Warrangu River Story by DOBBY

Dobby performing Warrangu River Story,
at the Art Gallery of NSW, 13 June 2022.
Photo by Tom Worthington CC BY

Warrangu River Story by the performer Dobby, on Sunday night was a remarkable event. We lined up outside the Art Gallery of NSW not quite knowing what to expect. 

This was a very different venue to the last performance I attended by the rapper, at the Yaama Ngunna Baaka Corroboree Festival, in far western NSW in 2019. That was in a dry sand circle, during a drought, with a fire, and stars overhead. This performance was very different: in the Entrance Court of an art gallery with uniformed staff, and Champaign. A small stage had been built half way down the hall, with indigenous artworks about the western rivers on the wall behind ("Down river" by Uncle Badger Bates). The wall had been treated with florescent paint, so that an animated pattern moved along the rivers depicted. There was a small ensemble. 

There was less rap music than I was expecting, not as loud or as raw. This was reminiscent of David Fanshawe's African Sanctus, blending traditions of indigenous, western classical, and rapping. Recordings of elders, and bird song, were incorporated. 

The audience, like one at a classical concert, was very polite and passive, sitting still and applauding at the right places. The music deserved more active participation from the audience. But I noticed one young teenager in the front row, who was vibrating with excitement, and resisting a strong urge to get up and dance. Perhaps more dance could be incorporated into the work.

At the previous performance by Dobby, one act was cancelled, so he improvised rapping with members of the audience. This showed a natural talent for interacting with people, which I suggest could be incorporated into further performces.

Warrangu River Story could become a very popular multimedia work on streaming services, as well as for live performance. I suggest it could be pitched to Netflix as like "Hannah Gadsby's Nanette". 

Brisbane Jazz Club

Had a delightful night 28 May at the Brisbane Jazz Club with Steph Taylor and Jazz Australis. The highlight was the duet with Tamara O' Callaghan. The venue is on the banks of the Brisbane river with a panoramic view of the city skyline behind the performers. Book a table at the front, where you can (almost) reach out and touch the performers. The Brisbane Jazz Club is not for profit, inexpensive and a good night out.

Mendelssohn Meets Mechatronics

Greetings from the UTS Faculty of Engineering and IT Building in Sydney, where the Australia Piano Quartet is performing "Mendelssohn Meets Mechatronics". This is just outside the Penny Lane Bar and Cafe in the atrium of the building, with Broadway out the window.

For the second work two of the performers were hooked up to heart rate monitors (using Arduino computers) the output then set the tempo for the performers of Andrew Batt-Rawden's work Catharsis. The heartbeats of the performers where shown on a monitor, which was distracting, especially when one got down to 9.5 beats per minute (I suspect a fault in the equipment).

Through the performances a robot painted pictures with spray paint. This was distracting and did not be related to the works being played. Also the Dean Ian Burnett explained that the building has green lights outside powered by renewable energy.

The evening ended with a conventional rendering of
Mendelssohn’s stunning Piano Quartet Op.3, which was all the better for a lack of gimmicky gadgets.

Boutique Brewery Opens at ANU in Canberra

The Wig and Pen (W&P) Boutique Brewery has reopened in the foyer of the Australian National University School of Music, after some controversy. The W&P had to relocate from Civic (a few hundred metres away from the new location) due to redevelopment of the site. The new locaiton is in what was the "green room" of Llewellyn Hall, where musicians prepared for their performance.

One of the distinctive doors from the old W&P has been retained at the new location, but the bar currently is a little lacking in atmosphere, it is just one big square room.  This should improve with the accretion of posters on the walls advertising musical performances.

The W&P's award winning beer is on tap. I had an excellent low alcohol beer. I suggest W&P investigate a 0.5% " non-alcoholic beer. This could be popular with the thousands of nearby public servants, who are being discouraged from drinking at lunch time, as well as those who avoid acholocol for cultuyral and health reasons.

The selection of food on offer at W&P is limited at present (schnitzels, fish and burgers). AI had a hamburger and chips, which arrived promptly and was good. The conversation was about solar panel monitoring using Linux computers and the application of quantum physics to the functioning o0f the human brain (as befits a university pub).

The new W&P is well worth a visit.

Live Coding Performance of Music

The second strangest musical performance I have been to in the last few days was a "Live Coding Visualisation" by Arrian Purcell at ANU in Canberra. The performer sat a computer keyboard and typed in computer code which produced music. While listening to the music we could see the code on screen along with a visualisation.

One performance sounded to me like Philip Glass, mixed with the theme from Peanuts and played by Richard Rodney Bennett. The second started like  Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 accompanied by a modem, then became the theme for a TV police drama set in the Hotel California. But Then I don't know much about music. ;-)

Seeing the computer code created on screen did not help much. An icon based interface, with no text might be more interesting. Also as with a piano performance I wanted to see the performers hands on the keyboard.

ps: The strangest performance I have been to recently was an officer cadent at ADFA, in camouflage uniform, playing a classical tune on a cello.

Second Sunday Coffee Concert at Belconnen Arts Centre

Today's free Second Sunday Coffee Concert at Belconnen Arts Centre in Canberra was by The Bison Embassy. This featured indie-folk pop with three vocalists, electric piano, flute, ukelele and percussion (unusual combination but it worked). The arts centre provides a pleasant place to sit, listen to music, look out on the lake and have a coffee (but you have to get espresso before the concert, due to the noise).

Poems to Music Concert

The performers seemed be having as much fun as the audience at the Andrew Rumsey and friends ‘Poems to Music’ Concert in Canberra last night. Pianist, Andrew Rumsey, with Matt Withers (guitar), Ciaran Edwards-McKeown (guitar), James Larsen (cello) and Christopher Bottomley (piano) and others recited poems and performed short music works. The highlight was three at the keyboard for the encore.

The Wesley Music Centre had a family atmosphere, with free cake and coffee at interval. One problem with the venue is that the intimate performance room is a little too "live" (despite the report from KDVL Acoustic Consultants), with the sound of the audience turning pages to keep up with the many works annoyingly audible throughout the evening. Perhaps printed programs should be done away with and the program (and in this case the words of the poems) projected on the wall above the performers.

More than the SUMS of their Parts

The Sydney University Musical Society (SUMS) performed Vivaldi Magnificat last night in the Hunter Baillie Church Annandale, in Sydney’s inner west. The old sandstone church, with the choir in academic gowns looked like a scene out of an Inspector Morse episode. An Australian touch was added by the crickets chirping from somewhere in the church roof.

Music for iPad

Ensemble Metatone will give a free performance 6pm this evening at the Canberra Museum and Art Gallery. The group features the use of  iPad-based musical instruments and traditional percussion. See the video of a performance. Charles Martin developed the iPad-based instruments and is a compute4r science PhD Student at the Australian National University.

Australian Youth Orchestra Concerts in Canberra on Saturday

Greetings from Llewellyn Hall at the Australian National University in Canberra, where the Australian Youth Orchestra (AYO) are giving a concert as part of the AYO National Music Camp. There are further concerts Friday (Composition including a work by Sally Greenaway 5:30pm and Brass Ensemble 8pm) .  and Saturday Orchestral Concerts 4:30pm and 8pm. The Saturday afternoon concert will be recorded for broadcast on ABC Classic FM on 8pm 20  January 2014. The concerts are free, but a donation at the door would be appreciated.

Saturday 18 January, 2014

4:30pm CONCERT

MOZART Symphony No. 31 in D major Paris 
PHILIP JAMESON Dunsinane
BRAHMS Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73 

8:00pm  CONCERT 2 

BEETHOVEN The Creatures of Prometheus Op. 43: excerpts
RACHMANINOFF Symphony in D minor, Youth                                            
STRAVINSKY Petrushka (1911) 

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Good Clean Fun

Last night I attended the opening of the musical comedy "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" (DRS) at Theater Royal in Sydney. The show doesn't break any new ground, being a standard Broadway musical (with some routines sounding very familiar). But you don't go to such a show for cutting edge social commentary, you go for a good time, which DRS provides. This would make a good night out for the bowls club.

Tony Sheldon as Lawrence Jameson provides a suitably sophisticated con-man, talking wealthy American women out of their fortunes on the French Riviera. Matt Hetherington (as young con-man Freddy Benson) can belt out a tune, but struggles with the acting. Anne Wood (as wealthy widow Muriel Eubanks) steals the show with her asides to the audience. Katrina Retallick and Amy Lehpamer do not appear to be able to break out of the confines of their stereotypical roles, but giving acceptable performances.

John Wood provides a familiar face, but struggles with his French accent as corrupt policemen Andre Thibault (even if it is meant to be an American interpretation of a French accent). Wood warmed up and provided a fine comedic performance later in the show, when he has more to do.

Michael Hankin's set design is a little sparse for a Broadway style musical, but makes imaginative use of the few props (such as a dance scene with the potted palms). The scene changes run smoothly, unlike some musicals which have complex machinery, more like an episode of "transformers".

David Yazbek's musical numbers are all good, but sound a little too familiar, as if every hit Musial ever made was run through a computer program and reassembled. Musical Director, Guy Simpson, gets the most out of the material with the small cast and band of musicians sounding much more numerous than they are.

Unlike many musicals, the show has a logical and intelligible plot, which helps.  But Jeffrey Lane's book is a little wordy (this is not My Fair Lady).

Similarity in Music for SG1 and Classical Destinations

Listening to the theme music for the TV series "Classical Destinations", (credited to Paul Terracini), it reminded me of that from Stargate SG1 by Joel Goldsmith. Compare the passage nine seconds into the Classical Destinations theme, with SG1 at nineteen seconds.

Cotton Club Sydney

Greetings from the recreated Cotton Club Sydney with The Fabulous Jazz Babies in the former St Laurence School Hall (now the Actors College of Theatre & Television) in central Sydney, near central station. For the evening,  Jillian Bonham's Music Practice class of 2013 demonstrated their musical talents before a live audience with a three piece band. Some of the audience, as well as the performers, got into the spirit of things by dressing in early 20th Century costume. I simply swapped the cravat for a black bow tie on my Toulouse-Lautrec outfit. It was interesting how few people seemed to notice someone walking through Sydney with top hat and cane. The event was in aid of  St Laurence House.

Tea in The Church Hall

Greetings from the Church Hall of the Hunter Baillie Church in Annandale, Sydney, where a "Heritage Festival" is being held. There is tea and scones and a display of historic photos. The photo is courtesy of Councilor Kogoy. Marghanita Da Cruz, is also conducting a history walk of the area.

Next Sunday, 26 May, 2013 3.00 pm, Roger Woodward will give a concert in the church.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Epidamnus

The New Theatre's current production of "The Venetian Twins" by Nick Enright and Terence Clarke is a little bit classical, a little Broadway musical and a lot Christmas pantomime. I found it best to ignore the origins of the work in the Italian I due gemelli veneziani, and Plautus' Menaechmi, and instead enjoy it as a music hall romp.

Identical twin brothers cause confusion when they turn up in the same town. By the end (almost) everyone is reconciled and (almost) all the comical confusions are resolved.

The production has an excellent set and consumes evoking Italian commedia dell'arte. The acting is broad, with some bawdy humour. The songs are mostly good.

The band are excellent, belting out the tunes and timing with the actors perfectly. It is disappointing that we only ever get to see the band members as a shadow through the backcloth of the stage.

The actors had trouble being heard over the band and there may have been some technical problems with the sound system at last Saturday night's performance I attended.

Exactly where "Goondiwindi" (mentioned in some of the New Theatre material) fits into the plot I did not quite follow. Like many musical comedies, bits seemed to be borrowed from eclectic sources and it is best just to enjoy the fun and not try to follow the plot.

New Theatre's current production is on in Newtown, Sydney until 15 December 2012.

Quality university teaching

Greetings from the Australian National University in Canberra. Professor Ian Young, Vice Chancellor, has just announced that he will be releasing the ANU's new strategic plan on 23 September 2011. Professor Young was introducing Dr John Minns, Winner of the 2010 Prime Minister's Award for Australian University Teaching, speaking on "What is quality teaching?".

I could not find an on-line summary of the talk, but you can see a demonstration of John's teaching style in "Culture and Politics in Latin America" (POLS8003).

What makes a good teacher:

1. What makes a great teacher: passionate about the topic, respect for the students, a collegiate atmosphere, establish a rapport,
   
2. Creativity in lectures: Don't just prepare 50 minutes of talking. As n example he played some music (Una ramika de rud (Wedding Song) by Ensemble Saraband) used in a lecture on Markets in International Political Economy. The second example was Guantanamera (a little obvious). John pointed out that 50 minutes was beyond the attention span for a monologue and that a dialogue was needed. One technique he uses is to have the students "vote" on propositions. Obviously there is now technology to do this ("clickers"), but the point was to have interaction in some way. Dr. Minns pointed out that students need to be introduced to research in a gentle way, otherwise it will be too difficult for them. He emphasized the need to show the practical results of the research and its effect on society. AN example is how markets effect food production and so if there will be enough for millions to eat.
3. Research: John modestly called his efforts in teaching as trial and error. One example was how to get the students to plan their work and not leave assignments to just before the deadline. Just making suggestions as to when the student should do what did not work. Providing crossword quizzes to make it interesting did not work either. He related how his part of ANU had a structure of two lectures and a tutorial per week. He changed this to have a free flowing forum after the lectures, which worked well (similarly I found I was able to abandon lectures and examinations at ANU). John argued that the innovation would come from the teachers, as well as the formal high level initiatives of the university. He recommended a culture of discussing what works.

One of the audience asked if there was research on how Australasian university students learn. So I did a quick search and found "Cross-cultural education: learning methodology and behaviour analysis for Asian students in IT field of Australian universities" (Jie Lu, K. L. Chin, Juan Yao, Jun Xu, and Jitian Xiao. 2010, In Proceedings of the Twelfth Australasian Conference on Computing Education).

John also mentioned Paulo Freire, Brazilian educator.

A note of humor was introduced after John cited Socrates, but one of the audeicen pointed out that Socrates was not keen on writing. I interjected that I was blogging, in the style of Plato.

Modernity in German art 1910–37

The NSW Art Gallery's "The mad square: modernity in German art 1910–37" features work by Beckmann, Dix, Grosz, Höch and Lissitzky. along with performances of inter-war music. As well as paintings and political posters there are some sculptures, and some furniture from the Bauhaus.

Last night was a a private viewing followed by an evening of Weimar-style music with "Pierrot Lunaire and Berlin cabaret songs". The Cabaret started with a recreation of Marlene Dietrich's Gorilla suit striptease (although this is from the film "Blonde Venus" made after "The Blue Angel", which made her name). The NSW Gallery could not quite capture the decadence of a Berlin nightclub, particularly as management had banned red wine during the interval as it might stain the floor tiles in the foyer.

The exhibition is arranged into:

1. Expressionism in Berlin
2. WWI and the revolution
3. Dada
4. Bauhaus
5. Constructivism
6. Metropolis
7. New Objectivity
8. Power and 'degenerate' art

There is also an excellent shop at the end of the exhibition, with objects for sale including a chromed Zeppelin sculpture.

The exhibition move to the National Gallery of Victoria in late November. The dark themes of the exhibition clash with the sparkling blue of Sydney's sky and harbor and might better suite the more European atmosphere of Melbourne.

Also there is a display of "Bauhaus International: Neues Bauen International 1927/2002" at Sydney College of the Arts. This is aptly located in Callan Park, which is the center of planning controversy, with the use of the billions of dollars of real-estate of a Hospital for the Insane, being decided by a government appointed trust.

The Bauhaus was at the centre of a a movement in social architecture, which has carried on to the present day. In 2002 the students and staff of the current "Bauhaus Dessau" visited Sydney and worked on a project to plan an area of Sydney's inner west . During the visit I give the Bauhaus students a seminar on ICT and architecture. The students produced "serve.city 3rd trimester" with 22 pages of master planning ideas for linking Sydney's inner west to the CBD with ICT (Bauhaus Dessau Foundation, 2002, ISBN 3-936796-04-1).

Canberra International Music Festival and the Griffins

The 17th Canberra International Music Festival runs from, 11-22 May 2011. The program is emphasises Schubert. It also commemorates the work of Canberra's original architects: Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin. The conference program features a series of remarkable graphics, overlaying the plan of Canberra, with mystical symbols.

The Griffins were invovled in anthroposophy . There have been some attempts to suggest that the plan for Canberra, with its triangles, circles and pyramids were embedded with secret religious symbolism.

Concerts large and small take us physically to iconic places - from the Great Hall at Parliament House to The Fitters’ workshop in Kingston. Join us on a enthralling and uplifting tour of our National Capital as you experience 34 concerts in 11 days: May 11th – 22nd, 2011. This year’s program features artists such as Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto and his equally talented brother Jaakko Kuusisto, pianist Pascal Rogé, violinist Lara St John, conductors Brett Weymark, John Harding and Roland Peelman and the Song Company, the Danish String Quartet, and the Bowed Piano Ensemble. We are extending our Amazing Space series of concerts to include two on mountain tops – which we are calling the Amphitheatre of Hills series. The festival will triumphantly conclude with the world’s finest vocal ensemble – Finland’s Rajaton We will also present 45 World and Australian premieres including the Lost Gallipoli Sonata of Frederick Septimus Kelly which we recently found in Florence as well as commissioned works by Peter Sculthorpe, Elena Kats-Chernin and 2011 composer in residence Graeme Koehne. ...

Roger Woodward at the Hunter Baillie

On Sunday 21 November 2010, Roger Woodward performed piano works by Chopin at last the Hunter Baillie Spring Festival Concert for 2010.

Great American Trailer Park Musical

The Great American Trailer Park Musical had its Australian premier at the New Theatre in Sydney last night. This was the first musical I have been to which managed to work "Doppler radar" into the lyrics. What the cast lacked in singing ability they made up for in exuberance. The Great American Trailer Park Musical (by David Nehls and Betsy Kelso) is at the New Theatre, Newtown, until 18th of December 2010.

ps: The US Original cast recording and Music and Lyrics are also available.