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.