Below, an overview of the travelling that Gustav made in 2004.
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The beginning of December, Gustav was back in Paris, for the second time within one week, attending the Marguerite Long Competition (finals). The Bach Competition in Paris was taking place at exactly the same time, so he could not be there. A few days later, Gustav was in Brussels, visiting Martha Argerich. They talked, and listened to some unique recordings by Friedrich Gulda. They also watched several videos of Gulda in Concert. The rest of December, Gustav spends much time on preparing the first AAF brochure, and will attend a few concerts. He will also be in Germany for a few days.
In November, Gustav travelled to Poland, to be present at the Paderewski Competition in Bydgoszcz (AAF), and he went to New York, where he gave a lecture and workshop on piano competitions worldwide, arranged by the Yamaha Artists Center at the Fifth Avenue. He took the opportunity to visit Gyorgy Sandor. The end of November, the Marguerite Long Competition starts in Paris which Gustav will also attend for a few days.
In October, Gustav attended the international piano competition in Enschede (Holland) (AAF). There was not enough time for him to travel to Rome, for the international competition "Roma" and the international EPTA conference.
The beginning of September, Gustav was on the plane to Oslo, where he attended the Grieg Competition. Although many competitions take place in September (Glasgow, Chopin-Moscow, Valencia, ...), Gustav needs to spend much time at home, to work "day and night", processing all gathered information and news, updating and expanding AAF's web site, and assisting young musicians, competitions organisers, specifically the AAF members, with the assistance and information they need.
The beginning of August, Gustav was in Italy, and gave a lecture at the Summer Camp organised by the International Music Competitions of Pianello del Val Tidone (AAF) (near Piacenza). He also visited (though very briefly) the International Competition for Young Pianists in Ettlingen (Germany). He made a one-day trip to Brussels, and met with Martha Argerich before she travelled to the USA. The last week of August, Gustav was back in Italy, for the Busoni Competition in Bolzano, and he combined it with a visit to the Brahms Competition in Poertschach (Austria). He also stopped over in Munich and Salzburg. Unfortunately, there was not enough time to visit the competition in Varallo Sesia (Italy).
The first 18 days of July, Gustav was still in Sydney, for the Sydney International Piano Competition of Australia. After returning home, various matters in Holland require his attention so that there is no room for an immediate other trip until August.
The beginning of June, Gustav was still in Minneapolis (USA), for the Piano-e-Competition (AAF). After being at home only for a few days, he planned to go to Germany, just to see the beginning of the Robert Schumann Competition in Zwickau. However, he suffered from a cold again, and had fever. He could not go. A few days later, he felt better again, and was on the plane to Japan, to be in Sendai, to attend the final week of the second Sendai International Music Competition (June 13-19). Returning home just before his birthday (June 21), Gustav had not much time to take a rest, since he travelled soon afterwards in a half orbit around the planet, in order to arrive at the Sydney International Piano Competition, where he stays until the end (June 28 - July 18).
In May, Gustav travelled to Germany, to be at the annual General Assembly of the World Federation of International Music Competitions (WFIMC). This was held in Celle near Hannover, 6-8 May. Due to continued coughing (lasting more than four weeks after his return from Japan) and not feeling fit enough, Gustav was forced to cancel his trip to Beijing. He regrets very much to be unable to attend the 3rd China Int'l Piano Competition, held in Beijng mid May, in spite of the invitation he received. The end of May, Gustav travelled to Minneapolis, to attend the 2nd Piano-e-Competition (AAF).
In April, Gustav was in Paris, for the competition "Prix Animato" (AAF) (April 4-6). On the way home, he stopped in Brussels again, and spoke with Martha Argerich. One day later he finished the work on the new Japanese/English Guide book to International Music Competitions which will again have a foreword by Martha Argerich, and which came out April 15th. On April 23-25, Gustav was again in Paris, to visit the Jean Francaix Competition and the Nikolaj Rubinstein Competition.
The beginning of March, Gustav was tied up with many matters which made it impossible for him to visit the Smetana competition in Pilzen (Czech Republic) or the competitions in Athens or Pinerolo (Italy). In the second week of March, he was in Orleans (AAF) (France). Before arriving in Orleans he made a stop in Brussels, where he visited Martha Argerich. They had a great time talking until 5 o'clock in the morning ... After three days in Orleans, Gustav had to return to Holland due to an emergency at his house, and could not attend the Bach competition in Saarbruecken (Germany). Although high on his list, he also had to cancel his planned visit to Casablanca (Morocco), and to the competition in Belgrade. At the last moment he was enabled to travel to Japan, to be present at the Tchaikovsky Junior Competition in Kurashiki. He stayed longer in Japan, to discuss the completion of the new Japanese/English competition guide book in Tokyo.
In February, Gustav came back from his trip to South Africa, and went straight to the concert which Maria Joao Pires and Ricardo Castro gave in Music Centre Vredenburg, Utrecht. The rest of the month, Gustav had to stay mostly at home, finishing the new competition guidebook for Japan (in which not only piano competitions, but all other types of international music competitions are included as well).
In January 2004, Gustav was in Paris (18-19 January) for an interview and to visit a competition and several competition organisers. The end of January, he travelled to South Africa, to attend the semi-finals and finals of the competition in Pretoria.
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You may leave a message for Gustav Alink at his home tel.: (+31) 70 - 3634760 which he will check frequently.
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