Performance, Life Drawing, Dance and 2017 Song Company
A bit of a mixed entry today!
The Song Company announced their 2017 programme "The Attraction of Opposites" and I'm delighted to be able to announce that I'm working on a piece for them!
"From Bach to Batt-Rawden"
My collaboration with this incredible group started in 2007 when I wrote "Click your Username", a response to using gaydar.com.au (a gay dating website). I've since written a number of works for them, including with the singers as soloists in other projects (Anna Fraser is on my album "Seven Stations"). Last year I acted COO for a while to fill in for a mate, and I was privileged to operate the company through a period of transition, where Roland Peelman stepped down as Artistic Director to pursue his career at Canberra International Music Festival and Anthony Pitts stepped into the role.
To be part of another Song Company season concert is incredible.
But TODAY, I performed for the first time in front of an audience.
the scores I performed from today.
I wasn't in my best form. I was tired from a sleepless night, on edge because the audience was the Feilman Foundation board, the piano out of tune, the room cold from a freezing day in Perth.
But I sang my heart out.
And it was wonderful.
I started with "Les Mots" which I wrote for my partner of 9 years ago... it's in french, and I changed the lyrics (my french has improved) for this performance. It has tricky harmonies but I'd been practising so I got my fingers around the chords easy enough. Then proceeded to "Come Home", "Little Games" - about nostalgia and the frustrations of love, and finally "Meth Song" which I re-titled to be "Feel". The latter proved to be a great topic for conversation as the foundation board discussed the drug issue in Perth and the role of the arts in healthy societies.
It was very nerve wracking, but now that I've done it I can know what to expect. What will be important will be to perform at every opportunity I can to build some techniques. The caterer for the lunch didn't feel my singing was very good - she'd be right - I've only had 4 lessons! But by gosh that's good motivation to practice and strengthen the voice!!!
...
Earlier this week I'd gone to my first dance lesson - and I went to another on Tuesday at Strut. The beginner's class. It was incredible. I wish I took some photos to share with you but alas, my hands were occupied with space and time!
Also had a great life drawing session at the Shenton Park Perth group...
A blurry photo, sorry, but I loved this particular work from the session!
I've been exploring further the possibility of expression through pose, music, narrative... I had the pleasure of meeting the god-father of the Perth life drawing scene, Peter Efford, who was also the ABC's first graphic designer! We had a long chat (the man is in his 70s, and has so much knowledge to share), and funnily enough he'd been thinking of the exact sort of event I'd been imagining - a construction of narrative imaginatively presented in scenes and expressed with multiple artforms and styles all at once. I have a workshop with him tomorrow morning on this idea, before heading out to see some more dance and getting on a plane to Melbourne on Sunday.