Music of the Bush Comes to the Riverina and Southern Tablelands
The members of Ensemble Offspring: Lamorna Nightingale, Jason Nobel & Claire Edwardes.
Photo: Keith Saunders
Songbirds celebrates the breath-taking virtuosity of Australian birdsong with an array of original Australian chamber works commissioned by Ensemble Offspring. Be transported into the Australian bush by the familiar sounds of nature's own musicians, with a little help from Australia's leading composers. Heading into their third year, Music in the Regions has made its mark on regional NSW, successfully touring world class classical music from Nundle to Deniliquin; with this itinerary comprised of return visits across the Riverina and Southern Tablelands. Coming to Ganmain, Temora, Young, Braidwood, and Gunning, Ensemble Offspring’s program, Songbirds, is sure to amplify the stunning natural sounds that surround locals daily in a transformative performance not to be missed.
Music in the Regions General Manager and Producer, Ian Whitney, said: “I’m excited to tour one of Australia’s leading new music ensembles to towns I’ve gotten to know over the past two years. This is a beautiful concert that explores a fascinating question: is birdsong music?”
Claire Edwardes of Ensemble Offspring said: “While Ensemble Offspring is renowned for championing innovative new music, sometimes audiences can feel a bit overwhelmed by the prospect of an entire concert of music by living composers. We created our Songbirds program to entertain and delight audiences all over Australia and the world, having so far travelled the program from Darwin to Bermagui, and as far as Helsinki! While the music is all commissioned by and written for us it is highly engaging and accessible with every work inspired by birdsong or our natural environment - elements everyone can relate to! We love chatting and telling stories about all the pieces and bringing people into the musical world we feel so excited about - hopefully our excitement is tangible and contagious in the best possible way.”
In an all-Australian program, Songbirds delivers an authentic look at the beauty of Australian bird song. Hollis Taylor composed her trio Bitter Springs Creek in 2014, after devoting her life to documenting pied butcherbird song in Central Australia, pairing live instrumentalists with ancient bird sounds. Fiona Loader's Lorikeet Corroboree follows an upbeat journey which interweaves the chatter of rainbow lorikeets with the sounds of ground-dwelling composers - including fragments from Papageno's Magic Flute and Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending. Gerard Brophy makes flamingos dance and hummingbirds buzz in his three-movement tour-de-force Beautiful Birds.
First Nations composers Nardi Simpson and Brenda Gifford share Indigenous perspectives on the sky and its many inhabitants. Brenda Gifford's Mungala (Clouds) evokes clouds building across the sea, while Nardi Simpson's Of Stars and Birds interprets a significant Yuwaalaraay story about the creation of the southern cross.
Performed by Lamorna Nightingale (flutes), Jason Noble (clarinets) and Claire Edwardes (percussion), Songbirds captures the magical bird calls of the red centre, virtuosic avian displays, and Indigenous musical perspectives on these beguiling creatures of the sky.
Ensemble Offspring will perform Songbirds at:
GANMAIN: 3pm, Sunday 25 February at Ganmain Hall in partnership with the Advance Ganmain Committee
TEMORA: 7pm, Wednesday 28 February at Temora Town Hall Theatre in partnership with Temora Shire Council
YOUNG: 7pm, Thursday 29 February at the Southern Cross Theatre in partnership with Young Regional Conservatorium
BRAIDWOOD: 2pm, Saturday 2 March at the Braidwood Uniting Church in partnership with the Braidwood Concert Series
GUNNING: 2pm, Sunday 3 March at the The Courtroom: Gunning’s Home of Chamber Music in partnership with Gunning Focus Group