The Con Open Day 2009

Yesterday, I attended the Sydney Conservatorium Open Day. The Con. A place of history and prestige. Once a week for 16 weeks last year I had attended this music school but still I turn up giddy on its doorstep.

Arriving just a little before noon, I saw and experienced many things - a Saxophone orchestra (made up of first to fourth year students from both classical and jazz majors), the Con Big Band (some swinging, foot-tapping music), a singing showcase, a cello ensemble, a woodwind ensemble, some real authentic jazz in the cafe. It's worth mentioning I sat in on 2 workshops - one composition, the other improvisation. The AWSUM! project is a class made up of students and people who pretty much walked off the street with their instruments on the day and decided they wanted to play. Two hours later, they're on stage, mixing it with the tomorrow stars :)

It was, as expected, a very pleasant day but there were some unexpected extra-special moments – spotting an ex-colleague video taping the AWSUM! project (I recall him telling me how much he enjoys making videos and that is exactly what he was doing... ) and a fellow classmate from last year's composition class who was was part of a panel comprising of first-year composition students showcasing their composition to the public (and may I add how brave this is and that her saxophone solo really blew me away). She took the plunge and decided to start her career as a composer full-time. Good on you, Rebecca!

I've saved my favourite extra-special inspirational moment (what a mouthful!) for last. I had the honour of sharing this day with a best beloved. He keeps telling me he's not musical but by the end of the day, we were in all different directions based on our interests. So whilst I was having a poke around at the cello and woodwind ensembles and discretely swinging to jazz in the cafe, he was, with much consideration for others, sitting on the staircase of a packed-out auditorium attentively listening to some beautiful singing then marching on with keenness to ensure a seat for the open academy showcase (the kiddies show, he would refer to it). I was most proud and still carry around that warm fuzzy feeling that comes from knowing that someone's world has just become that teensy wee bigger :) Oh, it's worthwhile mentioning he really liked the ultra-likeable-ponytailed-wearing-black-t-shirts-with-bizarre-but-not-odd-pictures professors all oozing of coolness...

Anyway, enough of my rambles. Here’s some pics and a video of a cello duet (excuse my very poor phone camera quality but you can hear the music)… The cello duet is of a theme by Niccolo Pagainini. He's been described as the Beatles of his time, evoking charisma and virtuoso violin skills. Legend goes that whilst in prison with a battered fiddle, the strings of his fiddle broke off one by one until only one string remained... hence, this theme that is written completely on one string for the violin.

The video (tries to) capture a scholarship student at the Con who has transcribed this piece to cello. Brilliance upon brilliance... Enjoy!

Information & Cultural Exchange. Congrats!

TXT message received on 24 March 2009 at 9.40pm

"Hi elaine, thank you for encouraging us to submit for sbs foundation. Guess what? We got the funding!! We get free airtime for ice on sbs - just announced 2nite. So exciting.... "

Information and Cultural Exchange is a little-known charity located in Granville (soon to move to Parramatta) that provides skills and seeks opportunities for young people in the Greater Western suburbs. The Greater Western suburbs of Sydney is home to the largest migrant, refugee and urban Indigenous populations in Australia and is considered Australia's most culturally diverse region.

SBS is Australia's multicultural and multilingual public broadcaster. My fav channel.

It was always going to be a perfect fit.

I'm so very pleased. Congratulations to ICE :)

.... and can we please all start watching (if we don't already) SBS? :))

Some Upcoming Projects

There are some projects I am currently (well, supposed to be) working on. They are all projects with no financial reward but (importantly!) make me smile :)

1. Olivia’s Lullaby – The Touched by Olivia annual ball is fast approaching. It’s on Saturday 2 May and I am currently preparing for a circulation of Olivia’s Lullaby on a mini-CD to attendees on the night. If you’ve read my earlier blog entries, you’ll know the background to this piece and understand how meaningful the piece is to me and how special it is to be able to share it with others, let alone those who are supportive of the charity.

2. A Cello Solo – A friend’s wedding is coming up in mid-May and he is possibly, probably going to purchase a cello as a wedding gift for his wife-to-be. His beautiful wife-to-be (I’ve actually met her) was actually a cellist student in school and I’m very happy to be working on a cello solo to be presented along with this gift for such a wonderful occasion.

3. Music Council of Australia ‘ Music Forum’ magazine – I stumbled upon this opportunity a few weeks ago and wrote to the Editor with an idea for an article…. and now I’m so pleased that it has been accepted. Finer details. Deadline: 1 June. Word Count: 2,000 – 3,000 words. Woah! Someone hand me a sweat towel please :)

Mt Kossie

My occupation demands that I be a good speller so it may come as a surprise that every time I type Mt Kosciusko, I still have to throw it into Google to check…

Mt Kosciusko. This is the mountain I climbed/hiked/walked two weekends ago. 21.5km. Picturesque views. Beautiful lakes. Quick-witted and clever company!

About 2 years ago, I participated in the Oxfam Trailwalk (proudly) and walked 100km under 48 hours. .. Somehow 20 or so kilometers is a lot longer than I remember :)

My dear friend has just blogged about our experience. You can read it over here. He takes some nice pictures too :)

And yes, if you were there on the trail and heard the inkling of a hum… That was me. Apologies.

Gift Giving

This early part of the year is flooded with birthdays. My mum’s, my brother’s, friends’, a best beloved’s and even mine…. My dad’s coming up as well :)

Ultimately this means there’s a lot of gift giving.

Now I’m sure we’ve all gone through the painful experience of coming up with a birthday gift. There are so many considerations. Will they like it? Do they need it? Will they use it? What colour?

Here’s my view on this topic….

The best gifts given to me are not even ones given to me on my birthday.

I don’t have my dad or mum’s culinary skills but they take the time to teach me how to make steamed fish (the restaurant way)… and now I can always make it.

My mum has a talent for craft and she teaches me how to crochet and together we create our family stitch…. and now it’s our secret.

My sister and brother go overseas and bring back a music manuscript book from Venice, a Liverpool jersey from London, a ‘pink’ charm from Japan. These are things they know their sister has loved all her life. I remember their consideration and thoughtfulness always.

My grandfather has perfect pitch and would often go to our old casio keyboard piano, sit down and play Waltzing Matila (all by ear) – using the black keys mostly. And though I don’t have perfect pitch, I’d like to think my love of music comes from and is inspired by him.

Cycling falls in this category too… (and I’m about to get an awesome pink bicycle, I might add.)

The best gift I’ve given is lending my help to charities. Working with young people and people less fortunate than myself and passing on some small piece of knowledge or skill (even in the smallest of ways)... it can go a long way. And what I get in return, well, it's more than anything I can actually express.

In the end, these are the types of gifts I treasure the most. These gifts which become a part of me and are with me always.

One last note on gift giving… Surely all mums deserve a treat and a massage on their child’s birthday. After all, it is really them who do all the hard work. They are the ones who should be thanked and celebrated. Birthdays are really their days.