April Gig Guide

The WA Academy of Performing Arts is in full swing this month. Concerts include Clocked Out Duo percussion stars Vanessa Tomlinson and Erik Griswold performing on the 4th and renowned English conductor Nicholas Cleobury leading vocal students in a performance featuring Tippett's Negro Spirituals on the 6th.

The school of music at UWA is also hitting full steam with a Mainstage Concert on the 9th featuring Shaun Lee-Chen and the student orchestra performing a world premiere by jazz composer Joe Chindamo. On the 28th the Schoenberg Project will feature student arrangements of Schoenberg's Six Little Piano Pieces plus an arrangement by Brett Dean from when he was a student - it could be very revealing!

Thank you Louise Devenish for this update: On April 10-11th an unusual gig at PICA called Never Tilt Your Chair Back on Two Legs brings together three of Australia's leading female percussionists for Maurice Kagel's music theatre piece Dressur.  Set at a formal dinner table, the theme of dinner time etiquette will also be explored in a new work by Kate Neal.

The Australian String Quartet take over Margaret River from the 21-23rd for a Chamber Music weekend - what's not to love?!

The WA Symphony Orchestra go retro with The Best of British on the 7th before a Sibelius fest on 20/21/22 with Asher Fisch conducting the second symphony and concert master Laurence Jackson in Stravinsky's Violin Concerto. On the 28/29th the Zuckerman Trio join the orchestra for Beethoven's Triple Concerto with Pinchas Zukerman also featuring in Berg's Violin Concerto.

Let me know if I've missed anything. See you at a concert soon!

Women of Note at UWA

It's time to take a fresh look at Australian history!

On Tuesday August 9th a the University of Western Australia I will be sharing some startling discoveries about the contribution of women to Australian classical music. My presentation will draw on research from my book Women of Note to piece together the missing pieces of history, sharing stories and music from women composers spanning the twentieth century to today.

The presentation is part of UWA's  Research Seminar series and will be held 5pm at the Tunley Lecture Theatre in the School of Music. Entry is free. I am looking forward to sharing my work with music lovers and colleagues in the music industry. Hope to see you there!

A fitting homage to Roger Smalley

In the seventies English composer Roger Smalley performed in the pioneering electro-acoustic ensemble Intermodulation. But he discarded his electronic explorations when he moved to Perth in 1976 and thought the style would mean little to the Australian public. Times have changed and Cat Hope and ensemble Decibel have brought the little-known repertoire back to life. Their concert which opened Tura's Scale Variable series on Tuesday paid fascinating homage to Smalley who died in August last year.

The program was a surprisingly neat fit for Decibel which is similar in make-up to Intermodulation. Impulses (1986) could have been written with Decibel in mind as it was scored for flute, alto trombone, percussion, piano, cello and synthesiser. The ensemble revelled in the precision of Smalley’s fugal layers and moments of soloistic virtuosity.

Then there were the moments where Didgeridu (1974) brought to mind Cat Hope’s bass-heavy compositions with the sliding pitch and rhythmic patterns of the didgeridu manipulated through an archaic four channel tape machine.

The virtuosic early piano works Transformation (1968) and Monody (1971) performed by Adam Pinto and Stuart James respectively displayed Smalley’s first attempts at electronically manipulating live sound.

Decibel performing Zeitebenen at the Underground Studio c Bohdan Warchomij

Hope’s curatorial sleuthing unearthed the score for Zeitebenen (1973-75) – a pivotal work composed while Smalley was touring in Stockhausen’s ensemble – from behind a cupboard at the UWA School of Music. The 45 minute work for four instrumentalists, live electronics and tape was Smalley’s first attempt at expressing politics in music. The work's three sections and 21 ‘moments’ (similar to Stockhausen’s Momente) and the rhythmic patterns derived from the Fibonacci series reflect Smalley’s career-long fascination with structure. His richly imaginative sound world included slowly evolving vowel sounds (referencing Stimmung), waves of electronic noise derived from the four natural elements and a section of street noise. The work started with the same melodic pattern as Monody and moved via a gradual downwards glissando to an electronic and acoustic battle against the industrial destructive aspects of humanity, ultimately resolved by a victorious thump on the bass drum by percussionist Louise Devenish. 

This review copyright The West Australian 2016.

Women in Music success

I thought I'd share a few pics from the inaugural MSS Women in Music event on Tuesday. The very classy cocktail event was enthusiastically attended by students from the UWA Music Department. What a privilege to present alongside fellow UWA graduates percussionist Louise Devenish and conductor Jessica Gethin.

Louise Devenish, Jessica Gethin and me

Louise gave a hefty introduction to the topic of gender and music before a moody performance of a percussion work by Cat Hope. Jessica shared her journey as a conductor with tips on how to survive a cut-throat industry. I was delighted at the responsiveness of the audience to my presentation of Australian women composers in Women of Note.

There was a student composer among those who came up afterwards to thank me for addressing a topic so relevant and inspiring to their lives. It's certainly nice to have an audience of passionate musicians!

Congratulations to Rishma Pragash and the well-organised MSS team for a fantastic launch. I hope there will be many more.

Selfie with students Hannah Tungate and Clare Tweedie

MSS presents Women in Music

I have been invited to speak at a cocktail event organised by the UWA Music Student's Society profiling women in the music industry. I'm flattered to be presenting alongside conductor Jessica Gethin and percussionist Louise Devenish. We are all UWA graduates and it will be fun to get together and swap stories over champagne.

I will be sharing about Australia's amazing women composers and how my career trajectory took me around Australia meeting them and documenting their music to create Women of Note.

Women in Music is 6pm Tuesday 10th May at St George's College.
If you are interested in coming along for some inspirational stories, champagne and live music, tickets are available from Try Booking.

Or you can try your luck and contact me as I have some to giveaway!

 

Celebrity Soft Spot Emma Pearson

Emma Pearson studied voice at the University of Western Australia and the Australian Opera Studio. She was principal artist at the Hessisches Staatsheater in Wiesbaden Germany from 2005-2014 and her schedule now includes Opera Australia, Opera New Zealand, Minnesota Orchestra and City of London Sinfonia.  Emma was in Perth last year singing Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro and is back at WA Opera this month for The Riders, a new opera based on Tim Winton's novel.  There are rumours we may be able to woo this hard working and incredibly talented soprano back to Australian shores - read on for more details!

What music gets your heart racing? 

There are definitely heart racing moments in The Riders, "The Storm" in particular is fun and wild. An electric guitar solo wouldn't be out of place!

What calms you down?

Relaxing music, I look forward to albums by the cellist Sol Gabetta and singer/songwriter Laura Marling. I saw Simone Young conduct a wonderful Lohengrin at Zürich Opera last year, now I love listening to "Mein lieber Schwan" remembering that feeling Klaus Florian Vogt created with his voice.

What do you sing along to? 

Wade and I spent many hours driving around Germany, Switzerland and Italy so we were always singing in the car, usually Mumford & Sons, Rufus Wainwright or Dave Dobbyn. 

This month you are singing the role of Jennifer in The Riders, an opera by Iain Graindage (composer) and Alison Croggon (librettist) based on the novel by Tim Winton. It is a very WA affair! The soprano, composer and novelist are from Perth and The Rider’s protagonists are from Perth. Is this the closest association Perth has ever had to opera?!? 

Pearson singing the Queen of the Night aria

Yes the entire cast (a part from Wade my New Zealand-born husband) grew up in or now live in Perth. The two girls sharing the main role of Billie (Rosanna Radici & Mia Beattie) are very smart middle-school music students at M.L.C. Richard Mills based his opera Batavia (2001) off the coast of W.A., but I think this is the first time anyone has sung lines such as "The blow of Perth sunlight striking up from a white beach" operatically! Tim Winton has given us reminders of experiences this cast and this audience all know so well. "A sniff of eucalypt, and memory rushes in like a fever." We have to thank Alison Croggon for all that she has incorporated in the libretto. West Australians can be very proud of this piece.

The opera opens with Scully in Ireland waiting for his wife and daughter to arrive from Perth. Only his daughter gets off the plane so the opera follows the journey of Scully searching Europe for his missing wife. The opera could be taken as a warning not to chase elusive hopes from the past. Is it a dark story? What can the audience expect?

It's a dark story in that it explores what happens when we suddenly lose the most valuable thing in our lives. The audience will see Scully go through the stages of grief, dragging his daughter through dangerous places to find Jennifer. The hunt for her is gripping but his daughter Billie's singing will melt your heart and it is also is really uplifting when you see that in the end, Scully has the strength of character not to look for his love anymore. We see him evolve. Before Alex (the painter) kills himself, he sings to Scully, "Sometimes the only end of something, is the end you make." 

The Riders are from celtic mythology, terrifying, faceless horsemen who try to drag us back to the past. At the end of the opera Scully sings "Every night they'll be here...but I'm not waiting with them, not in life, not in death, not any more." Our director Marion Pott's idea of Billie carefully blowing out one of the three symbolic candles burning in their window, always has me reaching for tissues at the end.

You are playing the role of Scully’s missing wife Jennifer. Is she a heroine or an anti-hero?

It is a really interesting character and I have tried to understand her point of view even though at first, to be honest, I sided with Scully. Because in the book, Jennifer comes across as unbelievably selfish and delusional about her artistic potential. But the question why she really runs away is always left unanswered. In the opera Marion, Iain and Alison have given Jennifer a more sympathetic voice, she represents people who value high-achievement and self-discovery over romanticism and family obligation.We are assuming she is still pregnant when she runs away. Iain has written her music beautifully so that the audience will be more sympathetic towards her. She doesn't feel a bond with her daughter or husband anymore, only suffocation. Some of my friends feel she is a heroine, someone who remains true to herself, no matter the cost. 

How did you prepare for the role? 

I started by reading the book and Iain sent us an early version of the score months ahead of time so we could start tinkering. I like starting ahead of schedule on modern opera roles so that the intervals and rhythms become second nature and you can just concentrate on singing technique, realistic movement and your part as a reliable cog the whole machine.

How are rehearsals going? 

We end a full run of the opera passing a box of tissues around, it's pretty moving! Brad Cohen is there every day refining our diction, style, tuning. Marion Potts is changing some aspects from the original Melbourne production to suit His Maj's stage and incorporating our ideas if they fit with the style of the piece. A great luxury! Iain has been here and has shown us more than the notes on a page can. If only Verdi was still able to do the same for his operas! James Clayton is singing this enormous lead role superbly.

Where did you grow up and what led you into opera? 

I grew up on a rural property in Wanneroo, my Dad grew and exported wildflowers. We moved in to Wembley in my final years of highschool at St Mary's A.G.S. I studied classical singing at St Mary's, loving Lieder and baroque music, but wasn't very keen on opera until I saw a Deborah Warner production of Britten 's Turn of the Screw at Covent Garden in 2002.

From where I sit opera singers have a grueling job. To be successful singers must have not only natural vocal talent and years of technical training, but also the tenacity to learn at least five languages, be an outstanding actor and maintain excellent physical health. All the while working late nights, travelling lots and engaging with seriously psychologically challenging roles! How do you do it?! 

You have to put yourself first, like Jennifer! Or find a partner with similar values. And have very understanding parents.  It also helps, a lot, to have a dual passport. It is an itinerant lifestyle, you have to be prepared to live away from loved ones for months at a time. I was lucky to have an intense self-improvement period at the Australian Opera Studio, be touring operas at 23 and then fall into a safe job at a German opera house at 24. I slowly added international destinations to my workload with mixed results!

Pearson and Wade Kernot

Your husband Wade Kernot is principal bass at Theatre St Gallen in Switzerland. What are your tips for managing a long-distant marriage? 

After 5 years of travelling to see each other we are now both freelancing and can even work together on operas occasionally (like The Riders). Now we travel together more often. Skype was our lifeline, we always talked through everything we were experiencing and held the same future goals in our heads. 

You finished working in Wiesbaden in 2014 and the State of Hessen awarded you the honorary title of “Kammersängerin” - the youngest opera singer to have ever received this title. Since then you seem to be much in demand around Australia and in Europe. Why did you opt for a freelance lifestyle and what is the plan for the next stage of your life? 

While I was very grateful for the nine years of salaried income at Wiesbaden, I started to get run down trying to branch out into other opera companies, keep up with family in Australia and NZ and try to start my own family. It was burning the candle at every end. I reached a point where the freelance work was enough to live on, so that when our Intendant retired in 2014, I decided not to take a "Fest position" in another company and finally move in with my husband in Switzerland.

When I last interviewed you in 2006 you had a soft spot for the role of Adele in Die Fledermaus. What is your dream role now?

Haha that is a funny reminder! I suppose it was 10 years ago. I sang my dream role last year, Violetta in La traviata for Opera Queensland. I also had a wonderful time singing Hilda in Henze ' s Elegy for Young Lovers recently. It was very challenging music but a funny/tragic Miss Haversham-type character role. I would love to perform that opera again in English (text by W. H. Auden) one day.

Opera is such a huge part of German culture where it holds intellectual and political sway. What do you feel the art form has to say to Australians, where opera isn’t so mainstream?

It is human nature to enjoy stories, escapism and live music. These days it's also rare to hear live music with your own ears, free of microphones and sound engineering. Come to the opera to be soothed or moved and hear the power of the natural human voice. I was watching a Katy Perry concert on the plane recently and with the sound down it was basically opera just without a story line. The desire for the grandeur and spectacle of our artform is still there. The main difference with Australia and Germany is Australian parents don't take their children to symphonic concerts, theatre, ballet or opera, as often. Our children become adults who are unsure of what to expect inside formal performance venues, like an adult going to church for the first time. 

Where are you spending your spare moments in Perth? 

I am trying to keep up with the changes in this lovely city since I left in 2003! I am intrigued by Print Hall in St George's Tce, Gordon 's Garage in Gordon St and love Bivouac and Sneaky Tony's in Northbridge. On weekends I visit my parents at their home in Dawesville- it's so peaceful there and the beaches from Tim's Thicket to Miami are great.

What’s it going to take for us to woo you back to Australia? 

A small male child might make an appearance in our lives in August, we hope! He will definitely make us settle down near family for a while.  

Do you have a soft spot for anything else in life or is it all about the music? 

It's mostly languages, music, art and cheese sandwiches with me these days. I have a soft spot for public libraries, big and small. I'm compiling a mental list of the vinyl albums I want to own once we settle down. I'm also trying to be a better cook and baker, thanks to the all inspiring TV show Great British Bake Off. 

Watch Emma Pearson in her debut at Opera Australia singing Queen of the Night in David Freeman's The Magic Flute.

Thank you Emma for making time for Celebrity Soft Spot. The Riders opens at His Majesty's Theatre on April 13th. For tickets go to WA Opera.  To listen to more from Emma Pearson go to https://m.soundcloud.com/emma-pearson or her website http://www.emmapearsonsoprano.com.

Perth Festival Chamber Music Weekend

When Michael Goldschlager was a child he would wait till his parents had gone out and then play Bach’s B minor Mass on his dad’s stereo as loudly as possible. The cellist will share his life-long love of Bach at the PIAF Chamber Music Weekend with a performance of Bach’s complete Suites for Solo Cello.

Goldschlager is one of the world-class performers featured across the weekend festival which will be held in and around Winthrop Hall from 26-28 February. The line-up is resoundingly home-grown including local artists Sally Boud, Joseph Nolan, Sara Macliver, Ensemble Vagabond and from interstate the Tinalley String Quartet, Benaud Trio and pianist Jayson Gillham.

Goldschlager will perform all six Suites on Friday night in a monumental free outdoor concert lasting six hours.

“The suites are not often performed live in their entirety,” Goldschlager admits. “They are physically and technically very demanding. Not all players can do it, especially the last two suites which are technically vicious.”

The New York-born cellist has been based in Perth for 30 years and has played principal cello with most ensembles around Australia including the Macquarie Trio, the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the WA and Sydney Symphony Orchestras and most recently the Australian World Orchestra's 2015 tour of India with Zubin Mehta.

His reputation as a Bach expert is such that ABC Classics/Universal sought him out to record the Suites. Goldschlager first played a Prelude from the Suites when he was 7 years old and as a professional performed them over 1000 times on stage in the Broadway play The Elephant Man. Despite his familiarity with the music Goldschlager dedicated a year to studying and practicing before recording them in 2011. Below is an interview Goldschlager gave with Peter Holland about the process of recording the Suites.

The seminal Suites (1717-23) are six collections of Baroque dances infused with Bach’s mathematical precision and deep soulfulness. They include movements such as the joyful D major Gigue popular as a wedding recessional and the introspective C minor Sarabande famously played by Rostropovich at the fall of the Berlin Wall and Yo-Yo Ma to mark the anniversary of the Twin Towers.

onboard with Greenpeace

Goldschlager has performed them for audiences as diverse as crew from the Greenpeace Sea Shepherd ship and residents of a drug rehabilitation community and he believes it is music that appeals to everyone.

“Everyone loves Bach. His music is a translation of common feelings that are beyond words. My job is to convey the spirit this amazing individual left the world. This is the gift I can give: a careful, accurate and personal depiction of that greatness.”

The performance will take place between 7pm and midnight outside Winthrop Hall with the audience on couches and picnic rugs under the stars. Goldschlager will amplify his cello so it will be an immersive experience for listeners, like his first experience listening to Bach as child.

“I will be pushing to make the sound big,” he declares. “Let’s not be bashful, let’s make it big, a deep bass you can really feel!”

Chris van Tuinen

The festival’s classical music program manager Chris van Tuinen anticipates the free outdoor performance will help demystify and honour the Cello Suites.

“People will wander outside at 11pm after the organ recital finishes and it will be a warm Perth night and they will be able to enjoy a glass of wine and listen to a world class performance of Bach.”

Another marathon concert in a similar vein will be a performance of Satie’s Vexations in its entirety, starting 6pm Saturday night and concluding midday on Sunday. The Vexations is a short piano piece which the composer specifies should be repeated 840 times. The piece will be played by a team of keyboard students from UWA and WAAPA in a performance which is expected to take at least 14 hours.

The demystification of chamber music continues with a free keyboard masterclass by Jayson Gillham on Saturday and a unique Haydn Lottery where audiences are privy to the inner workings of a string quartet in rehearsal mode. The Melbourne-based Tinalley quartet will rehearse a Haydn quartet they have previously never played and audiences will witness the construction of the work from the ground up, complete with the disputes and dynamism that are part of creating chamber music.

Tinalley String Quartet

Saturday will also include Widor’s Organ Symphony No 5 performed by Widor expert Joseph Nolan, Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time, string quartets by Haydn and Ravel, wind music by Ligeti and Barber performed by Ensemble Vagabond and a piano recital by Jayson Gillham with repertoire by Beethoven, Bartok and Liszt.

Sunday is set aside for Schubertiade with six performances dedicated to the works of one of the great romantics. Schubert's famous Trout Quintet will be heard alongside the Arpeggione Sonata, the Octet and the string quartet Death and the Maiden. English baritone James Newby, winner of the Schubert award at the 2015 Wigmore Song Competition, will perform Schubert’s song cycle Die Schone Mullerin.

Newby is the only international artist performing in the Chamber Music Weekend. Van Tuinen says without hesitation it is because “Perth’s home-grown talent is some of the best in the world.”

The Chamber Music Weekend runs February 26-28th.
To to view the entire program and to purchase tickets to the Chamber Music Weekend go here.

This article copyright The West Australian 2015.