Matthew Hindson

William Barton and I are having a new composition premiered by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House on 2-4 April, 2008.

The work is called Kalkadungu, which is the name of the tribe from which William originates. It’s scored for a soloist playing electric guitar, singing and didjeridu (obviously William is performing this part!) with orchestra.

It was very interesting being part of a co-commission, that is, the piece was written both by William and myself. This approach may be common in the popular and jazz music traditions, but I can’t think of many examples from classical music where this happened (the orchestral works of Paul McCartney perhaps). Writing an orchestral work is such an intricate task that it doesn’t normally lend itself to compositional collaboration, but in this case we used a common starting point: an Aboriginal chant William wrote when he was just 15 years old (listen to one of William’s pieces based on this chant here).

Programmatically, the piece is based around the events and ramifications of the troubled history between the Kalkadungu tribe and European Settlers. The Kalkadungu people were a fierce tribe of warriors who conducted a campaign of guerilla warfare for 15 years, before being decimated in battle by the combined troopers of Queensland in 1889 at Battle Mountain, near Mount Isa.

For more extensive programme notes, click here.

Kalkadungu was commissioned by Maggie Gray and Roger Allan. Australia is lucky to have philanthropists such as Maggie and Roger who support the needs of indigenous people in our community. They are both heavily involved in indigenous affairs and have recently started a company called “Indigenous Capital” that provides capital for indigenous projects and subsequently returns all profits to the indigenous community.

The programme for the 2008 Aurora Festival has been launched, and can be viewed at: http://www.aurorafestival.com.au

We have assembled a most diverse collection of concerts, forums and workshops for this festival, the majority of which will take place in venues across Western Sydney (with an ‘outreach’ concert in the centre of Sydney itself). The performers and music are absolutely top-notch. There are 19 world premieres and 5 Australian premieres, including the Steve Reich’s Daniel Variations (see an excerpt and interview on Youtube) and Chinary Ung’s Aura.

Our two featured composers are Chinary Ung, who is coming from the US and will be residence at the University of Western Sydney, and Michael Atherton, who is such a multi-talented musician and whose compositions span an enormous range of genres and styles.

If you are not living or will be around in Sydney, you can listen to most of the concerts on ABC Classic FM, who are co-presenting the 2008 Aurora Festival.

What’s the difference between a catfish and a current affairs journalist?

One is a scum-sucking bottom feeder, and the other is a catfish.

Photo by Rich Anderson, Creative commons license.

I have been recently commissioned to write a new work for amplified cello and orchestra for premiere by Li-Wei Qin and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. This new work entitled Ictalurus punctatus will be performed on 11 April 2008 in the opening concert of the Adelaide Cello Festival, an amazingly diverse collection of music focussing on the cello directed by Janis Laurs.

Television programmes such as A Current Affair and their staffers operate in a similar way to catfish such as Ictalurus punctatus (channel catfish), communing in dark, dank, fetid places and waiting hungrily for any detritus to fall their way. I recently read an article about farmed catfish that had been trained to eat human faeces. This seems the perfect metaphor for current affairs journalism.

Early in 2007 I experienced first-hand the nasty, lazy, predatory action of these journalists who act as if they are above the law: setting themselves up as judge, jury and executioner. They thrive on the lowest forms of intellectual nutrition and are curiously undiscriminating when it comes to ethics or standards. The whole encounter was tailored to elicit the most cheap, short-term substance-devoid reactions. The journalist in question was interested only in sensationalist cheap-shots as opposed to balance or even accuracy in the final presentation.

This new work is inspired by my own experience, the experience of my family as well as the characteristics listed above. I offer my apologies to the catfish of the world: these limnivores do actually fulfil a useful purpose in the world, unlike their human equivalents.

Two new compositions have recently been completed, both of which were commissioned by Ars Musica Australis.

The first new piece is entitled The Metallic Violin, and uses as its inspiration the manic, wild and over-the-top electric guitar solos commonly found in varieties of heavy metal music. Also I am making reference to the title of John Corigliano’s work The Red Violin, though in a very contrasting way! The Metallic Violin is for solo violin and lasts for about 8 minutes or so.

The second new piece is quite different to what would be considered my ‘typical’ music. It is called Funeral Windows and is written for solo basset clarinet, a larger clarinet that extends the range of the standard clarinet to a lower pitch. Mozart wrote his clarinet pieces for basset clarinet, and an increasing number of contemporary composers are now writing for it too. In Funeral Windows I imagine the thoughts, experiences and emotions of a passenger in a funeral car on their way between the funeral and burial services. It was composed for David Rowden, the amazing Sydney-based clarinettist.

I am also in the middle of composing a new work entitled Kulkadungu with William Barton. This will be premiered next year by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

It was wonderful for my Percussion Concerto, written for Evelyn Glennie and The Queensland Orchestra, to be a finalist in the 2007 Classical Music Awards.

Photo J.Wilson(c)/EG Images

It was a finalist in the Orchestral Work of the Year category. Thanks to Evelyn and The Queensland Orchestra for a wonderful experience and the opportunity for me to write this work.

The music festival of which I am the artistic director, the Aurora Festival, last night won the award for Most Outstanding Contribution by an Organisation in the 2007 Classical Music Awards. These annual awards are presented by APRA and the Australian Music Centre at a ceremony at the Wharf Theatre in Sydney.

It was very gratifying to receive this recognition for the important work that the Aurora Festival achieved in 2006. We presented 13 concerts as well as lectures, workshops, a conference and even the publication of a book. The festival is based largely in Western Sydney, an area of 2 million people that is blessed by fabulous modern venues and supportive people. Our co-presenter, ABC Classic FM, broadcast many of the concerts to an estimated audience of over 200,000 people.

Most pleasing is that through the 2006 Aurora Festival we were able to contribute to the cultural life of Western Sydney and Australia as a whole.