BY SYLVIE WOODS, LEAD WRITER (NSW)
Described as “a remarkable composer” by the United Kingdom’s Gramophone Magazine, honoured with myriad awards for her music contributions to Australia, and armed with a great project idea, it’s no wonder Cat Hope was selected to receive one of the coveted Australian Council for the Arts grants for her new opera Speechless.
However, for the regular CutCommoner who may have little experience in chasing and applying for highly competitive grants: how should one put themselves forward?
We chat to Cat about her timely opera and her process of seeking government funding in a system she feels is “a bit of a lottery”.
What did the grant from the Australian Council mean for you in developing the final stage of your opera Speechless?
I have approached this work quite differently than perhaps most opera presentations. Last year, I worked towards finalising the music and its performance, and showing that. This funding assists us with developing the final stage of presentation – the staging, lighting, movement, sets, costuming, and the like.
How many times have you applied for a grant for your music pursuits?
I think of grants as a bit of a lottery. There are lots of excellent applications. So if you answer all the criteria clearly, with clear purpose, an exciting idea, and provide good support material, you are in the running with a whole bunch of other people who have done that.
No one ‘deserves’ funding, as such, in that climate. So I have applied many times over the years, sometimes I am lucky – like this time – sometimes I am not! Perseverance is key!
Could you tell us a bit about the process of receiving the grant for Speechless?
Lots of work putting an application together, good support material, then combing emails every day from the notification date, looking hopefully. Then, lots of celebrating with the news, followed up [with] a sigh of relief because all your planning may actually now become real. Then [it’s back to] the work that we all love to do: making the art.
Speechless was critically acclaimed by one publication as a “highly successful musical innovation”. What does innovation in music mean to you?
It means understanding existing forms, and working to make something new and relevant from and of them.
You’ve worked in many different places, from the Decibel New Music Ensemble to the Australia Research Council, and your role as Head of School at the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music, Monash University. Do you think Australia is supportive of innovation in music, compared with the rest of the world?
I think the Australia Council and the small-medium arts sector is supportive of innovation in music. I don’t the our so called ‘major’ sector is. My observation has been that, elsewhere, innovation is an expected part of any contemporary practice, even of historic works. And I believe that’s what keeps music relevant and engaging for a large cross-section of audiences.
What do you think we are doing well for our local talent in terms of grants and support, and what could we do better?
I am not across all the programs available for local talent, but I have noticed more mentoring projects, which I think is good. It appreciates our established artists in addition to helping our more emergent ones.
I really believe that to keep art at the centre of our identity and culture, which is where it should be, it must be relevant – and local artists make art that relates to our current condition, circumstance, and imperative.
It is a shame that the cuts to Australia Council have seen the end of their strategic initiatives arm, which was great for identifying what was needed. It seems the most exciting projects are artist-led.
What are your plans for the future, Cat?
Keep trying to come up with good ideas, keep writing and performing music, keep collaborating. As I also maintain a full-time academic role, finding and maintaining the space for my own artistic creativity can be challenging. But it is the key.
Find out more about the projects supported alongside Cat’s opera on the Australia Council for the Arts website. Cat recently gave the Peggy Glanville-Hicks address at the Melbourne Recital Centre.
What does this story mean to you?
If you like, you can say thanks to Sylvie for volunteering her time for Australian arts journalism. No amount too much or little 🙂
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Image credit Orelie Grimaldi.
