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• 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

During the Brezhnev era, Andrei Filipov was a prodigy – the greatest conductor in the Soviet Union and he directed the famous Bolshoi Orchestra. But after refusing to expel his Jewish musicians, including his best friend Sacha, he was fired at the height of his glory. Thirty years later, he is still working at the Bolshoi, but… as a cleaner.

When Andrei intercepts a fax from the Theatre du Chatelet inviting the Bolshoi Orchestra to Paris, he comes up with a crazy idea: he’ll gather up his old musician friends (now working rag-tag jobs), head to Paris and pretend to be the famed orchestra to play Tchaikovsky’s “Violin Concerto.” The long-awaited dream to deliver one final performance!

“An intelligent, perfectly mixed blend of comedy and drama that is emotionally satisfying on every level: the music, top-notch performances from a stellar cast and a sharp, incisive script.” Arts and Opinion.

In Australian Cinemas from April 29.

To win, email prizes@songcompany.com.au

Men react differently on the whole. Older men are like the more respectfully distant version of their female counterparts. I misunderstood one man the other day when we were performing in the Art Gallery of NSW, as he called out to me: “Good luck with that!” I thought he was referring to the fact that I had lost my way to the lifts and was left dithering near the Archibald’s. Younger men glance down at my stomach then hastily look back up again and go into a mild form of shock. Some of them even take a visible step back. “Don’t worry!” I want to say. “You’re not the father!”

Ruth will be taking maternity leave next month. We wish her and Mungo the best of luck with this next life stage.