The Australian publishes WICA review

I was delighted to be able to review the Women in the Creative Arts conference recital for The Australian newspaper. The concert featured the Muses Trio, an ensemble remarkable both for their charisma and for their focus on performing music by women. Their dedication to performing the eight works on the program included a month of workshops with the composer (sometimes via skype).  Four of the composers were present for the performance and gave insightful introductions to their works. The concert was richly thought provoking and often very beautiful, a fitting centrepiece for a conference celebrating women in the arts.

Christa Powell, Therese Milanovic and Louise King. Photo William Hall

"I’ll let you in on Australia’s best kept secret: our nation has one of the highest proportions of women composers in the world. Last week more than a hundred people gathered at the Australian National University to celebrate the diverse work of women who make up 26% percent of Australian composers, sound artists and improvising artists.

The centrepiece of the Women in the Creative Arts conference was a Friday night concert by Queensland’s The Muses Trio who performed eight works for piano trio chosen from around 100 international score submissions. Pianist Therese Milanovic, violinist Christa Powell and cellist Louise King’s authoritative interpretations were inflected with humanity and detail, marred only by a rather boomy piano (half-stick the lid!) and occasional mis-pitches in the violin.

Queensland-based Nicole Murphy’s Spinning Top opened the concert. Breathless repeated figures, harmonic stasis and some off-kilter syncopation gave this piece a self-contained perpetual motion. Minimalist patterns also underpinned US composer Jean Ahn’s A Flash of Ravel where Ravelian snippets were fragmented and juxtaposed with sections of string pizzicato and harmonics."

Read the rest of the review at The Australian.

Composers Natalie Williams, Nicole Murphy, Joyce Wai-chung Tang,
 Hilary Kleinig and Christine McCombe. Photo William Hall

A warm celebration in Canberra

Despite the chilly Canberra weather the atmosphere this past week at the Women in the Creative Arts conference has been incredibly warm. The academic papers, panels, performances and the rigorous discussions were all under-girded with encouragement and cheers of support. 

WICA composers, performers, academics. Photo William Hall

I was able to witness the impact Women of Note has had in the landscape, something I hadn't realised from Perth. I was told countless stories about how my book had influenced people in their commissioning, their perfoming, and their careers.

Photo William Hall

 I was overwhelmed by how much people felt supported and affirmed by my work. And it was so exciting to see the next generation of composers learning from the work of their forebears:

"....I confess to my shame I hadn't heard of Margaret Sutherland before now..."..

".... a couple of years ago I read your book and decided I wanted to meet Helen Gifford, to see her, to commission her..."

"...the bridge building you are doing for the music industry is so important..."

Liza Lim, Natalie Williams, Mathew Dewey (ABC), Naomi Johnson (ABC), Lisa Cheney

There are are significant changes afoot around the visibility and celebration of our women composers and I am so excited to be part of it.  47 papers, 4 recitals, 5 keynotes and 3 panels later I think some of the changes are going to stick this time around. In the immediate future:

* Cat Hope has offered to host the conference next year at Monash.

* Vanessa Tomlinson will be rollling out her research from Queensland University to include every tertiary institution documenting the works that are being performed in graduation recitals. 

* Joanna Drimatis is collating a database of graded works for performance by schools and community groups.

Add that to the ongoing work from the Hildegard Commissioning Project, the findings from the APRA/AMCOS commissioned report on results from RMIT research, the Skipping a Beat report, the Australian Women Screen Composers report, and there is a sense of growing awareness and action toward increasing visibility for women composers. 

I'll post my keynote paper soon to add to the discussion. 

With the magnificent composer Judith Clingan

I have the satisfied feeling that my book has done what it was meant to do.I sold out of copies of Women of Note at the conference. Which means my print run with Fremantle Press is finished and it is time for an eBook. 

So now it is time to head back home to my family, filled with a warm glow, and work out where to from here. 

Huge thanks to Natalie Williams and ANU for hosting this incredible event.

conference director Natalie Williams

August Gig Guide

Let's start this month's gig guide with Tura New Music, who are having a busy winter! In August Tura will support the workshop of Cat Hope's experimental opera Speechless in Adelaide plus tour to Warmun for a 3 week regional residency where Jon Rose will, in collaboration with the local community, turn a car wreck into a musical instrument. Tura is also producing the next Scale Variable concert featuring Intercurrent on August 29th. The 4-piece Intercurrent have an impressive program planned including a recent work by Hannah Lash and THREE premieres by Chris Tonkin, Julian Day and Alex Turley. Finally the organisation have been involved with a sound art, video and sculpture installation called Scarasson which will be presenting nightly performances at the State Buildings from August 1-6th.

Keep an eye out for string quartets this month: the Australian String Quartet kick off their national tour in Perth on August 2nd with a program including Dvorak Britten and Australian composer Paul Stanhope. I haven't yet heard the new lineup of players, so if you have let me know what you think. The popular Takacs Quartet is also in town on the 10th performing Haydn. Mozart and the world premiere of Carl Vine's 6th String Quartet Child's Play. This will be the launch of their national Musica Viva tour.

The West Australian Symphony Orchestra will celebrate a 20 year association with conductor Simone Young on the 4/5th with a wide-ranging program from Haydn to Brahms and the world premiere of a work by Australian Andrew Schultz. Asher Fisch is in town on the 17-19th to conduct Schubert's great Symphony No 9 with Jayson Gillham joining him for Schumann's Piano Concerto. The following week Fisch will conduct Mahler's 6th Symphony and Karen Gomlo will perform Mozart's Violin Concerto No 3.

On the 11th St George's Cathedral Consort will perform Bach, Bernstein and Britten's A Ceremony of Carols. The Perth Symphony Orchestra are performing their annual Baroque by Candlelight concert on the 23rd at St George's Cathedral. Jessica Gethin will conduct and Paul Wright is concert master: book now as this immersive concert always sells out!

Rochelle Durkin's fiery colloratura soprano will be on display in Baroque Beauties at the Government House Ballroom on the 20th, accompanied by the UWA string orchestra and vocal consort.

On the 12th the WA Academy of Performing Arts will host Geoffrey Lancaster and Stewart Smith playing keyboard works by Bach. Also at WAAPA Karin Schaupp and Claire Edwardes will give a concert on the 18th of all-Australian music for the mellow and sensuous medium of guitar and marimba. On the 24th winner of the 2016 Sydney international Piano Competition Audrey Gugnin will present a recital and on the 26th August WAAPA 3rd year music theatre students will  begin their season of Chicago under the direction of Crispin taylor.

Finally the Darlington Piano Quartet will perform Dohnanyi, Brahms and James Ledger's Three Escher Portraits on the 27th at the Darlington Hall. Enjoy!

Women composers in The Guardian

My Opinion piece for The Guardian was published today.

I am really pleased to be able to document nationally the exciting energy in the industry at the moment around women composers. The article is already generating a storm of comments. Got to love a controversial topic! 

Australia's female composers are having a moment. We need to harness that energy.

“Everything I’ve ever wanted to do would’ve been easier had I been a boy. But never mind, I never paid much attention to it, I just marched in and there I was.”

These fighting words come from Peggy Glanville-Hicks (1912-1990), arguably the most famous female composer in her time and one of the first Australian women to march into the male-dominated world of composition.

Back then, the costs were high: Glanville-Hicks’s colleague Margaret Sutherland was married to a psychiatrist who thought a woman wanting to compose music was a sign of mental illness, while many women had to lie about their gender in order to be published. The positions on the boards and in the institutions were held by men who also received the majority of the commissions.

Today women make up 26% of Australian composers, sound artists and improvising performers. It’s not close to gender parity but the figures do stack up well internationally – the only country to fare better is Estonia with 30%. Women make up about 20% of American and Polish composers but, for most countries, the average is a woeful 15%.

Women have also made a significant contribution to Australia’s music history, often punching above their male contemporaries. Sutherland almost single-handedly pioneered modernism in Australia music and, in 1938, Glanville-Hicks was the first person to represent Australia at the International Society of Contemporary Music. Anne Boyd smashed through the glass ceiling to become the first woman and first Australian to be appointed professor of music at the University of Sydney in 1991. Today Liza Lim, Mary Finsterer and Elena Kats-Chernin are likely to rank higher internationally than their male contemporaries.

Sadly, however, the majority of women still struggle with visibility. According to musicologist Sally Macarthur, women’s music represented only 11% of the works performed at new music concerts in 2013. In the concert halls where the more conservative orchestras reside, it is far rarer to hear a work by a female composer – dead or alive.

But a new surge of energy is bringing female composers into the spotlight. In August, hundreds of women, including myself, will gather at the Women in the Creative Arts conference in Canberra as part of a wave of industry activism – hopefully, they say, for the last time.

Read more here.

Serenade - a performance for someone you love

A Serenade is a performance for someone you love. It comes from the Latin word serenus and the music is typically calm and light. Or bubbly and beautiful, or even sumptuous, in the case of the Perth Symphony Orchestra's Serenades concert this weekend. The morning concert includes champagne and brunch in the elegant surrounds of Government House Ballroom, which is being decorated as a 1920's Parisian cafe. What's not to love?!

I have the inside goss on this concert because I have been asked to host it and I am super excited! Bourby Webster, Paul Wright, Jessica Gethin and team have put together a stunning sensory experience which will include dancers and painters responding to work by Elgar, Britten, Vaughan Williams, Glazunov, Tchaikovsky and Margaret Sutherland.

So pop on your best floral frock or Matisse tie and come join us on Sunday morning for a concert of lush string orchestral music with dancers, art, divine refreshments and wonderful company. This is a performance for you: the people we love. Book now, as it is likely to sell out!

Australia's feminist revival in the arts

You are about to hear a whole lot more from women in the creative arts.

When I was writing my book Women of Note I was surprised to discover that 25% of Australian composers are women. This is more than almost any other country - our best kept secret! However despite the statistics it became clear from my interviews and research that many women still struggle with visibility issues. The majority of commissions by far go to male composers, who also hold most of the positions in institutions and on boards.

Logo for the Women in the Creative Arts Conference

That is beginning to change. In August the Australian National University is holding a Women in the Creative Arts Conference. The key note speakers are Liza Lim and Cat Hope and the conference has already attracted over 100 delegates across a range of art forms. 

Conference director Natalie Williams hopes the conference will "provide an opportunity for research professionals to gather, present their methodologies, discuss the unique issues surrounding the creative arena, and propose strategies to enhance and enrich their working lives as strong members of an international cultural and artistic voice. The gathering will feature a rich exchange of research ideas, including round-table discussions and panels that develop and enhance practices for women in the creative fields."

The WICA conference is riding the crest of activist revival addressing the visibility issue for women composers. Other developments include Musica Viva's Hildegard Project established last year, the first national program designed to encourage and commission women composers. The appointments of Cat Hope as Head of Music at Monash University and Liza Lim at the University of Sydney are also significant. Lim will be involved with the National Women Composers' Development Program, another recent development tackling the issue of mentoring emerging women composers. Hope has been part of a research team collecting data on the working life of arts practitioners.

Some of these ideas are quite innovative and it is significant they are all happening at once - four years ago when I wrote Women of Note there was nothing like this occurring.

I am particularly excited about the ANU conference; I have been invited to present a paper on Women of Note and I am looking forward to catching up with east coast networks. I don't know of any other Australian conference like this for composers. The last women composers' conference was in the nineties when there were gatherings around Australia that were significant for galvanizing support for women in composition and contributing to an increase in the numbers of women composers. I have high expectations for this one. Especially given the current proactive climate around women in the arts. Could women composers be leading Australia's fourth wave feminist revival??

Wood meets Metal in a night of Aussie/German percussion theatre

I managed to snap a selfie with composer Kate Neal last night at the world premiere of her work Never Tilt a Chair. The work sat most satisfyingly alongside Mauricio Kagel's iconic Dressur which was receiving it's long-overdue Australian premiere.

with composer Kate Neal

Hooray for Tura New Music and PICA for bringing it about. I am impressed again by Louise Devenish  - yet another awesome contribution to the Perth new music scene, with the support of her fellow leading theatre-music percussionists Leah Scholes and Vanessa Tomlinson.  I love concerts like these: so much to see, so much to hear.

The set for Never Tilt Your Chair

Leah Schole, Vanessa Tomlinson and Louise Devenish

My review is published by Limelight here.

Kate Miller-Heidke and WASO

Kate Miller-Heidke’s national orchestral tour is a polished package. The tour (which includes Sydney, Brisbane, Hobart and Canberra) features Miller-Heidke’s guitarist husband Keir Nuttall, classy orchestral arrangements, a slick sound and lighting team and visuals by video artist Amy Gebhardt.

The WA Symphony Orchestra was the first to sign up for a show with the classically trained opera turned indie pop singer after her Helpmann Award-winning orchestral debut with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra last year. WASO has sizable experience in the crossover genre from collaborations with the likes of The Whitlams, Katie Noonan, Tim Minchin, Chick Corea and many others over the decades. Under conductor Benjamin Northey the components came together seamlessly with the versatile Miller-Heidke at the epicentre, part pop princess and part operatic diva.

The concert attracted a sold-out audience of fans to the Perth Concert hall and Miller-Heidke walked on stage to rapturous applause. The opening number Bliss was unsettled - a rushed beginning and balance issues between orchestra and an overly amplified soloist – but as the orchestra melted from pizzicato to lush chords and Gebhardt’s cloud images floated by Miller-Heidke’s voice softened into ethereal shades.

Benjamin Northey ran a tight ship steering a sympathetic orchestra. The songlist spanned the breadth of Miller-Heidke’s output and her theatrical writing style was enhanced further by the orchestral accompaniment. In O Vertigo the bird-like coloratura vocal line was echoed joyfully by the flute while the strings and percussion rocked along with Nuttall on guitar. Mama, arranged by Northey, had echoes of Queen with vocal screams, heavy rock drumming and dense string backing.  In contrast the acoustic version of Caught in the Crowd had a folk narrative style that brought to mind The Waifs. The lilting arrangement of In The Dark was particularly effective with a brass chorale creating a moody lullaby.

Two songs from The Rabbits, an opera written in collaboration with Iain Grandage, revealed the immaculate vocal technique underpinning Miller-Heidke’s spinto soprano with feather-light scale passages, an earthy low range, steely top notes and a wide vibrato. The arrangement of Where was particularly stunning with pastoral woodwind, strings and moments of cinematic vastness.

Gebhardt’s videography included slow motion images of nude bodies and Andalusian horses, evocations of beauty, power, gentleness and freedom that worked particularly well with more spacious numbers like Bliss and Last Day on Earth.

Miller-Heidke’s irreverent sense of humour, expressed musically in songs like You Underestimated Me, Dude and Are you F*cking Kidding Me manifested onstage in banter with the orchestra - who apparently party harder than rock n roll artists - and droll stories about touring and family life (their son Ernie was described as their latest release arriving ten months ago). Miller-Heidke’s wit will be put to the test later in the year with the debut of her first musical Muriel’s Wedding: The Musical.

Nuttall delivered several generous guitar solos, including an extended improvisation in Johannes Luebber’s jazz-inflected arrangement of Words revealing impressive guitar chops. Jazz licks morphed into heavy rock grooves and even flamenco theatrics, laden with effects from the mixing desk. In fact the sound engineers were busy all night adding often overt effects to both the vocal and guitar parts.

It was a night richly laden with artistry and entertainment. Miller-Heidke can add another feather to the proverbial cap, although she would probably prefer a flamboyant headdress.


 This article first published in Limelight magazine 2017.

Celebrity Soft Spot Carolyn Chard

This year the West Australian Opera celebrates its 50th anniversary and at the helm is Carolyn Chard, general manager for nearly two decades. Carolyn worked in arts management across multiple platforms in Perth before discovering opera. She shares a glimpse of the inner workings of the company and why 'music is the strongest form of magic'.

What music gets your heart racing?

Dance music with a heavy beat, the kind you feel in your body on a dance floor.
Beautiful music, music that speaks to your soul  (too many to name plus depends what mood I am in; today maybe Parsifal overture, Mahler 5; tomorrow I would name others). Some renditions of Ave Maria just melt me; at other times I dissolve listening to Nick Cave’s Into My Arms.

What calms you down?

Massage
Walking on the beach
Beautiful music

What do you sing along to?

‘Happy’ by Pharrell Williams (although you don’t want me to).

This year WA Opera celebrates its 50th year. The company has been collecting stories and memories from past cast and audience members. What have you learned about WA Opera from these?

That there is an appreciation for the company and a memory bank that is very personal and individual to many patrons; that the company has made an impact on collective memory. The stories are all on the website and worth reading at waopera.asn.au.

Carolyn with the ‘hero image’ marketing team

What is the role of an opera company in a city like Perth?

To present the artform in a beautiful theatre, to maintain the tradition of grand opera in an isolated city.

You walk something of a tightrope balancing traditional repertoire with bold contemporary repertoire like new works by Richard Mills and Iain Grandage. How do you navigate the responsibilities of expanding your audience while also retaining traditional subscribers?

It’s a risk every time and actually hard to navigate or balance through the level of risk you are willing to expose the company to. How do you measure what that success looks like? Is it financial success at the box office? Artistic success? What if you have one without the other? Is it still worth the investment event at the cost of forgoing other work?

The WA Opera team is a small family. International singers often talk about the warm welcome they receive when performing here. What is special for you about your team?

I try to engender a caring culture where we welcome and look after people, Many years ago a theatre director pointed out to me that we trade in human emotion, that’s our widget, our product. It means that we have to look after that carefully and that boils down to looking after people. I work with some wonderful, committed, energetic and enthusiastic people who love the company and the theatre, who have a passion for opera and who take great  pride in our singers, our chorus, our creative colleagues and WASO musicians.

In your other life (before opera) you were in banking and fashion design. You worked in management roles for Barking Gecko and Deckchair before heading into opera in 2001. What was the appeal of opera?

At Wesfarmers Centenary Dinner with her daughter

I studied fashion design. I worked in banking. I promoted bands, events and DJs in clubs during the dance music and rave scene in the eighties and nineties (The Prodigy, Blackbox, Kevin Saunderson, Dream Frequency, Sasha). I did the arts management degree at WAAPA and moved into theatre management at Deckchair Theatre and Barking Gecko Theatre (during this tenure we established the Awesome Festival). I worked with Black Swan Theatre, Perth Theatre Company and Kulcha. I met Richard Mills when we co-produced the Britten children’s opera Noyes Fludde/Noah’s Flood and he encouraged me to consider the management role with opera. He taught me much about the artform and engendered a passion for producing and presenting opera. I worked with my Australian opera colleagues at Opera Conference and was invited to a dual senior management position with Opera Australian based out of Sydney and Melbourne offices. I was invited to resume the general manager’s role with WAO when my successor moved to the CEO position with WASO.

What are you proudest of in your years with WA Opera?

I have worked in opera now for almost two decades, in two stints as General Manager with this company split by a few years with the national opera company based out of both Sydney and Melbourne. I am proud of presenting and producing two of Richard Mills’s works, both new operas with the Perth Festival – Batavia, which was commissioned by Opera Australia as part of the Centenary of Federation and first presented in Melbourne in 2000, and The Love of the Nightingale which was part of the Wesfarmers Arts Commissioning Series. Both operas were composed and conducted by Richard Mills and both directed by Lindy Hume. They had a special rapport which translated well on stage. On opening night of Batavia in Perth the CEO of Opera Australia turned to me and shook my hand and congratulated me on getting the work into the theatre and onto the stage (it was a production that I had been told ‘would not fit the Maj’ and, with my clever Production Manager Mandy Farmer, we found a way to store some of the scenery between Acts in containers on the street)

You are one of a very few women heading up an arts company in WA. Any ideas why there aren’t more women in management roles?

Sometimes it just cyclical – there have been times when the four major companies in WA have been headed by women. Right now three of the four majors have women leaders (Nat Jenkins at Black Swan and Jess Machin at the ballet while my predecessor Craig Whitehead heads WASO).

WA Opera's first mainstage production for the year is opera Tosca which opens on March 28th with Antoinette Halloran in the title role, Paul O’Neill as Cavaradossi and Teddy Tahu Rhodes returning as Scarpia. Perth audiences last saw Tosca in 2011. What does this New Zealand production by Stuart Maunder have to offer?

Stuart is a wonderful colleague with great insights into character and story as well as understanding the music and the genius of it. For this particular season Stuart and I actually negotiated a production swap – he has enabled us to present the New Zealand Opera production of Tosca which he directs and I have enabled him to take the WAO Lindy Hume production of Carmen so effectively we swapped productions.

Teddy has sung Scarpia here for me before and I am so pleased that we have Antoinette in her debut with this company – and in role suited so well to her – and also delighted to welcome Paul O’Neill back after many years in Germany (he left as a young man and has returned, with his beautiful family including four children, to make his home base in Western Australia again)

Mark Applebaum says music should be above all else be interesting. What do you think is the most important role of music?

I think music should make you feel. Or just ‘does’ make you feel.

I love a quote from Marilyn Manson that ‘music is the strongest form of magic’.

I mentioned the song ‘Happy’ by Pharrell Williams and there’s a quote from Rusty Rueff contemplating why that song become such a global hit; he said ‘I think its because at the time the world was looking for something…we were recovering from a recession, war and many other things…and we needed a movement of hopefulness that allowed us to stop the madness for a moment and pick us up. Will it be timeless? Maybe for the generation who were in the heart of the trouble. Maybe they will reflect back on this time and remember this song and make it timeless’.

Where did you learn the skills to manage an opera company?

I did the three-year arts management degree at WAAPA which, some twenty five years ago, included foundations of law, economics, human resource management, marketing, business management in the main ECU stream as well as full involvement in arts campus life doing front of house, publicity, ticketing and so on. Before that and after that it was about learning on the job. Plus I think you need a natural aptitude for the skills required. You need to have a passion and love for the work each day. The hours are long and there is no corporate paypack so it’s usually an intrinsic reward we chase.

You were involved in the #artsmatters push to get arts into the pre-election political debate. What’s it going to take to get arts on the radar of our major political parties? 

The central premise of that campaign is very simple; that the arts matter. The arts matter to all of us. We all need to lead on this. Everyone is impacted by the arts. It’s up to each of us to engage, promote and participate in the arts, all arts: performing arts, visual arts, literary arts, music, film, design, libraries, dance, comedy, circus, puppetry, mime, books, magazines, apps, games, fashion, writing, singing, dancing, acting.

With a new state government we have a fresh start to engage. I want everyone to get the message that so many others articulate better than me:

Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life

 (Pablo Picasso)

Art is the only serious thing in the world

 (Oscar Wilde)

If we, citizens, do not support our artists, then we sacrifice our imagination on the altar of crude reality and we end up believing in nothing and having worthless dreams 

(Yann Martel, Life of Pi)

Running through Melbourne streets to an Opera Australia meeting.

What do you have a soft spot for?

I love words and music. Two of my favourite quotes are from The Little Prince: ‘The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart’. And another, which to me applies not only to music but to values I hold true like kindness and truth and love, is: ‘And now here is my secret, a very simple secret; it is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye’.


Thank you to Carolyn Chard for participating in the Celebrity Soft Spot series. Tosca opens on March 28th. For more information go to WA Opera. 

Celebrating in style - women in composition

A big thank you to all who attended so enthusiastically the Musical Soiree at Joondalup Library yesterday for International Women's Day. There was a lovely spirit to the gathering and fabulous reactions and interactions to music by Cat Hope, Elena Kats-Chernin, Becky Llewellyn, Margaret Sutherland and Ros Bandt.

Thanks to Joondalup Library for hosting so elegantly and to Jacquie Davidson for being my paparazzi!

There were a number of comments about the celebratory and creative atmosphere around the topic of International Women's Day, which can often be a gloomy/bombastic affair. Certainly women in composition continue to suffer from visibility issues. But in Australia we have  the benefit of up-to-date documentation (The Australian Music Centre and Women of Note) and given 25% of our composers are women - more than almost any other western country - we have plenty to celebrate. I look forward to this being represented more accurately in our concert programming and commissioning. And meanwhile, I'll keep celebrating!

Music for International Women's Day

International Women's Day is tomorrow: 8th March, Here are some ways to listen to music by Australian women composers as part of your day.

Andrew Ford from the Music Show has done a fascinating interview with composer Liza Lim, recently returned to Australia to take up a post at the University of Sydney. She is profiled alongside pianist Jeanell Carrigan who has written a book and recorded an album of early 20th century women composers and their piano music. To listen to the interview go here.

The new music podcast Making Waves have released their March playlist titled Social Activism Waves: music that interrogates or reflects on different aspects of society including gender politics.

Tune in to ABC Classic FM to enjoy listening to their all-women program. While I'm driving to Joondalup Library to present my Musical Soiree I'll be listening to Mairi Nicolson broadcast music by women composers (Betty Beath, Ann Carr-Boyd, Cathie Travers, Ros Bandt) who are featured in my book Women of Note. A perfect way to set the scene!

For those whose voice isn't being heard, I can think of nothing more appropriate and healing than Betty Beath playing her Lament.

Unsent love letters

I’m always interested to follow the progress of composers from Women of Note. Elena Kats-Chernin’s output continues at an incredible speed. Her many fans will be pleased to know her latest album is another collaboration with pianist Tamara-Anna Cislowska, this time with Eric Satie as the muse.  Unsent love letters contains 26 miniatures by Kats-Chernin inspired by Satie’s extraordinary life and music.

“Satie’s life was a fascinating, fervoursome affair,” says pianist Tamara-Anna Cislowska, who recorded the album, “from the first strike of love and then lifelong estrangement with artist and muse Suzanne Valadon, to the unexpected celebrity and conflict of his last ten years. After he died friends, gaining access to his apartment for the first time in almost three decades, found conditions both perplexing and romantically fastidious in their own way: two grand pianos one atop the other, one chair, one table, seven velvet suits and the love letters – many, many unsent love letters.”

The album reflects on idiosyncrasies and anecdotes from Satie’s life, with music that ranges from seductive orientalism to hypnotic melodies reminiscent of the ground-breaking, transcendent beauty of Satie’s own piano pieces.  Kats-Chernin's miniature ‘imaginary building’ reflects on Satie's sketches of imaginary buildings (which he even advertised in the newspaper for rent and purchase); ‘very shiny’is a reflection on one of his characteristically opaque performance directions and ‘postcard to a critic’ is named after Satie’s explosive response to a negative review (leading to a spell in gaol).

Kats-Chernin and Cislowska

The buoyant rhythms and rhapsodic harmonic style that have brought Kats-Chernin a reputation as one of the best-loved composers of her generation provide the perfect lens to reflect on a musical great of the previous century. Together Kats-Chernin and Cislowska The album is released today by Universal Music and available from ABC Shops and iTunes.

Musical Soiree for International Women's Day

International Women's Day is just around the corner and I'm proud to be participating with a Musical Soiree at Joondalup Library.

If you are in the area on Wednesday 8th March pop in to Joondalup Library at 6pm for a glass of wine and a chance to hear some stunning music and  stories from my book Women of Note.

It's essentially an author talk but more fun with musical samples and (sometimes scandalous) stories which invariably provoke plenty of discussion. My presentation gives a quick history of Australian composition by tracing three generations of women composers. The musical range is enormous. I find people are surprised by how much they enjoy my talks - I guess most people assume classical music is going to be a bit dull, but the lives and music from Women of Note are anything but dull!

I can't think of a better way to celebrate women in Australia than to profile the work of our women composers. It's our best kept secret: we have more women composers than almost any other western nation! Definitely something worth celebrating and I do love putting together the missing jigsaw pieces of our musical history.

Feel free to circulate among your networks. The details regarding registration and location are here.

Reviews for Women of Note; the rise of Australian women composers (Fremantle Press 2012)

“A welcome – and overdue – publication. Appleby displays an expertise probably honed by her years as a journalist. She writes engagingly, achieving a fine balance between conveying information about the women’s personal lives and their music.”

Jillian Graham

Australian Book Review March 2012.

“Women of Note makes an excellent starting point for anyone interested in exploring the music of Australian women composers. The musical lives and survival stories of all the women are inspiring. One can almost believe anything is possible. At the very least women of all ages can find in it a variety of survival tips...”

Jenny Game-Lopata, Musicological Society of Australia Journal July 2013

Musica Viva champions music for today

Last night's concert ticked so many musical boxes I'm not sure where to start!

Eighth Blackbird

The premiere of a work by a young woman composer was always going to grab the attention of the author of a book on Australian women composers. Holly Harrison's Lobster Tails and Turtle Soup was premiered by Eighth Blackbird, America's rockstars of classical music. Clarinetist Michael Maccaferri from the sextet described the work as extremely difficult, (even for them!) but it exploded off the page with a quirky energy that had the audience in raptures. Harrison drew inspiration from the nonsensical writing of Lewis Carol and her music captured the whimsy and madness incredibly well in a mash of extended techniques, experimental rock and blues.

with Holly Harrison shortly before her world premiere

Harrison's work sat alongside works written in the past four years by American composers Nico Muhly, Bryce Dessner, Timo Andres and Ted Hearnes. These are composers born in the 70's and 80's and young enough to be freer than previous generations of the style-police of modernist ideology - free in other words to be the composers they want to be. Yes there were plenty of modernist extended techniques and nods to minimalist composers but there were also hip hop vibes and musical conversations about contemporary art and politics.

Eighth Blackbird played with professionalism and high octane energy. As an ensemble they were tightly coordinated but also able to relax into a groove.

There was a sense of an international family, drawn together under the umbrella of the organisation Musica Viva, (with support from the Perth Festival). American performers rocking out to music by an Australian composer, with program notes by UK critic Jessica Duchen and an audience of very enthusiastic new music appreciators.

Setting up for Pre-concert talk

I admit to being pleasantly surprised at the full chairs for my pre-concert talk and the large concert hall crowd. There was an atmosphere of enthusiasm and curiosity. The questions in the post show Meet the Artist interview came from mostly elderly audience members (exploding my sterotypes!) who were keen to clarify and learn more.  Musica Viva has educated and grown an audience who do not fear the unknown.

This concert was a gift: music written today, for us, for our time.  Thank you Musica Viva for being one of the few Australian organisations brave enough to champion this repertoire.

Beath Beath's YouTube gift

The enterprising Australian composer Betty Beath has created a YouTube channel where you can access free recordings of her music. There are now almost twenty recordings of her work available with original graphic illustrations by her partner, the illustrator David Cox.

Betty Beath

The latest addition is a solo piano piece called A Little Love Music, taken from the album The Music of Betty Beath on the Wirrapang label. There are three songs, the first "A Loving Embrace" opens with a jazz-inflected spread chord. The harmony continues to wander unsettled with glimpses of Betty's familiar gamelan sounds imbedded in what is a wistful, unhurried song. "Let's Dance" is more chromatic and didactic while "Dance... very slowly" returns to the meandering feel of the opening. Despite the sentimental title there is nothing saccharine about these carefully crafted little snapshots, with harmonic twists and turns that are equally surprising and delightful.

David Cox's idiomatic sketches (he has done some fabulous children's books) are emboldened by strong colours and the video includes photographs of the two artists.

I wanted to share this gift as it is another lovely opportunity to access the music of this much-recorded and highly regarded composer, who is well into her eighties and continues to compose and work with community ensembles in Brisbane where she lives.

For more information on Betty Beath and her music you can find her in my book Women of Note, and on the Australian Music Centre website.

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!

Celebrity Soft Spot Jessica Gethin

Last year Jessica Gethin scooped the Brain Stacey emerging conductor award and was named by the Australian Financial Review as one of Australia's "Top 100 Women of Influence". This year the chief conductor of the Perth Symphony Orchestra is one of the inaugural fellows at the Dallas Opera's Institute of Women Conductors. It seems that it's not just the locals who think Jessica's straight-talking musical enthusiasm and her wide warm smile are a winning combination.

What music gets your heart racing?

There are many moments symphonically, particularly in large scale romantic symphonic works that physically get my pulse up on the podium; full bodied brass, resounding percussion and the build of wind and driving strings can be completely thrilling in the actual moment. However, I’d have to say how I connect with certain key pieces probably has just as much effect; conducting a work like Mahler Adagietto (from Symphony No 5) where the tension is all in the silence, the ebb and flow and the slight delay in each cadence has just as powerful an effect.

What calms you down?

Listening to the Bach Unaccompanied Cello Suites; much complexity yet beauty in its simplicity. I remember my mum used to play Bach most nights as she cooked dinner when I was younger, and I used to play it to my kids at bedtime when they were babies. I also grew up listening to the jazz greats, so that has always been a good escape at the end of a long day. Otherwise going for a run along the beach or reading on my deck always seems to give me some clarity.

What do you sing along to?

Whatever score is currently open on my desk! I tend to do a lot of score study late in the evenings so often go to bed and wake with a jumble of lines in my head from my current scores. Not always ideal, as was the case late last year when learning excerpts from Jake Heggie’s opera ‘Dead Man Walking’… the March to the Execution Chambers isn’t the most ideal libretto to sing around the house! I’m not actually that aware of it but apparently I have a reputation of singing to the orchestra a lot, I suppose I find it the most efficient way to communicate a particular sound or phrase direction.

You are about to head back to America to continue your studies as one of the inaugural fellows at the Dallas Opera’s Institute of Women Conductors. I understand the course is about intense immersion which must also require intense preparation! What are you working on this semester? 

This semester we are focusing some modern English and American repertoire, I’m currently learning The Crucible (Ward) and The Turn of the Screw (Britten) however we will also be conducting excerpts from Mozart and Handel. In December we covered 18 operas, everything from Puccini, Handel, Adamo, Verdi, Ravel, Menotti and Donizetti so it’s very diverse in genre selection.

[Check out this fabulous footage of Jessica conducting the Dallas Opera Orchestra .]

Statistics in the US reveal that in the top 15 opera houses only 5% of performances during the 2015/16 season were conducted by women. How is the Dallas Opera course upskilling you to overcome the challenges inherent in your industry?

The IWC is unique in that aside from the intense conducting masterclasses, we also take part in a number of seminars addressing key issues and challenges in surviving the industry. From media training to working with directors and sponsors, how to pick the right management and also negotiating interviews for us with top agents across the US, they provide us with five years continued support to create better visibility on the podium and increase our opportunities for career longevity.

Where to after the course has finished? 

My previous work has all been symphonic, so the IWC Fellowship in Dallas was really my first introduction to the opera world, something I am keen to explore further with their support over the coming years. I really enjoy my work here in Perth, aside from my current role as Chief Conductor of the Perth Symphony I also work with Perth Chamber Orchestra, Opera Box, WA Opera, lecture at WAAPA, adjudicate festivals and such. However it’s definitely time for me to broaden my opportunities outside of Perth so I’m currently working closely with my agent in Singapore on developing contacts in the US and Asia this year. It’s a pretty exciting time, hopefully the next five years will see some more opportunities overseas in both the symphonic and operatic fields.

Mark Applebaum says music should be above all else be interesting. What do you think is the most important role of music?

I believe music has an extraordinary power to connect. It transcends race, age, demographic, time, language and culture. The elderly draw on it for nostalgia, the youth throw themselves into it for refuge and escape! I’m an ambassador for a brilliant international movement ‘Playing for Change’ who use music as a tool for peace, they do some great work in this area on a global scale. I think it goes even further than that though; it’s such a raw, authentic, innate form of expression of the human nature. I find it all very fascinating!

You started your career as a violinist, graduating from the WA Academy of Performing Arts with a music degree in 2002. In August you return to WAAPA as guest conductor for their 25th Anniversary Gala Concert at the Perth Concert Hall. It sounds like it will be a musical extravaganza…!

Yes, I’m really looking forward to working with the Faith Court Orchestra for this very special concert. We will be collaborating with the choir and also some special guest artists, it’s a great program and the audience are in for a real celebration of all things WAAPA!

Jessica and the Perth Symphony Orchestra

You have a soft spot for Margaret River Wines... can you recommend a good bottle for a chilly Perth winter evening?

I’ve been lucky enough to conduct several Leeuwin Estate Winery Concerts so feel pretty qualified to say their Art Series Chardonnay or Cab Sav are exquisite! I also love the Cape Mentelle Cab or Voyager Estate Tom Price SSB. As I’ve got older I’ve enjoyed learning more about wine and started following the journey of Perth Chamber Orchestra’s wine sponsor, Barton Jones. Getting to know the owner, Jackie and the whole story of nurturing each wine in the developing stages has been fascinating. I always stop by her cellar door in Donnybrook to say hello and stock up. Try their Red Rhapsody chilled in summer!

You have a distinctive dynamic energy on the podium. What sort of preparation is involved to present at a rehearsal with such interpretive confidence and abounding enthusiasm? 

It all comes down to study and really knowing the score, and more to the point what you want to do with the music. There is no faking confidence in front of an orchestra, they smell it a mile away. They need to trust and have confidence in your ability for you to get the best sound out of the orchestra. As a conductor I spend far more time in a score than on the actual podium to achieve that, it’s actually quite a lonely process in that respect and one that I have had to work hard on over the past decade. I guess the enthusiasm comes partly from my nature, and partly from my sincere commitment to communicate and define each sound and idea. I have a lot of energy in whatever I do and always try to be authentic on the podium so hopefully this carries across. Over the last few years I’ve realised the importance of being vulnerable at times too, sometimes this is when the best work is created. I always tell my conducting students they need to have the confidence to lead and the courage to yield, knowing when to do which is the tricky bit!

I’ve heard you tell a story about an orchestral player who said “You're the best female conductor I've ever played under”. Your reply was something along the lines of “It would be lovely to hear that phrase again one day, just without the female part.”
What is it going to take for women conductors to be considered ‘normal’ on the podium by performers and audiences?

It’s interesting that my conducting lectures usually have an equal 50% division of gender, as do many of the school orchestras I adjudicate at festivals. It’s only at the very top that these numbers dramatically diminish. I think it will continue to improve over time, especially with programs such as the IWC with Dallas Opera encouraging more females to pursue the field. In many ways I try to look past it these days as I would much rather be recognised for my musical input than a gender statistic, although I also realise the importance of bringing awareness to the issue for future developing conductors.

Jessica, Pat and their two children

You and husband Pat are parents to two children aged three and seven. I think one of the toughest parts of parenting is the guilt that comes whether you choose to work or stay at home. How do you reconcile your career and your motherhood so that you can delight in both?

Well, some days are certainly more successful than others! I’m lucky to have a very supportive family and two amazing kids but the balance isn’t always right. It is something I am very mindful of, yet try not to be too hard on myself as I don’t think it helps anyone to be driven by guilt. I simply choose the work that fits with the family, and turn down opportunities if it just doesn’t feel right at the time. On reflection I think having kids has taught me a lot about myself; my strengths and weaknesses, my priorities, the value of time and a reminder to laugh often! They have both grown up learning to crawl across a stage so I guess it’s quite normal for them. I’m very aware of being present with the kids when we are together, and I talk to them about what I do so they understand what it’s like to have a career path that you really love.

What is your favourite place in Perth? 

Easy…. our beautiful coastline. We live only a few minutes from Watermans Beach in Perth. It is the place I recharge, meditate, jog, swim and play with the kids or watch the sunset with the family.

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

I think it’s really important to be as rounded a person as you can be… certainly for me, life balance has been key to keeping me motivated to experience new things, which I hope, in turn, makes me a better conductor. My secret escape would have to be my art; splashing paint on a canvas with Ella Fitzgerald blaring is pretty cathartic. I love to read, cook with the kids, I’m mad about photography and love travelling. Keeping fit is also pretty important as I’m always on the go and need a fair amount of stamina and focus to get through the week, so running and yoga helps.

Watch excerpts of Jessica conducting in an interview here:

A big thanks to Jessica Gethin for chatting to us at the Celebrity Soft Spot. You can catch Jessica conducting the Perth Symphony Orchestra at their  'Bach by Candelight' concert on August 31st and at the WAAPA 25th Anniversary Gala Concert on August 12th. For more information go to www.jessicagethin.com.