So, it all started over an spontaneous lunch in March. I just messaged Elina, if she had time to have a lunch with me in 30 minutes and so we met. While eating and talking she mentioned about the competition in May and that they really needed a bass clarinet player. I got interested and soon I had booked a gig in my calendar. I got to borrow the bass clarinet from the Turku Conservatoire.
It’s been quite long time since I played the bass clarinet and as my spring had been busy with studies, I had a break from playing the clarinet. This was a nice project to get back in shape and also play with other people. And funny thing was also to play next to Elina.
It was not my first time in this competition. I’ve played with many bands all over Finland but this time I got to represent Turku. Especially I remember year 2011 when I had to cancel my participation just before the competition because I got ill. That time I was supposed to play the E flat clarinet with a band from Tampere. This year I was well, but of course there are always few people who got sick just right before the competition. It is sad, but we survived.
I was playing with the band only for few times before the competition, but I think that in the competition we all played our very best performance. It was great to perform again in the big hall of Tampere-talo. Unfortunately, our ranking in the competition was only 5th. Anyway, congratulations for the winners!
You may watch the whole competition from YouTube. Our performance begins around 2 hours and 15 minutes.
HeliPauliina 