# World New Music Days in Sydney



## Sid James

Especially for those in Sydney, Australia, I thought I'd put this out there. Our city will be hosting the *World New Music Days* festival from April 30 into early May, 2010.

There's a lot of performances of music by contemporary composers, from Australia and around the world. There's instrumental, chamber, orchestral, choral, you name it. Most concerts are quite inexpensive and will be broadcast live on ABC Classic FM. Enjoy!

http://www.worldnewmusicdays.com.au/


----------



## cw4257

Thanks for the heads-up, Andre! Is this held every year in Sydney? Anyone going?


----------



## Sid James

To my knowledge, this festival is a "one-off." It's held annually, but a different city in the world is chosen each time. I'll definitely be going to some of them. This is a very good program which covers many of the diverse styles composers around the world (& in Australia) are working in today...


----------



## Guest

This year is the first time ISCM has held a festival in the southern hemisphere. The current head of ISCM is an Australian; that might have something to do with it!

I attended last year's, in three towns in Sweden (Visby, Växjö, and Götheborg), and the year's before that, in Vilnius.

Sydney's is like Vilnius', in conjunction with a yearly festival in the host city. Sydney's is the Aurora festival.


----------



## Sid James

I just went to a concert in this series last night, here in Sydney at the Eugene Goossens Hall (ABC Ultimo Centre). "A Wealth of Sound" performed by the contemporary music ensemble Offspring & Sydney Conservatorium electronics. Six pieces of electro-acoustic music were performed, by Australian and international composers.

I really liked the opening piano piece, with tape (as all the pieces were), by Australian composer Kate Moore called _Sensitive Spot_. It had this hypnotic repetitiveness about it, and it was very interesting to see the piano played live, while recordings of it were played on loudspeakers alongside.

Funnily enough, the other two pieces that grabbed me were also Australian. Chris Tonkin's _In_ for bass drum and live electronics, was an exploration of both the acoustic and amplified possibilities of that instrument. I really liked the ensemble's drummer (forget her name), she was very good.

The concluding piece by Ivan Zevada was called_ Isolate_, a quintet for clarinet, piano, violin, cello & electronics. The composer was at the electronic console. I really enjoyed this piece, parts reminded me of minimalists like Arvo Part, others of Schnittke. But I think that this piece was good enough to stand on it's own two feet, without the electronic effects. I think that they detracted rather than added to the piece, but this was only my first impression.

The concert, with a host of others, is being broadcast on ABC Classic FM (www.abc.net.au/classic/) so I will probably tape it for further listening. I am also looking forward to going to the series concluding concert, in Sydney's Blue Mountains, where the Sydney Chamber Choir will perform a number of pieces, including Arvo Part's _Berliner Messe._


----------



## HarpsichordConcerto

Andre said:


> Six pieces of *electro-acoustic *music were performed, by Australian and international composers.
> 
> Chris Tonkin's _In_ for bass drum and *live electronics*, was an exploration of both the acoustic and amplified possibilities of that instrument.
> 
> The concluding piece by Ivan Zevada was called_ Isolate_, *a quintet for clarinet, piano, violin, cello & electronics*. The composer was at the electronic console.


Yuck. Glad I didn't go. When is the ABC broadcasting it? I might tune in to have a quick listen (with my Handel CD ready in the background should things go wrong).


----------



## Guest

There's an interesting thesis idea for some budding, young PhD candidate in psychology, the willingness, nay eagerness, of some folks to share their negativity, a negativity based so often on little to no actual experience.

At least in this case (the real reason for bringing it up), HC is considering giving some of this stuff a listen.

Who knows? Maybe that negativity will turn into active and positive enjoyment. (Hey, it could happen!!)


----------



## Sid James

Well, Some Guy, I personally found that electro-acoustic concert to be very engaging, stimulating and even challenging. For me, music is about developing my perception, not just sitting back to listen to the usual stereotypes. That said, I still go to see many types of live music, not only contemporary (that was my first concert of this type of music). I am equally happy to see virtually any classical music performed live, even from the Baroque & Classical eras. Maybe HC has other priorities/prerogatives. That's his buisness.

Getting back to the festival, I just heard the Sydney based *Goldner String Quartet *broadcast live on ABC Classic FM from the Campbelltown Arts Centre here in Western Sydney. They played four string quartets, all written by Australian composers in the last few years:

Ian Munro - String Quartet No. 1
Carl Vine - String Quartet No. 4
Ross Edwards - String Quartet No. 2
Peter Sculthorpe - String Quartet No. 17

On the whole, judging from listening to these string quartets, these composers seem to be looking backwards rather than forwards. The Munro had a strong 'impressionist' flavour, echoing the music of Debussy & especially Ravel. I was not happy with Vine's effort, it almost sounded like what Bartok was doing 100 years ago with his first quartet. As for the Edwards & Sculthorpe, at least they sounded like they had more individual voices. However, both of these composers have been doing a similar thing for the past 20 years or so, maybe their best works are now behind them & they are simply sinking back into familiar styles and ideas? The last three composers are highly established here in Australia, Munro is the only one who has relatively recently started to compose after a brilliant career as a concert pianist. I was somewhat disappointed after hearing this program - not a hint of anything "challenging" or "new" in sight. But that said, these guys are of the older generation, unlike the electro-acoustic concert I attended, where most of the composers were in their 30's. So there's much hope for Australian music yet.

An interesting concert to be broadcast again live tonight, is the Spectra Ensemble from Belgium. I will be listening to that (8pm EST). Tommorrow Sunday, I might go out to Glenbrook in the Blue Mountains to see the Sydney Chamber Choir in the final concert of the festival. They will be performing new works from all over the world, and to finish, Arvo Part's _Berliner Messe_. But it won't be broadcast live, so that's why I might actually make the effort to go...


----------



## HarpsichordConcerto

some guy said:


> There's an interesting thesis idea for some budding, young PhD candidate in psychology, the willingness, nay eagerness, of some folks to share their negativity, a negativity based so often on little to no actual experience.


You think too much. You don't need a budding PhD student to figure it out. I can tell it to you in a few words. I don't particularly think there is much real substance in modern music, such as Zevada's quintet for clarinet, piano, violin, cello & electronics. "Nice try Zevada, your junk music will be forgotten soon enough" (except amongst those who manage to find a corner in the www who appreciate it).


----------



## Guest

We know what you think. What would interest the budding psych student is why you feel compelled to haunt modern music threads and inject your opinions at every opportunity.

But as the same student might also be intrigued with why I feel compelled to call you out, I'd better just stop attending to your compulsion. Psych students never know when to quit, you know.


----------



## Sid James

An update of two to the final concerts of the World New Music Days in Sydney.

I heard part of the live broadcast of the *Spectra Ensemble of Belgium*, a concert at the Campbelltown Arts Centre in Western Sydney. Spectralism is a (relatively?) new form of classical music that I don't really know that much about. I listened to the first half of the concert & the piece that really grabbed me was Argentinian-French composer Daniel d'Adamo's (born 1966) piece called _Lames_ (2004). This piece was inspired by the mobile sculptures of Duchamp, Gabo, Calder, Tinguely & Henri-Bolognini. It had some big dynamic contrasts, & I had the feeling that I was standing in front of & walking around a piece of moving sculpture, changing my point of view & angles of perception. Unfortunately, I was not able to listen to the rest of the broadcast, but this was the piece which caught my attention the most (the others were by the conductor of the ensemble, Filip Rathe & composer Bert Van Herck, both Belgians).

I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the final concert in the series, held at St Finbar's Catholic Church in the Blue Mountains town of Glenbrook. This was my first "a capella" choral concert, and I was thrilled. The performers were the *Sydney Chamber Choir *(established in 1975), conducted by Elizabeth Scott & Paul Stanhope. The church itself is an amazing building, in the modern "organic" style, and the acoustics were excellent.

The choir performed a number of works by international composers, as well as Australian Ross Edwards (who was present in the audience, as was Lithuanian composer Vaclovas Augustinas). The opening piece by Mexican Jorge Cordoba (born 1953) called _Hymn _(2009) was very striking, the dynamic contrasts were just a thrill to behold. Edwards' (born 1943) _Mountain Chant _(2004) was in three movements, with Latin as well as English text. The middle movement grabbed me the most, with it's imitation of insect sounds & indigenous Australian rhythms (there was even clapping to give an impression of Aboriginal clapsticks). Another very effective piece was Scottish composer James MacMillan's (born 1959) _Jesum tradidit _from his _Tenebrae Responsories_. It was quite dark, and an interesting aspect is how the solo soprano walked out of the church while singing the final verses of the song. This had a natural "fade-out" type of effect.

To top it all off, we heard Estonian composer Arvo Part's (born 1935) _Berliner Messe _(1992). This is a work in the classic "holy minimalist" style, carrying on traditions of ancient Christian church music. The piece moves from a pretty dark_ Kyrie _to a more light _Agnus Die _at the end. This was the version for organ and choir, with organist Amy Johnson at the keyboard. The organ provided these bell-like sounds which is a signature of this composer's music, and they echoed throughout the church.

It was really interesting to watch the different gestural styles of the two conductors. Scott was more restrained, and Stanhope very energetic and animated.

Some Guy, I wouldn't pay too much attention to HC's quibbles & criticisms. He seems to have limited insight into this type of music, and is probably (or most definitely) speaking from a point of view of inference rather than actual experience. I think to get the full payload out of this music, you really have to listen to it perceptively, and (if possible) go to a few live concerts. It's pointless to critique music that you haven't actually heard.

All in all, these World New Music Days were excellent, a showcase of Australian & international talent. I am looking forward to attending more concerts like this, particularly the Aurora Festival next year. The experience has been great...


----------



## HarpsichordConcerto

Andre said:


> Some Guy, I wouldn't pay too much attention to HC's quibbles & criticisms. He seems to have limited insight into this type of music, *and is probably (or most definitely) speaking from a point of view of inference rather than actual experience*. I think to get the full payload out of this music, you really have to listen to it perceptively, and (if possible) go to a few live concerts. It's pointless to critique music that you haven't actually heard.


Please don't make speculations about how much modern music I have listened to, as the basis of my opinions of them. While I have never attended a live concert of such pieces, I have listened to sufficient amounts on radio (such as the broadcast on ABC radio) and borrowed CD's from people I know. And I have certainly listened to huge amounts of earlier period music to know what entertains me and what does not. We are all informed adults knowing what we like and what we dislike based on sufficient listening (live or recorded music).

Maybe you guys just can't take criticisms of the modern genre you like, knowing that you guys represent a minority of fine music lovers. I do not buy into the belief that all art is good; none are bad. I guess that's why the modern genre that you like is far less accessible than the pieces written by period composers for audiences of their day. When art music can relate to its listener and that the listener finds a place in his/her world irrespective of time, then that's a piece that's worth posterity remembering.


----------



## Sid James

HC, I have no problem with people criticising classical pieces, as long as they have actually heard the piece in question. I mean what's the point of arguing by inference? That's what you were doing earlier.

& about 'contemporary classical' only having a small audience, well from all accounts this festival was well-attended. Both concerts I went to had a sizeable audience, the Sydney Chamber Choir had about 200 people in that small church in Glenbrook. & looking around, I saw people of all ages, from their 20's to their 70's & 80's. The festival catered to many tastes, from the more 'conservative' established composers to the more avant-garde.

Basically, I think that one needs a degree of flexibility to enjoy contemporary classical music. & I am often bemused when people make criticisms of such music, which often implies that it should sound like Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, etc. I mean are these people kidding? Why would a composer today, who wants to explore new possiblities, sink back into composing like that? What would be the point? I'm actually beginning to think that such people expect the neo-classicism of the 1920's to still be around, exactly as it was. We all know how (in a way), this style descended into a sort of parody of parody (eg. many of Stravinsky's & Poulenc's works of that period). I'm more interested in composers who pushed the boundaries & were more experimental, not those who just sank back into repeating endless cliches. In fact, I'd rather a piece challenge my comfort zones, rather than just repeating the things I've heard 5000 times before. But maybe you're right, most classical listeners are more conservative & want easier listening, that's fine. But I don't think it's constructive to argue simply from inference without having heard the piece you are criticising...


----------

