olympics, paris, curious festival and more..

so the month of june was filled with rehearsals, writing and practicing for a silent movie performance and preparing my assessments for guildhall.. busy month! the silent film project was a fabulous one, directed by the great tim metherall from melbourne.. i'll be recording the music in the next month sometime, so i'll post it up as soon as it's done.

to end my first year at guildhall, the department had a festival at the 'people show' in london, during the first week of july. I was lucky enough to perform every night with a number of different groups, playing piano, vibraphone and singing even.. there's no photos from this just yet, but hopefully the powers that apparently be will send them through at some stage..

during that week, great friends of mine from minneapolis usa were visiting.. jared and julia.. jared miller, from the filter lab i met in 2006 whilst in residence at the banff centre in canada.. he's one of the best audio engineers i know on this planet (he didn't even pay me to say that)! i had the pleasure of working with him way back in 06, recording in the rolston recital hall, an improvised album with the composer/percussionist extraordinaire eugene skeef from south africa / uk.

for the first time in more than 6 years, jared, eugene and i were in the same room, nattering on as if no time had passed. and i'm pleased to say that our album (albeit overdue) is nearly ready! it's been remixed and mastered this year, using some images from the fabulous photographer brian goff, from tacoma washington, usa, also in residence in banff at the time. we spent much of the day reminiscing and putting the design together for its release. sunwrae fans will love this record!

here's jared and julia making there way home from world's end...
more news to come on the album 'heavy forest air'...

so with school over for the year, performances done, album organised, it was definitely rest time.. as well as catchup time on all the things i've put aside (hence my late blog post here!). and summer time! well, it's the wettest summer here in 90 years apparently, but occasionally the sun has shone through the clouds, with enough warmth to defrost my toes. finally!

managed to spare a couple of hours in the guildhall 'studio' (if that's what they call it!) to record a couple of tracks (including the original version of the machine, with vocals!) with italian singer nicoletta tiberini.. stay tuned to hear some of these sometime soon..

so at this stage, london was getting busier of course, with the lead up to the olympics. the local council here started putting up some quirky sculptures to make life a bit more enjoyable..

and the culture/entertainment kept on coming from the london cultural olympiad festival.. well, bt river of music festival was a hoot. i spent 21st/22nd july in greenwich at the oceania stage, the highlight being the wantok musik sing sing, directed by david bridie (not drowning waving, my friend the chocolate cake).. a fabulous collaborative performance by 24 (i think) artists, from different cultures in the australasian and oceanic region.. amazing! engineered by the master audio guru brett doig (who did the live sound for sunwrae's thornbury theatre show in '09), i was fortunate to get an artist pass and schmooze with the artists (thanks brett!). here's a couple of pics from the weekend:

 

phil wales on the left.. go phil!!

and here's brett hard at work..

on the sunday.. for the first time in, mmm, 5 years?! i saw natalia mann (the original harpist in sunwrae).. she was too far away on stage to get a clear pic with my phone, but the photo below is her performing harp with the maori/irish collaboration from new zealand (and a tap dancer, yay!). natalia has been living in turkey for some time and now spending time between there and new zealand..

and the artists afterparty.. wow jools holland was amazing! so many awesome players and guests on the stage, very memorable. and after the afterparty.. the sky was clear and i saw two stars!! the first time in london i've seen stars! yay!

then it's olympics time.. here, the cloudy old grey day was the opening day.. the view from my flat when the olympic flame travelled the thames to the olympic village...

ok. phew! it nearly takes me up to date.. except most recently (on the weekend) i decided to escape london and catch the eurostar to paris to soak up some days in the sun, sipping wine and tasting an array of their delicious foods.. no photos unfortunately (i was having too much fun!), but i'll be back there soon and will post some up... i did however see the wonderful national jazz orchestra performing for the paris jazz festival.. a tribute to astor piazolla.. fabulous arrangements!

over and out for now..

München, Germany: Classical:NEXT, flash mobs and moving forward..

i'm writing this blog from münchen in germany. i've just finished attending the Classical:NEXT conference at the Gasteig here. it's been a great few days of interesting discussions and discoveries about the classical music industry in europe mainly, but also with great insights into what's going on around the globe generally, in classical music, contemporary works and interpretations, digital trends and consequences, and what's 'next' for the industry in all sorts of ways.

it's the first dedicated classical music conference, which is a little surprising, so obviously well overdue really. in some respects i was well out of place within such a conference, however i drew some interesting information from it, i met some fabulous people amongst the big-wigs, and it really was inspiring in a number of different ways.

many of the attendees were heavyweight classicals: major labels, artist managers, publishers, journalists, major performing art / opera / orchestral institution personnel, as well as the showcasing classical artists, whilst very few people were artists themselves (who were not showcasing), or composers, or independents. hopefully next time there'll be a much bigger contingent of these!

anyway, so, Classical:NEXT consisted of conference sessions and presentations with discussions in Gasteig's Black Box, live showcases in the Carl-Orff-Saal Gallery, video showcases, networking meetings, mentoring sessions (although these were very limited), 'meet the artist' receptions and 'club' showcases (contemporary classical performances in Munich clubs Bob Beaman and Harry Klein~ ie, bringing the music to vastly different venues, performing to new audiences). overall, there was a wide range of music represented, from early baroque to contemporary, traditional to experimental.

i am well aware that i'm not a journalist writing a review about the conference (there was a few discussions about amateur journalists and whether they're good or bad for the industry!), however i feel compelled to write about it as an independent artist and believe my view is valid so i dare to continue, if only to share my experience..

i like to think that i represented the independent artist, the composer, the performer that is not signed, who owns all copyright, who initiates independent arts in an industry that is ever changing. i was pleasantly surprised to hear some initiatives that some classical organisations are implenting to promote classical music (in the broad sense of the word), to develop audiences outside the seemingly traditional fashion.

i arrived at gasteig not knowing a sole (and i believe i was the only australian there), so it provided me with the opportunity to soak up information, meet new industry peoples and (to those that listened) share my experience of my creative journey so far.

the opening concert presented (intentionally), a formal performance of traditional classical repertoire, showcasing a number of exceptional artists, with great strength in presenting poised, engaging performances (mostly!). in the conference environment, at times, the showcases felt a little awkward with attendees coming and going from the venue, not a full audience etc, however that is part and parcel of conferences these days.. many people are conducting business meetings and networking, so it's not everyone's agenda to see everything. over the few days of showcases however, this traditional concert format was challenged somewhat, by presenting contemporary performances in various venues (ie the club showcases), sharing promotional tools to reach a wider audience and highlighting different ways to present 'classical' (for want of a better word) music to the public. ie. performing Handel's piano works on a grand piano attached to a moving vehicle (see Daria van den Bercken's work).

then there's the Copenhagen Phil playing Ravel's Bolero at Copenhagen Central Station or their flash mob performance on the Copenhagen Metro. for some, flash mobs are no surprise of course (well, they are when you experience it live!), they come in all sorts of ways and industries as gorilla marketing.. but for those that haven't seen or heard in person, it's only something you get emailed or you find on youtube. the great thing about these aspects in particular at Classical:NEXT, was to meet the people that initiate these ideas, be in discussions with them and feel a part of the energy that helps classical music (or any music genre for that matter) move forward and find new audiences.

developing audiences was generally a hot topic, with sessions including 'Promoting the Arts in the Age of Digital Reproduction' (awesome presentations about digital media tools by Christopher Gruits from Carnegie Hall NY and Anna Kleeblatt from the Bavarian State Opera) and 'What is Better, a Community or a Crowd?' (funding projects by crowd-funding, social media technology etc with Steven Walter from PODIUM Festival Esslingen).

other sessions included an interesting discussion on film music.. 'Film Music as an Ear-Opener to Contemporary Music' (whether using contemporary music in films has helped it find a wider audience, or if the picture distracts the audience from noticing how abstract the music actually is etc..) and 'Perspectives on Music Journalism Today' (with Oliver Condy from the BBC Music Magazine and Jessica Duchen, a freelance journalist, talking about the shift to internet journalism, PR, print vs online etc).

generally, some interesting topics, questions, conversations, discoveries and presentations.. my only criticism, or rather, suggestive comment, is that in an industry that recognises that a great number of their audience remains true to traditional forms of listening media, ie cds, perhaps a move towards creating environmentally sustainable products would be beneficial (like the digipak or 100% recycled cardboard products instead of jewel case cds etc). additionally, 'greening' activities such as touring, recognising carbon footprints, or using sustainable, ethical products might be a great way to move forward too. perhaps for the major labels or management companies, a partnership with Julie's Bicycle in London would ensure a better future for classical cds and even create a stir with developing audiences in recognising that the industry is moving in the right direction. just a thought anyway.

ok. so it's taken longer than i thought to write this and sorry there's no pics of my own. there's a few on their official flicker site though (you might even see me in there somewhere)..

so on a final note, i had a great time in munich (it's a lovely city i think) and i met some great people who are doing some interesting things, both in classical and the contemporary music industry.. i've come away with some great ideas for my future projects. the 'review' aspect of the conference wasn't my intention at all, i just wanted to share a few thoughts as i've been totally absorbed in it. anyways, i could rattle on for hours about the showcasing artists, but i need to sleep, so i'll leave it there (for more info look at the Classical:NEXT website) and i'll be back soon with more news on my projects in london... bring on the summer!

10 4

the first day of the rest of my life

so we all say at sometime or other "this is the first day of the rest of my life", however i actually had one of those moments today. often it takes a serious step outside your normal (whatever that is) lifestyle to realise it. ok, it may sound huge and life-changing (perhaps it is), but i have to warn you before you read on, it's certainly not one of those life and death situations.. it's just about balancing wherever i am now (generally~ life in london, studying, searching for the next step, trying to become famous etc.. joking about that last thing) with what i really want out of the various situations and places i find myself in at the moment as well as my musical journey into the unknown.

i'm currently in hong kong, it's well past midnight and tomorrow i'm due to fly back to london to resume my studies at the guildhall school of music & drama. i've had a week out of my latest routine in london to investigate a few external projects, which ultimately i've found, feed back in to my studies. i've been in quite some frustration as to whether i'm doing the right thing (the whole thing of studying i mean) and whether they can deliver what i really want. as i said though, i had this revelation today and i feel refreshingly invigorated.. 

the interesting thing is that until now, i've also escaped the academic world to some extend, or rather, i've haven't had a great desire to investigate the academic nature of my musical aesthetic. that is, i haven't felt it necessary to explain why i create and how i create, except for the fact that it is me expressing myself and my experiences, sometimes perhaps in relation to visuals and responding to another artistic aesthetic. i've just had this vague removed obsession to be respected by the academic industry of music, whether that be classical, contemporary, avant garde, conceptual composition (the list goes on).. however it's only now, by taking some time in hong kong and chatting with a great old friend king pan ng, who i studied with during my undergrad at melbourne university 12 or so years ago, that i realise that it is that particular challenge of 'reading' exactly what my musical aesthetic is, that is how i will truly be able to express in perfect form (for me) what i do, how i do, why i do whatever it is that i do (i'm training to be a magician for those who don't know). i understand of course that it will change, develop, evolve, afterall that is the nature of life, and that is the exciting thing, however what i'm trying to say, long-windedly, is that i finally want to articulate in words, what i'm doing, in such a way that it can help my growth as an artiste (or magician). perhaps it can also help me to develop my audience outside my usual streams of searching.

here's a pic of king pan at the piano, talking, playing, rabbiting on..

here's a couple of pics of king pan and i rabbiting on about musical aesthetics...

oops, i didn't agree with this one. 

and last night i went to macau to visit a casino 'the city of dreams', which is not a usual haunt, however i went to see the 'house of dancing water'. it's a spectacle theatre show of sorts for the masses, revolving around a giant pool of water. soo amazing the scale of it, entertaining, wonderful divers, professional performers, acrobatics, theatrical moments (as well as some cheesy ones!).. i took just one pic before my desire to just watch instead of document came through...

ok just looked at the clock and realised it's waay past my bedtime to do what i need to do tomorrow before i fly back to london.... more about my musical aesthetic later, but for now, it's been a truly great venture to hong kong and the many hidden gems it has..

hong kong, til next time...

ps. so many stories still to come!!

april news for rae and sunwrae...

phew! it's april already?! the story of my life at the moment.. it's going too fast! where did the time go? a month since my last post?! ok i'm over my outburst. i have had some adventures though..

march was crazy busy with projects.. first and foremost was the dance and music collaboration with choreographer chris scott and 8 dancers from the london contemporary dance school, along with jenni wright, a fabulous french horn player from the guildhall school of music & drama. i wrote the music and played piano & vibraphone.. my london debut performances!! it truly was a great project to be involved in. chris and i were on the same page from day 1 (that's pretty rare i think!) and so hopefully we'll create something more in the coming year or two.. maybe to tour?! that's be good too! we were the finale act ( i like to think that's a compliment! ) and i think the audience liked it too.. wish i could post it here, but i haven't got the dvd (hoping to soon tho). here's a pic tho from my practice sessions...

next up.. my orchestral work was premiered on march 18.. apparently it was great but i haven't heard the recording yet!! hopefully they'll send me a photo too.. i'll be back with more when i know..

then... i had two weeks break (from my masters classes), which consisted of writing essays, project proposals and funding applications (fun stuff eh?).. but also an easter trip to st ives, cornwall.. the beach! now it wasn't exactly beach weather, but it didn't stop the pomms from gearing up in wetsuits and surfing what looked like not even a foot of surf. i laughed out loud sipping coffee from the warm of the beach cafe out of the rain, but gave them points for the effort.

next stop.. denmark! the home of lego!! legoland was awesome.. it's an amusement park with rides for kids and adults!! and so many amazing lego sculptures..
here's a very short but hilarious video from our trip there...

and some pics... couldn't resist this one..

there's even an underwater world with real sharks, fish and all sorts!

crazy that they're all made from tiny lego block huh!

mmm. so not much else on the cards, oh but ah! that's right.. i've taken up a new hobby.. bouldering! couldn't resist taking a picture of my shoes with the view from my flat in the background too..  ha! not that i'm climbing buildings, just walls and boulders so far. it's indoor too here, but maybe the wild outdoors will call when i'm somewhere with good rocks ;-)

mmm. so next musical venture is a short gig for sunday in the apartment.. then onto a project with an illustrator, idris hussain, to make an animation film... stay tuned for updates!!!

til next time, r

2 premieres, 2 cities and lots of music!

well it's been a busy couple of weeks here in london. i thought it was about time to get out there and see lots more music than i have been..

southbank on march 2nd: oren marshall and koby israelite duo.. wowwee. what a pair. certainly one of the most dynamic duos i've seen for a while. oren's a tuba player extraordinaire and koby a multi-instrumentalist with quirky and amazing skills. well worth a look at both of these artists..

southbank delivers again on march 3rd: heiner goebbel's 'surrogate cities', performed by trinity laban orchestra. what a feat.. a huge orchestra, with the largest percussion section i've seen.

kettner's champagne house in soho (yes, daarling) on march 3rd: sunday in the apartment which is an all australian showcase of music/writing/art in london. rather heavy in the musical theatre department rather than a broader range of styles, but i've only been to one and it was very enjoyable and comic! there's a chance i'll be playing at the next one so i'll keep you posted there..

so that was a busy weekend, but oh so enthrawling.. VERY contrasting musical performances too...

and just yesterday:

king's place, sunday 11th: 'not so silent movies'.. live soundtracks to rare and classic silent movies. very funny and entertaining for sure. the band consisted of bass, drums, horn/trumpet, pedal steel, harp, violin and cello and what a lineup of musos... i've booked tickets to see them again when my sister arrives in town (not long now).

wigmore hall on sunday 11th: the brodsky quartet.. of course those who have seen them play can agree, one of the most engaging live string quartets. i was wide eyed the whole performance.. wonderful works by respighi and puccini, as well as wolf, ravel, debussy, schubert.. very inspiring to see and hear. makes me want to write a whole series of quartet work! i'll get there eventually when i'm not so frantic...


the other exciting news this week is that my orchestral piece Tails of the Trebuchet is being premiered in ballarat by the ballarat symphony orchestra on sunday, march 18 at the wendouree performing arts centre. i would love to be there however time and money prove otherwise at the moment. if you're available to go, please be my proxy!!

and in london.. march 29 & 30 i'll be performing (and premiering) a dance & music collaboration live. together with choregrapher chris scott from the london contemporary dance school we've created a work for piano, vibraphone & horn performing live for 8 contemporary dancers... it'll be at 'the place' in king's cross/ euston. more details to come...

London Contemporary Dance School and a new piano!

so! i'm back. it's been quite crazy at guildhall. this month we're running a project called 'dialogue' for the 'Barbican Weekender'. the theme is Urban Stories. it's a big project working with storytellers, community groups, family groups, choirs, primary and secondary schools in nearby bethnall green, and current & post students of the guildhall. my part is running workshops with the schools and supporting the secondary band & choir, creating small performances that all piece together one after the other, creating a larger roving sort of concert, throughout the barbican. that's my understanding of it anyway.. the rest i improvise (but don't tell them i said that).

at the same time (and the most exciting thing for me), is starting a project with the London Contemporary Dance School...

it was a last minute invite from the composition department at guildhall, to compose a work for a dance project, in collaboration with a choreographer, Chris Scott. he's finishing his course at LCDS. so, the project is to create a work together from scratch. it's a pretty new concept for me (but oh so exciting), coz until now, any specific dance projects i've been involved with have usually been entirely improvised, or the work is choreographed to one of my existing compositions. this time however, as we're both creating from scratch, we're influenced as much as each other right throughout the process.

there'll be more news to come as the work unfolds, but here's a sneak peak at what came out of the first rehearsal. i mostly improvised or played some existing compositions on the piano, to get chris and the dancers familiar with my style. on this below clip, i left out the music (sorry!) so i wouldn't be influenced by it when watching it at a later date. i'm sure they'd say it's a bit rough, but it was waay exciting for me...

and the next thing... MY NEW PIANO!!!
today i experienced a most amazing and generous thing. someone donated a piano to me (edit: actually this didn't turn out in the end, but it made for a good story at the time!!!!). i've been needing to buy one for my flat (it's been driving me crazy to not have one at home believe me!) and i have been looking frantically for one that is suitable, affordable and course playable. i've had a number of trips to the countryside to play and bid on pianos. the train journeys have been great, but not so successful until today, yay! i initially put a hold on a very small second-hand yamaha upright from a shop, however had to call back, apologise and say no when i received a call following up my 'email of interest' from last week. a lovely lady and gentleman from orpington (countryside outside london), questioned me about my studies, wanting to know more and more. to cut a long story short, today i have walked away with an antique 'Dörner' upright piano, from stuttgart in germany. could be from the early 1900's.. it's quite old, but such a lovely open tone. the moving and shaking of course is yet to be done (my only costs are to move and tune it), but soon (hopefully next week?!), i'll have the piano in my flat. i'm hoping my neighbours won't mind.. i haven't even checked it with the official building peoples, but my flatmate likes the idea, so that's good enough for me until i get told off!


the best part about the story is that during our conversation over a lovely cup of english tea, i found out that the lady is the sister of a certain Isobel Rolston, who was the director at the banff centre in canada, whilst i was there in 2006 for my winter residency. what are the chances?! i gave them a gift of my cd 'never stops to wait'. it certainly doesn't balance the scales, but one day i'll thank them properly by inviting them to an amazing concert. it truly is a fabulous and generous gift.. and i am very grateful that it came at this time.. i can afford to eat for another couple of months now! yay!

ok (edit 29/02/2012): so the free one didn't work out.. they reneged! how's that?! offering then reneging. sheesh!! to cut a long story short: i called the piano shop back and mine was still there.. so it's being delivered today.. yay! just goes to show that it's waaay better just to pay someone to do the job, then you know it'll be done.

well, better run. work and sleep to be had.
back soon! :)

Happy new year...

happy new year to you all out there.. hope 2012 brings you all you may need and more..

so. once again, time has flown and it's already mid-january, mid winter (i think -1 degrees this morning here in london?!) and i'm almost mid way through the first year at guildhall. phew! since i last wrote i've been on a grand musical venture...

the gambia, west africa.

for two weeks during december, as part of a cross-arts and trans-cultural elective at guildhall, 8 of us (and rather an international bunch.. aussie of course, dutch, mexican, american and english) travelled to the gambia, west africa to learn about four very different west african musical traditions. we spent our time drumming rhythms, singing and dancing through the days, absorbing the cultures and music of Susu, Mandinka, Wollof and Fula. every few days there were different visiting artists who would teach us various things about their respective tradition and style. 

day 1 we were taken to a hotel in bakau, just outside the main city of banjul. quite the introduction really. the atmosphere of the beach and ocean breeze, the sun, the horizon of the deep-blue and man-made sailing boats, certainly made for a fresh slate, leaving the icy cold, stressful and bustling city-scape behind us.

day 2 we were soon shuffled off, piling into a rickety van, luggage precariously bumping around on the top, travelling to out next destination, our home for the next two weeks. 

it was a fabulous and intense couple of weeks, with temperatures in the mid-30s. we lived in huts, making up a small camp just outside a small village called berefet, with a crew of locals that cooked up delicious traditional food. we were right on the river gambia too, where we could swim every day, escaping the heat. there was a few hours of electricity in the evenings only, run by a generator. and if we were lucky and the sun was shining brightly, we'd have running water too! i've never loved a shower so much as when you're covered in red dirt from dancing all day, mud remnants from the river and layers upon layers of citronella mosquito spray to escape the malaria carrying pests.

we worked hard absorbing all we could..  and it felt like a holiday at the same time! here's a bunch of pics from the two weeks: our teachers and few of us as well!

our susu teachers...

 

here's liza teaching the balafon (the african wooden xylophone with gourds) master how to play violin...

and some village shots: washing day under the boabab tree... 

and some entertainment by the local village women and children... soon after these images, the whole village turned up pretty much, around 150 women and children, absolutely going crazy dancing and singing. what a memorable occasion it was!!

mandinka lessons....

i was very inspired by our teacher Jaliba (meaning 'great musician') Momodou Suso, from the mandinka tribe. his vocals are hard to hear in this video (this one is the only one i could upload for some reason.. more coming next time!), but his playing of the kora makes up for it.. what a beautiful instrument. i'll find another video for next time where you can hear his vocals too..

amazing really, the importance of music and musicians in west africa. the stature that musicians have  traditionally in society, the respect for them, as well as the reverent messages behind the music that they create, is incredibly different to the western world. all music is taught aurally from generation to generation, they create and perform music to exchange messages, to resolve conflict, to influence political leaders with messages from the people. many of the songs we learned had a profound and respectful meaning behind them. 

we had a day off after our mandinka jaliba came to berefet.. we went on this boat... which was quite an experience!

to this island, kunta kinteh island, or james island...

which is an historical island.. i think actually a UNESCO world heritage site, that was used for the west african slave trade. it still has the ruins of administration buildings and cells on the island.. as well as some boabab trees (great fruit by the way..!). it was kind of eery, but certainly amazing to hear of its history. apparently it is now 1/6 of its original size due to erosion as well. 

ok, back to the music...

wollof music:

the wollof drumming was fantastic.. i bought a talking drum! yes i'm excited about it.. i'll dig out some more pics and videos this week too, as what i have here is very limited and i can't seem to upload any more videos today... crap internet!!!

then there was the fula musicians.. this is the only photo i found! more coming soon, i promise!! from the fula musicians, i bought a pair of lado lado's (i think they're called!), which are hand percussion shakers, make from sticks and cut out sections from a calabash.

and here's kat (our english gal, on the left), kabba (our local guide, who took a lot of convincing to come and dance), and maiike (one of our dutchys from the course) dancing with the musicians...

apologies for the lack of videos and music clips here.. i'll get the internet and videos sorted and will be back soon!!! thanks for reading.. any comments or questions welcome!

and coming next time also, are perhaps some photos form the guildhall.. who knows..