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Reopening of the SOH concert hall with SSO

What a big week it has been performing five concerts of Barton’s Of The Earth and Mahler 2 with Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Though I have performed at SOH a handful of times over the last decade, this was my first performance with SSO, and how fortunate to be there for the reopening of the Sydney Opera House concert hall. Read more about the renovations here, and about the concert here.

  • BR: Brent Grapes, David Elton, Anthony Heinrichs, Greg Flynn, Nicholas Corkeron
    FR: Fletcher Cox, Dominic Longhurst, Alfie Carslake, David Johnson, LT
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Young Mannheim Symphonists: National Winter Academy

The Australian Romantic and Classical Orchestra’s youth orchestra Young Mannheim Symphonists met last week for the 2022 National Winter Academy, held in Sydney. I had a wonderful week tutoring trumpet, and learned a lot too about other period instruments. I gave a presentation on the history of trumpet and found a wonderful video that explains the crossover from natural trumpets to valved, and how cornets first made their way in to orchestral music.

  • LT, Toby Rands, Mario Dobernig (MD), Zac Bonham, Harry Macpherson, Cooper Rands
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Concert Review: Fire Line Suite

Duo Eclettico: From the Forest

An incredible review of Duo Eclettico’s recent concert ‘From the Forest’ by Julie McErlain.

Excerpt about Trewartha’s Fire Line Suite: “High single notes on the piano introduced spaced bare intervals, calm and airy in the stillness of a hot summer’s night. Against a red and gold lit background, Kenealy’s glorious radiant and incandescent tone set the warmth of the scene, with controlled non-pitched breathing effects complementing the composer’s landscape. Drive and energy developed as the piano built more urgent tremolos under a broad strong 5-time melody, as the Duo skilfully built rising and falling momentum in colourful sound waves. Agitation, fear and scampering rhythmic steps cleverly portrayed the flight of living creatures from fire and weather, as carefully spaced imitative bush cries were sorrowfully heard. More piercing high saxophone trills and downward glissandos above thunderous low clusters on the piano increased our feeling of tragedy in Heat. In a slow and gentle tonal and harmonic conclusion, clear rhythmic steps symbolised forward moving life and hope, with a fine sonic dimension added as Kenealy turned his instrument around, across and into the grand piano’s strings, producing surreal and unique echoes and resonant overtones. Magical. New tonalities, new life. A super piece, at times illustrative but musically powerful and spiritually connecting.”

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The Switch-On Warm Up

This year I’ve been using a warm-up that I wrote out called The Switch-On. It covers everything that I need to stay in shape while I’m juggling a playing career with teaching, composing, conducting FYCB, and part-time study. Colleagues have also found this useful for themselves and their students, so I thought I’d share it as a free resource HERE

Notes:

  • I often slur No. 1: focus on efficient air, minimal pressure, slamming valves completely in time
  • Repeat No. 3 8va
  • No. 4 is played 3 times: slow with air attacks (no slurs), gently slurred, then fast soft staccato
  • No. 5 completely in time, all about the air connection, pause on top notes
  • No. 6 play twice: slurred, then legato or staccato tongue

Let me know how you go!

Louisa x

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Australian Premieres

On the 1st of April 2022 Footscray-Yarraville City Band made performances of two Australian premieres: Where She Sings Freely composed by Lucy Pankhurst set to a poem by Clara Price, and Flight composed by myself back in 2018. Here’s more about the concert, and the recording of Flight below.

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Horn & Piano duet ‘Instinct’ premiered in Wonthaggi

Commissioned and premiered by Phoebe Smithies on french horn with Peter de Jager on piano, the two performed with their ensemble Salon Project as part of the concert Music, She Wrote 2.0 hosted by Prom Recitals at Wonthaggi Union Community Arts Centre. Instinct takes inspiration from the incredible occurrence that is long-distance bird migration. Having evolved over thousands of years, long-distance bird migration is triggered by a combination of genetic predisposition, food, temperature, and day length. To find their way halfway round the world, birds are thought to use three types of compasses: sun, star, and magnetic. These three elements inform the musical themes in this work.

Along with Instinct they performed works by five other women composers: Amy Beach, Nadia Boulanger, Lucija Garutha, Elena Kats-Chernin and Fanny Mendelssohn. Salon Project posted, “We received a very warm welcome and the audience seemed to really enjoy our concert. We loved meeting the audience after the concert – what a lovely community of music lovers in prom country!”