NEWS FROM THE INTERNATIONAL VIOLA SOCIETY
IVS Presidency Report
Dear Violists
Greetings one and all! I hope the start of 2010 has been a pleasant one for you. IVS elections will be held this year for the next three year term of office (January 2011 to December 2013) and we wish to please ask you to submit names for the various IVS positions to your viola society Secretary or President.
Nominations will be accepted for:
- IVS President (a person who has served as an IVS Officer &/or as an IVS country section President or Vice President) - deadline March 26.
- IVS Vice President, IVS Secretary and IVS Treasurer (persons who have served as IVS Officers &/or as IVS country section Officers or Executive Board Members).
The IVS would like to see at least two highly qualified nominees on the ballet for each of the four positions. Please do not hesitate to submit your nominations to your viola society officer, thank you.
We are pleased to announce (and congratulate) our IVS Vice President, and President of the English Viola Society, Louise Lansdown on having received her doctorate last year. Also in 2009, the first ever International Viola Congress was held in Africa and was hosted by the South African Viola Society. This Congress held in Stellenbosh, Western Cape, South Africa was an outstanding event, enjoyed by all who had the pleasure to attend. The host was Hester Wohlitz, President of the South African Viola Society and was supported by groups such as MIAGI (Music Is A Great Investment), UNISA Music Foundation and the ABSA Bank among others.
Last October/November saw many countries presenting viola festivals and other viola events. Germany presented its annual 'Bratschistentag'; Canada, its '30th Anniversary Canadian Viola Festival' (which included presenting ten violists the Canadian Viola Society's 'Lifetime Achievement Award'); Sweden hosted the 'Nordic Viola Symposium'; and China, its '2009 Viola Festival', to mention just a few.
IVS awards presented in 2009 (or for 2009) included: Ronald Schmidt receiving the 2009 IVS Silver Alto Clef for his decades of service as an officer of both the IVS and the German Viola Society (the award was presented at the 2008 'Bratschistentag' held in Düsseldorf). Louise Lansdown, presented the 2010 IVS Silver Alto Clef to John White at his home in Harlow, England with several close friends and John's wife Carol in attendance. John White is probably a familiar name to many, as he has hosted four International Viola Congresses, worked with the Tertis International Viola Competition organisation, written two viola books, arranged and edited numerous pieces for the the viola, etc.
Lastly, an IVS Special Award plaque was presented to Shen Xi Di, on her 70th birthday in Shanghai at the televised 'Viva la Viola' concert. Prof. Shen is the foremost viola professor in China and her students have included almost every professional violist or viola teacher that ever studied in China over the last 50 years. Her contribution to the viola in China is without equal.
Last year saw two more countries forming viola societies and joining the IVS. They were Brazil, our 13th section and first in South America, and Poland, our 14th section.
As of December 2009, the Taiwanese Viola Society was established and is almost ready to apply for IVS membership and work is 'in progress' on forming a Hong Kong & Macau Viola Society and a Swiss Viola Society. If you have any viola contacts in countries without viola societies, we would love to hear from you (e.g. all of Latin America [except Brazil], Japan, Korea, Russia, Italy, Ireland, Czech Republic, Benelux, Portugal, Austria, Middle East). Please e-mail me at vervid@xtra.co.nz
At the beginning of this year, the Friends of the IVS was established to further common 'viola' interests between the IVS and related organisations. Our first 'friend' is the New York Viola Society.
An IVS Congress Trust Fund has been established to assist Congress hosts, if required. Several IVS sections are now part of this fund. The IVS project for the revision of Peter Slowick's, Congress Handbook has now been completed. This was a combined effort of the AVS and CVS and is available through the AVS head office.
This year we are all looking forward to the 38th International Viola Congress, 16-20 June to be held in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA at the Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati. The hosts Catharine Carroll and Masao Kawasaki are putting together a fantastic line-up of international violists and viola events. More information is at http://www.ivc2010.com
Improvements on our IVS website at are continuing and it is our aim to keep all violists informed of IVS events, our sections' news and general viola items worldwide. A special thank you to Ann Frederking of the Canadian Viola Society for all her work as our web-master. Thank you Ann (and congratulations on your CVS's Lifetime Achievement Award)!
My best for the rest of this year and I hope to see you at this year's International Viola Congress in Cincinnati!
Kind regards,
Dr Michael Vidulich, QSM
IVS President