{"id":72547,"date":"2021-10-12T13:17:18","date_gmt":"2021-10-12T17:17:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=72547"},"modified":"2021-10-12T20:05:45","modified_gmt":"2021-10-13T00:05:45","slug":"piano-duo-founded-glenn-gould-school-place-second-international-ard-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2021\/10\/12\/piano-duo-founded-glenn-gould-school-place-second-international-ard-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"FEATURE | Piano Duo Founded At Glenn Gould School Place Second In International ARD Competition"},"content":{"rendered":"
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La Fiammata Piano Duo (Photo: Fabian Stoffer)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The first time I saw piano duo Linda Ruan and Charissa Vandikas perform the Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra in D Minor<\/em> by Frances Poulenc in the Glenn Gould Concerto competition in 2017, it felt to me as if they were having fun. It might have been the lively and percussive composition itself, but beyond that, the way they smiled at each other across the soundboards, nodded in apparent agreement at points in the music, and appeared to be having a musical dialogue, added charm to virtuosity. The judges apparently agreed, as they were one of the winners of the competition.<\/p>\n

Five years later, after graduating from Glenn Gould and relocating to separate cities \u2014 Ruan to Juilliard in New York and Vandikas to l\u2019Universit\u00e9 de Montr\u00e9al in Qu\u00e9bec \u2014 to earn master\u2019s degrees, that musical affinity and virtuosity has won them second place in the 70th ARD International Music Competition in Munich. Judging from the video of their ARD performance of the same concerto, they still manage to make it look like they are having fun. That\u2019s no mean feat, given the extreme pressure of the competition itself, the added complication of preparing for the ARD while living in separate cities, and the risks of competing in person during COVID. The duo\u2019s spark of playfulness and verve \u2014 expressed in the name they chose for themselves, La Fiammata, or the burst of flame \u2014 kept them going.<\/p>\n

Preparing for the ARD International Music Competition<\/strong><\/h3>\n

For 70 years The ARD International Music Competition, and its precursor, the Radio Frankfurt Young Soloists Competition, has been a springboard for many luminaries at the outset of their careers, including Christa Ludwig, Jessye Norman and Mitsuko Uchida. The competition categories rotate from year to year, making 2021 the first piano duo category since 2015, which intensified La Fiammata\u2019s determination to compete, long distances and COVID restrictions notwithstanding.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe began planning a year in advance,\u201d Charissa explained when I caught up with the duo by Zoom after the competition. She spoke to me from Montreal, where she is doing a one-year Artist\u2019s Diploma.<\/p>\n

Linda joined from Vancouver, where she had been living during the pandemic. \u201cWe started to learn our parts separately as soon as they released the repertoire requirements. The first time we were able to meet in person was March of 2021 when I travelled to Vancouver so we could play for the online pre-screening process to get into the competition. We heard that we got in a month later. In June, I moved to Vancouver, and we had our noses to the grindstone and did nothing but practise for the whole summer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were used to doing that for the past two years because we\u2019ve been in separate cities for our master\u2019s. We\u2019ve been sending lots of recordings back and forth, so we can practise with the other person\u2019s recording instead of in person,\u201d Ruan added.<\/p>\n

Digital natives that they are, La Fiammata still found time in their jam-packed schedule to film themselves during their preparation process in order to create a Vlog of their experience.<\/p>\n