“It’s the Wolf!” the children clamour. A masked actor is sneaking past the orchestra as they warm up onstage. The concert hasn’t even begun but the fun is already underway.
Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf was the concluding concert in the WA Symphony Orchestra’s Education Week program which included a birthday party for the education ensemble EChO, the world premiere of student compositions, the popular amateur Rusty Orchestra concert and a hospital concert.
Tahlia's first visit to the Perth Concert Hall
The fresh take on Peter and the Wolf was presented by Platypus Theatre (from Canada) who were a resounding success at WASO’s inaugural Education Week last year. Artistic director Peter Duschenes demonstrated the concept of musical characterisation with WASO and conductor Chris van Tuinen performing excerpts including Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumblebee and Schumann’s Traumerei. The musical themes for Prokofiev’s ‘symphony for children’ were introduced and the story unfolded with the help of masks, puppets and mime plus a few minor plot adjustments for modern sensibilities: the wolf stuffed the duck in a sack rather than swallowing it and the huntsmen were police who ran out of ammunition allowing Peter and the help of a dozen audience volunteers to net the wolf.
Platypus Theatre kept the music central, drawing all their theatrics from the musical gestures from the bird reluctant to help Peter distract the wolf to the tug of war over the wolf’s tail. The antics were well-pitched with stock-in-trade pantomime gestures prompting shrieks of “He’s over there” from the thrilled young audience.
My three year old loved the cat because of its music (kudos to the clarinettists!) while my five year old thought it was hilarious when the wolf couldn’t spot Peter and friends hiding right behind him: “He must’ve thought the person who woke him up was invisible!”
It was fabulous to see WASO investing so wholeheartedly in the vital job of reaching a young audience. The high demand for tickets during Education Week indicates there is no shortage of parents and children keen to give the adventure of classical music a go.
There were smiles all round when Laurence Jackson signed on last year as concertmaster for the WA Symphony Orchestra. Jackson left a prestigious position as concertmaster of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra to relocate to Perth - an indication of WASO's growing international reputation as a hard-working and progressive orchestra. The violinist has impeccable pedigree, studying first at the elite Chethams School of Music then the Royal Academy of Music before making his Royal Festival Hall debut in 1990. Since Jackson joined WASO the players and administration have been talking with warm appreciation about both his innate musical instincts and his friendly manner.
What music gets your heart racing?
That could be almost anything! From a Mozart piano concerto to a Strauss tone poem like Ein Heldenleben to Earth,Wind and Fire! It's probably more about how I feel at that particular time, than the musical genre itself.
What calms you down?
I love to listen to jazz, at the moment I am revisiting Stephane Grappelli, who has always been a hero of mine on the violin and I am enjoying his collaborations with Django Reinhardt, both absolute geniuses in my book.
What do you sing along to?
Well, I cannot sing to save my life but I always have music swirling around in my head, often I come off stage and I'm humming the piece the orchestra has just played....I think I might be alone in that amongst many of my colleagues! Last year you signed a three year contract as concertmaster with the WA Symphony Orchestra. It is now six months into your first year with the orchestra – how are things going?
It is going very well, I have had the privilege directing my colleagues for a week in a series of concerts at Perth Concert Hall as well as appearing as soloist with them. The amount of support I have had from everyone has been amazing; a very refreshing experience for me. WASO is a very dynamic, forward-thinking orchestra, there is a real "can do" attitude here in Perth and there is also a real willingness from the players to constantly improve as an ensemble and to develop our role within the Perth community.
Jackson and his Vuilaume violin.
In April you performed Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with WASO. How did it feel fronting the orchestra as soloist? (Read a review from Limelight magazine here.)
Personally, I always find it a real thrill to stand up in front of an orchestra and play a concerto. The freedom you have is amazing and coupled with a good orchestra and equally importantly, a good conductor, you can really define a piece in your own way. That's not to say that it's easy in any way! Particularly standing in front of your colleagues can be both positive in terms of the support and good will etc that you receive, but also possibly less than positive if you feel you have to prove yourself as a player. In my case, I was the 'new boy', so I felt I had to play my best!
Western Australia seems particularly attractive to European musicians for the life-style change as much as the music! How is Perth comparing to Birmingham, or Warrington where you grew up?
Well it may be a cliche, but it's true, the lifestyle is fantastic in Perth and I am reminded of that every time I drive into work along Mounts Bay road and see the river and the park... it doesn't get much better! The contrast to working in the UK is striking in terms of hours and sheer volume of repertoire covered in any one particular week. This was one of the main draws for me making the move to Perth: finding a better balance in my life and having time to enjoy and develop new interests.
Your successful leadership of the Maggini String Quartet from 1994-2006 produced 23 albums, a Gramophone Award, the Cannes Classic Award and the Diapason d’Or of the Year. Do you miss your chamber music days? Will you be pursuing small ensemble work in Perth?
I do miss the quartet a lot and probably more now than ten years ago. I particularly miss the fabulous repertoire for string quartet and also working in minute detail on pieces and general housekeeping, like intonation, rhythm etc. However, I don't feel the urge to start another quartet, I feel that I have learned much from that chapter in my career and I now would very much like to explore the violin sonata repertoire, which is something I did much of when I left college and joined the Young Concert Artists Trust back in 1989.
Listen to the Maggini String Quartet performing Three Idylls for string Quartet by Frank Bridge
You play on a violin made around 1850 by J.B. Vuilaume. How did the instrument come to make its home with you?
This is a remarkable violin....it originally made its way to the UK from Russia and was in a truly terrible state! I think it had five large holes in the body for a start and it took many years of restoration by my good friends at Oxford Violins, to enable it to be played professionally and sound amazing. I have had the violin for about 16 years now and I've not been tempted so far by anything more exotic.
What drew you to music initially? Why are you still playing?
Music was always being played around the house and encouraged by my parents, and I began the violin when I was a little boy aged about 6. They were not musicians but that environment, plus the lack of any distractions in that little part of rural England, meant that I would play all day long quite literally! I simply loved the violin and never wanted to do anything else with my life.
You have a soft spot for several English contemporary composers. You recorded the John Jeffreys Violin Concerto for Meridian and the complete repertoire for violin and piano by Sir Arnold Bax on Naxos. Are there any Australian composers that you have a particular interest in?
Not yet but I'm sure that will change of course.
The role of a concertmaster is somewhat paradoxical – it requires leadership and soloistic charisma but also empathy and behind-the-scenes skills to build relationships with conductors and artistic management. Where did you learn the skills to be a concert master?
That's a hard question....I think the skills you mention in the question are absolutely what you need, unfortunately there is no handbook and no further education available (that I know about) and you tend to learn from trusting your instincts as well as from your mistakes. Perhaps the most important quality required, is the ability both as a violinist and a person, to be yourself and not to try to be anything other than that. I think you get appointed not just because you can play the violin but also because your colleagues feel they can work with you and that you will become their musical ally, so to speak.
Laurence and his wife Sarah
Did you bring family or pets to Perth with you?
Just myself and my wife, Sarah, plus 5 suitcases and 126 boxes!
What is your favourite place in Perth?
I don't think we have one favourite place, we love Kings Park and walks down by the river and we do love going to the beach and having breakfast overlooking the ocean....you certainly can't do that in Birmingham!
Black bear, Minnesota c Laurence Jackson
Do you have a soft spot for anything else in life or is it all about the music and the family?
I love nature and wildlife and I love to indulge my hobby of photography. Those that know me are aware that I am passionate about bears and I am looking forward to volunteering at the Animals Asia Chengdu Asiatic Bear Centre later this year. I have photographed brown and black bears in the USA and Finland, sometimes at surprisingly close quarters....but that's another story! Thank you Laurence Jackson for being involved in the Celebrity Soft Spot series. To see Laurence in action choose a concert from the WASO website.
Blonde, peach-cheeked Campbell sends up a prayer: please may she be elected captain of the Truman cheer squad and win the national championship. Bring It On the Musical establishes from the outset all the American coming of age stereotypes. Fortunately bucket loads of satire, sensational dancing and heart warming tenderness from the WA Academy of Performing Arts cast and crew make this an exhilarating night at the Regal Theatre even if you’re not a cart-wheeling, pom-pom waving squad girl.
#BRINGITONWAAPA c Jon Green
Bring It on the Musical (based very loosely on the movie) first appeared on Broadway in 2012 and is a musical for the iGeneration. The dialogue between Campbell and her friends takes place predominantly via video calls and Campbell’s boyfriend hears gossip from texts, Twitter, Facebook and “someone even tried to tell me in person.” Director Jay James-Moody emphasises this with audience selfies projected (via Instagram) on the stage wall during interval.
The plot involves Campbell being ‘redistricted’ to Jackson High School which doesn’t have a cheer squad. “No cheer squad?” wails her best friend Skylar. “What’s the point of having a high school?” Campbell manages to befriend the hip hop dancers at Jackson in a Save the Last Dance formula and tries to wreak revenge on the scheming Eva who ousted her from the Truman team.
Along the way the LOL moments including two Goth’s commentating on the superficiality of cheerleading, Campbell’s hip-hop audition dressed in a leprechaun suit and one-liners like “Put Little Bitch Barbie back in the box”.
Campbell is sung by petite, bouncy Hannah Burridge whose relationships with loner Randall (a sweet-voiced Jason Arrow) and hip hop dancer Danielle brings warmth to an otherwise two-dimensional role. Vocally Burridge isn’t convincing in the Act One solos and in Act Two she is outshone by the feisty Danielle sung by Melissa Russo with bright voice and brazen body language.
Christina Odam’s Eva is laden with sneer while Truman girls Skylar and Kylar (Rebecca Cullinan and Marissa Economo) flounce and mimic delightfully. Over at Jackson the attitude is just as exaggerated with transgender La Cienega (Hayden Baum) high-kicking stylishly alongside peppy Nautica (Stephanie Wall).
The contrast between the regimentation of cheerleading and the flamboyance of hip hop is a choreographer’s dream and Michael Ralph creates a virtuosic, fast-paced spectacle, moving a cast of 40 around the stage with ease. Rozina Suliman’s sassy streetwear (Jackson) and neon-lit lycra (Truman) heightens the characterisation. Movable school lockers and cafeteria tables provide sturdy dance props and allow for fast scene changes in Steve Nolan’s set which otherwise relies heavily on Mark Howett’s lighting and projections to add atmosphere. The score is packed with memorable pop tunes like It’s All Happening and Do Your Own Thing, performed with driving energy by a 10 piece band under David King.
IMHO #BRINGITONWAAPA can’t be matched 4 xpertise and NRG
Getting into the iGeneration vibe @ #BRINGITONWAAPA
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.
The online journal The Conversation published an article today about the under-representation of women composers in Australia's music scene. The sound of silence: why aren't Australia's female composers being heard uses statistics from performing ensembles and Australian institutions to show that roughly 10-15% of music being performed is by women, despite the fact that 25-29% of compositions students are women.
It is a well-researched article which highlights some of the gender assumptions still being made today, including the outrageous comments by an English journalist I mentioned in my post on women composers in March.
The article also highlights the efforts being made by some institutions and individuals to give exposure to women composers.
The authors (Cat Hope, Dawn Bennet and Sally Macarthur) argue the solutions need to extend beyond academic institutions. They suggest:
Performance groups and organisations representing Australian composers need to let go of tradition and become more aware of gender diversity.
For every male composer selected for a performance or commission, there should be a representative number of female composers. Perhaps there should be a quota mandated for government funded institutions that deliver music to audiences.
Every music school needs to teach and include women’s music in history and performance courses, and to do so beyond a token amount.
Music critics and scholars need to challenge the tradition of effacing women’s music. As academic Lauren Redhead notes, this includes enhancing awareness of the patriarchal discourse.
Finally, there is a need for research into the working lives of composers, particularly women. Without this, it is hard to advocate for changes to funding, education and career support.
What do you think, would mandatory quotas be effective? Or would they ghettoise women into a category of 'other'?
It's all about the kids this month and it's not even school holidays!
On June 15th the WA Symphony Orchestra will perform the iconic sound track to Raiders of the Lost Ark with live screening at the Convention Centre. Introduce your kids to a cult movie and the music of John Williams, or just re-experience it yourself!
Then sign up for orchestral story-time with two of the greatest symphonic poems: Peter and the Wolf and Carnival of the Animals. On the 19th Music on the Terrace presents Saint-Saens' Carnival of the Animals with violinist Paul Wright leading an orchestra of young musicians and on the 26th WASO will give Peter and the Wolf a modern remake with dancers, masks and colourful sets.
And lastly for the kids it's party time on Saturday 25th at WASO's Kids Cushion Concerts with the Echo Ensemble turning 21. There are two morning shows and one is already sold out so book fast.
Also on WASO's music stands this month is Tchaikovsky’s dramatic 6th Symphony and Behzod Abduraimov playing his
signature Prokofiev piano concerto on June 3rd. On the 10th WASO will perform Vivaldi’s Gloria with full chorus and soloists. The orchestra hit success last year with it’s Baroque programming - something I wasn't expecting! Asher Fisch’s hard work with the orchestra is enabling them to excel beyond the standard romantic repertoire. On the 26th WASO's popular Rusty Orchestra returns with a free concert given by community musicians having the time of their life sitting side-by-side with WASO players.
The long-weekend will include the opening of Grove Classics series (5th June) with violinst Ronald Thomas accompanied by David Wickham. And on the 6th you can take advantage of the public holiday with the Organ Society's Country Organ Crawl! Join the tour of historic pipe organs in York and Northam. The tour includes lunch and refreshments.
A must-see this month is Decibel paying tribute to Roger Smalley in a concert of his works at the State Theatre Centre. The Intermodulations concert (part of the Scale Variable series) will be a landmark event for the Perth music scene and also internationally.
WAAPA present their semester showcase at the Regal Theatre on June 11th with Bring It On The Musical. Expect flair, exuberance and a lot of sass.
Perth's favourite new opera company Lost & Found are staging Bizet's comic opera Don Procopio at the Italian Vasto Club in Balcatta, where if you desire you may purchase 'dining' tickets and join in the wedding banquet during the opera!
On June 18thVoyces choral group (directed by Dr Robert Braham) presents Spin. The concert promises an interesting experience of contemporary choral music with repertoire written in the past 15 years presented with lighting and choreography.
Finally two touring chamber concerts. Firstly Musica Viva (13th June) bringing over the US-based
Enso Quartet with a program including a new work by Aussie Brenton Broadstock alongside Ravel and Beethoven. And on 26th June the Australian Chamber Orchestra in trio form and directed by Giovanna Sollima will give a concert of Italian works from Monteverdi to
Berio
It is as though I have just heard from Miriam Hyde!
Miriam Hyde circa 1930's
The Australian composer (who featured in my book Women of Note) died in 2005 but today her daughter Christine Edwards contacted me to let me know Miriam's letters from 1932-1935 have been digitized by the National Library. Every envelope and page of the letters have been photographed and are now available to view.
The letters were written to her Adelaide family while Miriam was studying at the Royal College of Music in London. It was a momentous time for the young pianist and composer. She performed her own Piano Concertos with the London Philharmonic and London Symphony and studied composition with R.O. Morris. In fact she worked so hard she suffered a nervous breakdown and had to take a break form her studies.
In her email today Christine described the letters as "not only about her studies and the London music scene (concerts, new music etc) but much social history - the cost of clothes/food, transport from A to B, a pea soup fog, brief holidays with friends outside London, etc."
The 3399 pages of hand-written letters look something like this:
'Letter 3/9/35, Papers of Miriam Hyde, National Library of Australia, MS 5260.
Reading them gives an intimate insight into the mind and heart of this remarkable woman. It makes me want to listen to her music and read her autobiography and her chapter in Women of Note and just drench myself in her all over again!
The NLA collection also includes a detailed journal of the boat trip to London, letters to colleagues and scores of the works Miriam wrote during this time. It also includes correspondence with Currency Press about the publication of Miriam's autobiography Complete Accord.
