Beautiful weather greeted us on our landing in Brisbane on May 7 which continued to keep our spirits sunny for the entire weekend. A little fatigue lingered with us on arrival as the singers and Roland, having just performed the challenging Les Murray ISCM program the night before in Blacktown, promptly moved on to the next project!
Bundling up the pile of new scores, we headed straight into the commencement of rehearsals for Encounters, a fusion of new Australian-Chinese compositions presented at the Queensland Conservatorium.
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
