Cleo was thankfully unharmed and reunited with her owners
“I couldn’t see the dog because of the smoke but I felt him at my feet,” he says.
Cleo was thankfully unharmed and her owners were very relieved when they were reunited.
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Dan Lorrimer, open studio
CURRENTLY at the ANCA Gallery in Dickson is “The Agent”, featuring Megan Keating, Samuel Johnstone, and Matthew Boden, who will be giving artist talks at 1pm on May 5.
BALNAVES Contemporary Intervention artists Jess Johnson and Simon Ward will talk about “Terminus”, a virtual reality experience that leads participants into an immersive world within a world. The National Gallery of Australia, 2pm, Saturday, May 5. Registrations to nga.gov.au
UK Frederick, C-Type print (photogram of Kurt Cobain’s Seattle-sourced flannel shirt)
Tapas board by MADE3, glass brooch by Rose-Mary Faulkner, ceramic earrings by Anne Masters, bud vase by Harriet Schwarzrock.
“FAMILIAR Country” is an exhibition of a collection of all-new acrylic landscapes on wood board depicting the singular terrain and vast skyscapes of the NSW Southern Tablelands and rural ACT. “Gunning, Gundaroo, these places are not what many people imagine as typical fertile, coast-centric landscapes in Australia – they are often dry and unforgiving or moody under foreboding clouds,” Gordon says. At Kyeema Gallery, 13 Gladstone Street, Hall, May 6-27, official opening, 2pm, Sunday, May 6. All welcome.
A CLOSING event for Megalo Print Studio + Gallery’s exhibition “Engage II”, will feature speeches by Minister for the Arts and Community Events Gordon Ramsay and Stephanie Nott from Black Mountain School, some of whose Year 7 and Year 8 students are exhibiting etchings and drawings. 21 Wentworth Avenue, Kingston, 2pm, this Saturday, May 5. All welcome.
‘Harden Landscape’ by Ken Knight
DAVID Voigt work
PHOTOACCESS has two new exhibitions opening in the Huw Davies Gallery: “Synergies”, by Adelaide artists Beverley Southcott, Will Nolan and Jenn Brazier; and “(I’m) Wrapped (Up) In You” by Liz McCrystal. Brazier and Southcott will give an artist talk at 5.15pm, this Thursday, May 3, prior to the exhibition opening at the Manuka Arts Centre gallery, 6pm, Thursday, May 3. The exhibitions continue until May 27. Opening hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 10am-4pm and then Sunday, 12pm-4pm.
Barak Zelig’s ‘Metronun’ 2016. Plastic, fabric, metal
‘Passing b’, by Christina Cordero.
M16 Artspace has: “H2O”, photographs by Tony Fleming; “False Perspectives”, where artists Caroline Ambrus and Lucile Carson Follow the Yellow Brick Road; “Xperimental”, work from the Experimental Painting Workgroup; and in Chutespace, Frances Spurgin’s “Is one day like another”. M16, 21 Blaxland Crescent, Griffith, May 3-20. Opening 6pm, May 3.
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Joanne Burch… the tattoo marked a major point following her cancer diagnosis, where she felt terrific wearing the clothes she wanted to again. Photo by ANDREW CAMPBELL
IF tattoos are the modern marker of milestones then Joanne Burch, 51, hopes the magnificent work of body art across her chest is a one-off.
The ink creation, encompassing meaningful flowers, lace and jewels, was done nine years after a double mastectomy following a breast cancer diagnosis at age 42.
The tattoo marked a major point following her cancer diagnosis, where she felt terrific wearing the clothes she wanted to again.
With no family history of breast cancer and a commitment to living a healthy life, the mother of two was both devastated by the diagnosis and fearful of looking different following the treatment.
“I hated my hair falling out and no longer felt good wearing the clothes I would normally wear,” says Joanne.
But a chance viewing of a similar tattoo led Joanne to travel to tattoo artist, Cindy May in Albury-Wodonga where she spent more than eight hours having her personal design permanently etched into her skin to hide her scars and boost her self-esteem.
Joanne has joined the growing number of Australians symbolising life markers from christenings to marriages with a tattoo, according to social demographer Mark McCrindle.
“In a generation, tattoos have been transformed from a sign of rebellion and nonconformity to symbols of personal meaning and life-change,” he says.
Later additions to Joanne’s tattoo were pictures of her mum’s favourite flower, the Phalaenopsis orchid, as Joanne’s way of thanking her for support during the difficult cancer journey, which included six rounds of chemotherapy.
Joanne will be further honouring her mum when she walks with her own daughter at the 2018 Mother’s Day Classic fun run/walk on Sunday, May 13.
“I’m expecting it to be an emotional day but if it helps to prevent more women going through what I did with my diagnosis, then it will be worth it,” says Joanne.
Breast cancer survivor Joanne Burch. Photo by ANDREW CAMPBELL
As the major fundraiser for the National Breast Cancer Foundation, the Mother’s Day Classic hopes its contribution to breast cancer research will exceed $40 million following this year’s event which is held in about 100 locations around Australia.
“The Mother’s Day Classic is no average fun run/walk. It is a powerful day for families and friends to support breast cancer survivors and those who have lost loved ones to the disease,” says the CEO of the Mother’s Day Classic Foundation, Sharon Morris.
She says the focus is not about breaking speed records but on participation, whether you walk, run or volunteer.
Many people have fun dressing up: expect to see everything from pink gorillas to teams in tutus and tattoos a plenty.
To register to walk, run or volunteer go to mothersdayclassic.com.au
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Qwire… off to Munich to sing. Photo by Peter Hislop
Our Qwire will introduce German audiences and LGBTI singers to the music of Kylie Minogue, Gotye, Vance Joy and others when they raise the rafters of the Gasteig cultural centre in Munich with Aussie anthems such as “Beds Are Burning”, “You’re the Voice” and “My Island Home”, all performed under the baton of Canberra’s hardest-working conductor, Leonard Weiss.
“Lennie”, as members prefer to call him, identifies as straight, but that’s no problem for the broad-minded Qwire, whose constitution recognises “the diversity of sexual orientations and gender identities including and not limited to lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, and queer…[the Qwire] also welcomes straight allies”.
Weiss will step down when he gets back from Munich after four years at its helm.
A strong supporter of LGBTI values, Weiss tells “CityNews”: “I’m happy to be in front of such wonderful company”.
The Qwire was part of Weiss’s initiation into conducting and he sees “a very strange serendipity” in the fact that he’s now 25 and so is the Qwire.
“I had done a few bits and pieces with the NCO and then in 2013 I started my own choir and I was roped in to direct the Gay and Lesbian Qwire between 2013 and 2014,” he says.
He quickly cobbled together a mixed repertoire that “might’ve been a bit all over the place” and travelled with members to the previous Various Voices in Dublin.
Founding Qwire members Chris Healy and Susan Nicholls tell “CityNews” about the early days. They joined three weeks after it started in 1993.
A group of seven friends got together over a barbecue and asked: “Why don’t we start a choir?”
Healy says: “At first it was in someone’s garage where we had to sing to the smell of Dynamic Lifter then, with about 26 people, we graduated into the library, the church and eventually the church hall at All Saints in Ainslie.”
In its second year the choir travelled to Melbourne and Sydney to sing. It performed at many different venues in the ACT and quickly became very popular, with numbers rising to 80. Founding director Chris Ashcroft had been a barbershop singer so soon had them singing in four, six and eight parts.
It’s always been an “unauditioned” choir. To Weiss that’s “a very interesting challenge”. A survey told him that 30 per cent of members don’t read music and that many hadn’t sung since school.
“We don’t want to exclude anyone, the point of the whole exercise was so that we could extend solidarity to people,” Healy says, noting “the more you sing, the better you get at it”.
After Ashcroft left, Leanne Linmore stepped in, a trained teacher who brought the Qwire to such a high standard that it performed on ABC radio. Then came Ken Teoh, who “brought in choreography and gave the choir a tremendous injection of energy, and now we have Lennie”.
“Lennie” is particularly excited because of his mixed German and Austrian ancestry, but says: “For Munich, I felt what we needed was to show a bit of an Australian identity and to show what LGBTI is in Australia.
“This year we have a mix of mainly all-Australian icons, like Kylie Minogue, INXS and AC/DC.”
He’s also included “Stay Awhile,” a “gorgeous classical-style piece” by Canberra composer Sally Greenaway that begins: “If the moon goes out I will light a star, and brighten up your heart”.
Nicholls and Healy say that although the full number is about 60, 30 Qwire members will travel to Munich, but add that with previous visits to Various Voices in San Francisco, Portland, Paris and Dublin, they know what’s involved so started saving up well ahead of time.
“The idea is to make good music and have fun,”Nicholls and Healy say.
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WHAT must have been going through the minds of Canberra cyclist Chloe Hosking and fellow ACT athlete and Australian hockey goalkeeper Andrew Charter as they sat together on the tram at the end of the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast?
Tim Gavel.
I am predicting a sense of satisfaction given the battles both encountered on their way to winning gold medals.
Seven months ago, Chloe was left out of the Australian team for last year’s World Road Cycling Championships in Norway. She fought selectors for the right to compete and eventually won a place in the Australian team. This was the team that helped Katrin Garfoot win a silver medal in the road race. Then there was a crash in the Tour of Flanders in Belgium, which left Chloe in hospital.
Her response after winning the Commonwealth Games gold medal in the road race reflected the journey she had encountered with the biggest motivator being her omission from the world championship team.
”I was literally told that I wasn’t good enough. I said: ‘Well, I think I am good enough’,” she said.
Cyclist Chloe Hosking… I said: “Well, I think I am good enough.”
“I thought: ‘What do I need to do to show them?’ I worked really hard in the off-season and I did a lot of things to improve and I am sure I am getting better. But winning the gold medal is a sign that I am on the right track.”
So what was the response from the selectors after she won gold on the Gold Coast?
“I am a big believer in feedback, they said to me that I did everything right, which is a bit frustrating in itself because I want to learn and it’s hard when they say you did everything right,” she said.
“What do I learn from this? I guess it’s just to keep doing everything that I have been doing.”
Road cycling can appear at times a solitary sport, but the reality is that teamwork plays a vital role. In recognition, Chloe had the names of the Australian team engraved on her gold medal.
Goalkeeper Andrew Charter… “I was told it was a bit of a shot across my bow.”
For Andrew, the message from the selectors last year was just as blunt. He was dropped from the Australian hockey team for the World League finals in India in December and it looked like his dream of competing at a home Commonwealth Games had disappeared.
“I was told it was a bit of a shot across my bow, to stop cruising,” he said.
“Tyler Lovell and Tristan Clemons were very good and I was told I wasn’t that far ahead.”
He had two options; drop his bundle or, like Chloe, fight to win back his place.
It is a sign of his character that he chose to use his omission as a motivation, picking up his training levels to a new height.
“I thought being dropped was unwarranted at the time, but on reflection, I think they were probably a little bit on the mark and I think it reignited me for the next couple of months leading into the Commonwealth Games selection and obviously the competition,” he said.
If road cycling looks lonely, spare a thought for the hockey goalkeeper in the world’s number one ranked team. Expectations are high as you prepare to stare down a penalty stroke or a penalty corner. Self-analysis probably doesn’t begin to describe it.
Andrew has shown time and time again his mental strength.
Both Chloe and Andrew will face challenges in the foreseeable future. Chloe is without a contract for next season while Andrew has told the coaches and the selectors he is keen to make the Australian team for the Tokyo Olympics in two years. The struggles they faced in the past 12 months will have prepared them for any hurdles that lay ahead.
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Roger Woodward. Photo by Peter Hislop.
PRE-EMINENT among Australian concert pianists, 75-year-old Roger Woodward has an impressive biography. Apart from his extensive concert career, he’s worked with some of the world’s greatest, orchestras, conductors, chamber ensembles, and contemporary composers, he’s made innumerable internationally-lauded recordings, and he’s received a string of international gongs, including a CBE and an AO.
I’ve never really warmed to Woodward’s playing, thinking it, especially in his earlier career, rather too heavy-handed. He still has a firm touch, with the occasional heavier relapse, but the intervening 40 or 50 years have softened his style; today he is much more expressive, although his firmness of touch sometimes robs him of a lightness when it is really needed.
Playing the entire recital from memory, Woodward mounted the stage, sat at the beautiful Steinway and began immediately to play; there was no sitting interminably, gathering thoughts.
The first half of this recital was devoted primarily to the music of Debussy. His four-movement “Suite bergamasque” includes, as the third movement, the famous “Clair de lune”, a piece requiring very expressive playing. Woodward played it beautifully, but the rest of the suite seemed almost “dashed off” as something second-nature to the pianist.
Then followed “L’isle joyeuse”, probably Debussy’s most demanding and virtuosic piano piece. It was no match for Woodward’s virtuosic technique. Despite his no-nonsense on-stage demeanour, Woodward gave a spectacular performance, drawing “whoops” from the audience.
The rest of the program was devoted to Chopin, beginning with another virtuosic piece, the Ballade no. 4 from op. 52. Again Woodward met the challenge head-on, delivering a splendid performance of extraordinary technical and expressive ability.
To finish the program, Woodward took on Chopin’s 12 Etudes from op. 25. These Etudes, or Studies, are technically demanding, each with its own personality.
For me, the pick of them was No. 9 – a short, very lively piece with rapid, skipping octaves and chords that requires a lightness of touch to achieve clarity and motion. Woodward played it superbly, really proving that his firm touch can give way to nimble keyboard dancing.
After the audience’s very warm reception, Woodward graciously expressed thanks for the hospitality afforded him during his stay in Canberra, and then delighted his audience with an encore.
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Erindale BWS robbery
The robber, a man, walked into the shop on Comrie Street at about 5.40pm.
He was wearing a maroon Broncos football shorts, a BOSS T-shirt, a dark hooded jumper and a white cap.
Police wish to speak to the offender or anyone who witnessed the robbery, or anyone who can identify the offender.
Contact police on 131 444, or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333000 using reference number 6260133.
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‘Happy Birthday Parliament House, 2018’, by Ken Done.
To celebrate this milestone, Ken Done created a very big birthday cake to help light up the House on the Hill, but there’ll be much more this Saturday, May 5, when House staff are throwing a birthday celebration with lots of free community events.
From 10.30am, veteran political “insider” Barrie Cassidy will host a discussion with a panel of guests sharing their stories about the building – from the political to the personal – as they reflect on the first 30 years of the “People’s House”.
Speakers will include chancellor of the ANU, Gareth Evans, age discrimination commissioner Kay Patterson, journalist Michelle Grattan, artist and arts advocate Robyn Archer and the former director of construction for the New Parliament House, David Chandler.
From 2pm, Canberra Symphony Orchestra will perform music by some of Australia’s most celebrated composers including Percy Grainger, Graham Koehne, Elena Kats-Chernin and Paul Paviour, who composed the musical score for the official opening of Parliament House.
Visitors will also be treated to the world premiere of a new work by award-winning Canberra composer and pianist Sally Greenaway, from 2pm.
Australian Parliament House celebration, Saturday, May 5. All welcome. Free exhibitions and tours are also available to the public throughout the day. No bookings required. The Queen’s Terrace Café will be open from 9am to 4.30pm on the day.
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James Smith and Lucy Lehman in ‘The Aspirations of Daise Morrow’. Photo by David James McCarthy
Directed by Chris Drummond “The Aspirations of Daise Morrow”, which a word for word adaption from White’s short story “Down at the Dump”, is beautifully recited and embodied with vivid characterisation bringing to life characters that only existed in imagination.
But rather than the acting and words energising each other, the effect is laboured, instead, the audience sees something, and is told what they’re seeing.
With the production staged in the round and with the actors moving in and around the audience, what was gained in having the performers close was lost in clarity.
Music by Adelaide’s Zephyr Quartet was beautiful but strikingly restrained. It built up slowly and delicately in a way that reflected White’s storytelling, but was only truly powerful when made the focus.
For those unfamiliar with the story, White’s dense language and the many characters required commitment to unpack, especially with the additional barriers from the staging.
However, once the mysteries about Daise Morrow were established, the story took on interest and the vignettes began to reveal their larger purpose.
With excellent acting, beautiful music, and brilliant writing, the elements of a great show are all here, but this is an exquisite recitation rather than a unique work of theatre.
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Group work, titled: ‘A 10 Year Dream’.
General manager of Maruku Arts in Uluru and former Canberran Clive Scollay says it’s rare for the Warburton Arts Project to release works for sale or show, as the main purpose was to keep the collection together for the next generation of Ngaanyatjara artists, but nonetheless 74 works had toured to China to huge acclaim.
Installation of Warburton paintings
Senior artists as well as new talents have works on show, telling powerful stories of the Seven Sisters and women’s law, and in Scollay’s opinion, one or two of the artists showing work could win the “Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Awards” this year.
Among the highlights of the show, according to Scollay, are the “serpents”, created of found mulga wood by senior artist and “snake maker” Billy Cooley, who uses both paint and the burnt wire to adorn the objects.
Curator Natalie McCarthy says the only difficulty in hanging the Warburton works was ensuring that the exceptionally brilliant colours went together well in the hang. She’s been based at Uluru, but is moving on to a similar job in the Kimberley where as with Uluru, she says: “it’s still got the red dirt”.
Wooden art works, including ‘serpents’
Very different from the Warburton works is a large group work, “A 10 Year Dream”, that resulted from a project spearheaded by former ANU Law student Tess Kelly, now a lawyer with Aboriginal Health Service in Darwin, with the Mutitjulu community in Uluru. In 2014 Kelly won an award that brought students to Uluru and became determined to help local artists realise their vision of harmony through a painting that depicts both the ANU students Mutitjulu culture.
Maruku Arts exhibition, foyer space, School of Art & Design Gallery, corner Liversidge Street and Ellery Crescent, Acton, until Friday, May 4, 10.30am–5pm. Artists demonstrations will be held on Thursday, May 3, during gallery hours. 25 of the works are for sale.
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Benjamin Bagby Performs ‘Beowulf.’
DANCE Week 2018 continues until Sunday, with classes, performances and information for all ages and abilities, including dancing for wellness and a performance created through a mentoring program. A highlight will be the weekend performance of “Dance on the Edge”. At Belconnen Arts Centre, from 5pm-8pm, Saturday, May 5, or 2pm, Sunday, May 6. For program details visit ausdanceact.org.au or the Ausdance ACT Facebook page facebook.com/ausdanceact/
Audience seating for “The Aspirations of Daise Morrow”
Paper Cuts actors
THE play “Glorious!” by Peter Quilter tells the true story of Florence Foster Jenkins, the worst singer in the world, with Diana McLean playing Florence. The Q, Queanbeyan, until May 4. Bookings to theq.net.au or 6285 6290.
Romanian dancing
CANBERRA Opera’s recital series introduces featured artist Madeline Anderson, joined by soprano Elisha Margaret Holley and soprano Madeleine Rowland performing a range of arias and by Mozart, Puccini, Handel, Wagner, Rossini, Gluck and more. Wesley Music Centre, 7.30pm, Saturday, May 5. Bookings to trybooking.com or canberraopera.org.au
CANBERRA Symphony Orchestra’s next concert features double bass soloist Phoebe Russell performing Jan Křtitel Vaňhal’s entertaining double bass concerto. Works by Beethoven and Vaughan Williams will also feature, all under the baton of German conductor Johannes Fritzch. Llewellyn Hall May 2 and 3. Bookings to cso.org.au or 6262 6772.
The CSO
THE School of Music “Opera on Saturdays” series continues with a screening of the 1998 performances of “Dido & Aeneas” by Purcell, with singers Lorina Gore, Judith Crispin, Katrina Waters, Sharon Olde, Jeremy Tatchell and Carl Cooper, directed by Colin Forbes, conducted by Richard McIntyre with the School of Music Orchestra. In the Moloney Room, 24 Balmain Crescent, ANU, 1pm, May 5. Free event.
Michael Tsalka, photo Olga Masri de Mussali
PHOENIX Pub in Civic has: Piss Weak Karaoke, Thursday, May 5, at 9pm; The Fuelers, Friday, May 6, at 9pm; and Kollaps, Bead, Harrow, Nothinge and Monoceros, Saturday, May 7, at 9pm.
HEADLINE events from the 2018 Sydney Writers’ Festival will be live-streamed to Canberra and while watching the talks, the audience will be able to “engage” by submitting questions to on-stage writers including Jane Harper, Gareth Evans and Peter Greste through Twitter and SMS. National Library of Australia Theatre, 10am-5.30pm, May 4–6. Free but registrations essential to nla.gov.au
MUSE Café has the author of new novel, “The Death of Noah Glass”, Gail Jones, in conversation with Julianne Lamond. East Hotel, Kingston, 3pm-4pm, Sunday, May 6. Bookings to musecanberra.com.au
CANBERRA author Maura Pierlot’s “The Trouble in Tune Town” has been was just awarded Best Illustrated Children’s E-Book at the Independent Publisher Book Awards in the US. The official book launch and book-signing will also feature reading and craft activities, with a performance by Music for Canberra’s Peg Mantle Strings. National Library, 2pm, Sunday, May 6. Free but bookings essential to nla.gov.au or 6262 1424.
Broken Melodies
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Missing Courtney Archer
Missing teen Charles Bouwman
Courtney is described as of Caucasian appearance with a fair complexion and blonde/brown long hair and Charlie is described as of Caucasian appearance, with a solid build and short blonde/brown hair.
Police have concerns for their welfare, and believe they may be travelling to Melbourne.
If you have seen, or had any contact with Courtney or Charlie, please contact ACT Policing on 131444 and quote reference number 6261574.
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Camel saddle, Niger, Tuareg people. From the late 19th, early 20th century. Photo provided by the Vatican Museums.
AS the saying goes, it is not always what you know, but who you know. In 2010 Dr Matt Trinca, director of the National Museum of Australia (NMA) worked with Fr Nicola Mapelli, director of the Vatican “Anima Mundi” Museum, when he re-opened the ethnological collections with “Rituals of Life”, an exhibition dedicated to the spirituality and culture of Indigenous Australians.
Islamic objects from the Vatican Museum, mostly given as gifts to Pope Pius XI in 1925, were exhibited in the Museum of Islamic Civilization, Sharjah, in 2014 during the celebrations of the Islamic Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation. During a research trip to Australia, Fr Mapelli and curator Katherine Aigner met Dr Trinca and proposed a similar Islamic exhibition for Australia.
The result of these professional relationships is a unique collaboration among three museums from three continents showing parts of the world of Islam from Africa and Asia and Australia through their own collections.
The title of the exhibition – which was also used in 2014 – was inspired by a verse within the Holy Qur’an, and invites the audience to reach across religions and cultures in a spirit of positive curiosity, creativity, friendship, tolerance and peace.
Through the objects in the exhibition the audience gets a glimpse of the diverse ways of Muslim life all over the world. The exhibition is intended to increase intercultural dialogue and promote tolerance and peace.
As Dr Trinca says: “objects can serve as ambassadors for the people and cultures for whom they are an expression”.
Through musical instruments, garments, jewellery, horse trappings, hangings and more, I can see that the artists who made them and those who used them are people – just like me. They live, work and love – just as all people do. I can admire their skills, their appreciation of fine handcrafts, and their penchant for beautiful objects. Traditional Muslim societies from Africa to China can be seen in the show, and I see the “ordinary” lives of the people from these countries.
Someone commented that this was a brave exhibition for the Museum to be showing. From my point of view, this exhibition could only happen at the NMA, and at this time.
People of Islamic faith made an important contribution to the history of Australia from the18th to the early 20th centuries. In the north coasts of Australia, Makasar traders from Sulawesi, when collecting trepang, sea cucumbers, developed mutually beneficial trading and working relationships with the local Aboriginal people. Paintings and carvings from mid-20th century represent the processes of boiling down the trepang collected by the Makasar, and a large “Kawa” (cauldron) in cast iron – a valuable item from the site – is on display.
The second group of Muslims to arrive in Australia were the cameleers, known as “Afghans” or “Ghans”. They came from parts of India and present-day Pakistan. They, and the camels they worked with, were well-equipped to assist in the exploration and development of inland Australia. Their stories are told through the life of Bejah Dervish, a legendary figure. His descendants still live in parts of Australia and a very interesting short documentary focuses on him, the camels and his family.
Underpinning this impressive show is a fundamental desire for mutual understanding and dialogue between cultures and faiths.
This is an intelligent, interesting and illuminating exhibition.
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Ben Hoadley plays “Landscape with Figures” for bassoon on the staircase in the Glassworks foyer.
CONCERT 12 of the Canberra International Music Festival at Canberra Glassworks was always going to be more than another event; it was the .
Beginning with Roger Smalley’s “Landscape with Figures” for bassoon solo performed by Ben Hoadley on the staircase in the Glassworks foyer, this staccato-filled piece combined with languid legatos brought out the best of the plaintive voice of the bassoon, which was played with a delicacy by Hoadley who kept the standing audience gripped for more than seven minutes.
Susanna Borsch… an extraordinary performance. Photo by Peter Hislop
Then it was upstairs and on to the viewing platform in the hotshop to hear Ned McGowan’s “Workshop” for alto recorder and electronics, performed by Susanna Borsch, from Dapper’s Delight, on recorder. Borsch gave an extraordinary performance of this loud, fast and complex work. The recorder was mic’d up and the sounds of Borsch’s playing along with the electronic sounds blasted through the large and noisy space. This happened while the glass workers continued doing their thing around the performance.
Following was “Two pieces for trumpet” by Giacinto Scelsi, played by Fletcher Cox. The trumpet echoed strongly through the workshop displaying the depth, highs and volume of the trumpet in a grand and processional piece. When the Harmon mute was fitted for the second work, it set the sound in the distance as if in a smoky jazz club.
Claire Edwardes performed Benjamin Drury’s world premiere of his composition titled “Stained Glass” for vibraphone and electronics around in the coldshop. The soft and mellow vibraphone seemed to reflect the diffused multi-coloured stained glass through this smooth and flowing piece.
Claire Edwardes performs Benjamin Drury’s world premiere of his composition titled “Stained Glass” for vibraphone and electronics. Photo by PETER HISLOP
This concert was part performance-based, and for the Luciano Berio piece, “Naturale” for viola, percussion and tape, James Wannan on viola hid in the back area of the shop then began to play as he walked up to Edwards with her percussion instruments.
The distinctive music of Berio fitted in well with the surrounding. His music can take a listener through a dreamscape to a state of confusion within a wall of unusual sounds and styles. A part of the tape sounds were Sicilian street singers, which added another interesting dimension to this multi-faceted piece.
Back in the foyer, Magdalenna Krstevska on clarinet gave a stunning performance of concentration and expression in Stravinsky’s “Three pieces for clarinet solo”. Over the three short pieces, the whole range of the clarinet’s animated and multi-faceted tone colour echoed out through the foyer.
The final piece in the Fitters Workshop, Eugene Ysaye’s, “Sonata” for violin solo, performed by Anna da Silva Chen was a sublime experience. Over the four movements, which she performed from memory, the audience experienced a sensitive and technically tricky work that was a display of violin virtuosity — this concert had it all.
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ROAD closures are in place after a car crash on Badham Street and Wooley Street near KFC, today, May 3, in Dickson.
The community is advised to avoid the area.
Update: May 3, 1.50pm.
A MAN and a woman have been treated by the ACT Ambulance Service following a collision between a car and a cyclist.
Firefighters rescued the female from an upturned vehicle.
The man was transported to the Canberra Hospital in a stable condition, and the woman was transported to the Calvary Hospital in a stable condition.
Roads have now been reopened.
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A WOMAN has been extricated from her car and taken to hospital after a crash on Wentworth Avenue in Kingston.
She was treated on the scene for minor injuries and is in a stable condition.
Emergency service personnel have now left the scene.
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Mezzo soprano Kate Howden played Penelope. Photo by PETER HISLOP
In the program notes to a cleverly conceived evening of music, Peelman says Homer’s story still serves as “a symbol of marital faithfulness and as a mystical power of attraction, the thing we call ‘home’” and an odyssey can be a physical, spiritual and emotional journey, too.
The scene for drama on the high seas was set with a deceptively gentle rendition by the antique music ensemble I Bassifondi – Simone Vallerotonda, Stefano Todarello and Gabriele Miracle – of “Sfessania” and “Passacaglia” by Claudio Monteverdi’s contemporary, G.G. Kapsberger.
Then without ado – Peelman prefers the music to speak for itself – the ensemble, augmented by string players, plunged into a lively concert presentation of the prologue and four scenes from Monteverdi’s 1640 opera “Il ritorno di Ulisse in patria”, “The return of Ulysses to his homeland”, presented in concert format.
In the prologue, countertenor Tobias Cole, bass Andrew Fysh, soprano Chloe Lankshear and treble Wynton Johnstone represented respectively the qualities that are likely to see human beings in deep water – Human Vanity, Time, Fortune and Amore.
High drama in Ithaca followed, as mezzo-soprano Kate Howden stole the show with “Penelope‘s lament”. Her rich, vibrant voice and her impassioned, full-blooded grip on the role suggested a considerable operatic future as she flung herself into the phrases of unfulfilled longing that Monteverdi made his own. Here she was ably supported by Canberra mezzo-soprano, AJ America.
In the second scene, Fysh conjured up the malevolent god of the deep, Neptune, as he plans to settle scores with the over-clever Ulysses.
The two final scenes saw Cole, tenor Dan Walker and Fysh take on the parts of Penelope’s suitors. The stage-canny Cole in particular seemed to enjoy responding to Penelope/Howden’s withering glares with light amorous banter.
Out on the Mediterranean, things were not going well for a chorus of Phaecian sailors, but then, suddenly, Peelman switched back to Ithaca to cut the story off in Act II scene 5 with “Non voglio amar,” a jolly effort to cheer Penelope up that involved the entire ensemble and The Luminescence Chamber Singers.
The audience were panting for more, but we are unlikely to see a full production of this great musical work any time soon, for as Peelman says, it would cost a fortune to stage properly “with all the bells and whistles”.
Having set sail on the high seas of music, Peelman entered choppier waters in the second half with three contemporary compositions bearing on the question of forced journeying, seen in the ever-mounting problem of asylum seekers.
Sydney composer Alex Pozniak’s work “In Search of Asylum for piano quartet,” evoked a grim sense of violence and despair. Peelman at the piano used the piano as a percussive instrument, underscoring the growling, chopping, whining sounds of the strings from Veronique Serret on violin, James Wannan on viola Christopher Pidcock on cello. Wannan stirred up such a storm that he was left with very few strings to his bow – quite literally. A young soldier sitting next to me was stunned by this work.
Composer Mary Finisterer’s mellow but mindful work “Angelus for clarinet trio” followed, in which Magdalenna Krstevska on clarinet, Rachael Shipard on piano and Stephanie Arnold first created a musical litany of prayer, later swelling then subsiding to a quiet conclusion. This artful piece of programming gave the audience pause for reflection before the final work of the evening.
Peelman may be drawing a long bow when he likens the plight of asylum seekers to the ever-hopeful journeying of Ulysses, but he does so on the basis that the concept of “return,” the theme of this year’s festival, also encompasses the possibility that you might not get there.
Robert Davidson and Stephanie Arnold’s extraordinary 2016 composition “Across the Water” was performed by Arnold, who had personally interviewed boat people about their experiences. Words, such as ‘jail,’ ‘big jail’ and ‘real jail’ were iterated and reiterated in the real, often hoarse voices of the asylum-seekers, becoming music. Arnold sometimes matched and sometimes cut into the asylum seekers’ pleas to be treated as human beings, with respect.
As they responded to the twists and turn in the words, amplified and thrown up on the screen for all to hear and see, audience members sat spellbound. It was a fitting conclusion to a riveting evening, when the music at least was brought home.
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MANY audience members (and players) were held up on the Tuggeranong Parkway “car park” after yet another tailgate accident en route to the city, so the atmosphere was a little tense and testy for the start of this concert.
Then, suddenly, music calmed the savage beast!
Out of nowhere came the most delightfully soothing pianissimo chord as the strings of the Canberra Symphony Orchestra commenced a wonderful performance of the Vaughan Williams “Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis”.
The sound was sublime with excellent dynamic contrast and control. Phrases were held to the very end beautifully filling the hall with unbroken high tonal quality. A now totally relaxed audience enjoyed a spell-like moment of silence at the end until broken by an excited (and well deserved) “bravo” from an appreciative gentleman in the audience.
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Double bass soloist Phoebe Russell… a rare treat to hear this extraordinary young player performing live.
, principal bass with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, delighted with a commanding performance of the Vanhal “Double Bass Concerto in D Major”. This was the first double bass concerto to be performed in Canberra in more than 40 years with Phoebe playing a 300-year old instrument (putting that into some sort of context, JS Bach was just 15 when it was built!).
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen or heard a soloist so completely immersed in their work or so totally in control of their playing. Difficult cadenzas, encompassing the complete instrument range, were handled with seeming ease and articulation and tonal quality were of the highest standard. Phoebe has recently returned from a stint with the famed Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. It was a rare treat to hear this extraordinary young player performing live.
Paul Stanhope’s “Morning Star” was programmed to complement the earlier Vaughan Williams work. Phrase endings weren’t as tight as in the earlier piece but it did evoke strong imagery with its use of Aboriginal idioms and I could certainly easily picture kangaroos courtesy of a solo 2nd violin.
The concert was conducted by German born Johannes Fritzsch who was chief conductor of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra from 2003 to 2013. Unsurprisingly, he had absolute understanding of the Beethoven 2nd Symphony. His control of dynamics was excellent and he commanded precise balance both within and between orchestra sections as he swept the symphony along with lovely gestures and a happy smile. Except for a little French horn moment this was a most enjoyable, bright performance with well-controlled winds neatly complementing the strings.
In many quarters the CSO strings have been maligned in recent years with blame for a perceived lessening in string standards directed towards changes at the ANU School of Music. This concert was very string based and there was absolutely no evidence of diminishing ability.
Praise of the CSO strings has been too rare of late but, with magnificently controlled playing throughout this concert from the loyal CSO stalwarts, praise of the highest order in this case was most worthy and very justly deserved.
A lovely concert, attendance at the second performance is highly recommended.
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Val Fitzpatrick’s studio
Not surprising to the many fans of her art, Fitzpatrick had applied last year for an exhibition at Strathnairn Arts in 2018 and been accepted.
Strathnairn Arts director Peter Haynes contacted Fitzpatrick’s husband, Ted and offered to curate an exhibition of her work and the result it work as a celebration of her life. Ted and his family accepted the offer.
Val Fitzpatrick, Poppies, acrylic on canvas, 2017
A graduate in textile printing and design, she founded her own art school in Gunnedah NSW. In 1979 she became an art tutor in the NSW TAFE system, spanning 14 years, during which time she was invited to tutor at Mitchell College, now Charles Sturt University in Bathurst.
She moved to Canberra in 1996 and immediately immersed herself in the local painting scene, winning many awards. She was a member of the Canberry Painters and in 1999 her work was featured in the “Australian Artist” magazine. Fitzpatrick is represented in civic, corporate, private and overseas collections.
Val Fitzpatrick, untitled, acrylic on canvas, 2017
“Vibrancy”, a celebration of works by the late Val Fitzpatrick. Strathnairn Arts, 90 Stockdill Drive, Holt, Thursday, May 3–27, Thursday to Sunday, 10am-4pm.
An official opening by artist Lorna Crane will be held in Strathnairn Arts Gallery at 2pm this Saturday, May 5. All welcome.
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