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 :)

ANZAC Day

i played the last post and reveille this morning, for the buninyong rsl. and what a lovely and moving ceremony it was. a new initiative for this year (by vic bradley~ a member for 65 years!), there were 206 white wooden crosses next to the cenotaph, each representing a deceased local anzac. the sun was shining, clear blue skies above and many people gathered to pay their respects. over a cuppa & scones afterwards, i figured out with the local rsl members that it has been 17 years since i joined them. it was 1994 when i first played the last post on bugle for the club, in my school uniform! i remember asking my dad if i really had to wear my uniform on a holiday!! and i'm still there (not in my school uniform though). wowee.

and now as the sun goes down, i'm back home practicing piano, preparing for the first sunwrae 2011 tour rehearsal tomorrow. can't wait! got some new tunes to put in front of the fab four (the string quartet that is).. just gotta finish a few bits and pieces on their parts/notations tonight and i'll be ready. the fire is lit and i have a bottle of red at the ready too, so i'm set for the evening!

better get back to it. stay tuned for more news soooon!

a whole new world...

so recently i joined twitter. and i upgraded the sunwrae group to a 'page' on faceybook (with a little help from some computer-friendly friends ). it's a whole new world in the social stream for me and frankly i'm not sure i can keep it up, but i'll give it a red hot go for the sunwrae tour (you'll notice, all four of you that are reading anyway, that even this blog is out of date.. you see? i tells the truth). anyway, back to tweeting. still not sure exactly what i should tweet. afterall, who wants to know that it's past 11pm and i'm still working? don't i have anything better to do? well, at the moment, no. just tour stuff. i updated my website, the faceybook thingemy, i tweeted about limelight mentioning the sunwrae tour, drafted an e-mailout to the subscribers, replied to way too many emails, had a skype meeting with my fabulous tour manager KJ and it'll start again all tomorrow. i suppose however, that the most part of the day (until 4) was spent (finally) at the piano... i want more days like today!

i'm nearly finished writing the string parts for 'sem duvida', a brazil-inspired work. can't wait to perform it... but there's a long way to go on my other new pieces before they'll get to the stage. still, tomorrow will again be at the drawing board (literally, it's where i'm writing music, with a big screen, laptop & midi keyboard, next to my grand piano), with less business, more music.

my playing has been given a rev-up the past month, with me practicing some crazy scalic runs. trying to train my let hand to be more like my right. i think it has become a little lazy after the summer silly season. but you get that. well, i do. the book's called 'the virtuoso pianist'. apparently it's meant to be playable (up to speed) in an hour. freak, if anyone can do that, with this book, including the repeats, they deserve a medal (it'd want to be a big one and i'm not paying). but good luck to them with having any kind of life. i don't think it's possible anyway. and if someone challenges me (that probably means one of your four as i'm not sure anyone else reads this), go for it. i'll give some kind of special prize. if you have suggestions, bring them on.

oh. and trumpet practice this week too. of course, anzac day is coming up and i'll be suitably celebrating the day (well, commemorating) with the buninyong rsl in victoria. i think this, 'the last post', my community service, now stands at 16 years (or thereabouts).. who would've thunk i could have lasted that long?

other stuff...
played a gig with david ross macdonald last week, an album launch at the northcote social club. lovely show all round, playing with some fab muso's.. and i'm happy to say that my name is now on a vinyl release. it's definitely inspired me to release something of sunwrae on vinyl. sometimes it's all i play at home (vinyl that is, not sunwrae, that'd just be weird).

and last thing for tonight. lordy how many things i'm learning, day by day, i can't believe it. even if it's to nod, smile and back away from people who you know aren't going to listen. or to double check that last move in that hard sudoku (you feel crap if you mess it up in pen). or practice makes perfect (or does it?!). whatever the case, i'm listening and learning and can't wait to turn off my computer and fall asleep. if anyone is still reading this, thanks. you've made my day, and certainly the blog, worth writing.

i'll leave you with an image i found from the archives... from the apollo bay music fest in 2007.. sketched by kellie o'dempsey during our performance there... not sure who took the photo..

tour dates..

ok. so tour dates have finally been announced. phew! check out the website for details.. sunwrae.com
please subscribe to our mailing list, help spread the word!!

it was a busy week's end on friday gone, licking stamps (how fun you say), stuffing envelopes and organising the distribution of tens of thousands of flyers and posters. i can now happily say that they'll arrive in your letterbox today or tomorrow (not all of them)... and that is, if your name is on our mailing list already!

then it was off to the ballarat acoustic music festival on saturday. and what a lovely festival it was.. a great range of music performed entirely acoustically (how refreshing!) in intimate venues & cute coloured tents at the ballarat observatory. mel robinson and i performed two sets (cello & vibes) for a very attentive audience.

and now it's heads down. music creation time. hoping to post some mp3 snippets here this week if i can work out my recording device... fingers crossed.

and good news...
rabbits without spleens album is finished... finally... 6 years later (i never thought i would take that long to finish something!).
as well as my improv album with eugene skeef! yay! hoping to have both albums pressed for the tour, or at least the melbourne show. we'll see.

10-4.
r

tour planning...

it's been a busy few weeks here, planning for the next sunwrae tour with the string quintet. i was in brisbane for a couple of days, spruiking sunwrae to queensland venues for a possible 2012 tour, then soaked up some music at golden plains festival in meredith, victoria and since then it's been all go, finalising tour dates, flyer design and marketing materials for publicity and promotion...

i'm playing a show for the ballarat acoustic music festival this saturday (26th march) at the ballarat observatory. i'm on vibes, playing with a wonderful cellist melanie robinson. it's an event for earth hour, so all acoustic performances, with some other fabulous muso's from victoria. hopefully it'll be a clear night so we can gaze at the sky through the telescopes too!

after that, it's all looking very exciting.. it'll be heads down for me to write some tunes, then the tour begins... mid way through, the sunwrae string quintet are jetting off to ho chi minh city to perform for the australian consulate too! of course the preparations are rather frantic, but i have a fabulous assistant kellie jayne chambers working with me to make sure all the logistics are smooth sailing.

more news to come when we officially announce the tour dates.. sunshine to ya'll!