Not the Pantheon

This was just a short concert, inside but not, exposed by a diminutive Pantheon hole-in-the-roof, but the seats were heated and the music was experimental but interesting and well played. Written by one bassist / composer, Ben Drury, and performed by another bassist, Rohan Dasika. This is a formidable pair. Ben is busy around town with experimental music. Rohan is up from Melbourne to play again for the CIMF after time with the Australian Institute of Music and gigs with the MSO. The concert was solo, fairly short (15 mins?), timed for sunset so catching the changing colours of the evening, repeated each evening M-F for this CIMF week. The techniques are unconventional and the bass was prepared - at least I thought I saw balls of blutack on each string at the end of the fingerboard (otherwise it was hidden from my seat). First up was bowing the tailpiece which gave a surprisingly strong tone, accompanied by various sung notes, presumably at composed intervals, from Rohan, then heavy rhythmic bowing above the bridge, then bowing strings high on the neck above the left hand while the left hand is stopping strings into the thumb positions. This probably required the dobs of blutack and gives a strange effect as fingering higher up the fingerboard produces lower tones. All strange, but this is experimental. Rohan did a great job, playing effectively and treating music and environment with respect. Ben's musical sounds merged nicely with the setting. I looked around and all were watching the hole in the roof as the light and clouds changed. I'm not sold on Turrell's work - excellent construction (the perfect water edges and laser-like hole-in-the-roof display the superb construction work) but the structure just seems to borrow its beauty from nature. But it's popular and considered a masterwork and often used for music and has heated seats for listeners, so OK. I liked the music. Well done, Ben and Rohan.

Rohan Dasika (bass) performed a solo work written by Ben Drury (composer) at the Turrell Skyspace at the National Gallery of Australia.

Mixed competitors

This was obviously a challenge for the five players who competed to be the concerto soloist for the Canberra Youth Orchestra for its concert in August. They each played the first movement of their chosen concerto. Anthony Smith accompanied on piano. And, interestingly, each played a different instrument. Not sure if they were more than five entrants, but there were five judged at this concert. The judges were amongst the senior performers in town: Leonard Weiss (not quite so senior), Tor Fromyhr, Paul McMahon and new ANUSOM director, Ken Lampl. They were all faces I recognised, being from the CYO, or perhaps NCO or other. The players were: Juniper Bedwell playing Weber Clarinet concerto no.1; Charlie Barnes playing Hummel Trumpet concerto; Hayley Manning playing Koussevitzky Double bass concerto; Shirahni Mudaliar playing Mozart Violin concerto no.3; Chayla Ueckert-Smith playing Vaughan Williams Concerto for oboe and strings. Chayla played from memory; Charlie mostly so. They were vastly different in tonality and technique and style. We listened, families recorded, we compared, for comparison this is. The judges considered but we are yet to hear their decision. A 2 week delay was mentioned. Ken Lampl finished with congratulations and a talk highlighting the value of the commitment required. We left wondering. Who will play in August? My guesses have been shown to err in the past, so no hints from me...

Juniper Bedwell (clarinet), Charlie Barnes (trumpet), Hayley Manning (double bass), Shirahni Mudaliar (violin) and Chayla Ueckert-Smith (oboe) competed in the CYO concerto competition at Wesley. The judges were Leonard Weiss, Tor Fromyhr, Paul McMahon and Ken Lampl. The accompanist was Anthony Smith (piano).

Apricot?

A new jazz jam session for Canberra. I have known of Sunday Sessions at Smiths for some time, but they've recently been taken over by jazz jammers. It was run short for another event this weekend, but I got there for an hour. These were some very good players. Hugh Barrett, convenor Josh Buckler, Jason Henderson and Mark Levers. Sitting in we Suhasini Sumithra, Andrew Howard and Eric Pozza. Mark likes it hot, so there was some pace here, not least Stella with stellar effort. Otherwise, standards like Black Orpheus, Footprints, There will never be another you, Beatrice, blues. Not surprising the playing was nice: Hugh plays sequences through dissonance with ease; Jason is an army reserve player, big chops and well versed; Josh is quick and clever in his lines and melodicism; Mark was just driving it hard; Sumi sang a lovely Manhã de Carnaval / Day in the life of a fool / Black Orpheus. Nice company and good fun all round. I got to play Beatrice and Stella on speed. Thanks, great fun.

The Sunday Session at Smiths featured host band Josh Buckler (tenor, convenor), Hugh Barrett (piano), Jason Henderson (bass) and Mark Levers (drums). Sitins were Suhasini Sumithra (vocals), Andrew Howard (drums) and Eric Pozza (bass).

New project

It was a new project at the High Court. I know Charis from SCUNA but now she's running her own choir, I Progetti (Ital. The Projects, obviously) and it's a lovely thing in a lovely space. About 12 singers, SATBB, male and female. Mostly a capella, but one major work had keys and baroque cello and another had a lute sound (again from keys). There's plenty of seriousness here, in how the music is approached and performed and the quality of the singers, but there's just a little amusement, too. I was amused the a first tune was in old Icelandic, but that's just because my wife is about to visit Iceland. We were all amused by the women's songs and their sight disrepute and bawdy disrespect for men. Feminism has a long history. The women with lute accompaniment sang two by Robert Johnson, Will saide to has Mammy and Sweete Kate. The first about Will seeking to marry against his mother's advice; the second is Kate's reply. But there were other themes: celestial harmonies, sung from a High Court balcony; allegories of life - religion, the seasons, one by Calvin Bowman setting the words of Robert Herrick comparing daffodils to the transcience of human life; aspects of love including the womens' earthiness above as well as a setting by bass Mark Chapman of the words of Tennyson called Now sings the crimson petal; age and death and transfiguration. To end, a mass by Monteverdi played with accompaniment of keys and baroque cello. I enjoyed the earlier, but most enjoyed the mass, for its extent, satisfaction, familiarity and additional counterpoint. But a lovely choir that's new to me performing delicious and well informed early music. Somewhat other-wordly for the modern ear but very nice!

I Progetti performed in the High Court foyer. Charis Messalina de Valence (musical director, soprano) led Deirdre Clink and Ngaire Breen (sopranos),Mary Harwood, Mary Woodhouse and Susanah Bishop (altos), Jarrod Grabham, Jonathan Lee and Tristan Struve (tenors), Anthony Smith, Luke Williad and Phill Grant (baritones) and Mark Chapman and Steven Strach (basses) with accompaniment by Anthony Smith (chamber organ) and Clara Teniswood (baroque cello).

El sistema

I'm blackly amused by the Lonely Planet website saying that "Venezuela ... has a terrible image problem at the moment" given that we are hearing daily news of poverty and food queues and crime. It's good to have an encounter that gives some positive views. This was one. The Simon Bolivar String Quartet gave a Q&A and masterclass session for CIMF2017. First up, the Q&A. Only one member easily spoke English (I guess few of us easily spoke Spanish) and he gave most answers despite a translator from the Embassy. The main theme was on "El sistema" for music education in the Bolivarian republic. This is big! It started in 1973 and has trained 900,000 kids (or was it 900,00 in the current program? it seems a lots for a population of 27m), and it's not just a music program, but seen as promoting social inclusion and for imbuing values: the goal is achievement, the means is harmony and commitment. "El sistema" provides instruments, teachers, daily group practice, for kids from the youngest ages, with influence of Russian and Belgian music education. The SBSQ, a Deustche Grammophon artist, is one outcome.

Then the workshopping. First up, a younger (~age 14) string trio (violin, viola, cello) playing Schubert. Schubert was primarily a song-writer, so think of voice, breathe together and breathe the music, phrase to assist melody, play contrasts in dynamics, hold tension on long notes, match colours as nature does, wide, open vibrato. Then an older (two Year 12 and the tutor) trio (clarinet, piano, cello) playing Brahms. Think as sentences ("where's the verb?"), tension and dynamics, play the long notes, play ideas (this is Brahms) and understand who's leading at any time, a composer never writes the same thing to be played the same (play repetition with changes, louder, softer, etc). Everyone learns from a masterclass, not just those playing. I noticed links to guidance from Bianca for our Baroque performance, around phrasing, dynamics, highlights, recognising the important notes and making them notes work. Worthwhile.

The Simon Bolivar String Quartet comprises Alejandro Carreno and Boris Suarez (violins), Ismel Campos (viola) and Aimon Mata (cello). They gave a Q&A session and masterclass at Ainslie Arts Centre for CIMF 2017.

Potpourri

This was the first concert of the Canberra International Music Festival 2017 and it was a veritable potpourri. No surprise there; it was promoted as the Gala opening : a world of music. obviously touching on a range of performers and styles coming up in the festival. Festivals are not easy things to organise and I was surprised by some of the names: they hadn't been on the brochure, released well before the program. But nothing lost: these were great and fascinating players. First up was Luminescence Chamber Choir with William Barton on didj, a world premiere called Beaver blaze, based on White Australia, the poem by Oodgeroo Noonuccal. The theme of the Festival is Revolution, after all, and this was profound. Then Lisa Moore starting with Bach then through a lithe and flighty Schumann Bird as prophet to end with a modern piece by Rzewski. He was a new name for several I spoke to (me too) but he was also well received by several: my little survey suggested a discerning and adventurous audience. I was particularly taken by Lisa's estimable sense of time: firstly in the firm and resolute Bach then in the delicate, featherweight Bird as prophet. Then my passenger, Alex da Costa and his Strad, played some duos with Roland Peelman. Phenomenal technique, wonderful loud tone. Yes, it's a Strad but you need technique to get that from it. Stunning tone and chops, playing Vitalia, Prokofiev Montagues and Capulets, Tchaikovsky, de Falla. There's a good bit of performance here and prodigious capability and an alluring instrument to boot. Then interval and an Australian premiere from composer Chen Yi, currently at the ANU School of Music, Yangko, played by Alex with Roland and another on Chinese percussion. Interesting to hear Alex doing something outside the mainstream: no surprise that he did it with ease. The Simon Bolivar String Quartet are visitors from Venezuela. They played Shostakovich String quartet no.8 C min op.110 with satisfying intonation and lovely moving instrumental focuses. Again, very well received. And an end with a composition by ex-Canberra now-Brisbane bassist and composer, Robert Davidson, with renowned didgeridoo player, William Barton, Landscape, played by string quartet, guitar, didj and harpsichord. I'm looking forward to hearing more from Robert later in the programs. Then drinks and a celebration of the opening of the festival. As always, CIMF looks fascinating and cleverly themed, let alone its musical capability and profundity.

The CIMF 2017 opening gala concert featured William Barton (didgeridoo), Clive Birch (bass vocal), Luminescence Chamber singers, Alexandre da Costa (violin), Minh Le Hoang (guitar), Lisa Moore (piano), Roland Peelman (piano, harpsichord, percussion) and the Simon Bolivar String Quartet with members Alejandro Carreno and Boris Suarez (violins), Ismel Campos (viola) and Aimon Mata (cello).

Cheap thrills

Maybe not so cheap. This year we are not billeting but I am a driver for the Canberra International Music Festival. First up was an airport collection for Alexandre da Costa. Alex was a Canadian child prodigy violinist and now is a multi-CD (25) Sony artist, multi-award winner, performer with various of the biggest orchestras in the biggest locations and also associate professor at WA's Edith Cowan University. I expected to recognise him easily especially given a violin case, but they are so small (mine is a larger instrument) but we found each other and chatted and I drove him to his hotel. So, the not-so-cheap thrill? The Stradavarius in that diminutive violin case. I'd read he also plays a del Gesu, but he confirmed this was a Strad. I've seen Strads and the like in museums (Met, Ashmolean, perhaps others) but never transported one with its esteemed player. Suffice to say, I drove carefully, for the pickup and his later departure.

Alexandre da Costa (violin) and his Stradavarius Dubois (1667) visited Canberra for CIMF 2017.

Thanks to Wikicommons for the Stradavarius pic

Bah telephones

Now this was a blast. Baritone David Smith introduced the truncated performance of American rhapsodies in its serious sense, of the American period after WW2, when hopes for democracy and freedom were high and serious music was made from popular American music and European opera was reimagined as a popular art. Thus we had Some enchanted evening, that entrancing melody from that famed musical, South Pacific, one of the classic musicals, famed for dealing with more serious themes. And we had Rhapsody in Blue, Gershwin's fabulous work of classical awareness with popular exuberance. [Interestingly, RiB was commissioned by Paul Whiteman and originally scored for piano and jazz band]. And a strange but amusing thing from Menotti, his short opera buffa called The Telephone, in which the female protagonist interrupts her beau's profession of love by taking and making phone calls. David and accompanist Emily performed Enchanted evening straight, revelling in the melody and sentiment. Fair enough: it's a beautiful thing. Then Emily performed RiB for solo piano with an amusing but apt video of snippets from B+W films of the era (streamed to a genuine old HMV B+W TV. Lots of slinky dresses and natty moustaches and kisses and fearful swoons, a ridiculously muscled Tarzan and many famous faces. I enjoyed both but had to draw myself away from the video to listen to Gershwin's fabulous piece. It just shows the power of visuals. Then Louise hamming it up as the loved one in rollers, obsessed with her new tech telephone and her girlfriends' chatter over it, while David, the beau, about to depart, is interrupted in presenting a ring. Poor Louise, not knowing what she's missing, but it works out in the end ... over the phone. Very hammy, very period funny, very well done, great singing. Louise's voice was a veritable powerhouse of thrilling, trilling soprano. All a great entertainment with some well practiced skills treated with appropriate seriousness. Fabulous is apt.

Louise Keast (soprano), David Smyth (baritone) and Emily Leong (piano) performed American Rhapsodies at Wesley.

Luminescing

Our choir has an annual workshop with some invited local choral luminary. This year it was AJ America, a recent arrival in Canberra, here to study history, but we know her for her choral exploits, which are not to be demeaned. They include Gondwana choir, touring internationally, soloing for Baz Luhrman, performing under Michael Tilson Thomas and Zubin Mehta; she's currently singing with Luminescence Chamber Singers, at the CIMF and more. I could believe it given the fine and strong voice we heard at our workshop. Just a few snippets, as she demonstrated or led us in learning two new works, Bogoroditse Devo by Rachmaninov and a strange and humourous one written at a choral camp at ANU, The longest German word (see the original on YouTube). This was an energetic and fun if demanding session with one of our local choral stars. Thanks to AJ.

AJ America gave a workshop to Harmonia Monday choir.

A drive in the country

I'd forgotten how pleasant a drive in the country can be. These days my country drives are on highways, multiple lanes, quick but industrial. AdHoc Baroque were reprising the performance that I missed the other week but this one was at Gunning. Gunning is little and very pretty with its period architecture. It's just off the Hume but, from Canberra, a country drive through Sutton and Gundaroo. The day was clear and warm and calm and the road was quiet. A pleasure. I arrived to find a wildly cute little church (St Edmund's Anglican, 1863) and a bevy of locals in attendance. Then the music. The second Australian performance of Brunetti Stabat Mater (the first was by AdHoc a few week before) and probably only the 4th or 5th performance in the modern world. Leader Peter Young had obtained a copy of the original manuscript from Viennese YouTube performers who had used manuscript copies from a local library (Zentral Universitatsbiblioteck, Zurich). Not available in commercial or other editions, so not widely performed. Brunetti was the feature. The rest of the program was religious music of the era, Scarlatti Salve Regina, Charpentier Magdelena lugens (sung by Maartje) and Stradella O vos omnes (sung by Greta). All written for female voices and small forces that suited AdHoc Baroque, with its soprano and alto pairing up front and a few strings and organ. The strings were Clara on cello, the CSO pairing of Barbara Jane and Pip on violins and Michelle joining on viola for the Brunetti. And Peter leading from organ keyboard, of course. This is such delightful music with various lively solo passages or dolorous with the themes of the dying Jesus and the accompanying women - Mary and Magdelene. The title of the concert was Mater Dolorosa. For once I followed the words and attempted the Latin/English translation. It was worthwhile and revelatory to understand the theme as it passed through various stanzas and associated emotions. Such dignified music, sometimes uplifting or dolorous or heart-rending, sometimes playful with counterpoint or fugue, not least from the vocals, always immensely beautiful. This music is always an intellectually satisfying and emotional delight and with AdHoc we have a group that is expanding the repertoire through Peter's extensive editing of original scores. A local treasure.

AdHoc Baroque performed Brunetti, Scarlatti, Charpentier and Stradella at St Edmund's Anglican Church at Gunning. AdHoc comprised Peter Young (director, organ) with Greta Claringbould (soprano), Maartje Sevenster (mezzo-soprano), Barbara Jane Gilby and Pip Thompson (violins), Michelle Higgs (viola) and Clara Teniswood (cello).

catholics

catholic as in tastes. Jess half apologised that Pheno was not jazz but we knew that (I was there; Geoff wasn't) but then she went on to say the first track was jazzish. It started with a steady drum beat in 4, then moved to a syncopated guitar line accompanied with Jess on a unison vocal (George Benson?), then a synth wash in the background, some harmonies, some African-like crossing rhythms, a heavy synth bass line and layered lines from Jess' looper. Looking very good. Rock steady, unforced, easy to hear and a lovely intro: welcoming, insinuating. That one was called Little toys. Next up was There are voices, a long tune, some dirty 4/4 drums and distorted rock guitar, some relieving refrains, developing percussion from a stick claps then overlaid vocals, floating spaces, into 3/4 bars with drum fills to bar ends. There are just three players, but they sound big, what with unrelenting drums and synth shimmers and electronic bass and varied guitar effects and loops and the three layers of vocals. All women, which is nice to see. It's too infrequent in jazz; more frequent outside. I expect Jess writes all the music - as I understand, Jess is Pheno. I think I feel a woman's awareness of life, here's a discrete one: "I am old, I'm from the beginning, you were once a gill-beater like me ... come down deep where the secrets are living, I want you to return to the sea". Next up was Slingshot, heavy, guitary, less structured like the last. Little thing was a personal song from Jess alone on stage with guitar and mic, dedicated to daughter and coming son. Dragon year was a good old-fashioned rock tune in 4 with dirty guitar and singing against kick drum and punkish twisted phrases and a touch of beach. Jess is well trained and well experienced and the professionalism shows a mile, and she's got a deliciously understated but capable offsiders, Alyx and Bonnie. Wonderfully inventive pop, she calls it Afro-Sci. This was the tour for a new EP, presumably the tracks of the new EP, to be performed the following day at Cobargo Folk Festival and elsewhere. I'm sure it would have gone down a treat - it certainly did at Smiths. Folk? Jazz? Afro-Sci? We are all catholics these days and this was a huge treat. I loved it.

Jess Green (guitar, vocals) is Pheno. Pheno performed at Smiths with Alyx Dennison (keys, vocals) and Bonnie Stewart (drums, vocals).

Warming

It was Luciana Harrison who was the warmup for Pheno. Luciana is part of a renowned local outfit, Pocket Fox and another called Orange. I've yet to really hear them, but Luciana was an impressive lure. She's essentially a singer-songwriter, original songs accompanied on electric guitar, but what songs! I was impressed. Heart-felt and sensitive, colourful lyrics; varied musical structures, unexpected intervals in melody and added or lost beats in rhythm. Intelligent stuff. Luciana was accompanied for a few tunes by a fellow PF alumnus, Nicola Hearn, providing tight harmonies and even attempting one she'd not heard before (bravely with some strange faces). But I was taken by the clever music. Not for nothing that Pocket Fox was TripleJ Unearthed. A band featuring Luciana's songs with a range of jazz and otherwise trained players: a winner.

Luciana Harrison (vocals, guitar) was accompanied by Nicola Hearn (vocals) at Smiths.

Aussie volk

First up I wondered if I'd run into some religious sect, this being Easter Sunday and the dress being conservative and out of time. It certainly wasn't the Blues Club that I'd expected to be on at the Harmonie German Club that afternoon. But it turned out to be much more noisy and joyous: Volktanzfest 2017. It's a biennial get together of German, Swiss and Austrian folk dance clubs from around Australia, this year with a visiting group from Austria. How inviting and how much fun this was! It was the second day and I left 90 mins into the program that would go on to the evening, after many beers and lots of good friendly cheer. Plenty of slap dancing and playful claps; one bell ringing performance; piggy in the middle dances (the guy in the middle misses out on a girl so sweeps the middle with a broom until the next break of music); hints at Sound of Music (really this was mostly Eidelweiss but one group did the Farewell song from SoM); all ages, all sexes. As is generally common in any Australian dancing, guys were short so sometimes girls danced boy roles (some innocent non-binary here if not at the ANU). Some groups had their own band (mostly various accordions), perhaps with drums; some had recorded music; sometimes we clapped or sang along (Wooden heart, Eidelweiss) but this was mostly waltzes and, I guess, polkas. Lots of dressing up. I particularly like the guys' gear, the lederhosen and tassled hats, mostly decked out with multiple badges. I was told the difference between braids and plaits (braids are close to the skull). There was plenty of braiding in the audience in preparation for performance. [PS: after later checking the Net, I find no agreement on the difference between braids or plaits, if there is any difference]. So, no blues or folk festival, but I had a great time at Volktanzfest. The next one is Volktanzfest 2019 in Brisbane.

Volktanzfest 2017 (German Folk Dancing festival) was held at the Harmonie German Club over two days in Easter.