June 2023
Warrawong Swamp near Wilcannia NSW, 16 May 2023. Photo by Greg Harm.
Hi everyone,
It’s now almost halfway through 2023, and ample time to share some of the creative ventures of this past half year.
In case you missed the premiere performances of Whispers, a new piece for string quartet I wrote for Chamber Music Adelaide and MOD.’s Invisibility commissions, there’s now a recording available, performed by violinists Lachlan Bramble and Emma Perkins, violist Martin Alexander and cellist Sharon Grigoryan.
As the program note explains:
“Endangered species are often rendered invisible as a result of low population numbers. With the advent of inexpensive long-duration field recording equipment, instead, these species can again be found by listening for their calls. ‘Whispers’ is an encapsulation of the vocalisation of endangered species in South Australia, marking their discovery and decline since the founding of the colony in 1836 to the present day and beyond.”
Like most of my notated music, Whispers is scored to emulate the decisions that animals make and the unpredictable nature of the environment, meaning that every single performance is unique – I’m very grateful to the contributions of the Lachlan, Emma, Martin and Sharon, whose sensitive choices and listening gave voice to the other-than-humans rendered in dots on a page.
Seeing out the end of a frenetic latter half of 2022 were the final performances of Sam Hall’s WOMB, which had seen multiple creative developments since September 2021. As Sam describes, ‘WOMB is an immersive contemporary dance performance that invites you to dive between dimensions and shed your old skin. Drawing from our hopes, fears, and vulnerabilities, it evokes in us a deep sense of connection and an ineffable understanding’.
Presented in The Lab on Adelaide’s Light Square between 23-24 November, it was a delight to see and hear the work presented amidst the immersive screen and surround setup, some of which you can catch in the adjacent video.
Some snippets from WOMB.
Director/Performer - Sam Hall; Performer - Lily Potger; Sound Design - Jesse Budel; Lighting and AV Design - Tom Kitney; AV Design and Creation - Max Brading; Costume Creation - Pam Hall; Headpiece Creation - Ellise Chenda; Production Manager - Jacinta Way
After WOMB’s final performance, and in the wake of several months of non-stop activity (a couple bouts of illness included along the way), my body finally told me to slow down in the form of a nerve injury. As I’ve found out with my physiotherapist these past few months of 2023, my left suprascapular nerve gave way, impacting the associated rotator cuff (specifically, for the medical-savvy folks, the supraspinatus and infraspinatus). Conservative treatment has gone a long way so far, with regular gym visits to rebuild my supper body strength and retrain the neural pathway, estimated between 12-18 months. Ultimately, there’s a gratitude I have in experiencing this now, understanding the care and maintenance I need to take with my body moving forward, and noting the health benefits I’m already beginning to witness.
In the early days of recovery in December, I was immensely fortunate to study a beginner course in Pitjantjatjara language and culture. For audiences not of Australian background, Pitjantjatjara is a Western Desert language of Central Australia, spoken by the Aṉangu people. Alongside Soundstream’s Artistic Director Gabriella Smart and Stuart Patterson, I spent two weeks with cultural advisor Lorna Wilson, learning rudimentary vocabulary and grammar, as well as cultural customs and norms of the Aṉangu. With Soundstream’s ongoing connection with the Inarma Choir and the Titjikala Community in NT and prospective travels to community, I’m looking forward to continuing learning from Aṉangu and learning this beautiful and nuanced language further.
Since December, I’ve also been one of Flinders University’s Assemblage Creative Centre for the Arts Artists-In-Residence. Working with the new ambisonic studios at the university, this residency will culminate in a new work, Mandala, ‘An ambisonic soundscape composition (drawing metaphorically on the Tibetan Buddhist understanding of the mandala as a three-dimensional projection of a particular deity's palatial residence), celebrating the soundscapes of South Australian national parks and concerned with cultivating respect and reverence for their resident non-human inhabitants.’ For this project, I’ve been making second-order ambisonic recordings with a CoreAudio Octomic in various South Australian ecosystems, including the forested Adelaide Hills on Peramangk Country, coastlines of the Adelaide plains on Kaurna Country, and marshlands of the Fleurieu Peninsula on Ngarrindjeri Country. Keep an ear out for further updates in due course.
Adelaide festival season returned for February and March (now the largest festival in the Southern Hemisphere), and alongside rejoining the Darkfield FOH team for the third year running, I also accompanied comic soprano Janet Hattam at the Murray Bridge Fringe Street Party on February 25. It was a hoot to finally play with Janet (after a few previous attempts) to audiences in my home-town, churning out tunes such as sendups of La Vie en rose (including a Murray Bridge-inspired rendition), Hugh Laurie’s Mystery and David Friedman’s My Simple Christmas Wish. Check out some of the wonderful photos by Glenn Power!
For Soundstream New Music, I also produced the Emerging Composers’ Forum Concert, held at Coriole Vineyards on Sunday March 12. With music inspired by the nearby Aldinga Scrub Conservation Park, featuring world premieres by Christopher Williams (SA), Luke Cuerel (QLD), Elizabeth Jigalin (NSW) and Olivia Davies (WA) across a range of chamber instrumentation, including prepared piano and harmonium. More information on the ECF 2019-2023 program and concert can be found on the Soundstream website. Recording of the works were also made at Wizard Tone Studios in Hendon – more information on the release soon!
Later March saw me venture to the US for three weeks, with the support of an Arts SA Professional Development Grant. From March 23-26, I attended the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology 30th Anniversary Conference, Listening Pasts, Listening Futures, at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna Beach, FL USA.
Wearing a variety of hats, from WFAE Secretary and team member of the organising committee to paper and installation presenter, the conference was an incredibly rich and rewarding symposium bringing together acoustic ecology artists and researchers from around the globe.
Some amazing keynotes were presented by Amanda Gutiérrez, Bénéwendé Segueda, Veronica Mockler, David George Haskell and Claude Schryer, alongside several dozen fascinating and insightful presentations across papers, installations and music concerts.
My paper, ‘Operator Please: Field Recording Practices through the lens of Agential Realism’, will be published in the upcoming conference proceedings.
Between 28 March to April 10, I returned San Francisco, something a spiritual home for me in the US. Having spent the most time there of any US city during my 2017 American Ascent travels, it was delightful to spend time in the city once more, adding to the highlights of the trip:
A visit to the Envelop SF Venue, a surround sound listening space at the Midway in Dogpath, catching three different listening parties of SZA’s SOS, Radiohead’s In Rainbows and Ravi Shankar’s Chants of India
Heading to The Lab (in San Francisco) to hear two sets by ambient drone extraordinaire Kali Malone
Hiking in the Tennessee Beach area with fellow sound artist Cheryl Leonard
Stay tuned for a full write-up of this trip in coming weeks!
On May 13, the Murray Bridge Piano Sanctuary finally launched, thanks to the support of multiple grants from the Rural City of Murray Bridge Council and a Regional Arts Fund grant, administered by Country Arts SA.
The launch featured a tour of the Sanctuary’s pianos in their various states of transformation and ruin. This hike was followed by a concert on 1920s Milton pianola by myself and Vanessa Tomlinson (Clocked Out).
This pianola, affectionately named Dulcie (after Vanessa’s grandmother who initially owned the piano), became the focus of our ensuing project, Channelling Dulcie’s Piano: how the river taught the piano to sing.
From May 14-20, we travelled alongside filmographer/photographer Greg Harm from Murray Bridge to Renmark, Wentworth, Wilcannia, Brewarrina, Moree and Stanthorpe QLD, following the river lines of the Murray, Baaka/Darling, Barwon and Mehi/Gwydir connecting the Murray Bridge Piano Sanctuary and Piano Mill in SE QLD.
I’ll be doing a further write-up of the Sanctuary launch and this epic journey (5000kms in 10 days) - for now, I’ll let Greg’s beautiful images do the telling.
Additionally, DWELL, a screen-dance work I sound-designed for, in collaboration with choreographer-director Sue Hawksley, dancers Tammy Arjona and Billie Cook, and filmmaker Richard Hodges, had its first screenings:
WORLD PREMIERE: FlorenceDanceOnScreen Festival - Florence, Italy. May 2023.
3rd International Festival of Ecoperformance - São Paulo, Brazil and online - June 2023.
Subsequent screenings will be at:
International Dance and Somatic Practices Conference - Coventry University International - July 2023.
Solastalgia: loss and return exhibition - Coral Street Art Space, Victor Harbor, South Australia - August 2023.
Special thanks to Country Arts SA and the Regional Arts Fund for funding support!
I’m currently raising funds to remount of Considering Matthew Shepard, a beautiful modern-day oratorio by Craig Hella Johnson, reflecting on the homophobic murder of Matthew Shepard in Wyoming USA in 1998. Following the 2019 Australian premiere which I produced and conducted, I’ll be resuming these roles with Soundstream New Music, with performances taking place on the 25th anniversary of Matthew’s death in Adelaide’s Elder Hall from October 12-14 2023.
Our Australian Cultural Fund campaign is currently accepting tax-deductible donations, with all support gratefully appreciated. A fundraising soiree on Sunday 18 June, 3-5pm in Aldinga Beach will feature soprano Chloe Dunstan (Young Adelaide Voices) and myself performing songs from the show, alongside a screening of the PBS documentary on the work. Reserve your spot over at Trybooking!
In July, I’ll be starting a new research associate role at the University of Adelaide on an Australia Research Council-funded project, ‘Fine Tuning: A Reconciliation of Indigenous and Western Musical Traditions’. This important project explores the microtunal tuning systems of several First Nations songlines:
Focusing on central Australian song lines, the project strengthens our knowledge, understanding and application of the intricate tuning systems that underpin traditional Indigenous musical practices. Employing a unique methodology that combines Indigenous and contemporary Western musical performance practices with cutting-edge digital technologies, the project will show how the highly nuanced and sophisticated tunings at the heart of Indigenous music-making can be preserved when transposed to contemporary Western art music contexts. In so doing, the case is made for a more genuine, equitable dialogue between Indigenous and non-Indigenous music-makers, to the mutual benefit of musicians, audiences, and society at large.
Lachlan Bramble, Emma Perkins, Martin Alexander and Sharon Draper prepare to perform Whispers
And 6 July, I’ll also be playing keys for Mt Carmel College’s production of Shrek Jr. at Adelaide’s Arts Theatre!
Until next time with the full updates on the WFAE 2023 conference, and a recount of the travels with Dulcie the pianola, with much love and compassion,
Jesse
