Trans-Tasman Composers Report

"The opportunity to simply get up in the morning, have breakfast and then devote an entire day to writing with no other duties or distractions is, for me, a rare one. To have a period of eleven continuous days with the same simple timetable is heaven-sent. This was the enviable situation I found myself in at the beginning of April..."

This is how New Zealand composer Kenneth Young begins his report of his experiences in Tasmainia earlier this year as he took up the 2007 Trans Tasman Composer Residency with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. The full report, courtesy of the Australian Music Centre's Resonate ezine can be read online here , or downloaded as a pdf here .

"...I have recently been rather lush and complex with my textures, and so it occurred to me that here was an opportunity for a spot of ‘palette cleansing’...", he continues "...I began to work on ideas I’d had for some weeks with regard to clean lines and well-spaced voicings – a far cry from the close, polytonal harmonies of recent works. I have never written so much in such a short period..."

Kenneth is the fifth composer to benefit from this collaborative project of the Australian Music Centre and SOUNZ with the funding support of the Australia Council and Creative New Zealand respectively. Read more about the residency and the previous recipients here.

Resonate have also recently published the report of Australian composer Colin Bright, the fourth recipient.  You can read it online here. The premiere of his Surf Symphony (28 Jan 2008) by the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra under Hamish McKeish as part of the 2008 Aquatica Festival in Auckland was the result of the 2006 Trans Tasman Residency.