Queensland
Conservatorium
Griffith University
GRADUATING
COMPOSERS
FAREWELL
CONCERT
2021
BETTER THAN MY DREAMS
Christina Bowden
Better Than My Dreams is the last composition I will write as a student of the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, Griffith University. This piece reflects the many emotions I’ve felt and experiences I’ve had during my time at the Con.
From the early stages of learning music, I dreamt of studying at the Con. Daydreaming of being accepted and imagining what it would be like to study here. Little did I know these last 3 years would completely change my life in the most wonderful ways. Not only did I learn an incredible amount of new skills from the professors, but the community among the students was an unexpected benefit and something I will never forget. Working with my fellow music nerds was an unexpected, amazing and unforgettable part of studying here.
My musician friends gave me a deeper insight & appreciation of their instruments and incredibly talented composers opened my eyes to new music styles I would never have known. Being surrounded by such talent everyday inspired me to become a better composer and musician. This experience was truly like no other. Collaborating on projects with creative film students opened my eyes to how much music can affect and influence a story. I am incredibly grateful for my time at the Conservatorium, I have grown so much as a composer and a person and at the end of my 3 years it was … Better Than My Dreams.
Violin I: Julia Hill Violin II: Robert Smith
Viola: Kaz Ninness Cello: Mya Whatson
FOUR CLASSIC MAGIC SPELLS
Tidsguiden (William Smith)
Four Classic Magic Spells is an attempt at controlling atmosphere through limited musical means. The piece employs the unique timbres and registers of both the flute and the bassoon to craft an air of mystery and intrigue. The two instruments sway together, converse with each other, and argue amongst themselves, conjuring images of esoteric arcane rituals and spells spoken in hushed tones and in long-forgotten tongues. Irregular phrasing and melodic interruptions are also employed to give a sense of unpredictability, representing the unknown and mysterious nature of the magical arts.
Flute: Ev Ramada Bassoon: Amelia Cody-Byfield
CHOREOLESCENCE
Sam Carrick
In 2020, I wrote a piano trio for a composition workshop that required an incredibly short time-period between genesis and recording. I was incredibly shocked to find that I was able to write anything resembling a cohesive piece in the span of 48 hours, and it made me interrogate a great deal about my creative process and my compositional voice. I found the exercise so compelling, I decided to re-visit the idea, drawing from the sound-world and ethos of the original composition, and see what would happen if I challenged myself to write a piece in a day or so again a year on. The result was the vibrant choreolescence: the dance of coincidence, the interplay between density and levity, the conjuring of an effervescent downpour. Sticking to my challenge, the piece was written in a single, grueling day, once again proving the amazing potential of an uncritical and relentless workflow
Violin: Kristelle Jaimes Viola: Rosie Breedt Alto Saxophone: Sean Thompson Piano: Dale Schlaphoff
A LONELY CIGARETTE
Alex Lamont
A lonely cigarette explores the life of a lone cigarette, passing from the lips of its user to an ashtray and eventually the trash. As humans, we often take great joy in our comforts and guilty pleasures, but do we ever contemplate what happens when we toss those pleasures to the side? Perhaps those pleasures, those cigarettes, have feelings too. It’s basically like Toy Story, but for cigarettes. Because, in a way, aren’t we all cigarettes? Just being lit, sucked on, and tossed into the trash pile of life? Yes.
This piece only uses the notes “F”, “A”, and “G” in its melodic phrases, and expresses the complexities of its narrative through extensive manipulation of dynamics, tempo, and intonation. Just remember, whenever you’re next feeling down, you are the cigarette. We are all cigarettes.
Flute, Alto Flute, and Glockenspiel: Ev Ramadan
HORIZONTE ABIERTO
Gerardo Dirié
Horizonte Abierto (Open Horizon) was composed in 2014 for Dr. Joanna Drimatis and Cathy Irons for the Across the Water Chamber Worksseries at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, with a second performance that same year in Canterbury, New Zealand. Later in 2016 the work was performed during a progressive folk concert by the late Tadashi Maeda and Antonina Calahorrano in Quito, Ecuador.
Today, Julia Hill and Sola Hugues offer the Queensland premiere and in dedication to our 2021 graduating composers and performers. The composition, in its brevity, traverses many different situations as if what emerges as surprising or unexpected over time it turns déjà vu, oblique reminiscing, yet always intensely focusing on the details and gifts of the present.
Violin I: Julia Hill Violin II: Sola Hughes
BERRARA: THE TIDE PULLS AT THE SHORE
Dale Schlaphoff
Berrara: The tide pulls at the shore exists as a musical evocation of a small coastal town of the same name on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia. It is a place that has been in my life for fifteen years and holds some of my most treasured memories. It is, for me, a place of love, friendship, tranquillity and above all else, natural beauty. This piece was written in a few short days during July 2021. In this time at Berrara, my family and I were confined in lockdown, unable to leave the house except for exercise. It was a time of great stress and uncertainty, however I found the location and energy of the town to be soothing and calming. Every day I would wake to the sound of the ocean swell, the wind howling and a variety of bird species chirping outside my window, a reminder of how lucky I was to be stuck in such a beautiful place. The piece itself is written in a chamber-folk style that seeks to capture a certain natural and organic beauty. Berrara contains moments of great stillness contrasted with those of great vibrance. Bird call sounds across the ensemble in the flute, the ocean swell undulates in the strings and the piano and guitar flow like a lagoon rushing out to the sea.
I would like to honour the Budawang and Yuin people, the traditional custodians of the land on which Berrara and the Conjola National Park are located. I respect elders past, present and emerging and acknowledge that this land was never ceded.
Piano: Julia Zhu Guitar: Clancy Anderson Flute: Dale Schlaphoff
Violin: Kristelle Jaimes
Viola: Sebastian Masel
Cello: Daniel Shearer Double Bass: Cooper Le Brocq
END OF AN ERA (LEAVE HER)
Hudson Beck
The Queensland Conservatorium has been home for me and seven other composers for the last three years. In that time, we have learnt, explored, and discovered what it means to be makers of music and made plenty of great memories along the way. We’ve watched each other grow from eager-eyed first years to the graduates of 2021 who are ready to take on the open waters with courage and ambition.
End of an Era is based on the two folk tunes Leave Her (Johnny, Leave Her) and The Sligo Maid. Leave Her tells the story of Irish immigrants who are setting sail to a land of new opportunity and hope. Singing this song brought them comfort on their long voyage across the sea by reminiscing on their old home but never losing sight of what comes ahead. The Sligo Maid is a traditional Irish Jig which is often played at celebratory occasions to lift the spirits of those around you and bring people together in times of jubilation.
Now the time has come to say farewell, it’s important to reflect on the path we have taken to get where we are today, and to celebrate with our fellow composers the journey we’ve taken. This piece is dedicated to those composers; Allie, Christy, Dale, Justin, Ray, Sam, and William as well as our fearless teachers who never stopped believing in us.
Violin I: Julia Hill Violin II: Robert Smith
Viola: Kaz Ninness Cello: Mya Whatson Clarinet Amy Kuskopf
MOONLIGHT ILLUSION (2021 CHAMBER
VERSION)
Ray Lin
“Moonlight
Illusion”
was
composed
for
wind
orchestra in early 2020, and this chamber version is arranged in 2021 specially for the graduation concert.
This piece was inspired by the visual representation of the tarot card “the moon”, which depicted a scene under the moonlight where the dog and the wolf were looking up towards the moon, and a road with no destination separated them.
In this music. I crafted several themes and textures that characteristically represented elements in the visual. The opening chord that acted as the foundation for the whole piece was my representation of the moon, as it oversaw everything that happened under its light. The theme of the dog was a gentle and mellow theme, featuring a long and lyrical melody, which highlights the honest and royal nature of this creature, and it was first appeared as an oboe solo. Furthermore, the theme of the wolf was rather dissonant, foregrounding the destructive nature of this creature. This theme was hinted in the first appearance of the piano, and later formally introduced interrupting the elaboration of the dog’s theme. Throughout the music, these two themes battled, transformed and evolved. There were heartwarming moments, there were aggressive conflicts and there were moments where the destinies of these creatures were unknown and out of control. However, as heard in the unison textures of the finale, both the dog and the wolf united together as they discovered that they were creatures of the earth, and they were all sheltering under the same moon. Conductor: Ray Lin Violin I: Julia Hill Violin II: Robert Smith Viola: Kaz Ninness Cello: Mya Whatson
Flute: Elinor Hllock Oboe: Dale Schlaphoff French horn: Prue Russel Clarinet: Amy Kuskopf