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March Newsletter
Artistic Director
Welcome from the Festival Director, Matthew Hindson.
ISCM President
Message from ISCM President, John Davis.
Ensemble News
Ensemble Offspring, festival ensemble in residence.
ABC Classic FM News
Have you ever dreamt of a radio station that would bring you the latest contemporary art music all day every day?
Venue News
Riverside Theatres, Parramatta
Riverside is pleased to welcome back the Aurora Festival ...
Sydney Conservatorium
Sydney Conservatorium of Music is home to many talented professional musicians of tomorrow...
Festival Website
Check out the festival website for complete program details.
www.worldnewmusicdays.com.au
2010 ISCM World New Music Days is presented by:
Aurora Festival
Sydney Conservatorium
Campbelltown Arts Centre
Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre
Blacktown Arts Centre
ABC Classic FM
Australian Music Centre
Supported by:
Australia Council for the Arts
Arts NSW
Ars Musica Australis
New Music Network |
This ISCM e-newsletter is compiled for a range of readers with an interest in the 2010 ISCM World New Music Days festival in Sydney, Australia, being held for the first time in ISCM’s 88 year history in the Southern Hemisphere.
This festival will engage the interest of a broad audience, locally here in Sydney, around Australia and our region, and further afield, internationally. This newsletter highlights various aspects of the festival for these diverse audiences, the composers, the performers, the venues, and the rest, all of which bring a special flavour to what will unfold in Sydney from 30 April to the 9 May 2010.
From the Artistic Director
Welcome to the inaugural newsletter outlining the activities and preparations for the 2010 ISCM World New Music Days, to be held across Sydney from 30 April to 9 May, 2010.
The ISCM World New Music Days is regarded as the world's most prestigious contemporary music festival, and this year will be the first time it's been held in the Southern Hemisphere since the first festival in 1922.
This will be one of the biggest new music festivals held in Australia. The majority of the music has been written in the last five years. Composers are being represented from Australia, NZ, Europe, North and South America, as well as Asia. This is our chance to hear tomorrow's masterpieces, today. It's extremely exciting for all involved, and we hope for you as well.
Matthew Hindson, AM
Artistic Director
From the ISCM President
ISCM festivals have always represented a significant landmark in the world of contemporary music. Since the ISCM’s formation in 1922, the number of important works premiered in ISCM festivals over the years forms an impressive list, with many works that have gone on to enjoy a permanent place in the repertoire.
My first experience of an ISCM festival was in Copenhagen in 1996, which really opened my eyes to this wonderful international network of those engaged in the promotion of contemporary music. Of course I had been aware of ISCM for many years as a student of piano and of composition, but had little understanding of what it was. Since then I have attended 11 festivals, and greatly enjoyed the vast array of music presented, the strong sense of collegiality amongst the delegates, and the special characteristics that each festival has, generally determined by its location in the world, and the approach taken by the festival hosts in presenting a rich and varied program of works from around the world.
I have been honoured to serve on the ISCM Executive Committee, being first elected in 1997 at the festival in Korea, a festival which was very special to me, being only the second ISCM festival to be held in Asia (the first being Hong Kong in 1988). Since then, there have been festivals in Yokohama (2001), and Hong Kong (twice, in 2002 and 2007), and these festivals have each brought a new perspective for ISCM, presenting a different flavour to the world of contemporary music.
And this festival too, in Sydney in 2010, brings its own special flavour. The hosting of the ISCM WNMD by the Aurora Festival, and the close collaborations between the venues, the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and ABC Classic FM, is an astounding achievement, given the short preparation time of only 18 months, and given the mammoth task of preparing a program of 24 concerts, and radio broadcasts of concerts, sound installations, and radiophonic works.
As the current President of ISCM, I am particularly proud that the festival is being presented in my home town, and know that the organisers, the venues, the performers, and all associated with the festival, have worked hard to ensure that the festival will provide another special flavour in the history of ISCM festivals.
We look forward to welcoming you to Sydney!
John Davis
President, ISCM Executive Committee
CEO, Australian Music Centre
Ensemble News
by Damien Ricketson & Claire Edwardes, Artistic Directors,
Ensemble Offspring
Ensemble Offspring is delighted to be Ensemble-in-residence at this year’s ISCM World New Music Days. After pouring through countless scores and recordings, we are keen to get our teeth into three programs of entirely new and challenging repertoire and divulge the latest and best music on offer from around the world.
Ensemble Offspring has a fifteen-year history of presenting new and adventurous music in Sydney and Australia. During this time, the ensemble has developed a reputation for its original programming and collaborations, the highest quality performances and characteristic audience engagement. Ensemble Offspring pursues an agenda of actively shaping the music of our future.
Part of the ensemble’s mission has been to keep Australian audiences abreast of the latest musical developments from around the world. We have never, however, presented so much in such a short period of time – 19 works in total! With three programs in four days, Sydney audiences will be in for a whirlwind international tour with twenty works from almost every corner of the globe.
Our first program, The World in Sydney (May 3 8pm, Sydney Conservatorium) is a meaty program of chamber music. The virtuosic masterpiece Talea, by the late spectralist Gerard Grisey, is presented together with new offerings from Canada, Denmark and New Zealand alongside an intricate work written for the ensemble, by Australian Bruce Crossman that explores the calligraphic tradition in sound.
The following night in A Wealth of Sound (May 4 5pm, Eugene Goosens Hall), the ensemble’s acoustic sounds will be augmented with the latest in electronic music. With works originating from Australia, Greece, Korea and Denmark, we will take a global snapshot of how live performer and computer can be molded into a beautiful and dynamic unit.
In our final contribution to the festival, The Young and the Restless (May 6 1pm, Riverside Theatres, Parramatta), we unearth the latest on offer from composers under 30 with representatives from Sweden, Russia, South Africa, Greece, Thailand and Australia. Pitted against Music in Fifths, an early work from the then young Philip Glass, we challenge the young composers of today to continue questioning contemporary musical traditions and lead music in new and wonderful directions in the future.
24-hour Festival Digital
Radio Station
by Stephen Adams, Producer, Australian Music Unit, ABC Classic FM
Have you ever dreamt of a radio station that would bring you the latest contemporary art music all day every day? During this year’s ISCM World New Music days that’s exactly what ABC Classic FM plans to create.
As Australia’s national fine music broadcaster and a long-time supporter and broadcaster of contemporary art music, ABC Classic FM is proud to be the key media partner for the ISCM 2010 World New Music Days. We’ve scheduled recordings and broadcasts of most of the festival concerts across venues from outer western Sydney to our own Eugene Goossens Hall at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Ultimo Centre.
A special feature of our coverage of the World New Music Days festival will be our dedicated festival digital radio station ABC_ISCMNewMusic. Digital radio is relatively new to Australia, having been launched only last year, but already the sales of digital radios have passed the 100,000 mark. A number of new digital-only radio stations have been created to take advantage of the new broadcast space available with the disappearance of the restrictions of band-width. For 12 days during and after the festival (starting Tuesday 4 May) you’ll be able to tune in to the World New Music Days 24-7 on digital radio’s ABC_ISCMNewMusic.
And if you’re listening from outside Australia, you’ll be able to listen to the same digital broadcasts on our festival mini-site at www.abc.net.au/classic/iscm2010 (this page will be launching 10 days before the festival). Our special festival mini-website will
present on-demand audio and easy (pop-up player) access to the ABC_ISCMNewMusic stream. The site will also feature our broadcast diary, festival photo gallery, video stories, audio-on-demand features and links to festival social media coverage.
So during the ISCM World New Music Days you really will be able to be in two places at once to catch those concerts you couldn’t make it to in person. And you’ll be able to listen again to some favourite festival moments.
Venue News
Riverside Theatres, Parramatta
Located on the banks of the beautiful Parramatta River, Riverside Theatres present the best of Australian theatre, dance, comedy and music to audiences across Sydney. With over 700 performances every year, Riverside brings audiences an annual performance season, music concerts, education shows, dance development programmes and workshops in the arts for people with disabilities. Riverside is easily accessed by train, road or ferry and with a prime location in the heart of Parramatta, you can make a day of it when you visit us.
Riverside is pleased to welcome back the Aurora Festival presenting Ensemble Offspring – The Young and the Restless, who will perform cutting-edge works from around the world written by composers under the age of 35, with a contrasting work written by Philip Glass when he was once a young composer. Join us on Thursday 6th May at 1pm for this fabulous concert. To book, phone the Riverside box office on 02 8839 3399 or visit www.riversideparramatta.com.au
. We look forward to seeing you at Riverside Theatres very soon!
Sydney Conservatorium of Music
Widely respected as one of Australasia’s most comprehensive institutions for musical studies, the Sydney Conservatorium of Music is home to many talented professional musicians of tomorrow. Students and staff will be performing in six concerts during the 2010 ISCM World New Music Days.
Uniquely placed in the centre of the city, adjacent to the Royal Botanic Gardens and close to the Sydney Opera House, the Sydney Conservatorium of Music combines nearly 100 years of musical heritage with several modern venues.
On Friday 30 April, the Con’s Modern Music Ensemble will present the festival opening concert. Conducted by Daryl Pratt it will be an evening with an explosive blend of virtuosity, tragedy, farce and soul-searing emotions. Daryl’s broad performance background has an emphasis in contemporary classical music and jazz and he has performed as a percussionist with San Diego Symphony Orchestra and Sydney Symphony. No stranger to performing on a world stage, the Modern Music Ensemble are to represent Australia at the Shanghai World Expo in July.
The Con is also showcasing two saxophone related concerts- The Sax Project on Monday 3 May with the Sydney Conservatorium Saxophone Orchestra and Well Matched on Wednesday 5 May featuring the MATCH Percussion duo and Michael Duke.
As a leading Australian saxophonist and Chair of Woodwind Studies at The Con, Michael Duke is enthusiastic about the upcoming concerts, “the large bulk of original repertoire for saxophone was written in the 20th and 21st century, so you could argue that the instrument is the perfect vehicle for contemporary music…From solo saxophone, saxophone and electronics, saxophone and percussion, quartet sextet and large ensemble you will hear the gamut of possibilities and cutting edge composition from across the globe.”
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