New music videos FILMED!

Third time in a row and we DID IT! Another #ruzickovacompetition film shoot took place this October and THIS. IS. HOW. IT'S. DONE!

This year it was mission impossible. How do you create enough footage for not 1 but 2 music videos in one day? I'll tell you how... You wake up before 5am ;)

First thing in the morning we arrived at the beautiful venue for this year's film shoot - the Castle Cinema which is an independent community cinema in Hackney, London.

Very quickly the intimate interior turned into a film set and we started with La Conversation Enchantée et Galante composed by Susie Vaughan.

Susie is particularly interested in setting love poetry through the ages (from Sappho to Shakespeare to Sylvia Plath) and devotional text. “I have a desire to re-enchant the past, to take the listener to a splintered sound world where period instruments and historical styles, idioms, harmonic language and ornamentation, are refracted through the contemporary prism of film, folk, cabaret, circus and musical theatre.” Have a look behind the scenes as the musicians play along live to our pre-recorded audio (not as easy as it looks guys!)

Luckily we were in the safe hands of Taina Vez with our Hair & Makeup!

The second piece we turned into a music video that day was El Gorrion composed by Isidro Albarreal Delgado.

Isidro is a passionate musician who was born in Sevilla (Spain) now based in the Netherlands. El Gorrion is a piece inspired by the singing of birds written in the style and form of the French Ouverture. El Gorrion is also the name of a bird that he loves and that is very common in the south of Spain. It's a humble creature, but strong and cute, and it's directly connected to Isidro's childhood and the people he loves.

We were absolutely thrilled to be collaborating this year with the musicians of Florilegium! On the photo below you can see through the haze from left to right:

Ashley Solomon, myself, Reiko Ichise, Dominika Maszczynska (harpsichord image) Steven Devine (harpsichord audio).

We wouldn't be able to make it happen without our fantastic film crew:

Simon Helbling - Director

Nick Hardisty - AD / Producer

Hamid Ahmadi - Director of Photography

Alessandro Di Rosa - 1st AC

Piero Cioffi - Gaffer / Camera Operator

Markela Kontaratou - Spark

Special thanks are also in order to all our wonderful supporters. We were able to film this year's Viktor Kalabis Prize winners thanks to you! In particular we would like to thank the: The Viktor Kalabis and Zuzana Ruzickova Foundation & The Marchus Trust

Sooo... You probably would like to know what happens NEXT, right?

The post-production process will take some time. editing, colour grading, adding the sound to the picture...

Why not SUPPORT the competition during that time though?

Without the generous support of so many friends, we simply couldn't have made our competition a reality.

Now you can help us on our journey in TWO ways:

Make a one-off donation

HERE

OR

Help while you shop for FREE!

HERE

Until then... Stay tuned and keep well!

Hugs Ada xx