A founding member of the Canadian percussion ensemble Sixtrum, Dr. Fabrice Marandola is an Associate Professor of Percussion and Contemporary Music at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University. Prior to his appointment at McGill, he was a Professor of Percussion at Conservatoire de Angers, the Conservatoire de Grenoble, and was a Visiting Professor at the Crane School of Music. An active supporter of contemporary music, Dr. Marandola has commissioned, performed, and recorded numerous works for solo instrumentalist, and chamber ensemble. His work in this genre has led him to receive numerous distinctions and awards from the Conseil Québécois pour la Musique, Académie Charles-Cros, and the Montreal English Theatre Awards.
Dr. Marandola earned his Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology from the University of Sorbonne in Paris, where he returned as a Senior Research Chair from 2015 – 2016 to lead a multidisciplinary research project on Musical Gesture. Moreover, he has conducted in-depth field research in Cameroon with the Langues-Musiques-Sociétés Laboratory (CNRS, France), and currently serves as the Director of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music, Media, and Technology of Montreal (CIRMMT). An author of over 30 scientific papers, Dr. Marandola’s current research focuses on the study of the conception, production, and perception of instrumental gestures in percussion performance, using 3D Motion Capture and wearable eye-tracking systems.
When did you begin studying music?
I started studying music at around the age of seven or eight at the Music Conservatory of Montluçon, which is a small town in the center of France.
Did you always study percussion?
My first two years were only musicianship and singing. I started studying percussion as soon as I could! I took some piano lessons when I was a teenager (15 – 17) to learn the basics and help with my future studies in music.
What made you choose percussion?
As far as I remember, I always wanted to be a drummer (a batteriste, that translates into drumsetist as I proudly told someone when I was six years old). It comes from a combination of seeing my father occasionally playing drum set when reuniting with his high school friends; a small African drum (djembe like made for tourists) brought back from Niger by my parents after a trip in the early 70’s; and the fascination I had for the guy playing timpani at the back of the local orchestra, who would become my first teacher.
Who were your primary teachers?
Daniel Ardaillon was my first teacher at the Conservatory of Montluçon, in France. I was extremely lucky to have such a passionate young professor who made us play in percussion ensemble right away; got us to work with composers; brought in the Percussion de Strasbourg; and was constantly motivating us to discover more repertoire and techniques. At 17, I went to Paris to study musicology at Sorbonne while also studying in the conservatory system with Didier Benetti (French National Orchestra solo timpanist), Frédéric Macarez (solo percussion at the Paris Orchestra), and finally Jean Geoffroy, and Jacques Delécluse at the Paris Conservatory (CNSMDP).
When did you decide to pursue a career in music?
I guess from the very beginning!
Did you have a specific goal?
I remember clearly wanting to be a percussion teacher when I was 13. My parents were school teachers, and my sister was about to start her university studies in music and become a music teacher. So it felt natural to want to become a teacher.
Do you focus on a specific area of percussion?
I enjoy playing all percussion instruments, and would have a hard time saying which one is my favorite. I think that the variety of instruments we play as percussionists was a key factor in my decision to become a percussionist.
Who impacted your musical growth the most?
Without a doubt, my very first teacher, Daniel Ardaillon. He played a major role because of his passion for the instrument, and all the occasions he created for us to perform tons of repertoire, and to discover new music, composers, and performers during all my formative years. Didier Benetti was my next teacher, and he had the most important impact in regard to my comprehension and conception of sound and sound production. He also set the bar at the highest level, which meant that I had to develop practice habits that stayed with me for a very long time, and I will always remember his demonstrations on the instrument which were truly inspiring. All my other professors also an impact: Frédéric Macarez for his attention to rhythmic accuracy; Jean Geoffroy for his profound comprehension of new music and composers’ musical language; Michel Cals for chamber music and how to develop sight-reading skills; and of course, Jacques Delécluse for his knowledge and vast experience of orchestral repertoire, and for his global approach to music where phrasing and sound were at the core of his teaching. He also let me escape the Paris Conservatory for several months in a row so that I could go to Cameroon to do some field research for my PhD in ethnomusicology, which confirmed my intuition that I should be able to be both a performer and a researcher; something that very few were willing to accept at that time.
What teaching positions have you held?
I started teaching percussion very early on, when I was 15 or 16 at the local music school. In the following years I got my teaching diplomas from the French conservatory system, and successively taught percussion in the music conservatories of Auxerre (1993 – 1997), Angers (1997 – 2001), and Grenoble (2001 – 2005). I also taught percussion pedagogy at the Paris Conservatory (CNSMDP) from 2002 to 2005, as well as ethnomusicology classes at the universities of Paris-X (Nanterre) and Saint-Etienne between 2011 and 2004. In 2005 I joined the Schulich School of Music at McGill University in Montreal (QC) where I am currently coordinating the percussion area and directing the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music, Media, and Technology (CIRMMT); and from 2006 to 2011, I was an invited instructor at the Crane School of Music at SUNY-Potsdam.
What percussionists have inspired you the most?
As I previously mentioned, my first teachers: Daniel Ardaillon and Didier Benetti, were extremely inspiring, and were key models. Anecdotally, I was also fascinated by the picture of Jacques Delécluse on the back of his Snare Drum Method book when I was a kid. So I wanted to follow his steps when I was around 10, but had no idea at the time that I would one day study with him! I also had the chance to participate in several sessions of the French summer academy FIPA (Forum International de la Percussion en Auvergne) between the ages of 13 and 16, and met many influential percussionists. The list is too long to mention them all, but looking back I think that I was especially fascinated by the fluidity of movements of such performers as: Julie Spencer (marimba), Michel Visse (snare drum), Dobri Paliev and Didier Benetti (timpani), Michel Delaporte (congas), as well as Daniel Humair and Billy Cobham (drumset).
Is there a specific genre you enjoy performing most?
I love percussion ensemble music in general, and I also love creating new music in whatever format. I enjoy playing with symphonic orchestras, and for many years when I was in Paris I subbed for Radio-France Orchestras, the French National Orchestra, and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Radio-France. But in the past 15 years I have been focusing on chamber and percussion ensembles.
What composers do you identify with?
I don’t really identify with any particular composer, or with a specific genre or approach to music composition. What I do appreciate is when I have the opportunity to work with composers on their works, and to repeat the experience on several works over the years. When I am able to build this kind of long-term relationship, it helps me to gain a deeper understanding of the composer’s musical language, and in turn be able to better interpret the music. Good examples of this kind of long-term experience are with French composers: Bruno Giner, Philippe Leroux, and Arnaud Petit.
Do you get nervous before you play?
I do get nervous, but not all the time. The best way I learned to deal with it is by being extremely well-prepared, so that if nerves kick in I can almost go on auto-pilot until I realize that everything is fine! A trick I used in the past was to visualize myself performing on stage, or for an audition ahead of time, which did trigger some nervous reactions. But when I realized that there was no need to worry, it helped me keep my cool for the actual concert or audition.
Do you ever make a mistake while performing?
Of course! When it happens, it is most often too late, so I just keep going, and if possible, I try to make what happened part of the performance as if it were supposed to be a part of it. Because, in fact, it has already become a part of it!
Has your practice regimen changed from when you were a student?
My practice regimen has changed from when I was a student. I used to practice a lot, with a mixture of technical exercises and works. Now, I rarely have time to practice technique, and my personal practice time is mostly dedicated to learning the music I am performing with my ensemble Sixtrum, or for other projects I am working on. My strategy is to incorporate in my warm-up, technical exercises that are specifically attuned to the piece I am preparing in order to maximize efficiency. As we spend quite a lot of time in rehearsals with Sixtrum, I play on a very regular basis, so my technique stays fresh on most instruments. However, I realized over the years that the best way to get back in shape after a break is to work on my snare drum chops, which in turn helps with all other instruments.
How do you define a good musician and a good teacher?
Good musicians master their instrument. Which means that they have excellent control over tone production; and excellent comprehension of the music they are performing. In fact, the second aspect is sometimes even more important than the first one. Good teachers are those who are able to help students progress on their own, and to carve their own path. It requires listening intently to each student, and to understand how best to help each develop their skills, as well as find their own journey through music. I believe my definitions have not changed much over the years. However, I probably put more emphasis today on the human qualities (comprehension of the music, communication) than on the technical ones.
Do you think that performing and teaching are intrinsically intertwined?
You can perform without teaching, but you do need to do some performing to be able to teach, since part of our skillset is linked to performing for an audience. Thus, you need some concrete experience to teach others how to prepare for it.
Has teaching made you a better musician?
It certainly has! While teaching, I have to better understand my own technique, as well as my own musical choices, so that I can clearly explain them to others. And listening to many versions of the same piece is an excellent remedy against monotony, because it forces me to refine my approach to musical works, whether I know them by heart or not.
What is Sixtrum?
It is a percussion sextet that I founded in 2007 with Montreal colleagues. Sixtrum is dedicated to performing staples of percussion ensemble repertoire (including the huge repertoire commissioned by Percussions de Strasbourg) and to create new works. When I arrived in Montreal in 2005, percussion ensembles were mostly at universities and rarely on main stages. Therefore, it is one of our goals to bring back percussion music to the forefront of the Montreal contemporary music scene.
Would you change anything about how you prepared for your career?
I am not sure. It was quite crazy to perform, teach, and conduct research simultaneously for all these years, and I was never able to choose one over the other. I have always been curious to learn new things, and I would never change that. What I would probably have done differently, is to have taken the time to prepare for at least one major solo competition. I always wanted to have the experience of dedicating a long period of time to learn tons of solo repertoire, but I always had to attend to something else (teaching, performing, or research).
What words of wisdom would you like to share with students?
Try not to forget that what we do is perform, and that there should always be some pleasure associated with music making. Developing a career in percussion requires lots of time and effort. Therefore, it takes a great deal of dedication, so you better make sure that you really enjoy it in order to make it worth the effort! My motto is La vie est belle (Life is beautiful)! Which is a good reminder when things are difficult in the practice room. It is also a good reminder that music is always to be shared with fellow musicians, or with an audience. And that making music is probably one of the most enjoyable ways to spend your life.
If you would like to learn more about Dr. Marandola, and/or Sixtrum, please visit: https://sixtrum.com/en/
