So it was with a certain amount of trepidation that we stepped off the plane in Shanghai and into a waiting bus to take us to our first port of call – the provincial city of Hangzhou with a population of 6 million people some 3 hour’s drive away. I think 15 years has seen enormous changes in China and we were delivered to a very pleasant modern hotel in the middle of the city. The theatre complex was also a revelation. China has obviously taken the performing arts to its heart and as part of the modernisation process has built beautiful facilities.

First performances are always a little nerve-wracking and Hangzhou was no exception. We were to perform three Chinese songs as part of our programme and had absolutely no idea how they would be received. We needn’t have worried however and the audience even joined in with some spirited clapping. The rest of the programme was a breeze and the audience seemed to really enjoy it.

Next stop was the historic canal city of Suzhou. Once again a very comfortable hotel and lovely venue. Suzhou has some very old gardens and we asked our driver if we had enough time to visit one before driving back to Shanghai. We were taken to a 16th century garden hidden behind high walls. Although very crowded, it was still possible to experience the peace of this beautiful garden of lakes , trees and rocks; truly a living work of art.

Next stop Shanghai where we were performing at the Australian National Day at Expo. Despite a busy schedule we still found time for some sightseeing in this most cosmopolitan of Chinese cities. Taking our courage in our hands we decided to use the wonderful new metro system to get to the famous Bund where we did some window shopping and walking along the river.

Expo was a strange experience. We all had to leave the hotel at 7.15 a.m. to get to the Expo site and then spent the next 12 hours in the performance venue before we were bussed back to the hotel that night. During that time we mixed with rock stars and fellow classical artists and did two performances displaying the best of Australia! All in the distinguished presence of the Governor General.

We were all sad to leave Shanghai. The hotel, the food and the shopping were all great. However Beijing beckoned. Beijing is a very different kettle of fish. It is of course a vast modern city, but one doesn’t have to go far from one’s hotel to find the harsh underside. Just behind the facade of huge modern buildings were dirt streets of single storey dwellings with tin roofs held on by loose bricks. I took a trip down the road to Tiannenmen Square and thought sadly of the events of 20 years ago. It was difficult to believe; nowadays the place is full of tourists taking photos of each other.

I found Beijing more polluted than the other cities we had visited. After a couple of hours wandering round the Forbidden City I had a really sore throat. It’s not the best place for a singer to go for too long.

Whilst in Beijing we repeated our Expo performance in The Egg, the iconic performing arts centre in the city. What an experience and what a building!

The next day we did a lecture recital at the conservatorium of music after which the staff took us out for a memorable meal – 14 dishes in a private room – where I experienced my first Peking duck; wonderful.

Our last performance was in the Beijing Concert Hall and it was probably the best. The audience was large and enthusiastic and we were rewarded with a standing ovation.

China was a wonderful experience. It has changed enormously over the last few years; the people are welcoming, the towns are clean and modern , the food is marvellous and the performing venues have to be seen to be believed. We have made many new friends there and we look forward to returning at some point in the not-too-distant future.

Period musicians Tommie Andersson and Laura Vaughan played beautifully and our very own Roland Peelman directed the group from behind the harpsichord giving us a taste of yet another one of his many virtuosic talents!

We had some fabulous reviews and feedback. Here’s what people were saying…

For its musical sophistication, imagination and fun, this is one of the best concerts in Sydney this year. Peter McCallum, SMH

We are long-time subscribers of the Song Company, so we know that we can only expect concerts that are creative, sophisticated, educative and exciting. The presentation of this madrigal-like commedia d’elle arte piece pushed all the boundaries of those adjectives. Further the production was funny and witty, with word plays and multiple layers of idea, character and language adding to the musicality. Jan Larson, Subscriber

I’ve always enjoyed listening to baroque music – it smoothes my crumpled soul. Hearing it together with Drew Forsythe’s antics and plot summaries increased the enjoyment by an order of magnitude. Oliver Johnson

Book your tickets now

• Damien Ricketson (Australia): Shoal
• Gareth Farr (New Zealand): Les Murray Song Cycle
• Frank Nuyts (Belgium): Old Airs
• Alex Pozniak (Australia): New work
• Andrew Ford (Australia): The Averted
• Juan Filippe Waller (Mexico): Our Ray, Our Arrow
• Pelle Gudmundson-Holmgreen (Denmark): Two Madrigals

Two of these composers were also with us on the night to premiere and introduce their work: Alex Pozniak and Andrew Ford.

The members of the Song Company were giving me good wishes and then suddenly we were on. It was been recorded by ABC FM so I had to pass the test.

And what a wonderful night it was, this also being Ruth McCall’s last performance before her baby arrives. With all that pregnancy can do to alter the voice she sang with finesse and grace as always.

Each piece captured the essence of Murray’s poetry; word play, rhythmic complexities and tonal nuances given virtuosic rendering by the singers. This was music to challenge our senses, offering a way to comprehend nature through Murray’s wonderful text and our distinct vocal sound.

The next day we were off to Brisbane to sing at Encounters- another new programme to learn, but for now the Murray was foremost in my mind. This night I will remember well, after many hours spent together gently and patiently teasing out the intricacies within the works in rehearsal.

An incredible journey completed with such talented musicians singing beautifully around me and Roland steadying my nerves with every wave of his hand.”

Lanneke Wallace-Wells (Mezzo) – June 1, 2010

The Song Company were featured in the final festival presentation of the weekend: ‘The Harvest of Endurance’ – a collective composition featuring works by 18 Australian and Australian-Chinese composers depicting the history of the Chinese people and their culture in Australia over the last 200 years – from their initial economic settlement in the gold fields of Eastern Australia to their cultural contribution to western society up to the present day.

The presentation of these works, incorporated with an historical narrative, commentated on a 50 metre scroll which graphically depicts the journey and establishment of the Chinese people in this fair land and provided a rich reflection on the past, present and future of music of these combined cultures forces.

The compositions were mixed in style, texture and orchestration – we joined forces with a number of players (violin, cello, piano, flute, clarinet and percussion) to create an historical audio visual experience for the festival audience.

We were also treated to an authentic and virtuosic performance of the sheng, a traditional Chinese woodwind instrument constructed of vertical pipes of bamboo, an instrument often accompanying Chinese opera. A real highlight!

Elli Green, one of our 2010 Young Artists, joined us for the weekend of new music making and made her debut with the Song Company sextet at the performance. Elli confessed she was a little nervous prior to the performance – I think all members can remember their initial trepidation at their first performance (I know I can!) however Elli sang confidently and beautifully, particularly the vocal duet of Elena Chats-Chernin with violinist, Graeme Jennings, who we also had the chance to work with at the Canberra Festival.

The weekend really was a wonderful and effective example of drawing two cultures together by presenting new Australian works, educating audiences about new music and the history of such cultures in Australia and emphasising how performing arts benefits from the integration of these cultures.

Anna Fraser (Soprano) – June 1, 2010

Sounding The High Court was one of a series of acoustic events celebrating the marriage of music and architecture that took place during the Canberra International Music Festival. Listen to Roland Peelman interviewed on ABC Canberra about programming for this event.

Click here to listen

The Song Company and Australian Master Chef Tony Bilson have teamed up once more to present a beautiful program of celestial music to accompany a heavenly degustation dinner with selected wines.

The six solo voices of the Song Company with Artistic Director Roland Peelman will perform an intimate concert to welcome Alex Knight, Elli Green and Jehan Kanga – the bright new stars of our Young Artists Program.

Early bird tickets are $200 each if booked before June 30^th and $220 thereafter (ticket includes a tax-deductible component). There will be a live auction with major items including indigenous artworks and a dinner for 10 people with a private tutorial by Tony himself at Bilson’s Restaurant.

Proceeds raised from the night go towards supporting the development of the Young Artist Program.

When: 6.30pm, Friday July 30th 2010

Where: Cello’s Restaurant @ The Castlereagh Boutique Hotel, 169 Castlereagh St, Sydney

Dress: Lounge Suit/Cocktail

Bookings: Contact Amy Curl on 02 8272 9500 or amy@songcompany.com.au. Spaces are limited.

I Viaggiatori (The Voyagers) is a bit of an Aussie world/folk supergroup with ARIA award winners Kavisha Mazzella and Irine Vela. With a charming combination of Italian standards, original songs by Mazzella and a touching version of ‘Waltzing Matilda’, this all-acoustic band chronicles the hopes and memories of our Italian community.

FRIDAY 4 JUNE 7.30pm – Illawarra Folk Club, support by Zumpa, corner Burelli and Church Streets, City Diggers Wollongong $15/$12

SATURDAY 5 JUNE 7.30pm – Canberra, Merry Muse, support by Dante Alighieri Italian Choir, Canberra Southern Cross Club, 54 McCaughey St, TURNER $20

SUNDAY 6 JUNE 3pm – The Italian Forum Cultural Centre, Leichhardt, Sydney 23 Norton Street, Leichhardt, Sydney.

www.viaggiatori.com.au

Read the rest of the Time Out review: click here

Read the Sydney Morning Herald review: click here

Read the Real Time Arts review: click here

Read our audience feedback: click here

Watch the behind-the-scenes footage:

Much more significant than a traditional music conference, the themes were explored through discussion and performance.

Contributors included composers Gao Ping and John Huie, sheng player Wang Zheng-Ting and percussionist Vanessa Tomlinson.

Workshops scrutinised Sichuan music, the spiritual music of Buddhism and Taoism and kunqu, or traditional Chinese opera. Concerts featured the local Sunshine Philharmonic Choir and a dazzling pipa virtuoso from Beijing.

There were film screenings of Lulu’s Opera House, a photography exhibition and discussions about the impact of Chinese theatre and opera during the gold rush years.

Impressively, the opening concert premiered three Australian and three Chinese works, performed by the New Purple Forbidden City Orchestra from the Central Conservatory of Beijing and Queensland’s Golden Orb ensemble. The concert is to be repeated at Beijing’s Modern Music Festival later in the month.

Curator Nicholas Ng aimed to broaden western perceptions of Chinese music – with traditional forms to folk, contemporary and jazz – and asked audiences to consider whether pieces derived from a fusion of Australian and Chinese idioms are evolving in to a new musical genre.

A provocative series of discussions was chaired by Vincent Plush with Anne Boyd and John Curro as panel members. One intense discussion asked whether there are moral or economic ramifications when composers such as Puccini or Larry Sitsky (in his Violin Concerto No.3) borrow from Chinese music.

The concluding concert, Harvest of Endurance, featured the Song Company and conductor Roland Peelman.

It included the work of 18 composers – Betty Beath, Elena Kats-Chernin, Erik Griswold and Kim Cunio among them – and narration by William Yang.

Each evocative piece reflected on a different painting from a 50m scroll that charts the history and suffering endured by Chinese immigrants.

The Queensland Conservatorium, May 6-9.

Source: The Australian Newspaper,  May 11, 2010 by Gillian Wills

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/arts/much-to-celebrate-emerges-from-cons-chinese-collaboration/story-e6frg8po-1225864746477