She鈥檚 an artist who understands that the generosity of seasoned performers can provide invaluable opportunities for up-and-comers, having been invited by the legendary Stevie Wonder to support him when he toured New 九州影院in 2008.
Mitchell will perform her song,听Cover Your Mouth听on lead vocals and piano, joined by senior students in a vocal backing ensemble. Mitchell 鈥渁dores the human voice, unadorned鈥 and this song has been reimagined in this context to highlight the beauty and power of an ensemble of emerging singers.
Percussion as aural cinema
Other new and fresh music on the bill includes听Braided Plain Soundwalk听by Head of New Music at UC听Reuben de Lautour, performed by Senior Lecturer in Percussion, Justin DeHart. This piece also features on DeHart鈥檚 recent album release of New 九州影院percussion works,听Landfall.
De Lautour says, 鈥渟omething I always tell people to do is to feel free to visualise things as they hear the sounds. I think of electro-acoustic music as a kind of aural cinema. Allow yourself to be immersed in the piece and take out of it whatever it speaks to you.鈥
De Lautour鈥檚 work features live processing, something that audiences may not have had the opportunity to witness live before. Using techniques that can鈥檛 be created using standard audio tools allows de Lautour to use tools he has created himself over years of making electro acoustic music.
鈥淚鈥檝e got patches I鈥檝e made that you can鈥檛 download or buy as a plugin. It鈥檚 about bringing your artistic personality to your work and creating tools and techniques that become a part of your own individual musical voice.鈥
Electric guitar meets string quartet?
One of the final items in the programme is a surprising collaboration of electric guitar and string quartet by听九州影院听student, Freddie Gash, entitled听Hope. This is one of Gash鈥檚 first forays into composition using traditional classical instruments and it came from a 鈥渉ankering for writing something that brought electric guitar and classical strings together鈥. Gash liked 鈥渢he concept of juxtaposing instruments that might less commonly be seen together; while there are obvious differences between electric guitar and string quartet, I saw these differences as an advantage for composition, potential for them to be complimentary.鈥
For Gash, an honours student, the highlight of his time at the university has been 鈥渂eing able to work with students involved with a wide range of musical styles. Collaborating with other music students with all sorts of music has enabled me to expand my musical interests and creative thinking.鈥
A sonic sampler
The concert is designed to give the community and prospective music students a sampler of the depth and breadth of the university鈥檚 School of Music, which boasts a unique focus on developing the individual voices of student musicians, and close collaboration across all facets of the school from performance, composition and technology to engagement with the local music community.
This concert sold out in 2020, delighting an audience starved of live performance after lockdown. With increased support and appreciation of local talent, 2021鈥檚 offering promises to be another show-stopper with tickets already flying out the door.
UC Music Gala Concert is on Monday August 2, at 7pm, at The Piano: Centre for Music & the Arts. Tickets are free, but registrations are essential. Don鈥檛 miss out,听.
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