Matt Keegan - Vienna Waits For You

BY BELINDA HEALY & ALLAN SKO

If your Great-Grandfather was an exceptional musician and composer who also fled Vienna during the time of Hitler’s rule, it would be a fitting tribute to honour this story through a musical performance.

Which is exactly what Matt Keegan has done with his latest show, entitled Vienna Dreaming.

“I have many fond memories of him as an old man in his 80s,” says Keegan of his Great-Grandfather Heini Portnoj. “He died when I was about 10 years old. Unfortunately, I do not recall hearing him performing any music, however, I do have vague recollections of him showing me a few things on the piano.

“All the specific details of Heini’s story came through my Aunt Julia who is the family historian on the maternal side of my family,” Keegan continues. “She provided me with a very detailed account of his life. I’ve been told that he never spoke to anyone about his former life in Vienna, but I believe he must of thought about it from time to time.”

Soon, Keegan was pouring his creative energies and efforts into this very personal piece.

“Vienna Dreaming is a suite of music I composed in honour of my Great-Grandfather, Heini Portnoj (1895-1984). Heini was a composer and pianist and Austrian Jew who fled the Nazi movement in Europe in 1940 and ended up a refugee in Australia. The composition is my interpretation of what I considered the crucial moments associated with his life story.”

And how does one go about creating such a weighty piece?

“The music is all instrumental and draws influence from styles including: Viennese salon music, pop, jazz and classical influences,” Keegan reveals. “I felt strongly about keeping the soundscape in an ethereal realm in order to evoke general feelings and imagery rather than trying to recreate specific sounds of the past.

“I chose to use a combination of acoustic and electronic instruments to evoke an other-worldly, dream-like atmosphere. I decided to write in the programmatic style in order to imbue the songs, without words, with the feeling of his story as it moved through time.”

With the style firmly in place, the narrative arrived naturally.

“We begin with my Great-Grandfather as an old man sitting by a window on a rainy afternoon daydreaming about his past life in Vienna. From here we go on a musical journey that takes us through his memories including: his first job as a band leader in Vienna, meeting his wife Annie, fleeing his homeland, and eventually arriving in Australia.”

And music is not the only way Heini’s story is brought to life.

“To enhance the experience, artist Monica Higgins has animated the story, incorporating a collage of old film footage from Vienna and Australia with digital design and family photos to create beautiful visuals that accompany the music.”

Whilst it seems family is an obvious influence for Keegan’s immersion in music, he didn’t realise it at first.

“By the time I started high school I knew I wanted to be a musician, but at the time I did not recognise the significance of having musical influences on both sides of my family,” Keegan reveals. “In retrospect it seems obvious.

“Now I am a father myself, I have come to understand and appreciate how much the environment you grow up in affects who you are. Having my own kids has also highlighted how lucky I was to have a supportive family who could afford to finance both music lessons and the purchase of instruments. Music is an expensive, time consuming, and noisy undertaking.”

As well as a commemoration of his Great-Grandfather’s life, Vienna Dreaming is also a celebration of being able to perform once again.

“Like most people, I think the hardest thing to manage was the initial shock of being totally stopped in your tracks and losing important career opportunities that had taken years of hard work to put in place,” Keegan says of Covid. “It has taken patience, consideration, and energy to re-establish focus and start realigning and rebuilding career momentum.

“Having said that, having a break from the pressure was a relief of sorts. I had other projects: recording, live streams, composing and arranging commitments, producing duties and writing the dissertation for my PhD. I also have three sons in primary school, so that full term of homeschooling was intense.”

After discussions on being a music teacher - “I have been teaching music professionally since I was in high school but still feel I have a lot to learn” - and how it has enriched his art - “Sharing information is a very important part of being a musician and often you have to present it in different ways, depending on the student” - talk turns to the myriad collaborations, bands, and groups he is a part of.

“Variety is very important to me,” he states. “I love immersing myself in different styles of music and have worked professionally as a jazz, blues, funk, pop, rock, reggae, folk, third stream, and intercultural collaborative musician.

“I enjoy playing in ensembles where I feel like I can make a valid artistic contribution. I am lucky enough to get to play with some incredible musicians and have found the best place to enjoy their music is to stand with them on stage while they do it. I have found the insights taken from my experience as a band leader has made me a much more supportive band member.”

With all that said, the excitement of the performance awaits.

“I would like to thank [CIMF Artistic Director] Roland Peelman for his time, support and musical input,” Keegan says in closing. “I am grateful for the opportunity to present the work in such a great space and have assembled a fantastic band to help me realise the music featuring the wonderful soloists, Veronique Serret on violin and Ben Hauptmann on guitar.”

The Street Theatre, Canberra International Music Festival and SIMA present Matt Keegan - Vienna Dreaming on Saturday, 17 April at 8pm at The Street Theatre. Tickets range from $40 - $25 and can be booked from thestreet.org.au