Mike's history of music

Mike Dooley played me a take on Mozart a few years back at the Moruya Festival. It was mightily authentic to my ears and I guess a start on what turned into a composer's journey though music. We heard the full panoply the other night at All Saints. Mike had written pieces in various styles - baroque, early classical, late classical, romantic, modern - and gathered a string of excellent local players to perform and it was a stunning achievement. A Suite in A minor in 4 movements for the baroque, a Sonata in C major in 3 movements for early classical and so on through time. You get the idea. A folly, perhaps; a training exercise, probably; a tour de force, certainly. These were all works written for piano. The players were amongst the best in town: James Huntingford, Emily Leong, Aaron Chew, Andrew Rumsey, Sally Greenaway, Mike himself. I see my tastes changing as I'm playing and learning this music. I may have preferred baroque in the past but my faves for the night were late classical (Emily Leong) and Russian romantic Pilgrim fantasia (Aaron Chew). But the others were all well constructed and well played. I have a recording from the night but I wasn't alone: the conglomeration of mics and video was amusing. We can look forward to a video or clips, an ArtSound broadcast, a CD and perhaps more. Don't miss it. A stunning achievement of composition matched with admirable performances all round. All this at All Saints one Saturday evening late in November. Mmm, that suggests CDs under the Christmas tree.

Mike Dooley (composer) presented his original compositions in various "fine music" styles as Anachronisms : a composer's journey through time. Compostions were performed by James Huntingford, Emily Leong, Aaron Chew, Andrew Rumsey, Sally Greenaway and Mike Dooley (piano).