From the Podium (4th April 2004)
Our next concert is really something quite different. We are going to incorporate an art exhibition together with our concert. This will tie in, of course, with the fact that the main piece on the program is Mussorgsky's well-known Pictures at an Exhibition. The paintings will be displayed mainly inside the auditorium, so that the exhibition will not be separate from the concert itself.
We will be exhibiting the works of just one artist, Teri Hiley, who is also the resident artist of Balmain Sinfonia. Over the years, it is Teri's clever artwork that has graced our posters.
Complimentary cheese and wine will be served after the concert. The paintings will be for sale at what Teri tells me will be specially discounted prices. As Balmain Sinfonia will receive a commission from the sales, please bring your cheque book along in case you find a work or two irresistible.
Finally, Balmain Sinfonia has entered the 21st century. By the time you read this, or at least very soon after, we should be on the world wide web. Our address is www.balmainsinfonia.com
Apart from more historical information, the site will have the major articles of Noteworthy that relate to the concert, but not the extra unrelated articles that you will find in the printed form. Importantly for us, you will be able to download and print a colour copy of our current poster. It would help us tremendously if you could display it at your work or perhaps at your school or shopping centre.
We are sorry to see our concertmaster of several recent performances, Shuti Huang, leave the position. Shuti is a member of Sydney Symphony and several other groups, apart from being a busy teacher. He found that he was just running out of time. He will be missed. He brought a wealth of symphonic experience to our orchestra.
As concertmaster for this concert we are pleased to welcome back David Saffir. David has regularly held this position with us in the past. He will be joined by our flautists, Monica Wegner and Jocelyn Fazzone as soloists in Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No.4.
So, our next concert should have something for everyone. Music from Bach to Mussorgsky, an art exhibition and wine and cheese for social interaction. See you there!
The Artists (4th April 2004)
David Saffir, violin
(Interviewed by Lyndal Armstrong, violinist with Balmain Sinfona)
David Saffir has returned as the concertmaster of Balmain Sinfonia.
Where were you born?
I was born in Melbourne and went to study in Tasmania. I have lived in various places before coming to reside in Sydney.
Why did you chose to study in Tasmania?
I completed an Arts degree at the University of Tasmania, majoring in music.
I chose to go to Tasmania to study with Jan Sedivka whom I regarded as the best violin teacher at that time.Why was he the best?
He was a really interesting man on all sorts of levels not just as a violin teacher. There were things about him that I found appealing so if I'm going to study the violin, I'm going to study with him because he's the one that offers the most interest in other ways. It really is because of him that I continued playing the violin. At one stage, I thought “this isn't for me, I want to get out and spread my wings”. It was the culture shock, going from big city Melbourne to Hobart, the appeal of it was that you could focus as there weren't many distractions, but I wasn't ready for it at that moment.
Why did you want to study music?
When I was at school I didn't think that I'd become a musician, I thought they were too boring. I changed my mind when I went to a number of music Summer Schools at the University of Tasmania.
What did you do after you graduated?
I arranged to go overseas, but had six months to fill, so I went to work in the Opera Orchestra in Melbourne. I only went in there to do an audition to play in the orchestra, and they offered me a principal position. I was telling them straight up that I wasn't going to be staying, the sort of thing that would never happen today.
I then went overseas to Cologne to where Igor Ozim was teaching, he revamped my playing, knocked the edges off, built up more solid technique.
The University of New England then offered me a position to lead the New England String Quartet which replaced the New England Ensemble which had been there for 10 years.
Fantastic opportunity to come back to Australia to play chamber music full time. The other players included Romano Crivici, Peter Wilson and Sue Ellen Paulson. We were thrown together and told that “You are now a string quartet”. Although it only went on for three years, it was a wonderful experience.
I came back to Sydney to be with my wife and worked the casual scene.
Where did you meet your wife?
I met Anna [Maria Dell‘oso] when we were playing together in orchestras as teenagers. She was a journalist for The Good Weekend for a number of years and is now writing a novel, she no longer touches the violin.
What are you doing currently?
I am teaching and currently hold the position of Director of Strings at Barker College.
I had to make a choice, as a violinist playing in the section there are some fantastic experiences, but there are some limitations, you really have no control over your life, so I started to concentrate more on teaching.
As the leader of the Brandenburg Concerto No 4, what are you hoping to show your listeners?
The Chamber music aspects, the whole thing as a unit works like chamber music and that's the way we are going to try and play it.
What violin do you play?
A Vincenzo Panormo from 1795.
What are your goals?
Trying to get kids involved in and enjoying their string playing and that's something of a challenge in a boys school.
I wouldn't mind being able to play the viola better either.
Monica Wegner, flute
(Interviewed by Craig McGiffen, trumpeter with Balmain Sinfonia)
What was your key motivation in your decision to learn the flute?
I always wanted to play the piano, but having started that instrument I was still not satisfied. Then one day my primary school principal announced the introduction of a wind program over the intercom and the next day I had a shiny new flute to play!
Where did you study?
After I had been learning the flute for a couple of years, I auditioned to be a special interest music student at Marryatville High School in Adelaide. It is a bit like the Conservatorium High School where you do lots of music classes, but sacrifice home economics and technical studies (I was never any good at woodwork anyway, and I still can't iron).
After this, I wanted to go to the Conservatorium, but I was unable to do so and keep learning from my teacher at the time – Elizabeth Koch. I therefore chose to complete a Commerce Degree at Adelaide University, but my focus was really still on my flute studies.
Near the end of my degree I gained some scholarships, including a Queen's Trust Award to study in Europe. I chose London and studied at various institutions over a three year period, and completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Orchestral Studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama studying with Paul Edmund-Davies (principal of LSO) and Michael Cox (now principal of the BBC Philharmonic).
I am a glutton for punishment – I just finished my MBA at the Macquarie Graduate School of Management. My Dad keeps asking when I will do my Doctorate. All I can say is – not in a hurry!
Any fond memories of performances that you would like to share (highlights of your musical career)?
I have three favourite performances. The first was playing the Nielsen Flute Concerto with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra as part of the ABC Young Performers Awards. I really played my best on the night – it was a real buzz!
The second was playing Vivaldi's Piccolo Concerto in C with the Adelaide Chamber Orchestra when I was 17, and the third was actually a Balmain Sinfonia concert. I think it was a Beethoven symphony, and it was one of those moments where the music takes over from the technique and the pressure of the performance.
I also had a fabulous time learning from Michael Cox in London. It was just wonderful to hear him play, and collaborate with him in a musical sense. He is one of the best and most energetic musicians I have come across. His flute course was at his home in Devon, and each day we would start playing at 7am, break for a walk through the Dales in the afternoon and an ale at a local pub, and then continue playing until, exhausted, we were fed at 9pm. I have never done so much in a week!
What do you do for a living?
I am Senior Consultant for a boutique marketing firm in the CBD.
Why the change (from music)?
Essentially I wanted to come home to Australia, and I either wanted a job in an orchestra straight away, or I was going to do something else (I am impatient). It was helpful to have the Commerce degree up my sleeve, so after a brief contract with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, I just started applying for graduate positions all over the country and ended up in Sydney.
Why did you join Balmain Sinfonia?
When I started my business career, I had only just stopped playing professionally. I was keen to ensure that I kept up my skills, and to do so I needed an incentive. Balmain provides me with a goal to work towards each week. I think I have been playing in the orchestra for about 5 years now.
What do you enjoy most about playing in Balmain Sinfonia?
Balmain has been an amazing experience for me. I am doing it purely for the enjoyment, and hence I am able to just sit back, and play the music without feeling like the whole world is listening for my mistakes! The audience, and the players in the orchestra are so supportive – it really is a pleasure.
Any tips for budding musicians?
Above all, play the music. You will need to do the ground work, but at the end of the day it is like singing a song, or painting a picture. You have an idea of what you want to produce, so take a deep breath, and use your imagination. It is your individuality and spirit that will be memorable for your audience.
Jocelyn Fazzone, flute
(Interviewed by Daryl Neve, bassist with Balmain Sinfonia)
Is Flute your only instrument?
No, I am a pianist as well .
What are your academic qualifications?
B. Music., MM., Virtuosite.
What especially attracted you to the flute?
It was actually the only instrument offered at school. However I found it easy to play and I especially liked its sound.
At what age did you become interested in music?
I started piano at 5 years and flute at 9 years. I remember that while practising I pretended to be on the concert platform.
Do you earn your living as a musician?
Yes, I teach music and examine for A.M.E.B. at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. I play lots of chamber music on both flute and piano. I also accompany on piano.
You are one of the soloists in this concert playing Bach's 4th Brandenburg Concerto. What does this work mean to you?
It is a masterpiece in the concerto grosso style and has beautiful and interesting parts for all three soloists.
When did you join Balmain Sinfonia?
My first concert was in 2001 when we played Mahler's Symphony No 4 .
Do you work with other groups or orchestras?
I have played in the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. I currently play flute in the Camerata Quintet. I work with pianist Beryl Potter on flute, and with flautist Janet Webb on piano. Janet is principal with the SSO, and we've released a CD together ‘Tango and all that Jazz' ...available at ABC shops!
As a mother, how do you deal with the challenge of a busy professional life balanced with family commitments?
I have three sons and, believe me, it's no easy matter!
Are your children musical?
They all have talent, however self discipline is an issue.
What would you like to do in the future with your art?
Record another CD next year.
The Music (4th April 2004)
- RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Russian Easter Overture
- BACH: Brandenburg Concerto No. 4
- MUSSORGSKY/RAVEL: Pictures at an Exhibition
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Russian Easter Overture
During the summer of 1888, Rimsky-Korsakov finished both Scheherazade
and The Bright Holiday, an Easter Overture based on the canticles of the Greek Orthodox Church. In his autobiography, My Musical Life, Rimsky-Korsakov outlines what he was attempting in this overture.
"The legendary and heathen side of the holiday, the transition from the gloomy and mysterious evening of Passion Saturday to the unbridled pagan merry-making on the morn of Easter Sunday, is what I was eager to reproduce."The piece starts with a lengthy, slow introduction on the theme of ‘Let God Arise', alternating with another ecclesiastical theme, ‘An Angel wailed'. This solemn mood is then replaced by the holiday mood of Easter Sunday; the trumpet voice of the Archangel is replaced by sounds of the church service - bells ringing, a priest chanting - before the merry-making proper begins.
BACH: Brandenburg Concerto No. 4
In 1717 Bach became Kappellmeister of Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cothen, a post which gave him the opportunity to arrange concerts of instrumental works. The Brandenburg Concertos, however, were not written for the court concerts at Cothen, even though they were written in this period. In 1719, Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg, commissioned Bach to write music for his own orchestra. Two years later, Bach despatched a set of six concertos, begging his patron in their dedication not to judge the imperfections of the concertos too harshly but rather to find in them “the profound respect and very humble allegiance which they seek to convey.” Each concerto was written for a different group of instruments. The fourth Brandenburg Concerto is scored for two flutes and violin with strings and continuo accompaniment.
MUSSORGSKY/RAVEL: Pictures at an Exhibition
Nationalist music began in Russia in the middle of the nineteenth century with the work of five composers known as “The Mighty Handful”- Mussorgsky, Borodin, Cui, Rimsky-Korsakov and Balakirev. Of these the gifted Mussorgsky came closest to illuminating the Russian soul. His belief in nationalism did not confine itself only to music. It led him to become involved with the most stimulating artists of his day and, in particular, to form a friendship with the architect-painter Victor Hartmann. Their friendship, though, was short-lived, for Hartmann died in 1873, just five years after they had first met. An exhibition of his work was planned and Mussorgsky, who was deeply affected by the death of his friend, went to the exhibition and immediately conceived the idea of writing a piano suite in memory of the artist, with each piece in the suite given a short title. Mussorgsky was as much a realist in his music as Hartmann was in his paintings. With amazing fidelity, the composer recreated in tones the subjects of Hartmann's best canvasses, the power of Mussorgsky's music evoking pictorial images with brilliant illustrations.
The most famous of the orchestral transcriptions of this piano suite is by Maurice Ravel. This orchestration was commissioned by Serge Koussevitsky for the sum of 10,000 francs, and was introduced under Kousssevitsky's direction in Paris in May 2, 1923. It is considered more colourful, a more subtle realisation of the composer's ideas, indeed the sort of work that Mussorgsky might have written if he had had the technical knowledge of orchestration.
Articles (4th April 2004)
Interview with artist Teri Hiley
(see paintings at end of article)(Interviewed by Lyndal Armstrong)
Teri Hiley is Balmain Sinfonia's resident artist and will be showing approximately 50 of her paintings at the next concert.
Teri Hiley was born in Sydney and was always described as the “ artistic one of the family”. From a young age, she had a love of drawing and painting that had the potential to become a career. She was in her early twenties when her first husband suggested that rather than always saying she could do better work than other artists, she should start doing it.
Teri went to the Meadowbank College of TAFE and completed an Art Certificate in 1982 and then a Bachelor of Arts (Visual Arts) at the Sydney College of the Arts in 1986. From the moment she began studying, she started winning prizes such as the Open Watercolour section of the Drummoyne Municipal Arts Society Annual Art Award. Her most recent awards include the Castle Hill & Hills District Agricultural Society Annual Show Traditional Section and the Hunters Hill Arts Prize for Watercolour. As well, she has been a finalist in numerous other competitions.
“My style of work has not conformed to the trends defined by the art marketers. There are real blessings in being part of the marginalized art community. I have nothing to lose, economically or in terms of recognition.”
Teri's works are going to be displayed in the concert venue at the next concert, partly because the orchestra's repertoire for this concert includes Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition . Teri has always enjoyed this piece of music and listens to classical music when working. “ My paintings are not related to Mussorgsky's music, but there is one called Archway that is going to be at the entrance to the hall. It's nothing like the Great Gate of Kiev, it's more like the Katmandu version, but I think it's a good signature painting for this music. The rest of the paintings will be bits and pieces reflecting my fascination with architectural detail.”
“It will be interesting to see all the pieces hanging and spread out so that they can be seen as a group. I'll be interested to see if there are any relationships between them. That sort of thing often happens when you get things up on the wall. I often don't see the connections until I do that.” For example, Teri has noticed that the paintings she is working at the moment have a theme. “There is a common denominator among all of my current paintings. I just thought they were interesting subjects, but what I see now is that they are all about reflections, either of water or of windows.
“To describe my work is to describe two extremes. I produce what can be described as self-portraits or landscapes. The landscapes are usually in a series and are my adventures outside, my attempts at the masculine journey traditionally depicted in Australian art. Each burst of activity is usually followed by a return to the interior “woman”.
The only time I have produced both kinds of artworks simultaneously was when I was at college. This period afforded me physical, mental and spiritual space to work and it was the one time I have been able to switch between my two ways of working with ease and speed.
The self-portraits come from my personal response to the circumstances current at the time. They show the greatest variety in the use of media ranging from traditional painting approaches, mixed media works to printmaking, mono prints and screenprints. These works are often the product of a more intuitive approach. They are also the works I am less likely to sell. They live with me and grow and change with me. Each piece seems to be the beginning of something else, often something that I will pursue later, when I have the time and/or space.”
There will be a number of paintings with prices starting from $ 250, ranging in size and style, and a whole range of works from the beginning of her career till now. They will mostly be watercolours with some acrylic pieces as well.
The framing is done locally and all frames are chosen by Teri to enhance the work and to guarantee that the works are framed the correct way. “I like to know they are framed archivally so that when I sell a work, I know that I'm selling the best possible product that I can.”
Originally Teri started off in oils, but over the years that she was screen printing using oil based inks, she developed a really bad chronic cough. Now she mainly uses watercolours.
Artists who have influenced her are Jocelyn Maughan, Frederick Bates and Gustav Klimp.
Most of Teri's works are based on photos that she has personally taken. She has travelled extensively throughout Italy, Nepal, Australia and the East Coast of America taking up to 600 slides per trip. All her works are extremely detailed.
Teri's advice for buying a work of art: “You should choose a painting because you like it, not because it goes with the décor of your house”.
Al fresco by Teri Hiley
Crossroads by Teri Hiley
