Brisbane Music Festival

Where else but the Brisbane Music Festival (BMF) would you be introduced to new music in six world premieres and five Australian premieres over one weekend? Many of the hand-picked selection of musicians are now based in Brisbane, but have worked all over the world. The music selection by BMF’s Artistic Director, Alex Raineri (pictured above) features a generous smattering of new Australian gems – this is just a sample of the pieces that offer an intriguing insight into the creative minds of modern composers, and showcase an array of talented and vibrant performers.

Aragonite

‘Aragonite’: On a muggy Brisbane morning, Thea Rossen’s descent into an underwater world was the best possible remedy. Thea introduced her piece, ‘Aragonite’ (this was its world premiere), explaining that it was inspired by a 2020 exploration of the deep sea off the Western Australia coast by the Schmidt Ocean Institute. Aragonite calcium deposits had preserved vital information about the layers of life beneath its coral skeleton. Conveying this deep dive was a gorgeous array of percussion instruments – from bowls of water, ceramic pots, windchimes, vibraphone, and the unique sounds of the waterphone – and more traditional musical tools, performed as their instrumentalists entered a dark room like deep-sea creatures: Thea Rossen (percussion), Rebecca Lloyd-Jones (percussion), Lina Andonovska (flute), Tim Munro (flute), Drew Gilchrist (bass clarinet), and Alex Raineri (piano). This piece was so beautiful and welcoming – even inviting the audience to play with handheld shells at the appropriate time – that I would have immediately queued to see it again had its final performance not already been sold out!

‘In C’ by Terry Riley: The theme of life and ‘genetic memory’ seemed to continue in Terry Riley’s composition from 1964. It felt like the perfect companion piece to ‘Aragonite’ – albeit very minimalist compared to Thea’s immersive experience. A piece that repeats the note C doesn’t sound like it is going to be very interesting, but ‘In C’ is no ordinary musical piece, especially in the expert hands of this group of musicians: it was a meditative, repetitive, trancelike, melodic drone in the key of C. A piece so clean and perfect, I felt like I must rush home and declutter my life immediately!

Ways By Ways

Ways By Ways – a new music trio that bills themselves as a new-music trio – is Alex Raineri (keys), Tim Munro (flute) and Rebecca Lloyd-Jones (percussion). The three musicians/composers explore new and experimental pieces and their selection was cinematic and prescient: ‘Collaborative New Work’ by the trio themselves (a world premiere): maybe it was the impending storm outside the venue, but this piece was reminiscent of swirling waters and made me think of the ‘rain into a paper cup’ of Lennon-McCartney’s ‘Across the Universe’ (spinning to the words ‘Jai Guru Deva Om’). In one of the next pieces – the Australian premiere of ‘Unable to create an offscreen world’ by Ann Cleare – the composer’s playing instructions were: ‘fragmented, vibrant, precise, vicious’, words that could apply to all the pieces in this set. We heard the world premiere of ‘Fosforesciamo’ a harpsicord piece by Pedro Alvarez, ‘Blueprint in shades of green’ by Jodie Rottle, and the surreal ‘Thelma Mansfield’ by Jennifer Walshe – a mixed media composition, including scrunching plastic shopping bags, sand, vocals, and boxing ring antics by the flautist and percussionist. The musicians’ delight at stretching their acting skills was palpable. And their flapping umbrellas were foreboding as a thunderstorm hit the city outside the intimate FourthWall Arts venue, making the performance even more immersive!

Parallel Play

What a treat to see Lina Andonovska and her magic flute in this set with Alex Raineri on piano. Lina is a vibrant entertainer and as warm and welcoming to her audience as she is to her playing partner – and that makes for compelling viewing. The duo’s first piece was an Australian premiere of ‘Parallel Play’ by Sarah Kirkland-Snider; followed by ‘Sonata in E flat, Op. 18’ by Richard Strauss (arranged for flute by Lina); another world premiere followed with ‘New Work’ by Judith Ring, which cleverly evoked a rollercoaster ride; the Australian premiere of ‘New Work’ by US composer, Marc Mellits, followed. Although merely a few fragments of a longer work, the selected segments clearly convey that this composer has a deep understanding of the simpatico between the piano and the flute. The closing piece was ‘Falling Ever Deeper by Brisbane composer, Paul Dean – a dark, complex and haunting piece that might surprise anyone who has seen Paul’s wit and warmth at play in his performances on clarinet for Ensemble Q.

Orpheus

Featuring Alex Raineri (concept, composer, piano) and Eljo Agenback (visual artist), this brilliant concept set combines pieces that each tell the Orpheus and Eurydice tale: Samantha Wolf’s ‘Life on Earth’; Natalie Nicolas’s ‘Descent’; and Jane Sheldon’s ‘Ascent’, bookended with a world premiere of ‘Temples in your hearing’ providing introduction, mezzo, and coda pieces by Alex Raineri, based on ‘Sonnets to Orpheus’ by Rainer Maria Rilke, which featured electronic sounds, sprung piano wires, and birdsong. The seamless interweaving of the musical pieces was reflected in an impressionistic golden-hued painterly visual presentation by Aljo Agenback that was engaging and embracing. I can see a wider stage for this piece as an installation – maybe at GOMA or on the giant screen at the Thomas Dixon Centre – or in a dance collaboration.

In Platonia

Featuring Drew Gilchrist (clarinet and bass clarinet), and Alex Raineri (piano), this trio of pieces started with a world premiere of ‘In Platonia’ by Chris Dench by the Ballarat-based composer, Chris Dench; then ‘Clarinet Sonata’ by English composer, Michael Finnissy; and ‘Flechtwerk’ by Welsh composer, Richard Barrett – the three composers are from the ‘New Complexity’ movement. Described as a ‘cyclonic program’, this selection was difficult and complicated, the pieces combined jarring and atonal sounds with fast-changing rhythms that certainly showcased the virtuosic talent of the two musicians.

Supported by Creative Australia, Kawai, and individual patrons, BMF now takes a hiatus until next year. Stay tuned for BMF 2025: brismusicfestival.com

Beth Keehn

Photo credits: Brisbane Music Festival