideration. As it often happens, the age of the participants in the ensemble is sometimes varied and it’s difficult to differentiate the age category, especially when the teacher or the invitee professional is taking one of the leading parts. All the details about the age categories are provided.

The International competition “DRUMSFEST” is a festival and a holiday for all the drummers. During the competition there will be trade exhibitions of the leading companies producing the percussion instruments. During the last competition the winners of the competition were awarded valuable presents from the representatives of “MAPEX”, “ADAMS”, “MEINL”, “VIC FIRTH” companies. The main sponsors “Arsenal Music” and the “Forte” company awarded the Grand Prix drum kit, concert xylophone and the certificates for instrument purchasing to the sum of 1500 euro. We’re assured that the next competition will not be set aside by our great and longstanding partners.

The high level of the organization and the realization of the last four competitions “DRUMSFEST” were appreciated not only by the judges, sponsors and the festival participants, but the Moscow region Ministry of culture and the administration of the Moscow region. The decision to give to this competition the International status has been already made and the participants of the IV festival know that. As a result of that, at this point the organizational activities are being carried out together with the negotiations with the outstanding foreign musicians and drums teachers who would be able to participate as judges and perform master classes during the festival. Also there are the negotiations carrying out with the leading international operating companies of percussion instruments.

ATTENTION! There are the changes in the Regulation of Competition.

The organizers of the competition realize that the educational system of teaching of performing on different musical instruments, particularly on drums, have great differences in Western Europe countries and the USA and Eastern Europe and Russia. In Russia, some Eastern Europe countries and the countries of Asia the level of teaching of performing on a drum kit, percussion and vibraphone falls behind. At the same time the process of teaching of performing on the classical orchestral percussion instruments and the performance itself (on xylophone, marimba, kettle-drums, snare drum) are at the highest level.

The example of that is the approach to the technique of performing the drumming and grace notes on a Snare drum (one of the main elements used by the famous classical and modern composers in the symphonic music). In the West while performing the drumming and grace notes the “up-down” (or rolls) technique is more frequently used, i.e. fixed number of beats. In Russia, according to Shteiman and Kupinskiy’s school, who were the founders of the professional studying of performing on the percussion instruments in the USSR, the drumming is usually played with the help of the ricochet. You can also mention the differences in the teaching methodology speaking about xylophones and marimba, the fundamental methods of sound performance on kettle-drums etc.

The purpose of this competition, first of all, is to extend the communication of experience between the West and the East, to increase the level of mastery of the beginners, especially the youngest musicians, to acquaint people with the Russian classical school traditions and the progressive experience of the West musicians and teachers.

One of the most important factors for holding this event is also the process of popularization of percussion instruments art of playing.

It is also important to mention that the competition is held at the Children’s School of Art in Vidnoe city in the Moscow region, just 5 km from the Moscow Ring Road. Built in 2012, it is one of the best modern schools in Russia nowadays. In 2012 the School entered the All-Russian registry of the socially responsible establishments and organizations, and in 2013 – the National registry “The leading culture establishments of Russia”.

In April 2014, being a part of the Second All-Russians educational forum “The School of the future” carried out in St. Petersburg, the School became the laureate of the competition “100 best schools of Russia” in the nomination “Best School of Art” and got the diploma of the organizing committee and the gold medal “100 best schools of Russia” and the director of the School became the winner of the nomination “The Director of the year 2014”. The School participates in All-Russians competition “50 best children’s schools of Art” from the Moscow region, established by the Ministry of culture of the Russian Federation.

We’re waiting for you at the International competition “DRUMSFEST” in May 2015! Follow the latest news on our website.

For the first five years of the competition supported by the target program of the Federal Ministry of Culture.

Owing to results of the International Contest «DrumsFest» in 2015, as well as meetings with members of the jury and talks with world renowned teachers, composers and performers, it was decided to expand the nominations for classical percussion. Since 2016 introduced separate category: Marimba, Vibraphone, Multi-Percussion, Timpani and Snare Drum.

International competition «Parade Drum» – a festival and celebration for all drummers. During the competition will be held an exhibition and sale of the leading firms of percussion instruments.

In previous competitions winners were awarded valuable gifts to the representatives of such companies as «MAPEX», «ADAMS», «MEINL», «VIC FIRTH».

General sponsors “Arsenal Music” and the “Forte” company awarded the Grand Prix drum kit, concert xylophone and the certificates for instrument purchasing to the sum of 1500 euro.

The exact date of the festival competition, the conditions will be published later, stay tuned for more information on our sites www.drumsfest.ru and www.drumsfest.com.

Please note the change in the position of the competition. In addition, we want to say that in each category will have its own jury, consisting of leading experts in their field from 10 countries, including well-known composers and performers. An important factor of this event is to popularize the art of playing on drums. We are waiting for you at the international contest «DrumsFest»!

Financing conditions and terms are clarified, follow the information on the sites.