Welcome to Con Fuoco – CutCommon’s new interview series with emerging musicians across Australia.
Raised in Melbourne, Rohan Dasika received a Bachelor of Music from the Australian National University in 2012, studying with Max McBride, before completing two years at the Australian National Academy of Music where he learnt from Damien Eckersley. Rohan plays regularly with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, has played with the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra and Queensland Symphony Orchestra, as well as having acted as guest principal of the Camerata of St. Johns.
In 2013, Rohan performed a season of Piazzolla’s opera ‘Maria de Buenos Aires’ with the Victorian Opera Tango Nuevo Ensemble led by James Crabb, and in 2014 appeared in the Bendigo International Festival of Exploratory Music. He was a member of the 2014 Pacific Music Festival Orchestra, giving concerts thoughout Japan, and performed with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra Academy (Germany) in 2014 and 2015.
This year sees Rohan make study trips to Philadelphia and Vienna, courtesy of an Australia Council ArtStart grant and as joint recipient of the ANAM John and Rosemary Macleod Travelling Fellowship.
Your all time favourite piece of music?
I don’t think I really have a favourite – there is so much amazing music out there, and I’m sure so much still to come. I go through little periods of obsession, though. The other week I was messing around on the computer and somehow ended up listening to a piece called ‘Meditation on the Bach Chorale Vor Deinem Thron tret ich hiermit’ (Sofia Gubaidulina), and I seem to keep being drawn back to it. Will definitely have to try to figure out a way to play it at some point in the future.
Most memorable concert experience?
I think playing at the Proms in London with the Australian Youth Orchestra in 2010 was pretty incredible. I was at that sweet spot where I had no idea what I was doing, but knew enough to get how much fun it was. And the audience there was so connected to the music – I’ve never seen anything like it.
Biggest fear when performing?
Maybe it is that the audience goes away with an impression that I’m something that I’m not.
Best piece of musical advice you’ve been given?
For some reason, this really short conversation I had with Stevie Newton (Melbourne Symphony Orchestra bassist) backstage before we played a concert has always stuck with me. Somehow I had got to saying that I just wanted to feel like I’d figured out how to play the bass, and he said something to the effect of that I would probably never feel that way no matter how far I progressed. It seems a lot easier to feel like I can contribute something to musical situations, when I’m not feeling guilty about not reaching some sort of undefinable point. That being said, obviously I’m still desperately trying to figure out how to play the bass!
How do you psych yourself up for practice on a lazy day?
Generally when I’m feeling lazy, it’s because I don’t really know what I want to do. So I guess I try to make sure I have a pretty defined idea of what I want to achieve practice-wise during the day. If I think about it more, and still really don’t want to practice, and it’s not going to be disastrous for anything coming up, I’m all for not doing anything!
Most embarrassing thing to happen to you on stage?
I’m a very dedicated sandal-wearer. So when I got booked for my first casual work with the MSO in 2012, I realised that I didn’t own any respectable professional shoes. I went shopping, and somehow ended up coming out with these rubber, fluro green hiking boots. Of course the conductor noticed, and made some joke in the rehearsal, and the entire orchestra seemed to turn around and stare at me. In retrospect, fluro green probably isn’t the greatest colour for blending in.
Favourite post-gig activity?
I really like beer.
What are you most proud of in your musical career so far?
I’m pretty happy with how many different musical situations I seem to end up in – I hope that never changes.
What do you most love about making music?
That feeling of being integrated into a whole greater than the sum of its parts, like some huge ball of energy. I’m pretty addicted to that feeling, and it can come in so many different places.
What’s your ultimate goal?
No idea!
If you’re an emerging musician and would like to be featured in CutCommon’s new Con Fuoco interview series, give us a shout at editor@cutcommon.com.
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