BRISBANE FESTIVAL AND Griffith university PRESENT
KATIE NOONAN’s ELIxir with michael leunig and caMerata
Brisbane Festival is an initiative of the Queensland Government and Brisbane City Council
GRATITUDE & GRIEF KATIE NOONAN’S ELIXIR WITH MICHAEL LEUNIG AND CAMERATA
ELIXIR
Concert Hall, QPAC 9 September
existed for more than 19 years. The trio has
BRISBANE FESTIVAL ARTISTIC DIRECTOR’S NOTE Michael Leunig grew up with music, and there’s an easy melody in his poems and drawings that have always been attractive to musicians. So to have Michael onstage drawing in response to music is as natural as daybreak or sunset. The violinist’s bow and the artist’s pencil here both draw lines in the air, with Katie Noonan’s
Folk Jazz trio Elixir features Jazz saxophonist Zac Hurren and singer Katie Noonan and has enjoyed much success and great commendation along the way including: an ARIA Award (Best Jazz Album, 2011), 13 weeks at #1 on the ARIA Jazz Chart, TV and festival appearances and most recently a tour to South East Asia. The trio exists to explore new musical opportunities and relationships and thrives in unusual collaborative environments. Elixir seeks to explore the relationship between text and sound and celebrate great Australian poetry.
silk-smooth voice connecting all. Life gives us grief, of course, but gratitude follows fast. David Berthold
KATIE NOONAN Singer/Elixir Katie Noonan’s technical mastery and pure voice makes her one of Australia’s most
MICHAEL LEUNIG Illustrator One of this country’s most celebrated artist/poets, in 1999 Leunig was declared a National Living Treasure by the National Trust and awarded honorary degrees from La Trobe and Griffith Universities and the Australian Catholic University for his unique contribution to Australian culture.
versatile and beloved vocalists. The five-time ARIA Award-winning and seven-time platinum selling songstress first received widespread praise as the angel-voiced songstress of indie-pop band George and has since taken audiences on sublime excursions through Jazz, Pop and Classical music. Her recent releases include collaborating with guitarist Karin Schaupp for their ARIA Winning album ‘Songs of the Latin Skies’ and with the world famous Brodsky Quartet for the acclaimed 2016 album ‘With Love and Fury’. She has also worked with the country’s top orchestra’s including her fruitful collaborations with Richard Tognetti and the Australian Chamber Orchestra and recently with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
ZAC HURREN
IAIN GRANDAGE
Saxophonist/Elixir
Conductor
Zac Hurren won the National Jazz Award
Iain Grandage composes, conducts and
(in 2009) and was a Freedman Fellowship
performs. He has conducted Katie Noonan’s
finalist in 2012. He is a truly unique and
Elixir with Michael Leunig – Gratitude & Grief
distinctly Australian saxophonist, composer
(SSO, WASO). Other selected conducting
and improviser. Steeped in the jazz heritage
credits include: Eskimo Joe (WASO, TSO 2017,
of Coltrane, Shorter, Coleman and Shepp
2018), Meow Meow’s Pandemonium (SSO, 2018;
but with firm roots in McGann, Simmons
LPO 2016, 2017), Tim Minchin vs the Orchestra
and Barlow, Zac’s debut album ‘Exordium‘
(SSO, QSO, MSO, ASO, WASO) and Satan Jawa
was released in Australia in 2007 on the
(MSO, 2016). Grandage has also won Helpmann
Jazzhead label, receiving critical acclaim and
Awards for his compositions for theatre
heralding a triumphant new arrival on the
(Cloudstreet, Secret River), for dance (When Time
contemporary jazz scene. His latest album
Stops), for opera – with Kate Miller-Heidke
‘Asylum’ (May 2018) is the second instalment
(The Rabbits), and for silent film – with Rahayu
in his five album masterwork ‘Dispositio’.
Suppangah (Satan Jawa). He is a recipient of the prestigious Sidney Myer Performing Arts
CAMERON Deyell Guitarist
Award and was recently appointed Artistic Director of the Perth Festival 2020-2023.
Cameron Deyell plays electric guitar like nobody else. He produces and composes music, and is featured as a producer/performer on Sia’s Grammy-nominated platinum album ‘This Is Acting’ (#1 UK, #4 USA). In 2018, Cameron will be touring Australia with indie folk icon Lior in support of the new album they co-wrote. Cameron is also performing with legendary aussie singers Katie Noonan and Tina Harrod, and will be touring nationally as part of art-pop supergroup Liars. In 2017, Cameron performed on Jessica Lea Mayfield’s critically acclaimed album ‘Sorry is Gone’ produced by John Angelo (Kurt Vile), with Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth) and Seth Avett. He is a member of New York-based indie band Streets of Laredo who have toured North America and Europe, and performed at Governor’s Ball in NYC.
CAMERATA Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra, has established itself as a chamber orchestra of national significance with an outstanding track record of artistic achievement. Camerata’s vision is to empower artists, inspire audiences, and enrich communities through music. Performing without a conductor, the 18-member core ensemble and their guest artists proudly take full ownership of the music-making in the spirit of chamber music to form a thriving, refreshing and acclaimed voice. Under Artistic Director Brendan Joyce, the group undertakes an annual regional Queensland tour and a subscription concert season in both Brisbane and Toowoomba.
PROGRAM
Gratitude AND GRIEF
First Seed Ripening Orchestral Arrangement by Steve Newcomb
©I.Hurren/M.Leunig/S.Magnusson/K.Noonan
Snapshot Orchestral Arrangement by Steve Newcomb
Warm and sheltered from the time when they
La La Land Orchestral Arrangement by Steve Newcomb
Gazing from the hidden world into his
The Departed Orchestral Arrangement by Steve Newcomb
From where the holy secrets tumble down into
Little Tendrils/Love is Born Orchestral Arrangement by Steve Newcomb
Then with this heart so full of hope he travels
Gratitude and Grief Orchestral Arrangement by Joe Chindamo Peace is my Drug Orchestral Arrangement by Steve Newcomb INTERVAL Magpie Orchestral Arrangement by Steve Newcomb
In the cradle of his mother’s arms a baby lies will come apart mother’s eyes his heart. in the wild But soon is set upon and cruelly beaten to the ground And wakes upon the ruins of his innocence defiled And there his sacred revelations in the mud are found.
The Smile Orchestral Arrangement by Steve Newcomb
Tears of blood and anger flowing from his
Let it Ring Orchestral Arrangement by Iain Grandage
From his violated mouth the song of disbelief
The Gentle Hum Orchestral Arrangement by Joe Chindamo The Path to Your Door Orchestral Arrangementby Iain Grandage
wounded eye In his shattered memory a shattered lullaby But from his broken heart flow gratitude and grief. Find more Leunig song lyrics at: www.katienoonan.com/leunig
Brisbane Festival Chair Paul Spiro Deputy Chair Philip Bacon AM
Artistic Director David Berthold Chief Executive Officer Charlie Cush
QPAC EMERGENCY
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY
Patrons are advised that the Performing Arts Centre has EMERGENCY EVACUATION PROCEDURES, a FIRE ALARM system and EXIT passageways. In case of an alert, patrons should remain calm, look for the closest EXIT sign in GREEN, listen to and comply with directions given by the in house trained attendants and move in an orderly fashion to the open spaces outside the Centre.
In keeping with the spirit of reconciliation, we acknowledge the Traditional Owners of Brisbane, the Turrubul and Jagara Yuggera Peoples, and recognise that this has always been a place of creative expression. We wish to pay respect to their Elders – past, present and emerging – and acknowledge the important role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to play within our creative community.
EnJOY GRATITUDE & gRIEF? ThEN DON’T MISS ESKIMO JOE!
Eskimo Joe performing their greatist hits, including ‘From the Sea’, ‘Black Fingernails, Red Wine’ and ‘Foreign land’.
BRISBANE FESTIVAL AND Griffith university PRESENT
IN CONCERT WITH CAMERATA BOOK NOW 28 September Concert Hall QPAC
D O N ’ t m i s s t h i s a lt o g e t h e r D A R I N G s h o w !
“Legs On The Wall blasts physical theatre into a new and triumphant dimension.” The sun-herald
LEGS ON THE WALL (AUS)
BOOK NOW
26 – 29 September | BRISBANE POWERHOUSE