BY GRACE KIM
My name is Grace Kim, and I’m the founding artistic director of upcoming project Mountain Concerts. I’ve commissioned Ian Munro to write a new, original, family-friendly composition based on an original Blue Mountains story. I live here in this region.
Year in, year out, we hear Carnival of the Animals and Peter and the Wolf, which are wonderful. But I was longing for an option of something original, and Australian!
This idea was just at the back of my head on a ‘to do’ list. I have several projects going, one of which is Sensory Concerts. But soon enough, I happened to come across a Facebook crowdfunding page about a children’s book called Leonard the Lyrebird by a Blue Mountains writer, Jodie McLeod. And I thought it sounded interesting, so I Facebooked her and asked if I could read it.
It was just the perfect story. And I also found out she happened to live down the road from me! That was the beginning of a chain of lucky coincidences.
Jodie and illustrator Eloise Short were very happy to be involved in my new idea. Then, I happened to bump into Ian at a concert. It had been about 18 years since I’d last seen this composer, when he was a guest teacher at Australian National Academy of Music and I was the inaugural ANAM Fellow!
Ian and I got talking, and catching up; and I floated to him the idea about Mountain Concerts. Ian was very enthusiastic, so that’s how it all began.
I wanted to find the perfect venue. I thought: ‘Wouldn’t it be amazing to do it in the middle of the valleys where the story is set?’. So, I contacted Scenic World Blue Mountain, and found out that they had been following Jodie and Eloise’s crowdfunding for the book. They were already familiar with the story, so everything really fell into place.
The Mountain Concerts project combines the creative forces of Australian talents in music, performing arts, and literature – all while celebrating the magnificent nature and animals of the Blue Mountains.
Scenic World was also extremely enthusiastic, and so generous in its support in partnering for this project. The musicians involved are Phil Green (associate clarinet, Opera Australia Orchestra),Teije Hylkema (principal cello, Opera Australia Orchestra), myself as piano/sampler, and Ian as composer/narrator. There will also be beautiful images by Eloise Short.
To fund this project, I received the 2018/19 Arts Grant from the Blue Mountains City of the Arts Trust. Now, we’ll finally see the world premiere on February 23. This will be followed by two performances the next day in the middle of the valley, accessed by guided Scenic Railway and Cableway.
It’ll be such wonderfully unique experience for families and music lovers.
See the world premiere of Leonard the Lyrebird: A Musical Story at Scenic World Blue Mountains on 23 February.
Shout the writer a coffee?
If you like, you can say thanks to Grace Kim for introducing this new project to Australia. No amount too much or little 🙂
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Images supplied. Grace captured by David Hill/Deep Hill Media.
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Absolutely can’t wait to see Leonard the Lyrebird come to life on stage with such talented musicians! There is no doubt this will be an incredible performance, and that the future for this work is limitless. Congratulations Grace and Ian!