Ethnobit Studio and I Hear the World School Successfully Performed at the Shock Wave International Festival
The Ethnobit ethnic percussion studio (folk band) and the I Hear the World social and creative school represented INRTU at the Shock Wave Jubilee X International Contest Festival. The event with the participation of drummers, majorettes, marching and brass bands took place from November 26 to December 3 in St. Petersburg. Musicians from 42 regions of Russia, including Donbass, Donetsk, Lugansk, Crimea and Belarus performed at the Festival.
The Shock Wave Festival is a unique forum that has brought together more than 1.5 thousand musicians from all over the world. Participation in this competition opens the door to the wide and fascinating world of music and rhythms for many young performers.
This year the I Hear the World social and creative school for young people with disabilities was actively supported by the participants of the Ethnobit main cast, Kristina Afanasyeva and Daria Rakhimova. They performed in the Drum Show and Ethnic Percussion Ensembles nominations.
In the Teacher-Student nomination, the senior staff of Ethnobit received second-degree diplomas. Andrey Martsenyuk, Ekaterina Boikova and Bogdan Yagodzinsky received first-degree diplomas.
In the Drum Show nomination, the main cast of the Studio and I Hear the World received third-degree Laureate Diplomas. The small cast of Ethnobit received first-degree diplomas.
Diplomas of the Laureate of the third degree were awarded to the INRTU students in the Ensemble of Ethnic Musical Instruments nomination.
According to Natalia Vlasevskaya, head of the Ethnobit studio, the value of the trip lies in the opportunity to see other bands and show their level, to communicate with colleagues and get feedback from the competent jury. She stressed the importance of alumni participation in the project:
"It is important to note that the senior alumni participants, Efim Viktorov and Alexei Novikov, spent six months preparing remotely and became second prize winners, scoring the highest number of points. They became a perfect example for the student cast, demonstrating a high level of preparation and motivation to win".
The competition program was auditioned in 15 nominations and seven age categories. The contestants were judged by professors and teachers from conservatories, top touring artists, drummers from the Mariinsky Theatre and artists from Russian philharmonic orchestras.
World-class drummers and percussionists demonstrated the virtuosity of their instruments and their use in jazz, pop music and ensembles. Performers were judged on the basis of their individual characteristics. The judges took into account the sound quality, musicality, artistry and general musical and professional training of the contestant. There was no division between professionals and amateurs.
During the contest festival there were free online master classes by the jury members and touring top drummers, which were broadcast on social networks, as well as creative meetings with Russian percussion instrument manufacturers.
The INRTU members attended master classes by Asal Malekzadeh on the Iranian dafa and Yvonne Freindman on the African djembe. They also visited the Animara School of Khangs with Alexandra Gagarinova.
The Shock Wave started in 2013, a total of ten competitions were held. During this time more than 60 thousand people became participants of the event.
For Ethnobit this is the seventh festival (they have been participating since 2015). In 2020, under pandemic conditions, the collective performed in absentia at the competition and online concert in honor of the 317th anniversary of St. Petersburg. At the same time, the collective, together with Russian and foreign drummers, set a new world record: The Most Simultaneous Mass Playing of Percussion Instruments Online.
Photo by Natalia Vlasevskaya
