PEOPLE OF THE COAST • Patrick Brennan
PATRICK BRENNAN From boy soprano and bassoonist to conducting the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. WORDS CATHARINE RETTER
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atrick Brennan is the artistic director of one of the largest, if not the largest regional conservatorium in Australia: the Central Coast Conservatorium of Music. It’s a role some may only associate with classical music and, for those who see Patrick conducting, he can be the man in the white tie and tails. But the real Patrick also loves to don shorts, a T-shirt and an old hat and put a boat into Brisbane Water to go fishing with his teenage kids, swimming in Waterfall Bay, or camping in the bush. In fact, it was working around the house during Covid-19 that led to a horrific accident in which Patrick badly injured his hand and underwent 11 hours of microsurgery. But after months of recovery and physiotherapy, Patrick is back at work and is keen to direct the talk to his great love: music.
‘My parent’s house was filled with music and singing,’ he says. ‘There was always music of one sort or another playing. My brother and I lived with my grandfather during the holidays for weeks at a time at Blue Bay when we were growing up. I loved the environment and the outdoor life as well as music.’ And then comes a surprising confession from this classically trained musician. ‘The two biggest musical influences in my young childhood were ABBA and Barry Manilow. I’d sit on the loungeroom floor and play their records over and over, singing along with them. I’d say that [American singer-songwriter] Barry Manilow was my biggest musical influence. I love the way he sings,’ Patrick says to my surprised laughter (sorry Barry). Patrick was in Year 2, at a concert band performance, when he heard a family friend play the flute. ‘I was so taken with it that I suggested to my parents that I would like to play. And, that Christmas, I unwrapped a long skinny parcel from under the Christmas tree, with a shiny flute inside. ‘It was a bit of a disaster, even though I played until the end of Year 6. I had lessons but, in hindsight, I was not taught how to practice and play, just to sit in a room and make sounds.’ It’s a lesson he has put to good use throughout his own teaching career. Instead of continuing with the flute, Patrick joined the school choir and soon found himself auditioning as a boy soprano for the 2MBS-FM Children’s Choir (which became the Sydney Children’s Choir and the Gondwana Children’s Choir) under the renowned director, Lyn Williams. Patrick was also fortunate to attend Forest High School in Sydney, in Year 9, where there was a well-established music program and a culture that recognised and nurtured his talent. He progressed to head chorister in the Sydney Children’s Choir, and also successfully auditioned and sang in the Australian Opera’s Children’s Chorus. With the onset of puberty, however, the boy soprano’s voice was in jeopardy. Would it hold out for the HSC or would it be, at that time, a mix of screechy soprano and croaky tenor? ‘In the midst of my dilemma, the music teacher at school said there was a bassoon in the cupboard and “It’s yours if you like” – I think they needed a bassoonist in the school band. So I took
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