BY CHLOE SANGER
Matthew Teodori, Adam Bedell, and Cullen Faulk are line upon line.
This Austin-based new music trio has recently returned home from its first Australian tour. While only here for a couple of weeks, the three percussionists made a huge impact, connecting with young and emerging musicians across the country.
line upon line’s recent Australian debut at the Bendigo International Festival of Exploratory Music was spent workshopping and performing 10 pieces from Monash University composition students. Following this, the trio headed to Sydney and Melbourne conservatoriums for masterclasses with percussionist and composers.
Here is what Matthew had to say about their first time down under.
So, Matthew. Tell us what you think of Australia!
Really, really lovely!
Our alone time on tours (incredibly important for maintaining a healthy band dynamic!) is typically spent gravitating to our personal interests: Adam loves seeing how much of a place he can explore, Cullen is partial to anything historical, and I’m a food and cycling kind of guy.
There was plenty for each of us! And the early spring weather was a welcome relief from the brutal, ongoing Texas summer.
You’ve been working with some students of percussion and composition at Australian conservatoriums. It follows on from your enormous track record with universities all across the United States, too. What does working with young people mean to line upon line as a group?
It’s massively important. We had experiences in school, 10 years ago, that led us to form line upon line. Playing percussion ensemble music was the most fun we were having in school, but how to transition that love into a job that pays the bills isn’t a straightforward path.
We were fortunate to have some really successful groups come by our university (the University of Texas at Austin), that gave us some hope and ideas for how we could make the transition. And, simply put, working with composers is the most fun we have as a group; it’s our continuing education.
We’ve spent our lives producing sounds, composers have spent their lives organising sounds. It’s a symbiotic relationship, and all the better to have the opportunity to relay that when composers are just getting going on their careers.
You have some pieces on your recent album Context by Matthew Shlomowitz and Thomas Meadowcroft, two Aussie composers now based internationally. How did you come across these pieces?
Both pieces by Matthew and Thomas were commissioned by the incredible Melbourne-based group Speak Percussion. I think we first came across the pieces on YouTube. We knew right away that we wanted to program them at some point; and worked them up for the first time for a January 2016 show in Austin, recorded them about a year later, and then released the album on December 1, 2017.
Side note: I got to visit briefly with Eugene Ughetti in Melbourne right before we left town. A bit of a fanboy moment for me, and [he’s] as nice a guy as he is a great musician!
Did these Australian pieces have something to do with your Australian tour?
Indirectly, yes. When our plans for the trip were beginning to materialise, I reached out to both Thomas and Matthew for ideas about who we may contact for other gigs in Australia. They were both helpful with ideas and making connections. Sadly though, we didn’t perform either of their pieces on the tour!
What is next for the ensemble?
We’re starting a new project this January that we’re calling a composer festival, during which we invite eight composers (selected from an application process) to Austin to have new percussion trios workshopped, documented and premiered. The composers will also perform themselves on a show, and work with two faculty composers as well.
We are so happy to be able to offer this festival tuition-free to the composers, thanks to a really generous grant from the Rea Charitable Trust.
This festival is part of our sixth Austin concert season, which opened in September with shows featuring the work of Aaron Cassidy.
Also on the season ahead is a John Cage portrait, and premieres of new works by Claudia Molitor and Mauricio Pauly.
Visit line upon line online, and take a listen below.
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If you like, you can say thanks to Chloe for volunteering her time for Australian arts journalism (she’s the one with the strings).
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