Journalism in Schools - an exciting life

Every time I present at a school I am surprised by how much I enjoy it! Maybe it is the teaching genes I have inherited and have been ignoring all these years! I recently presented How to Write a Feature Article to a group of Year Nine English students at Carey Baptist college. I was pleased with how well the session went given I normally do seminars on this topic to older students.


I also shared quite a lot about my book Women of Note as the students were looking at Australian cultural identity with the focus "Those we have forgotten". Women of Note is full of overlooked composers so it suited perfectly.


I received some lovely feedback from the teacher:


"I would like to acknowledge the excellent work you did with my class in terms of writing a feature article responsibly and effectively.  Hearing it from a someone who actually does this in 'the real world' gives it so much more credibility - therefore a reason or motivation to give it your best shot.  

I was so pleased with the information  about  those members of the Australian society that are not usually mentioned when we talk about national identity and identity 'shapers'.  You certainly enlightened the students so that they have a much broader understanding of those who make wonderful contributions to the richness of this country.

Lastly, I was impressed with your ability to connect so well with students.  It was as if you teach them every day!  Your teaching style and the fact that you on their 'page' in terms of interests and language use made it a very successful session.  

Thank you so much.  I wish you all the best - such an exciting life!

Kind regards

Pamela van Rooyen"

I don't always feel like I have an exciting life, but that day I did. I wish the composers were with me as I talked about their music, just to watch the response of the students as their faces lit up.

June Gig Guide

it is winter and Asher Fisch is back in Perth to stoke the fire at WASO. Hopefully he will last the entire season this time, I was disappointed to miss him earlier in the year when at the last minute he cancelled a concert and had to return to Europe. Fisch's first concert with WASO is June 6th/7th conducting Haydn's Lamentatione Symphony and Rossini's Stabat Mater. The following week (June 13th/14th) he conducts Mahler's Ninth Symphony.

The Australian Chamber Orchestra bring the Timeline tour to Perth on Wednesday 4th June. In this quirky program the orchestra will join forces with electro-pop group The Presets to perform a kaleidoscope of 230 songs spanning 42 000 years. Apparently there is also percussion, vocal sextet, curated recording footage and visual effects. Intrigued? Me too!

 

Lovers of piano trios are in for a feast: on Sunday 8th June the Magellan Trio (with Margie Blades ex-WASO) will perform trios by Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven at Trinity College and on Wednesday 11th The Darlington Piano Trio perform trios by Bruch, Bridge and Mendelssohn.

 

Lost and Found Opera Co are a new star-attraction. After their success at Perth Fringe with The Human Voice, the company have found another 'lost' work to perform in the curious location of Perth Hebrew Congregation Synagogue. Ullmann's The Emperor of Atlantis will run Thursday 12, 15, 16th. I love watching this company explore ways to enable the community to engage with the narrative of opera.

WAAPA's musicals always sell out and West Side Story sounds like a it will be another hit. The season runs June 14-21st. WASO ends the month with a movie soundtrack performance at the Convention Centre Riverside Theatre. On June 20/21st  they will perform Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers with the WASO Chorus and St George's Cathedral Chorus. On June 27/28th Vladimir Verbitsky will conduct Faure's Pelleas et Melisande and will be joined by violist Maxim Rysanov for Berlioz's Howard in Italy and Vaughan Williams' Suite for Viola and Orchestra.

Hansel and Gretel review

Opera performances are too rare in Perth and I am obviously not the only person pleased to welcome the recent emergence of grassroots companies like OperaBox and Lost and Found Opera. The Perth Town Hall was sold out for the opening night of Hansel and Gretel, OperaBox’s fourth production since the company was founded in 2011.

 

Humperdinck’s operatic version of the Brothers Grimm fairytale is a strange mix of childish innocence and high art with its gingerbread house, Wagnerian leitmotifs and an angel ballet.

 

The OperaBox production was simple, vigorous and appealing. The production moves location for each performance so the makeshift set (Olivia Tartaglia and Rhiannon Walker) relies on flats transformed by twinkling fairy lights (the forest scene) and gingerbread stick-ons (the Witch’s house). First-time opera director Sarah McKellar added modern touches. Hansel and Gretel skipped around in overalls and beanies and the Witch wore furs with a wand doubling as a cigarette holder a la Cruella de Vil. But the updating was mild; there were still lederhosen and a gingerbread house, no iPods or Mars bars.

 

A cast of seasoned stage performers inhabited the stage confidently. The resourceful Jenna Robertson sung Gretel with a winsome smile (she also produced and marketed the show) and Alexandra Bak was a boyish Hansel stomping and frowning while singing with rich rounded tone.

 

In an enchanting Act II ballet scene the children were lulled to sleep by dancing angels (choreography Claire Thomas) and the Sandman appeared in puppet form (a nod to McKellar’s R&J puppet production at the Perth Fringe Festival) operated and sung by Emma Taylor who also sung the Dew Fairy.

 

Thomas Friberg was endearing as the concerned Father rushing into the wood to find his lost children. Eva-Marie Middleton’s flexible mezzo soprano was warm as the weary Mother and shrill as the cackling Witch. Her prowling presence dominated Act III although her centrepiece dance Hurr hopp hopp hopp felt too polite.

 

The rich sound of the 30-piece orchestra (conducted by a steady Christopher Dragon) was appreciated in moments like the rousing number celebrating the death of the Witch. A professional pianist or small ensemble would’ve lifted the standard but perhaps compromised the company’s aim to provide opportunities to emerging artists, itself a major achievement. This entertaining low-cost opera experience continues with performances at Victoria Hall Fremantle on Thursday and Darlington Hall on Monday.

 

 

 

This review copyright The West Australian 2014

Hackett Ensemble review

 

Ashley William Smith expected half a dozen students at his first new music ensemble class. Instead the room overflowed with almost thirty students. It is uncertain if the attraction was the edgy repertoire on offer or the charismatic young professor. One thing is clear: new music performance is back on the map at the University of Western Australia for the first time since the heyday of composer Roger Smalley in the nineties.

 

For the debut of the newly formed Hackett Ensemble, Smith (winner of the 2012 MCA Freedman Fellowship and newly appointed Head of Winds and Contemporary Performance) chose repertoire exploring the loose boundary between noise and music. Two flexibly scored works by Frederik Rzewksi were well-suited to the mixed ensemble. Gareth Hearne’s theatrical narration of Coming Together was gripping despite being regularly drowned out by the large ensemble. Smith conducted with poised focus and the students seemed confident working with semi-improvised music. With each repetition of the text the intensity increased until a shrieking death metal climax, with bass and electric guitars riding the wave of sound.  

 

John Cage’s solo piano piece In a Landscape (performed with tranquillity by Barrett Oliver) provided a seamless link to Rzewski’s Attica. The much gentler mood of Attica was established by recorder, acoustic guitars, warm string chords and vocal ‘ah’s’ laid over a deep pedal note in marimba and vibraphone. Smith conducted with poised

 

A recorder solo (Anna Maydwell performing Big Baboon by Paul Leenhouts) and a saxophone solo (Scott Collinson performing Paradigm I by Ronald Caravan) demonstrated contemporary techniques and sounds that challenge the boundaries between noise and music.

 

Cathy Berberian’s Stripsody - a quirky work requiring a narrator of immense dramatic poise – was the least successful part of the night. Allocating each sound bite to a different member of the ensemble was messy and distracting. At the same time the egalitarian solidarity shared by the performers and conductor was one of the strengths of this concert. It is heartening to see new music embraced without fear; music lives only because of performers like these.

 

This review copyright The West Australian 2014.

 

May Gig Guide 2014

The university semester is in full swing and May is bursting with concerts by student ensembles. These can be some of the most interesting and energetic concerts of the year.


On May 2nd Paul Wright conducts the UWA symphony orchestra playing early classical repertoire and on May 19th the orchestra is joined by the school of music choir and John Septimus Roe school choir for an epic performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony.  Also at UWA the Keyed Up piano series features Stephen McIntyre - one of the grand OLD men of the piano -  on May 11th. Over at WAAPA the percussion students are performing a program of Latin American percussion music titled Fiesta! from May 1-3rd.


My pick from the student concerts would be the debut of new music group Ensemble Hackett on May 23rd. There hasn't been a new music ensemble at UWA for over 15 years I'd reckon. Ensemble Hackett is led by new Artist in Residence and wunderkind Ashley Smith and in their first concert they are profiling minimalist composers.


The fascinating Chinese ballet group Shen Yun is finally coming to Perth with concerts May 1-4th. The group has become a world wide phenomenon with their blend of incredible artistry and ancient Chinese religion.


The WA Symphony Orchestra are performing Shostakovich's 5th Symphony on May 2nd with Alexander Lazarev conducting, and on May 23rd Daniel Sumegi sings songs by Brahms (the Glanert version) -  also Stravinsky's Petrouchka and the Australian premiere of Erki-Sven Tuur's De Profundis.


Also on May 23rd the Australian String Quartet will perform Mozart's Requiem but WITHOUT the words! The fascinating program also includes Alban Berg's Lyric Suite.


Musica Viva are bringing over the American Brass Quintet for a national tour that stops in Perth on May 22nd.

The Pipe Organ Plus series continues with a concert on May 18 at the Basilica of St Patrick in Fremantle. Organist Dominic Perisinotto has put together a stunning program of works by Bach and Arvo Part, featuring WASO cellist Louise McKay and flautist Andrew Nicholson.


So there we have it, lots to choose from, enjoy the month of music!

Shen Yun Chinese Ballet

A company of Chinese dancers is taking the world by storm with productions that showcase ancient Chinese mythology and traditions. ShenYun features lavish costumes, an animated backdrop and live orchestra supporting some of the world’s best exponents of Chinese classical dance.

 

The company was founded in New York in 2006 when a group of thirty Chinese artists decided to rediscover customs and values rarely practised since the Cultural Revolution. The group met with immediate success and has grown exponentially. Shen Yun now employs four hundred artists across four companies performing in over twenty countries each year.

 

Perth business entrepreneur Mark Hutchison has been instrumental in bringing the group to Perth for their first performance on May 1st. Shen Yun translates as ‘the beauty of heavenly beings dancing’ and Hutchison says when he first watched a performance it was like being transported to another land.

 

“The beauty and positive energy was very moving,” he said. “The dancers’ athletic ability and purity of heart made it the pinnacle of art in terms of quality. I flew my family to Sydney to see the show and vowed to bring Shen Yun to Perth.”

 

Shen Yun brings to life legends such as the heroine Mulan on the battlefield or the Tang Monk and his disciples Friar Sand, Pigsy and the Monkey King. The production intersperses these ancient stories with the struggles within modern communist China, spanning 5000 years of history. The dancers are accompanied by a unique orchestra that includes Chinese instruments like the urhu and pipa alongside western instruments.

 

Hutchison conducted business in China for many years and more recently has begun to appreciate the cultural wisdom of the ancient civilisation.

 

“You can’t have culture without values. Values hold together not just an individual but civilisation itself. Chinese civilisation was intact for 5000 years because of its enduring values, thought to be handed down from the heavens.”

 

Many of these ancient traditions – including China’s traditional religions Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism - were eroded during the Cultural Revolution. More recently Falun Gong, which encapsulates the values of all three, was perceived as a threat and banned by the Communist Party. Shen Yun showcases these traditional wisdoms and as a result the company is not permitted to perform in China.

 

While Shen Yun’s gentle protests against tyranny have attracted negative attention from the Chinese government, its artistic credentials have made it a worldwide phenomenon in a fascinating example of the political power of the arts. Hutchison says at its heart the show is about beauty and positive energy.

 

“Shen Yun is a very expressive classical Chinese dance form that is reviving these beautiful values. You don’t need to understand the language to appreciate the values.”

 

Shen Yun is at the Regal Theatre May 1—4^th

This article copyright The West Australian 2014.

ACO and Giovanni Sollima

 

Giovanni Sollima is something of superstar; the Italian cellist/composer premiered his double cello concerto with none other than Yo-Yo Ma and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in January. When Sollima arrived onstage with the Australian Chamber Orchestra [Wed 16th April] sparks were soon flying.

 

The charismatic performer featured first in a classily understated version of Boccherini’s Cello Concerto No 3 in G. Sollima’s light fingerwork and his transparent emotions made the work sparkle. The orchestral accompaniment was lithe and crisp, ornaments had bite. The long stretched lines of the central adagio movement were exquisitely soft.

 

From here Sollima leapt straight into L.B. Files, his own composition based on Boccherini’s life. During the opening bars he prowled the stage bowing rapid arpeggios with cello gripped between ear and shoulder. The work began as a Baroque-styled concerto with acerbic harmonies and became increasingly more modern with snatches of syncopation and a cadenza that sounded like an electric guitar solo. The fascinating composition moved seamlessly between genres, referencing Boccherini’s interest in fandangos, flamencos, bird sounds and his alleged meeting with Casanova. In the final movement the orchestra played finger percussion on their instruments to accompany a recording of an African singer while Sollima chanted along and bowed a harmony on his cello. The only awkward moment in all the genre-jumping was the use of pre-recorded text at the opening of the third movement which jarred with the very lyrical preceding movement.

 

The tireless Sollima returned to the stage for Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C, making bold contrast between the light, energised outer movements and the intensely melancholic middle movement. The orchestra was less satisfying, too loud in sections and the first violins less cohesive than usual.

 

The Italian-themed program was rounded out with Verdi’s String Quartet in E minor where the orchestra brought a denseness to the darker melodies and dramatic texture. Resphigi’s Ancient Airs and Dances Suite No 3 was a curious mix: Renaissance melodies played with Romantic rubato; galante mixed with grunt. This was another fascinating program from the ACO and an unforgettable soloist.

This review copyright The West Australian 2014.