A New Beginning...

so. i've arrived in london. this first month has flown by and i really wish i'd written before now coz by golly it's been an interesting, busy and crazy time.

after i said goodbye to my 'stuff' in the storage units, i closed the door and walked away with a refreshingly free feeling. it was kinda weird tho, as i've been quite used to having just enough space & things around me to create music and make my life progress.. my piano, vibraphone, my office of business tricks and pieces, books, never ending stand of hats to wear.... now however, i'm limited to a bag of clothes, a lap-top, my mellophone and my conducting baton. literally yes, my baton came with me and i'm looking forward to the first time i use it in a few weeks time, conducting an orchestra who will be performing an arrangement i'm orchestrating of julian nott's wallace & gromit theme. but more about that later...

so my first surprise came at the melbourne airport when i was astonished that the beers were cheaper than the northcote social club. wowweee! how things change and we just accept (the story of my life in the past month!!).

to cut a very long story short... don't try looking for a place to live in london in september. i can't explain it really, but it's a million times worse than what i imagined. the novelty of moving around every couple of days between hotels and friend's places wore off after a week.. believe me there's some really awesomeful hotels here.

i knew it would come to an end tho.... and now i find myself looking at a view like this, from my place in world's end... this is first light on saturday morning.





world's end (great name huh!) is south west london city.. it's a bit of a trek to school, but transport is good (waaay better than melbourne) and with a view like this it really feels like i can escape the city (kind-of) with some perspective anyway. here's another pic of the main city zoomed in a bit, later in the day...



the guildhall school of music has been great. the course is full-on and will definitely keep me crazy busy. it'll be a bit more challenging to practice piano & vibes now (it's not really practical to have either at home, so the only way is to book practice rooms at school~ it can be very competitive).. late nights and early mornings... bring it on! 

i'm met some great people from all over the world. and as part of the masters there's visiting tutors each week who show us their work, create practical projects for us for the week and really make us think. very interesting indeed. when i blog more regularly i can explain things as i go...

the guildhall is based at the barbican, which is the largest multi-arts centre in europe. it's a great place to be visiting everyday, loads of things to see and experience. with so many artists living and working around the area, it's possible to fill each day with pure entertainment! work must be done however, so i'm at the drawing board today, catching up on emails and starting the orchestration of julian nott's wallace & gromit theme.

i have had the chance to see some great music tho... just yesterday i saw a string quartet from the london symphony orchestra (lso st luke's) perform steve reich's different trains, for tape and string quartet. there was an interesting discussion about it afterwards too... there's lots of masterclasses, concerts and talks about various music subjects daily really. tuesday at the barbican is lucinda childs dance company performance, which i'll go along to as well... anyway, the list goes on!!!

anyway, over and out for now.. work to be done! more news soon...
wintery sunshine from london,
rae :)

One more Sunwrae show for 2011..

Since the tour.. A theatre show, mixing some new DVD tracks, the packing up, the selling off (including my amazing grand piano) and the announcements of ONE MORE SUNWRAE ENSEMBLE EXTRAVAGANZA SHOW FOR 2011!!! 

The days and weeks have flown since the tour. After a quick break in Hong Kong in June, I came back to prepare and perform a live original score for a wonderful theatre show 'The Lost Girl' at St Martins Youth Arts Centre. It was a show devised and performed by a group of nine 13-17 year olds, developed through a series of workshops in improvisation, storytelling and physical theatre, from their own personal experiences. Loads of fun, inspiring and challenging all at the same time! There were 4 performances between July 7-9, including an Auslan and audio described performance. So great to work on a theatre show again and be challenged by creating all sorts of different music for the various scenes in the show.

Now it has come to a close, I have only one creative project left before my venture to the UK starts.. an orchestral piece! Phew, what a task! Before I rabbit on about that however, I am off for a few weeks to say ciao to friends and family interstate.

I've also begun the daunting task of packing up for the UK.. I've sold my van already! Sad to see it go, but it had to be done so I don't get stuck at the last minute with too many loose ends to tie! The pile of clothes and knick-knacks for the Salvation Army has grown to a mountain in the middle of my living room.. I've rummaged through piles of paperwork in my filing cabinet to be shredded... And the list of things-to-do on the whiteboard in my studio stares back at me every time I go past...

Last week in Melbourne we completed the mixing from the ABC Iwaki Auditorium final tour performance on June 9. Over the next few months, be prepared for some new audio and visual tracks up online!

AND.. in August, I'm happy to say that there will be one more Sunwrae Ensemble performance... an extravaganza! A performance of, at last count, 12 musicians from the past 7 or so years to see me off in style. It's a fundraiser for my studies, to make sure I really leave the country!!!

So, if you're in Melbourne on Thursday August 18th, please come to our show and support my departure into the unknown! It may well be the last big performance for two years in Australia... 8pm start, at Richmond Uniting Church, 310 Church Street in Richmond Victoria. Tickets can be purchased online at http://www.trybooking.com/RWT

One more thing... I'm selling my amazing antique grand piano.. it's a English beauty, a Chappell. If there's anyone out there that's interested, let me know!!!!

I'll leave you with a few photos from our recent performance at ABC Iwaki Auditorium... Photos by Dean Jones.

Another day in the life...

The following was published by the Australian Music Centre Resonate Magazine.

At last count, I am writing this from 39,000 feet in the air, thousands of miles from home, at -67 degrees Fahrenheit. I'm returning home from a week's holiday (well, sort of) in Hong Kong. I'm celebrating the fact that it's been little over a week since the completion of my last big creative project - the 5th Australian tour of the Sunwrae Ensemble, which took seven members of Sunwrae around to five Australian States and to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. Ok, so I still need to reconcile the books and catch up on long lost emails, but I've definitely been in need of a short interlude from my usual business workings, before the beginning of a fresh life chapter (one with potential eyebrow-raising preparations): the study of a Master of Music in Music Leadership at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London UK (but more about that later)...

This year's tour has been an incredibly inspiring adventure, one that, yet again, has fulfilled me more than any other creative experience this year. Of course, the preparations feel sometimes like single-handedly dragging a 15-tonne bolder up a steep hill in the Italian Alps, where you don't know the language, but somehow trust that you'll find a bed for the night, and sleep, even if it's from sheer exhaustion... however the feeling of completing a year's work is none other than fulfilling.

The adventure to Vietnam was quite extraordinary. We conducted Masterclasses for the HCMC Conservatorium and collaborated with some amazing Vietnamese performing artists: musicians Ðinh Linh, Tuyêt Mai and Ðinh Duy Thành, playing a variety of traditional Vietnamese instruments, and well-known dancer Há Thê Dũng, who choreographed a dance to one of my compositions, Rainlesssness. They were all very inspiring to work with; so brilliant and articulate in their craft whilst being incredibly graceful to watch. Our work together culminated in a performance at the Ho Chi Minh City Opera House.

Now that it has come to a close, I can say that the 2011 Sunwrae tour was fabulous. Touring as condensed an ensemble as piano and string quartet for the first time, it was great to focus on developing the sound as a quintet, in comparison to the larger 10-piece ensemble Sunwrae has toured in the past. We premiered a number of my new compositions, inspired by recent residencies in Brazil and Sweden, and recorded the final June performance in Melbourne at Iwaki Auditorium, ABC Southbank Centre, presented by the New Music Network.

One aspect of touring that is always a delight, is gaining direct feedback from the audience after each performance. Hearing thoughts, thankyous and gushes of acclamation from listeners almost immediately is a very heartening, wholesome experience and certainly none that I take for granted. As a creative artist, it could perhaps be one of the most important ways that I maintain the energy and determination to keep moving forward towards the next project.

My plans for the coming two months are falling into place: I'm writing an orchestral piece, the live soundtrack for a theatre production, additional Sunwrae Ensemble works, and then there's the task of relocating to London. Sheesh! The idea of living elsewhere is still sinking in, but it is one that I can't wait to realise. I'll keep you posted on my ventures as things progress!

3 more shows to go...

the past few weeks have flown by, with many exciting ventures to add to my list! we started the tour on may 5th, playing sydney, port macquarie (camden haven music festival), vietnam, alice springs, adelaide and an exclusive house party on our return, in hawthorn, victoria.our shows have been fabulous musically.. just gotta keep working on the finances. tell your friends to come to our final 3 shows!!! we really need the budget to balance this time!

so. ho chi min was just awesome! crazily busy city of course and we had many exciting things to do.. there were three highlights..
1. performing at the ho chi minh city opera house for VIPs (including the governor general of oz)!!

2. collaborating with vietnamese artists Dinh Linh, Tuyet Mai and The Dung, playing traditional instruments, including the bamboo flute, dan bau (monochord zither), dan tranh (16-chord zither), dan nguyet (two-chord guitar) and dan da (lithophones), among others.

 3. performing for and meeting the students at koto, a hospitality house for disadvantaged youth in vietnam. check out the amazing work a group of aussies are doing over there!! http://www.koto.com.au/

thanks so much to the australian consulate in ho chi minh for making all this happen!! very inspiring and fulfilling experience overall.

and since we've been back in australia i've heard word that i'll be moving to london in september this year.. it's all rather new and exciting in amongst such a busy period during the tour, so i haven't quite nutted out the hows just yet! i'll be doing some serious fundraising to make it happen.. it's for a masters course in music leadership at the guildhall school of music & drama. yay! sounds like a fabulously ideal course for me as the activities are so varied, allowing me to follow a variety of musical paths, including composition, performance, collaborations across arts disciplines and cultures, workshop leading etc... so good i can't wait!

in the meantime, i'm waiting on weather sunwrae's eavesdropping concert series will go ahead in melbourne this year.. it comes down to funding now unfortunately. in the past i've gone ahead anyway regardless of funding, however this time the venue is rather pricey to hire and since i'm moving countries, i can't afford to take such a risk before i go... keep you posted on the results soon!!

see you in brisbane on june 3rd at the judith wright centre, byron on june 4th at the byron theatre/community centre (still not sure why it's called a 'community centre'!), and melbourne for the tour finale, presented by the new music network, on thursday june 9th at iwaki auditorium, ABC southbank centre!!!

http://www.sunwrae.com for details and info...
over and out for now.
rae :)