Kia ora koutou katoa

We have dedicated this edition of Dawn Chorus to the ongoing and strong relationships that New Zealand School of Music—Te Kōkī holds with our Chinese colleagues throughout the world. To celebrate this ongoing relationship, NZSM will be joining forces once again with Zhejiang Conservatory in Hangzhou and the Confucius Institute for the upcoming China Crossing 2019. Read on to hear more about this stunning event, its genesis and how to register to attend.

Jack Body was an amazing conduit and advocate in the formation of our Chinese networks, and this month we will celebrate this vivacious man and the contribution he made to composition, and our Asia/Pacific relations with the announcement of a Memorial Fund in his honor. Learn more below about this prominent figure and how you can be a part of his legacy by supporting future composers in his memory.

Very soon, some of our students are traveling to China on exchange and they will be commenting on some of the things they are excited about, and how this inter-cultural and inter-musical exchange will expand their horizons. 

China Crossing 2019

One of Jack Body’s closest cultural connections was with China. Jack spent much of his life traveling through China, researching the music of ethnic minorities in the Yunnan province. The musical traditions he encountered there resonate through his compositions, and he formed many close friendships with composers and performers throughout China. One of Jack’s PhD students, Professor Shen Nalin, is now a lecturer of composition at Zhejiang Conservatory in Hangzhou, China, and he has established a series of musical exchanges and interactions with staff and students from the NZSM, called ‘China Crossing’. This is the third installment of the popular China Crossing series, which will feature traditional Chinese music alongside contemporary compositions for guzheng.

This collaborative event will bring Victoria University-based Confucius Institute alongside NZSM and once again affirm the ties we have with China, inspired by Jack Body. The event will feature traditional Chinese instruments being brought with the performers from Hangzhou, and compositions from several contemporary composers. It is with great honor that we once again celebrate these strong, ongoing links and that we continue to nurture our up and coming musicians and composers, as you will see with some of our students traveling to the Zhejiang Conservatory very soon. 

To book tickets go to the Eventbrite link here

Jack Body Memorial Launch 

This week NZSM, with the help of the Victoria Foundation, is gearing up to celebrate a legend and his legacy by initiating a fund that will continue the work that was a passion over Jack's lifetime. The fund commemorating his life is to be officially launched later this week. Michael Norris has shared some words about Jack and his legacy below. 

JACK BODY MEMORIAL FUND LAUNCH

Assoc. Prof. Jack Body established a Composer-in-Residence scheme at the New Zealand School of Music (NZSM) in 2004, which was one of only two annual composer residencies in New Zealand. To date, fifteen composers have been appointed, six of whom returned to New Zealand after living abroad specifically to take up the residency. All of the successful applicants have been provided with many professional development opportunities, including engagement with the performers, composers, and students of NZSM, as well as opportunities for performance by Wellington-based ensembles and opportunities for publishing by Wellington-based music publishers. Also, all residents were offered the use of the former home of Douglas Lilburn in Thorndon for a nominal rent.

Between 2004–16, the residency was co-funded by philanthropist Dr. Jack C. Richards and Creative New Zealand. In 2018, Dr. Richards completed his twelve-year funding tranche, seeking to invest in other areas of the arts. Since that time, the residency has relied on charitable trust funding from the Stout Trust and the Lilburn Trust. 

To date, the residency has resulted in over fifty major new works, ranging from operas, orchestral works, jazz ensemble works and film scores, to works involving musical robots, works for taonga puoro and experimental music theatre pieces. One of the most exciting aspects of the residency is how most of the residents have taken the opportunity to initiate collaborative projects with other Wellington-based artists, including performers, ensembles, orchestras, engineers, and filmmakers, as well as with the other artist residencies based in Thorndon at the Rita Angus Cottage and Randall Cottage.

The list of Composers-in-Residence to date is:

2004–5               James Gardner

2005–6               Dame Gillian Whitehead

2006–7               Lyell Cresswell

2007–8               Ross Harris

2008–9               Helen Bowater

2009–10             John Rae

2010–11             Chris Gendall

2011–12             Juliet Palmer

2012–13             David Downes

2013–14             Jeroen Speak

2014–15             David Long

2015–16             John Elmsly

2016–17             Alison Isadora

2017–18             Rob Thorne

2018–19             Antonia Barnett-McIntosh

2019–20             Salina Fisher

The Jack Body Memorial Fund seeks to ensure a permanent future for the residency. Over the next 3–4 years, we aim to raise an endowed fund which will help to cover the income of incoming recipients. 

If you too would like to support this residency, and the legacy of the man himself, please contact Jill Robinson at jill.robinson@vuw.ac.nz at the Victoria University of Wellington Foundation. A website will be going live after the official launch this week and will come out in the next edition of Dawn Chorus. 

Image credit: Robert Catto, robertcatto.com

EVENTS

Aotearoa Audio Arts 2019

When: Friday 8 November 2019

Where: Wellington Museum, Flux

Tickets: $20.00—book here

Quadraphonics is an evening of four sound-based artworks by artists and electronic musicians traveling at the outer limits of contemporary sonics. Hanno Leichtmann (Berlin) celebrates the drum kit in his installation “skin, wood, traps” and with “SY-4”, a performance featuring the rare Pearl SY-1 drum machine. Sally Ann McIntyre (Dunedin/Melbourne), makes contact with ‘imagined pasts and possible futures’ using liminal and obsolete technologies, creating ‘an echoic listening space where there are only variations without originals’. Wellington residents Thomas Voyce (Rhombus Productions) and Amy Jean Barnett (2019–2020 Toi Pōneke/NZSM Sound Artist in Residence) individually attune to human and non-human soundscapes via the original surround-sound medium. Four-channel sound, four artists, four auditory imaginations. Quadraphonics.

Coming Soon......

Feel like a night at the Roxy? Save the date for our black-tie event
When: 13 November   Ticket sales coming soon!

This Film Composers' showcase will give you the opportunity to walk the red carpet for a film screening at the Roxy Cinema.  Short films and/or excerpts of films will be accompanied by a small live orchestra, so come along and experience this exciting visual and auditory movie and a show.

NZSM STUDENTS ON EXCHANGE 

We asked our exchange students about their upcoming travel to China. Here are their responses

Top from left: Ellen Murfitt, Leah Thomas Bottom from left: Sarah Rathbun, Devyn Fowles, Sullivan van der Hoeven and Grant Baker.

Photo credit: Emma Hall-Philips

Unfortunately we were unable to get profiles from Sarah and Leah, but we wish them well with their travels, and will update you on their experience when they return!

OTHER EVENTS COMING UP IN NOVEMBER 2019

Read more here about the award-winning, Wellington-based string quartet that will be performing at the Kristallnacht commemorative concert at Beth El Synagogue.

SCHOLARSHIPS

Deane Music Scholarship—closing soon!

Study Area(s): Music

Scholarship Level: School leaver / 1st year

Closing Date(s): 31 October

Tenure: Up to three years, subject to maintaining a B average GPA

Award for: Māori students; Pasifika students; Students facing financial hardship

Number offered: One

Value: $40,000. See further details here.

HOT OF THE PRESS

NZSM PhD candidates, Elyse Dalabakis and Xi Liu, have launched their PhD research onto the international stage

One of the major purposes of the International Viola Society is to promote ever-increasing standards of excellence in viola performance through the annual congresses and associated competitions. The International Viola Congress has been running since 1973 and has been hosted twice in Wellington. The 44th International Viola Congress was held in Wellington in 2017 and was co-hosted by Professor Donald Maurice and Associate Professor Gillian Ansell and managed by Elyse Dalabakis. The first IVC in Wellington was hosted by Donald Maurice in 2001 and was the first-ever IVC to be held in the southern hemisphere.

Elyse Dalabakis presented her Ph.D. research on modern Greek composer Dimitris Dragatakis (1914–2001) and his Concerto for Viola. Interestingly, Artur Paciorkiewicz, the violist who premiered the concerto in 1993, was present for the lecture and was invited to speak about performing the concerto and working with Dragatakis—a component which made her lecture stand out during the week. The premiere recording from 1993 was unearthed from the Dragatakis archive only earlier this year. During her presentation, she played the recording from the premiere performance—a world premiere in itself as the work had not been heard for 26 years. Violists, professors, and educators in attendance described her lecture as a ‘Congress highlight and fascinating’.

SUPPORT THE MUSICIANS, COMPOSERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE FUTURE

For some of New Zealand's most talented musicians, the only thing that stands in the way of their dreams is the lack of funds to make them real. For further information on how you can provide support for students at the New Zealand School of Music, please contact either: