Crowd Favourite Performances JURY WINNERS - Interviews!
Published: 02/11/2020 4:00pm
Less than a week ago, we announced all the winners of Crowd Favourite Performances!
We are so proud of this international online competition which we were able to hold in the middle of a world pandemic and are so grateful to have been able to reach so many people.
You've already heard from our Crowd Winners but you haven't yet heard from all four of our Jury Winners!
We caught up with the four of them to hear more about themselves and the pieces they chose to perform in our competition just before they heard the results.
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WINNER JURY AWARD The Longest Time - Edward Langford
(Sydney, Australia)
Why did you decide to perform and send in this particular piece for Sydney Eisteddfod’s Crowd Favourite Performances?
The Longest Time is a song I’ve wanted to do for quite a while.
I love this song; Billy Joel is a great songwriter. Crowd Favourites seemed like the perfect opportunity to finally do this song because it’s a video, so I get to do all the harmonies myself!
What/who has been your biggest inspiration when it comes to performing?
I would say one of my biggest inspirations is Michael Bublé. I’ve managed to go and see him live twice in the past couple of years, and both times it was just such a great experience. He seems like such a nice person, and his voice is smooth like honey.
Do you have any performance goals and dreams for the future?
My goal is to be able to make a living with music, whether it be in Musical Theatre, or another avenue. Whatever is in my future, I just want it to be musical!
After Crowd Favourite Performances, would you be interested in taking part in our annual live Festival, Sydney Eisteddfod AS WELL AS an online competition, when we resume in 2021?
Oh absolutely! Doing a video like this is a totally different experience to performing live, and even when things go back to normal, I’d still love to continue doing things like this too!
Do you have any advice for young aspiring artists who are deciding whether they should enter Sydney Eisteddfod when entries open for 2021?
Absolutely, 100%, DO IT! It’s so much fun! Plus, it’s important to take every performance opportunity you can, so you can have experience performing, and get helpful feedback too. The best way to grow and improve as a performer is to perform!
WINNER JURY AWARD Find A Way - James Ewens and Jasmin Arndt
What are some of the things you have learnt or gained from your experiences performing in our annual Festival?
That it doesn’t hurt to try!!! Everything we have entered in, whether it be online or in real life has always been a pleasant and uplifting experience.
(Newcastle, Australia)
Why did you decide to perform and send in this particular piece for Sydney Eisteddfod’s Crowd Favourite Performances?
Juggling between medicine and art, being hit by COVID19, I filmed this Canio's aria from Pagliacci to show the sufferings we, as doctors, are going through while we have to wear masks and wear a smile on our face to help our patients stay positive over this tough period. So, I decided to send this video to convey this message that we should stand strong and positive as well as supporting the art industry over this period.
How have you managed to stay motivated towards your goals during this uncertain year?
My music and singing are one of the main reasons I could survive over this tough period. My aim of performing is to convey this message to show how music can help us uplift our mood by expressing our emotions and innermost thoughts through music.
After the conclusion of our online competition, would you be interested in taking part in our annual live Festival, Sydney Eisteddfod, AS WELL AS an online competition, when we resume in 2021?
Definitely , it will be my pleasure to contribute to any live Festivals and Sydney Eisteddfod and online competitions as Sydney Eisteddfod’s competitions and concerts are so prestigious and of high quality so I will be so excited and honoured to be part of these programmes.
Any advice for young aspiring artists who are deciding whether they should enter Sydney Eisteddfod when entries open for 2021?
I have learnt many things specifically through participating in Sydney Eisteddfods competitions and festivals to familiarise more with my weakness and strength points in my performance through the productive feedbacks as well as meeting lovely and well educated people.
What are some of the things you have learnt or gained from your experience performing in our annual Festival?
I have learnt many things specifically through participating in Sydney Eisteddfods competitions and festivals to familiarize more with my weakness and strength points in my performance through the productive feedbacks as well as meeting lovely and well educated people. All of these left me with extraordinary and memorable memories that I am really waiting to have another chance to taste them once more.
WINNER JURY AWARD - Nexart Percussion
(Barcelona, Spain)
Why did you decide to perform and send in this particular piece for Sydney Eisteddfod’s Crowd Favourite Performances?
Due to the situation generated by Covid-19, we have had to look for alternatives online to be able to participate and show our artistic proposal. We were very surprised to see that there was this Festival that ventured to make an online exhibition of artistic pieces where we could participate. We didn't think twice, we decided to present our proposal. Finally, we have had the great luck of being one of the 33 selected.
Do you have any performance goals and dreams for the future?
Our goal as a company is to be able to travel the world taking our shows to national and international street arts, music and dance festivals... We want to show our passion for the artistic disciplines like music or dance and breaking schemes, seeking new limits, and surprising all kinds of audiences.
How have you managed to stay motivated towards your goals during this uncertain year?
It has been very complicated, we are a large team of people and being completely isolated we have tried to stay connected. We have reinvented ourselves daily, doing online rehearsals, creating, and looking for new ways to connect with the public, doing live shows, online workshops, interviews, classes through social networks ... In this way, we have kept the whole team motivated by discovering ourselves themselves, as people and as a company.
Would you enter another online virtual competition in 2021?
Of course, it seems to us a great initiative to keep artistic companies alive by allowing them to show their proposals. It is a way of continuing to give visibility to what we do.
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All four of the Jury Winner performances were outside the box and loved by all on the Jury.
We love the creative thinking that went into the performances which is more than appreciated in these crazy times!
The above winners will each receive a prize of $500 for their wonderful work - well done again to them all.
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Here at Sydney Eisteddfod, we are working as hard as ever to come back in 2021 bigger and better than before.
We cannot wait to wrap up 2020 and to finally see you all on stage once again next year - stay tuned!