Connor D’Netto youngest ever Composer-In-Residence at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music

Connor D’Netto set to shine in home state, in a year of major works!

We are thrilled to share this wonderful news about our 2017 -2019 Tait Scholar at the Royal College of Music. 25-year-old Brisbane-born composer – Connor D’Netto, was unveiled last  week as this year’s Composer-in-Residence for the internationally famed Australian Festival of Chamber Music (AFCM) – and the youngest in the 29-year history of the event!

Under the leadership of acclaimed pianist and Artistic Director Kathryn Stott, the AFCM this year will feature five world premieres and five Australian premieres from composers around the world, and 40 of the best chamber musicians on the planet – including 15 international artists, five of whom are performing in Australia for the first time, and with D’Netto as the Composer-in-Residence, also at the festival for the first time

Taking over Townsville for 10 days of world-class music-making from Friday 26 July to Sunday 4 August, the AFCM will celebrate music from over 80 composers, 21 of whom are alive today. World premieres by D’Netto and fellow Australian composer Jessica Wells will feature.

AFCM’s 2018 promotional video

While D’Netto is making his AFCM debut, his music isn’t! Last year Australian musicians Claire Edwardes and Karin Schaupp premiered his vibraphone and guitar duet Brief Moments, which received a wonderful audience response.

“Over the moon is an understatement!  It’s such an honour to be taking up this residency, one that has been held by some of Australia’s most celebrated composers whom I admire greatly. It’s such an incredible opportunity to work with so many of the world’s best soloists and chamber musicians, and I’m also really looking forward to working with the students at the Winterschool.”

Currently based in London studying his Master of Music at the Royal College of Music, D’Netto is proudly Brisbane born and bred – having lived at Wishart until his move to the UK capital in 2017.

And he is excited about the year ahead, one which sees world premieres of his works around the globe. Already he has composed a new piece for leading Australian songstress Katie Noonan for her upcoming album with the Australian String Quartet, The Glad Tomorrow, which sets the searing poetry of Australian writer and activist Oodgeroo Noonuccal to music (the album was recorded a few weeks ago and will premiere during the Queensland Music Festival in July).

Connor is also co-writing a ballet with fellow musician Matthew Lomax in London called Non-Place. A 50-minute work for dancers, chamber orchestra, electronics and visuals, inspired by French anthropologist Marc Augé’s writings on transience, anonymity and out-sense of individuality in public spaces, it’s a collaboration with London’s Central School of Ballet. To premiere on April 26 at the Britten Theatre, the score will be performed by chamber orchestra Cats Cradle Collective and conducted by António Breitenfeld Sá-Dantas – with both Matthew and Connor performing the electronics and visuals.

As for his musical muses and mentors, D’Netto says it’s a moving feast!

“If you asked me a couple of years ago, I’d have said the likes of John Adams and Steve Reich, a few years before that I’d say Barber, Bartok, Stravinsky, and before that it would have been some musical theatre composers, Jason Robert Brown for example, and film composers like Hans Zimmer. Now? Having fairly recently worked with Bang On A Can, I’m incredibly inspired by the work and works of Julia Wolfe, David Lang and Michael Gordon. Other contemporary composers include Unsuk Chin, Nico Muhly, Caroline Shaw, Kaija Saariaho and Donnacha Dennehy.”

“I also get as much from “popular” music artists as I do “classical composers” – from artists like Troye Sivan, Haim, Local Natives and CHVRCHES, to Sufjan Stevens, Blood Orange and Knower, bands like Palm, Grizzly Bear, Radiohead and Foals, and electronic artists like Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Autechre, Floating Points and Rival Consoles. And of course, where would I be without my composition teachers over the years, Stephen Stanfield, Robert Davidson and William Mival.”

ABOUT CONNOR D’NETTO 

Connor D’Netto is a composer of contemporary classical music, described as “the model contemporary Australian composer” by ABC Classics. His music has been commissioned and performed across Australia and the world and in July this year, it will star at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music.

In 2017, he was selected for a fellowship with the prolific New York new-music collective Bang On A Can. His music was featured at Bang On A Can’s Summer Music Festival at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Arts (MASS MoCA), having travelled to the USA to take part in a three-week residency with the ensemble.

Two years before that, he was named winner of Chamber Music Australia’s Australian New Works Award, with his winning work, String Quartet No. 2, becoming the set work in the finals of the 7th Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition at the Melbourne Recital Centre. He has also been awarded an APRA Art Music Fund Award 2018, the Brisbane City Council’s Lord Mayor’s Young and Emerging Artists Fellowship 2018, a Brisbane Arts and Cultural Innovation Award 2017, the Percy Brier Memorial Composition Prize 2016, and the Donald Tugby Musicology Prize and Scholarship 2015.

He is also the artistic director, producer, and co-founder of the Brisbane-based contemporary classical concert series “Argo and in 2018, was shortlisted as a finalist in the APRA AMCOS Art Music Awards in the “Excellence by an Individual” category for his artistic direction of Argo throughout its 2017 Concert Season.

As a performer, Connor is one half of “We Are Breathing” alongside American cellist Ben Baker. After the pair met in July 2017 when both were artists-in-residence at the MASS MoCA, they sought to collaborate on a project bringing together their various musical backgrounds spanning classical, folk and electronic music, their love of diverse musical styles from minimalism, electronica, alt-rock and jazz, and their drive to create art that breaks down the barriers between genres and audiences.

Connor is a trained classical bass, also a talented photographer, videographer and visual-artist, creating and shooting not only material for his music, but also for a number of other artists and musicians. He has a Bachelor of Music (Honours), graduating with First-Class Honours in 2016 from the University of Queensland. Connor is a Tait Trust Scholar at the Royal College of Music, where he is completing his Masters, with his studies further supported by the Australian Music Foundation Award, the Brisbane City Council Lord Mayor’s Young and Emerging Artists Fellowship, the Tait Performing Arts Association, a Churchie Foundation Scholarship, The Julian Baring Award and by the Big Give Campaign at RCM.

International Artists of the 2019 AFCM
Roberto Carrillo-Garcia (Double Bass++) UK Australian debut
Rachael Clegg (Oboe) UK Australian debut
Alexandra Conunova (Violin) Moldova Australian debut
Amy Dickson (Saxophone) UK Returning Artist
Liza Ferschtman (Violin) Holland Australian debut
Pavel Fischer (Violin) Czech Returning artist
Martin Kuuskmann (Bassoon) Estonia AFCM debut
Yura Lee (Violin) USA AFCM debut
Wu Man (Pipa) China AFCM debut
Johannes Moser (Cello) Canada AFCM debut
Charles Owen (Piano) UK AFCM debut
Kathryn Stott (Piano) UK Artistic Director
Jennifer Stumm USA Australian debut
Ruth Wall (Harp) UK AFCM debut
Australian Artists of the 2019 AFCM
Lotte Betts-Dean (Mezzo-Soprano) AFCM debut (London)
Timothy Constable (Percussion) Returning (Sydney)
Connor D’Netto (Composer-in-Residence) AFCM debut (Brisbane/London)
Aura Go (Piano) AFCM debut (Melbourne)
Ben Jacks (Horn) Returning (Sydney)
Elizabeth Layton (Violin) AFCM debut (Adelaide)
Christopher Moore (Viola) Returning (Melbourne)
Neal Peres de Costa (Harpsichord) Returning (Sydney)
Timo-Veikko Valve (Cello) AFCM debut (Sydney)
Sally Walker (Flute) AFCM debut (Melbourne)
Arcadia Winds (Wind Quintet) AFCM debut (Melbourne)
David Reichelt (Oboe), Kiran Phatak (Flute), Lloyd Van’t Hoff (Clarinet) and Matthew Kneale (Bassoon)
Australian String Quartet AFCM debut (Adelaide)
Dale Barltrop (Violin), Francesca Hiew (Violin), Sharon Grigoryan (Cello) and Stephen King (Viola – has been to AFCM previously)
Ensemble Liaison AFCM debut (Melbourne)
David Griffiths (Clarinet), Svetlana Bogosavljevic (Cello) and Timothy Young (Piano)

Dates and Ticket Details

General public tickets, passes and holiday packages go on sale on Monday 25 February.

AFCM Friends have been able to purchase tickets since 3 December. The AFCM Friends program is new to 2019 – join now at afcm.com.au/friends.

Australian Festival of Chamber Music: 26 July – 4 August 2019 | Townsville, North Queensland

www.afcm.com.au | Facebook | Twitter | #afcm19

AFCM principal partners include; Queensland Government through Tourism and Events Queensland and Arts Queensland, and Townsville City Council. The multi-award-winning Australian Festival of Chamber Music is recognised as a major event on the Tourism and Events Queensland calendar. The Queensland Government is proud to support the Australian Festival of Chamber Music through Tourism and Events Queensland as part of the It’s Live! in Queensland events calendar. Queensland, just the place to experience Australia’s best live events.

 

For more information, artist interviews or imagery etc, please contact Kath Rose for the AFCM on 07 3357 9054 or 0416 291 493 or email kath@kathrose.com

Connor D’Netto | Tait Scholar 2017

We are delighted to confirm that Connor D’Netto is to be our 3rd Tait Scholar at the Royal College of Music, a generous award sponsored by the Julian Baring family. We wish him all the very best and look forward to working with him as he aspires to reach the very top of the musical world.

Being awarded the title of the Tait Scholar means so much to me. It’s incredibly encouraging to have this support as I take this next big step in my career, moving to London and beginning to really establish myself in the International music scene. Studying at the Royal College of Music is an important part of this, and it mightn’t have been possible without the generous support of the Tait Memorial Trust.

Connor D’Netto | June 2017

I have been selected as a fellow of the prolific American new-music ensemble Bang On A Can. As part of my fellowship, I have been invited to take part in an intensive three-week residence as part of their Summer Music Festival, held this July at MASS MoCA, the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Arts. My new work summer / summer, a concerto of sorts for saxophone, two voices, and chamber orchestra, will be premiered by the ensemble
as a feature in the Festival.

I am the artistic director and co-founder of Argo, a contemporary classical music concert series based in Brisbane, Australian. Argo has four concerts left in 2017, collaborating with the likes of Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra, the Viney-Grinberg Piano Duo (Liam Viney and Anna Grinberg), soprano Merlyn Quaife, violinist Monica Curro, pianist Stefan Cassomenos, Opera Queensland, the Queensland Music Festival and the Queensland
Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, and presenting four newly commissioned works by young local composers, including new work by me, as well as multiple Australian premieres.

Media:
• Website: www.connordnetto.com
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/connordnetto @connordnetto
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/connordnetto @connordnetto
• Instagram:  www.instagram.com/connordnetto @connordnetto

Videos & Recordings of interest:
o Recording: String Quartet No. 2 in E minor, winner of the Australian New Works Award 2015:
https://soundcloud.com/connordnetto/string-quartet-no-2-in-e-minor-live-micmc-2015

o Video: Texture No. 1 for Orchestra: https://youtu.be/vhVNFbRorRE

Biography:
Connor D’Netto (b. 1994) is a Brisbane based composer of contemporary classical music, described as “the model contemporary Australian composer” by ABC Classic FM. Throughout his works, Connor balances the quasi-neoclassical with post-minimal influences, combining
them with contemporary performance practices, unique one-off concerts and performances, and the delicate incorporation of electronic music elements and production techniques. His music combines driving post-minimal rhythmic elements with heartfelt lyrical expression drawn from his extensive performance experience as a classically trained bass baritone, contrasted with textural devices that push the expectations of an instrument’s capabilities without confronting the audience. Connor’s music has been commissioned and performed across Australia and abroad, including commissions from ensembles such the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Queensland’s Camerata and new music specialists PLEXUS, and performers such as Katie Noonan, Karin Schaupp and Claire Edwards.

In 2017, Connor has been selected as a fellow of Bang On A Can. As part, his music will be featured at Bang On A Can’s Summer Music Festival at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Arts (MASS MoCA) in July, and will travel to the USA to take part in a three-week residency with the ensemble. In 2015, Connor was named winner of Chamber Music Australia’s Australian New Works Award. His winning work, String Quartet No. 2 in E minor, became the set work for the 7th Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition and received premieres by three internationally chosen finalist ensembles at the Melbourne Recital Centre. He has also been awarded a Brisbane Arts and Cultural Innovation Award 2017 for his contribution to the Arts, the Percy Brier Memorial Composition Prize 2016 for his Texture No. 1 for Orchestra, and the Donald Tugby Musicology Prize and Scholarship 2015 by the University of Queensland for exceptional contribution to the field of music research.

Connor is the artistic director, producer, and co-founder of the successful contemporary classical music concert series and collective Argo. Founded in 2015, Argo creates immersive art music experiences bending the boundaries of genre and artform, combining contemporary classical music with electronic music, live-visuals, and fostering creative collaborations between artists of various mediums. Its focus is on creating experiential and concept driven events that fuse classical instruments and ensembles with contemporary influences and new
modes of musical expression.

To find out more about Argo, head to www.argosound.com.

As a performer, Connor is a trained classical bass, having previously studied with Shaun Brown. Connor is also a talented photographer, videographer and visual-artist, creating and shooting not only material for his music, but also for a number of other local artists and musicians. Currently Connor is working on his PhD through the University of Queensland, having completed a Bachelor of Music (Honours) at the University of Queensland, graduating with First-Class Honours in 2016. In September, Connor moves to London, where (while continuing his PhD) he will study his Masters of Music at the Royal College of Music.

More about Connor and his work can be found at www.connordnetto.com.

Tait Awardee, Kevin Penkin composes original score to celebrate Rio Tinto's 50 years of iron ore mining

We were delighted to learn that Western Australian composer and Tait Awardee, Kevin Penkin has composed an original score commissioned by Rio Tinto in 2016, to mark 50 years since Rio Tinto’s first contracted shipment of iron ore which departed Dampier for the Yawata Iron and Steel Company in Japan.

Hoan Maru 1966,  Rio Tinto
Hoan Maru 1966, Rio Tinto

Ahead of this milestone, thousands of Australian contractors and suppliers laid almost 300 kilometres of railway, moved 12 million cubic metres of earth and rock and installed 300,000 tonnes of plant and equipment. The company also built the towns of Dampier and Tom Price, and dredged a port to accept the largest ore carriers of the day. Rio Tinto Iron Ore chief executive Chris Salisbury said

“When the MV Houn Maru set sail 50 years ago nobody could have predicted that Pilbara iron ore would underpin Australia’s economic growth. “The Pilbara’s vast iron ore deposits, and the people who developed them, have helped build modern Australia and some of the world’s leading economies,”

Kevin was our first Tait Scholar which enabled him to complete his studies at the Royal College of Music. The debut performance of Hoan Maru, by Perth Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jessica Gethin was recorded live at the 50th anniversary celebration on Friday 26th August, 2016 at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre.

B i o g r a p h y

Kevin Penkin, Tait Scholar
Kevin Penkin, Tait Scholar 2014/15

Kevin Penkin is an Australian composer who has written for video games, anime, film and the concert stage. He won ‘Outstanding Vocal Theme’ at the 2013 Video Game Music Awards for his song ‘I Race the Dawn’, and was nominated for ‘Best Newcomer’ in 2012 by Square Enix Music Online for his work with Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu on the game ‘Juza Engi Engetsu Sangokuden’.

 Since developing an interest for Japan at an early age, it was always a goal for Kevin to compose for both video games and anime. Recent efforts have seen him write for the anime series ‘Norn9’, and the highly anticipated sci-fi film ‘Under the Dog’. While expanding in the world of anime, he has remained passionate about video games, composing for the indie hits ‘Defenders Quest’, ‘Implosion – Never Lose Hope’, and ‘Deemo’.

Kevin moved to London in 2013 to attend the Royal College of Music to pursue a Masters of Composition for Screen, from which he graduated from in June of 2015. He was selected as the inaugural Tait Scholar which gave him a £5,000 per annum scholarship to support his studies. The Tait Trust commissioned an original piece for solo flute and Chamber Orchestra entitled ‘Changing Feet’ which was debuted at the 2014 Tait Winter Prom at St John’s Smith’s Square in December 2014.

Changing Feet is about changing pace. Leaving the world’s most isolated city to live in one of the most industrious and compact environments requires a huge mental change. This piece tries to reflect not only the mentality of someone who grew up in Perth, but the experience of moving to London and ultimately returning home back to Australia. This work explores what one could miss of Perth, be it the silence, the space or the natural beauty.

Kevin Penkin composer. 29th September 2014

Listen to a sample of more of Kevin’s work on Soundcloud

During his time as a student, he heavily expanded his efforts to be involved in local projects. As a result, Kevin is now working on UK based short films and theatre. He is also involved in concert music, writing for ensembles such as the ‘Perth Chamber Orchestra’, ‘Greywing Ensemble’, and the ‘And So Forth Opera Company’.

Sally Law, violin – Tait Scholar 2016

We are delighted to announce that, Sally Law, a young violinist from Queensland, has been selected as the 2016 Tait Scholar at the Royal College of Music. The Tait Scholar Award is funded by the family of Julian Baring, and is one of our flagship scholarships for young Australians.

sally_law_tait_scholar_2016

The adopt a performer scheme allows a donor to directly support a young Australian performer for a three year commitment. Please click here to learn how to actively involve yourself in the career development of a young performer.

Sally is playing in the Tait Chamber Orchestra in our Tait Winter Prom on the 30th November at St John’s Smith Square, conducted by Jessica Cottis. More information here

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Sally Law, Tait Scholar

SALLY LAW

Violinist Sally Law is currently a Tait Trust Scholar supported by a Big Give Award at the Royal College of Music, studying violin with Jan Repko. She began playing violin at the age of eight in Brisbane, Australia. In 2015, Sally held a solo performance for HRH Princess Alexandra at Queen Alexandra House.  Over this past summer, Sally played in the Macao Orchestra for their 2016-2017 opening concert; the Roman River Music Festival with her clarinet trio; as well as the 24-hour music marathon at St John’s Smith Square, London. Sally also recently performed in masterclasses with Alexander Markov and Professor Alexander Bonduryansky.

Sally has won prizes in numerous competitions, including First Prize in the Queensland Young Instrumentalist Competition in 2012, resulting in her debut as soloist with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. She also received First Prize in the Strings Open Somerville House Solo Instrumental and Vocal Competition in 2011, and the Australia National Youth Concerto Competition Recitalist Award consecutively 2010-2012, amongst others.

Following her debut as soloist with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Sally has performed solo recitals in the UK and Australia, including St Mary Abbots Church and the Claremont Centre in London, and the Brisbane Museum Concert Hall and Somerville House Valmai Pidgeon Performing Arts Centre in Brisbane. In 2013 Sally performed in a showcase performance, raising funds for the Queensland Flood Relief at the Brisbane Albert St Uniting Church.

Sally works regularly as a chamber musician, and has formed the Mellanie Trio with musicians at the Royal College of Music. The trio have received coaching from Alina Ibragimova and Trio Apaches. Recent engagements include a performance at the Austrian Cultural Forum. Mellanie Trio have also performed recitals at St Botolph Without Aldgate Church, the RCM Parry Rooms, RCM Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall, Austrian Cultural Forum, St James’ Church Piccadilly, and St Paul’s Church Covent Garden. She was also part of a string trio of Australian musicians who performed at numerous events including representing Australia in the Delegates Lounge of the International Maritime Organisation.

Sally performs as an orchestral musician, leading orchestras such as the RCM Chamber Orchestra, and orchestras of the Brisbane Grammar Senior String Festival 2008-2012, and Somerville House Choral Festival 2008 – 2012. She was also first violinist with the Queensland Youth Symphony in 2009 and the Australian Youth Orchestra in 2011, and has performed in venues including St Paul’s Cathedral, St James’s Church Piccadilly, Sydney Opera House and Sydney Town Hall.

Aside from performing, Sally is passionate about creating cross-art productions and artistic workshops. In 2015, she directed her first exhibition at the Royal College of Music in collaboration with a dancer, animation artist and other musicians, as part of the Great Exhibitionists Series, Butterfly Lovers – Unite Through Dimensions.  Albeit not professional, Sally is also an avid videographer and enjoys uploading films onto her YouTube channel ‘Musicado FM’.

Sally Law’s website

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Changing Feet – A musical exploration of changing pace

Kevin Penkin, Tait Scholar @KevinPenkin at the Royal College of Music 2013 & 2014 @RCMLatest has been commissioned by the Tait Memorial Trust to write an orchestral work for our Winter Prom @StJohnsSmithSq. He has decided to write a piece for flute and orchestra which he has entitled, Changing Feet. Conducted by Kelly Lovelady with Nicola Crowe, flute and The Tait Chamber Orchestra this will be one of the highlights of our showcase of Australian talent in the United Kingdom.

Kevin Penkin, Tait Scholar
Kevin Penkin, Tait Scholar

 

Changing Feet is about changing pace. Leaving the world’s most isolated city to live in one of the most industrious and compact environments requires a huge mental change. This piece tries to reflect not only the mentality of someone who grew up in Perth, but the experience of moving to London and ultimately returning home back to Australia. This work explores what one could miss of Perth, be it the silence, the space or the natural beauty.

Kevin Penkin composer. 29th September 2014

Listen to a sample of Kevin’s work on Soundcloud

We are delighted that Kevin has decided to write about a subject which is so close to many of us. The change of pace…the separation from friends and family is one of the most difficult things to adjust to when you make that leap over the pond. For our young artists who travel here on their own to unfamiliar surroundings without the comfort of their usual support networks this ‘change of feet’ has a real and tangible effect on the London experience.

Over the years the Trust have assisted over 250 young Australian performing artists who have made the leap of faith to study and work here in the UK. Part of of our role is to provide financial support but also to connect them with the network of Australian’s here in London who made a similar trip many years ago. Hopefully we ease the mental change which Kevin refers to. I think we can all remember the feelings we experienced when we first arrived. We are all very keen to hear how Kevin Penkin has

Nicola Crowe - Sir Charles Mackerras Chair
Nicola Crowe, flute – Sir Charles Mackerras Chair

Tait Awardee 2014, Nicola Crowe, flute and current holder of the Southbank Sinfonia, Sir Charles Mackerras Chair, will play the flute solo in Kevin’s new work.