Composers Concert 28 MAY, 2021
DREAM UPON A DANDELION INGE DEKKER
VIOLIN: ANGELINA KIM HARP: JEMMA TELLEMAN PIANO: ALEXANDRA AUGUS
THIS WORK REFLECTS THE LIFE CYCLE OF A DANDELION; FROM THE WIND CARRYING ITS SEEDS AND PLANTING THEM, TO ITS FLOURISHING GROWTH THEN THE WITHERING OF ITS SEEDS IN THE WIND. THE OPENING PAINTS A PICTURE OF A SINGLE DANDELION’S FRAGILE GROWTH, THEN AN IMAGE OF AN OPEN FIELD WHERE MORE DANDELIONS BEGIN TO SPROUT. A SUDDEN GUST OF WIND APPEARS, CARRYING THE FLOWERS SEEDS AND PLANTING THEM ON THE GROUND. THEN, BLOWING OUT THE DANDELION’S FLOWER HEAD, SOMEONE WISHES UPON IT, WHERE A MAIN SLOW AND EXPRESSIVE MOTIF IS HEARD, CREATING A SENSE OF LONGING AND YEARNING FOR THEIR WISH TO COME TRUE. THE SEEDS THEN BEGIN TO WITHER IN THE WIND UNTIL THE DANDELIONS DISAPPEAR AND THE FIELD IS EMPTY. THE LONELINESS SHIFTS TO A MORE HOPEFUL MOOD AT THE END OF THE WORK AS A SINGLE DANDELION GROWTH REVEALS ITSELF IN THE FIELD.
TALES & ALES NO. 2, THE PROPHECY
EMMA OLSEN SOPRANO SAX: ASH STILLER ALTO SAX: RAFFAN MOYLE TENOR SAX: LIV MARLTON BARITONE SAX; ANGUS CAMPBELL
ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE LAND OF DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS THERE WAS A TAVERN FREQUENTED BY ADVENTURERS. A GROUP WERE ENJOYING AN ALE OR TWO ONE NIGHT WHEN A WANDERING SCHOLAR SHARED HIS TALE… “I WAS RAISED TO RESPECT THE GODS. WHEN I WAS A CHILD, A PRIESTESS OF IOUN SPOKE A PROPHECY OF MY FUTURE. SHE SAID I WOULD END AS HONOURABLY AS ANY DRAGONBORN IN HISTORY. I DEVOTED MY LIFE TO LIVING THIS PROPHECY. I BECAME A BATTLE CLERIC AND A LEADER OF MEN IN BATTLE. I STUDIED HISTORY AND THE ARCANE ARTS. I TOOK GREAT PRIDE IN MY ACCOMPLISHMENTS SEEKING PERFECTION AND HONOUR IN EVERY UNDERTAKING. UNTIL ONE DAY ON THE BATTLEFIELD I MET WITH THE RAVEN QUEEN - THE DEITY OF DEATH HERSELF. AS I LAY ON THE GROUND FACING IMMINENT DEATH I ASKED, ‘BUT WHAT ABOUT THE PROPHECY?’ KNOWING FULL WELL I HAD FALLEN SHORT. ‘YOU ARE FOOLISH AND I DON’T LIKE YOUR HUBRIS,’ SHE REPLIED. ‘NO-ONE DRAGONBORN OR OTHERWISE, FACES DEATH WITH MORE HONOUR THAN ANOTHER. YOU ARE ALL EQUAL IN MY EYES. NOW STOP THIS SHOWING OFF AND FIND A HUMBLE WAY TO LIVE BEFORE I TAKE YOUR LIFE AWAY.’ I’VE BEEN A WANDERING SCHOLAR EVER SINCE.”
A MOMENT OF TANGENCY FREYJA PHILLIPS VIOLIN: JULIA HILL
IF TWO LINES ARE TRULY PARALLEL, IT MEANS THEY'LL NEVER ACTUALLY MEET. IF TWO LINES MEET ONCE BUT NEVER AGAIN, THEY MEET AT A POINT OF TANGENCY. THIS PIECE IS CAPTURING BOTH THE PANG OF SUCH A MISSED CONNECTION AND THE STRUGGLE TO REMAIN IN CONTACT.
WHAT REALLY MATTERS? HANNAH CHEETHAM SOPRANO: SHANNA GOH (SOLOIST), AYLISH RYAN ALTO: ERIN POWER, JEMMA WEST, MONICA RUGGIERO TENOR: JACKSON MIUR, LIAM JACKSON BARITONE: DALLAS TIPPET, LOGAN TINNEY
AMIDST THE TRIALS & WINS THE REASON WHY WE LIVE CAN BECOME FADED OR LOST. ‘WHAT REALLY MATTERS’ IS AN ATTEMPT TO CONTEMPLATE WHAT MATTERS MOST IN LIFE. WHEN I WROTE THIS PIECE, I WANTED TO WRITE SOMETHING THAT WOULD CAUSE LISTENERS TO THINK & PERHAPS RE-ALIGN PERSPECTIVE TO WHAT IS IMPORTANT IN LIFE. THIS IS WHEN I HAD THE THOUGHT “WHAT REALLY MATTERS?”, SHAPING THE REMAINDER OF THE SONG.
RUNNING (ART MIX) SAMUEL CARRICK ‘RUNNING’ IS A RECONSTITUTED VERSION OF CAROLINE POLACHEK’S SONG ‘DOOR’ FROM HER 2019 ALBUM PANG. THE SONG SAMPLES AN ACOUSTIC VERSION OF THE SONG PERFORMED AT 2021 USC FEMFEST. THE SONG EXPLORES SYNTH AESTHETICS REMINISCENT OF PC MUSIC ARTISTS, WITH SOME REFERENCES TO DREAM-POP AND HOUSE MUSIC. THE VISUALS WERE PRODUCED BY MYSELF AND MY GOOD FRIEND SETH SUFFELL.
WARNING: THIS VIDEO MAY POTENTIALLY TRIGGER SEIZURES FOR PEOPLE WITH PHOTOSENSITIVE EPILEPSY. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
BOSSA BOP ZI HUI CHEN CLARINET: ASH STILLER ALTO SAX: ANGUS CAMPBELL DRUM KIT: WILLOW GILES PIANO: BENJAMIN TAN
BOSSA BOP IS A PIECE THAT LOOSELY COMBINES ELEMENTS OF BOSSA NOVA AND BEBOP, HENCE THE NAME OF THE PIECE. THE CREATION OF THIS PIECE BEGAN AS AN EXPERIMENTATION ON THE HARMONY OF BOSSA NOVA WHICH THEN EVOLVED INTO WRITING SOLOS THAT BEHAVED LIKE BEBOP MELODIES. SOMETIMES A PIECE OF MUSIC DOESN’T HAVE A DEEPER MEANING AND JUST EXISTS FOR A GOOD TIME, LIKE IN THE CASE OF BOSSA BOP.
A VIOLIN'S LAMENT SHELBY DEVENISH VIOLIN: JULIA HILL
MUSIC IS SUCH AN INCREDIBLE WAY TO EXPRESS EMOTIONS AND THIS HAS ALWAYS BEEN SOMETHING THAT HAS DRAWN ME TO MUSIC. IN MY WORK, I WANTED TO IMAGINE AS IF THE INSTRUMENT WAS ACTUALLY FEELING THE EMOTION BEING PORTRAYED. I HOPED TO CREATE A WORK THAT SEEMED AS IF THE VIOLIN WAS ACTUALLY MOURNING AND FEELING SUCH A STRONG SENSE OF SORROW, AND I WANTED THIS LAMENT TO SHOW A SENSE OF PAIN AND ANGUISH FROM THE VIOLIN’S PERSPECTIVE.
OCCULTA MIRACULUM (THE HIDDEN MIRACLE)
RADITHYA BUDI THEOMARGA VIOLINS: JULIA HILL, JULIA ZHU VIOLA: SOPHIA MACKSON CELLO: IMOGEN FERDINANDO DOUBLE BASS: JUSTIN TODD FLUTE: BRADEN SIMM PIANO: LING LUC CAJON: STEVEN BRYER TIMPANI: WILLOW GILES VIBRAPHONE: AIDEN ERICKSSON CONDUCTOR : DANIEL KIRAKOVSKI
AS WE EXIST IN THIS WORLD, EVEN THOUGH WE ARE LIVING TO OUR FULLEST EVERY DAY, THERE IS STILL SOME DISSATISFACTION LEFT IN OUR SOULS. THIS IS BECAUSE WE DO NOT SEE THE HIDDEN MIRACLE IN OUR LIVES. THIS PIECE WILL ALLOW EVERYONE TO FEEL THE URGE TO SEARCH FOR THE HIDDEN MIRACLES THEY NEVER FOUND UNTIL NOW.