Bellingen Community Arts Council

The Bellingen Community Arts Council is raising funds to support an exciting artistic development opportunity for young composers of Bellingen.

The Arts Council has commissioned a contemporary classical composition by Sydney based composer Andrew Batt-Rawden to be workshopped with and performed by the Bellingen Youth Orchestra.  In addition to this new work, Andrew has been giving composition workshops at no cost to the students whilst workshopping his new work for the Bellingen Youth Orchestra.  The Acacia Quartet will record new compositions by the young local composers participating in the composition workshops, and perform them in a joint concert with the Bellingen Youth Orchestra during the 2014 Bellingen Music Festival.   This concert will be recorded.

The 2014 Bellingen Music Festival presents seven events featuring music from the classical tradition - including music from the renaissance period through to contemporary Australian composition.

Students in Bellingen and Coffs Harbour are not often given the chance to have a face-to-face exchange with professional classical musicians. Both Batt-Rawden and Acacia Quartet bring extensive experience and industry knowledge to the project, which will be educationally enriching to all those participating and especially invaluable for those students intent on pursuing classical music careers.

THE YOUTH ORCHESTRA AND CONDUCTOR

The Bellingen Youth Orchestra was inaugurated in 2007 with funding from a performance by the Australian Chamber Orchestra. The orchestra is conducted by Ann Phelan, Senior Music Teacher at Bellingen High School. In 2011 she was awarded a “Special Commendation” in the National Awards for Excellence in School Music Education. She has been General Manager of the Sydney Youth Orchestra.

THE COMPOSER

Andrew Batt-Rawden (b 1984) is a Sydney-based composer. He has recently written works for Dirty Feet (contemporary dance company) the Song Company and Chronology Arts. His “Seven Stations”, a song cycle created in collaboration with poet Chris Mansell and members of Halcyon and Chronology Arts, was released on album through Hospital Hill Records in February to critical acclaim. In 2014 he was accepted into the prestigious Orkest de Ereprijs 40^th Young Composer Meeting. As well as being a composer, he is the publisher of Limelight Magazine, artistic director of Chronology Arts, and the curator for Vivid Festival events at the Seymour Centre. See Andrew Batt-Rawden Composer on Facebook

THE ACACIA QUARTET

The quartet, formed in 2010, comprises four remarkable musicians: Lisa Stewart and Myee Clohessy (violins), Stefan Duwe (viola), and Anna Martin-Scrase (cello). Their performance couples established repertoire with the unorthodox and have notably included debut performances of contemporary compositions such as Lyle Chan and Elena Kats-Chernin. See Acacia Quartet

THE RECORDING

Audio recording by Jonathan Palmer, video recording by Tony Wickert.   

BELLINGEN MUSIC FESTIVAL

Friday evening 19^th Sept to Sunday early evening 21^st Sept 2014

Bellingen Memorial Hall and other venues

Bellingen NSW

For the festival program and to purchase tickets see Bellingen Music Festival

PROJECT SUPPORTERS

The project is supported by the Australia Council, Regional Arts NSW, the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Bellingen Shire Council Arts & Culture Committee

     

CLASSICAL CDs FOR REWARDS

Use Tag for reward choice selection

Tag Niki: Niki Vasilakis - Violin Concertos by Mendelssohn & Bruch, Tzigane by Ravel - Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra - ABC Classics

Tag Joan: Xmas with Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge - Joy To The Word - ABC Classics

Tag Rolando: Rolando:Rolando Villazon - iMexico - Featuring Bolivar Soloists - SBS

CLASSICAL DVDs FOR REWARDS

Use Tag for reward choice selection

Tag Farinelli: Farinelli il Castrato (Golden Globe Best Foreign Language Film 1995)

Tag Search: In Search of Beethoven/In Search of Mozart (Two Disc Collectors Edition)

Tag Destination: Classical Destinations III (2 Disc BBC Aled Jones Ultimate Travel Guide to Classical Music)

Tag Piano: Pianomania (Winner Best Documentary San Francisco international Film Festival 2010)

The $3,000 sought will be disbursed as follows:

$1800 - partial payment to Andrew Batt-Rawden for his composition to be premiered by the Bellingen Youth Orchestra at a time and place yet to be determined

$1000 - payment to the Bellingen Youth Orchestra for their concert at the Music Festival

$200 - partial cover of travel costs to bring the Acacia Quartet from Sydney to join the Bellingen Youth Orchestra in performance of Andrew's composition and to perform works by local music students