November 2022
Hi everyone,
2022 has flown by almost in the blink of an eye, and, catching my breath after a few intense months past, I’m excited to share some of the things I’ve been up to since the middle of the year.
First, a few updates on my work with Soundstream New Music:
Setting up for DARK: ANTIKYTHERA on the Pt August Golf Course, 12 August 2022
I joined Soundstream’s artistic director Gabriella Smart and Daniel Pitman for the premiere performance of DARK: ANTIKYTHERA at the Pt Augusta Golf Club on 12 August, as part of Chamber Music Adelaide’s On The Terrace in Pt Augusta. The surround sound work responds to the nocturnal firmament and is inspired by the Antikythera Mechanism, an ancient orrery that accurately predicted planetary movement and eclipses. Read more on this performance in Chris Reid’s Limelight review.
Soundstream was successful in receiving renewed Program Support funding from Arts South Australia, which means that I’ll be continuing as Administrator for the organisation, as well as curating new programs as Associate Artistic Director (including the upcoming Soundstream FRINGE 2023 program)! More information on this announcement is available here.
Dr Dylan Crismani from the University of Adelaide was successful in receiving an Australian Research Council Grant (IN230100005), which connects with Soundstream’s ongoing work with Titjikala community in the NT, and has Gabriella and I joining as researchers on this exciting project.
Harkening back to July, we start off with Lacunae, a sound design collaboration with Tasmanian team Soma Lumia for the Illuminate Adelaide Festival. An interactive projection and sound installation, the work exhibited between the South Australian Museum in Adelaide, Murray Bridge Regional Gallery and Walkway Gallery in Bordertown from 15th-30th July. Lacunae sought to transform our separation into something where joy and connection bubbles up through movement, music and art. Joined via live-feed to share silhouettes and music tracks simultaneously from different locations, people communicated and danced with one another across SA in this joyous, shared space full of colour, music and movement.
Lacunae in motion…
In late July, I also reviewed Seraphim Trio’s Grand Tour: France performance (part of The Lab’s Illuminate offering) for The Serenade Files.
In early August, I performed Nurture: The Piano Album (Live) at ARTHUR Art-Bar (66 Currie Street, Adelaide), featuring arrangements by Youtuber keudae of tracks from Porter Robinson's critically-acclaimed 2021 album Nurture.
While I play fairly regularly as an accompanist and musical director, this concert marked my first extended solo piano performance, and it was especially fulfilling to do this with the sponsorship of PianoMax on a Kawai CA99 hybrid piano. Many thanks to Cass and the team at ARTHUR for hosting me!
Later, from 24-30 September, I served as Leadership Manager for the 2022 RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) in Rotary District 9510 at Nunyara Conference Centre in Belair, SA.
The 2022 RYLA Team after graduation night
RYLA is an intensive leadership experience organised by Rotary clubs and districts where participants develop skills as leaders, cultivating skills set including building communication and problem-solving skills, discovering strategies for becoming a dynamic leader in their school or community, learning from community leaders, inspirational speakers, and peer mentors, unlocking potential to turn motivation into action, and have fun and forming lasting friendships.
This year’s RYLA included sessions on resilience, public speaking, cultural entrepreneurship (presented by yours truly), emotional intelligence in leadership, peace-building and conflict management, first impressions, self-care, growth mindset, goal setting, creativity, advocacy and ethics.
As an alum of the RYPEN (2008) and RYLA (2016) programs, I’m incredibly grateful to be able to offer something of the skillsets that I’ve picked up across my youth to this year’s cohort (some 30 strong), and to continue building my own capacities alongside a stellar team including Alex James, Benjamin Cook, Sabrina Alameen, Chris Mark, Emelia Moore, Ali Michael and la jefa, Helen Marshall.
From 6 - 15 October, I musically directed The Lot’s season of Jonathan Larson’s RENT at the Queens Theatre. With 12 performances over 6 – 15 October, this production was popular with the Adelaide audience and featured in many reviews, including:
““This production directed by Benjamin Maio Mackay (who also plays Roger Davis) is a high energy wonder that succeeds on almost all fronts…. Jesse Budel’s musical direction is spot on. His band is tight, still allowing the singers to ‘play’ with the music as their characters dictate.””
The RENT cast mid La Vie Boheme
“Overall, this was a slickly executed rendition of RENT that everyone involved in should feel justifiably proud of.”
“Such a wonderful performance, such an eye-opening display of South Australian talent. You don’t need to go to Broadway to watch brilliant theatre, because it can be found right here in Adelaide at the Queen’s Theatre.”
Always a joy to collaborate with dear friend and MD partner in crime, Jennifer Trijo!
You can see the full reviews from the AU Review, See-Do-Eat Review, Stage Whispers on each of the links, as well as other reviews from Broadway World, Weekend Notes and Glam Adelaide.
It was an absolute pleasure working on such an iconic queer show with a primarily-queer creative team including director Benjamin Maio McKay, Matt Ralph and Nina Richards, alongside my steadfast band of Mark Lanigan O’Keeffe (Guitar 1), Jennifer Trijo (Keys 2/Guitar 2), Sebastian Brook and Benjamin Waechter (Bass), Miles Farnan and Max Zillioto (Drums), and a superb cast and crew who championed this show over its twelve-performance run.
Stayed tuned for The Lot’s next production of Larson’s Tick, Tick… Boom! in mid-2023!
Amidst the second week of RENT, I had a number of launches and premieres. Friday 14 October saw the launch of the VR-collaborative work Herding Caterpillars, for which I was the sound artist, presented during Adelaide’s Nature Festival (14-16 October) as both AR and VR events.
From Glam Adelaide: “Presented by Butterfly Conservation SA and creative producer Rosina Possingham with technology partners, CDW Animation, Flinders University’s The Void and Brewed Engagement Extended Reality (BEER) Laboratory (Labs), Herding Caterpillars involves augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) experiences showcasing the life cycle of the Chequered Copper Butterfly – a rarely seen and recently re-discovered species found in Adelaide’s Southern Parklands.”
You can find out more about the making of the project on the Herding Caterpillars website.
Then, between the matinee and evening RENT performance on Saturday 15 October was the premiere of my new string quartet, Whispers at MOD., as part of Chamber Music Adelaide’s INVISIBILITY Commissions.
Lachlan Bramble, Emma Perkins, Martin Alexander and Sharon Draper prepare to perform Whispers
Performed alongside Luke Altman’s Hidden Cities, Georgina Bowden’s Micro-Geology, Belinda Gehlert’s Beyond The Binary and Hilary Kleinig’s The River Flows Through, Whispers continues my interest in chamber music modelled on ecosystem functionality and non-human agency, where the performers get to make decisions about when and how to play with one another, make every performance unique. The program note offers some more specific thoughts on the work:
“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 through 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.”
Contemplative (not lethargic) listening!
Many thanks to Lachlan Bramble, Emma Perkins, Martin Alexander, Sharon Draper and Janet Carey for bringing the piece to life!
Check out more photos in CityMag’s feature post, and read on below for more information on the first public performance on Saturday 12 October, again at MOD. as Chamber Music Adelaide’s On The Terrace Program.
At the end of the month, on October 29 and 30th, I (finally!) joined the troupe of Vicarious Cabaret for our return season at Diverse-City.
Postponed due to my contracting COVID in the middle of the year, this season’s performances improvised three wild and original stories inspired by the lives of our audience members (and the Halloween season): a haunted family of accountants needing to seal a portal to the underworld, a rom-com themed tale of an assistant principal campaigning to get his job back, and a hotelier and pharmacist contending with a zombie invasion.
After a long stint of Adelaide Fringe seasons in the past five years, Vicarious Cabaret is taking a break for the 2023 season, but we’ll return sometime in the new year to craft many more musicals from scratch!
Upcoming Ventures
The first public performance of ‘Whispers’ for string quartet will take place at MOD. at 2pm on Saturday November 12, as part of Chamber Music Adelaide’s On The Terrace series.
Performances of Sam Hall’s WOMB, which I provided sound design for and has seen numerous creative developments at The Mill, Dancehub and Adelaide Festival Centre will finally take place at The Lab in on Wednesday 23 and Thursday 24 November.
Tickets are available on The Lab’s website.
“In the darkness we grow, in the womb we come alive. 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.”
And lastly, the Murray Bridge Piano Sanctuary is set to be completed by the end of 2022 at Carey’s Park, Murray Bridge, through the support of a Country Arts SA grant and the Rural City of Murray Bridge.
Expanding on the existing two pianos at the foot of the park, a further six plinths have been installed across the additional sections of the park along the stretch of Mallee scrub.
An exciting launch tour and concert is planned for Adelaide Fringe 2023 - more information soon!
More exciting announcements around the corner next month, but until then, much love and compassion,
Jesse
