6 September 2005
CCR: Closer Creative Relationships
Trans-Tasman artistic relationships are due to enjoy another step forward with the announcement that New Zealand
composer James Gardner has been awarded the 2005 Trans - Tasman Composer Exchange. He will work with ELISION,
Australia’s premier new music ensemble, developing musical concepts in preparation for performances by the group in
2006.
The Trans-Tasman Composer Exchange is a collaboration between SOUNZ: the Centre for New Zealand Music and their westward
counterparts, the Australian Music Centre along with Creative NZ and the Australia Council for the Arts. The exchange
aims to promote the music of Australia and New Zealand to a wider audience and to enrich collegial and artistic contact
between Australian and New Zealand composers and musicians.
“This is a very exciting opportunity to work on some ideas that I’ve been thinking about for some time,” James explains.
“I want to develop a work which - in performance - combines acoustic instruments and the real-time electronic
manipulation of their sounds. If all goes to plan, the electronics will respond to what the players do during
performance, and in this way I can avoid using a rigid click-track which locks players into counting off seconds and so
on.”
In recent years digital technology has evolved to a point where creating music in this way has become a palpable
possibility. “Real-time processing of sounds is now fast enough, the software sophisticated enough and the hardware
portable enough to realise my ideas,” James believes. “Through the Trans-Tasman composer exchange I will now have the
opportunity to turn the concept into a performance reality.”
“My intention,” James explained, “is to work with ELISION members Daryl Buckley on electric guitar, Richard Haynes on
clarinets, Ben Marks on trombone, Peter Neville on percussion and Michael Hewes, a sound technician. Michael will be an
integral part of the musical performance, working in real-time with the audio material being created by the other four
instrumentalists. The whole process will be interactive and malleable. There are all sorts of possibilities to be
explored: the use of the physical space, stereo or multi-channel manipulation, audience involvement and so on. Every
performance will be unique as the players choose their pathways through the score responding to what they hear from each
other.”
The Exchange is eagerly anticipated from the other side of the Tasman as well with Daryl Buckley, from ELISION,
commenting that he has been “aware of the work and vibrancy of composition of James Gardner for several years now and
welcome the opportunity to engage with his artistic imagination and to develop music specifically written for the
virtuosity of the ELISION musicians.”
James will undertake the first part of his residency in the next few months. “The first phase will be a period of R & D – Research and Development,” he quips. “I’ll spend about four weeks with the musicians in Brisbane and Melbourne from
mid-October recording things, trying out different techniques and sorting through the technical aspects of the work.
Then I’ll come back to New Zealand and get busy. Early in 2006 I will head back over and rehearse with the group towards
a premiere of the work.”
James emigrated to New Zealand a decade ago and has established a highly respected reputation as a composer, conductor,
commentator and lecturer in contemporary and experimental music. He has also given guest lectures in New Zealand, Spain
and the United States and lectured on electronic and rock music at the University of Auckland. His work as director of
the Auckland-based ensemble 175 East has been an important catalyst in the development of his very individual style of
musical expression. His works are now being played not only within New Zealand but also internationally in the UK,
Europe, the USA and Australia.
He has just completed his term as the inaugural Creative NZ / Victoria University Composer-in-residence in Wellington.
He found the time extremely valuable leading to all sorts of interactions and creative possibilities. “The collegial
feeling among composers and performers was excellent. I can’t overestimate the qualitative difference between hearing
and discussing musical ideas, hopes and fears with professional colleagues over a pint as opposed to e-mailing people
long-distance.
It was wonderful also to be able to work discursively over a long period of time rather than working to pressured
deadline of a commission. There is no doubt in my mind that residencies for composers are an important investment in
future creativity”
James will be the third composer to take part in the Trans-Tasman Composer Exchange. The first, in 2003, saw Kiwi
composer Gareth Farr in residence with Australia’s vocal ensemble The Song Company, resulting in a number of new works
including the Les Murray Song Cycle, premiered to an appreciative audience at Australia’s Government House in February
this year. In 2004, West Australian James Ledger spent a month with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra and a new work
he has written for them will be performed in November this year.
ENDS