BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
Contemporary classical composition in surround sound?
We’ll take that.
It’s the latest offering from classical/electronic/genius duo Argo, and it comes in the form of a world premiere at St John’s Cathedral.
The Brisbane two-piece is made up of emerging composers Ben Heim and Connor D’Netto, who have taken their inspiration from the venue’s architecture to craft another world of sound and light.
Visuals will be projected across the largest vaulted ceiling of any cathedral in Australia, while genres are challenged with atmospheric music from two pianos, flutes, strings, and soundscapes reverberating into the night.
Ben and Connor chat about Meditations – the first gig in their 2016 series.
You’re organising, producing, and performing this concert series – what a load! Why did you decide to take on all roles?
Connor: Yeah, it’s been pretty crazy taking everything on ourselves – composing all the music, organising the events, producing all the film and visual material that goes with them, and still having to co-ordinate the ensembles and perform with them. It’s nearly become a full time role for us this year! But it’s really fulfilling to create something completely your own. We get the chance to tailor everything which goes into the concert at every stage along the way; really getting into the nuts and bolts of the whole event and creating something completely one-of-a-kind.
Do you feel that as musicians, it’s your responsibility to make your own opportunities for concerts like this? Do you feel there are only limited opportunities out there and is that a contributing factor?
Connor: I think everyone needs to take responsibility for creating their own opportunities in whatever they do. It’s competitive out there and you need to be proactive if you want to get somewhere. But for this sort of concert it’s completely necessary, not because there are few ventures like this around, but because you can’t really bring someone else in on projects like these, midway. Everything happens in the earliest stages – the whole experience evolves not only from the venues, but from the performers we have on board. By the time each concert gets going, it’s too late for another collaborator to make a meaningful contribution.
You won’t find opportunities out there to be part of unique projects unless you make yourself part of it from the start. That’s why we bring our collaborators in from the very beginning.
So how did you learn how to do it all? Did your degrees teach you these skills or have you had to find out how to do it in your own ways?
Connor: I guess we picked up a few things along the way, being part of other events and taking note behind the scenes, but it’s not something you really get taught. You have to get into it yourself. Anyone can put together a small concert in a local church or their university or conservatorium theatre if they put themselves to it. Getting to put on bigger, more complete events like these just takes a bit of research, not being afraid to ask for some advice, and learning on the fly. And attempt to keep organised. That helps, too.
You’re all about combining classical with electronic – is it necessary for music to move with the times and is this a sign of what’s to come?
Ben: I love the combination of electronics and classical instrumentation. It really allows for an expansion of the tonal palate of what I can work with as a composer and it lends this unique ability to focus a listener’s ear on subtle aspects of an instrument’s timbre, much in the same way as a videographer directs a viewer’s gaze. Electronics are also ideal for our events as they allow us to fully immerse our audiences in a sound world of our own creation. As for the future of classical composition, I feel that the world of art music has been much too slow in its acceptance of the advantages and creative possibilities afforded by amplification and recording. It’s great to see the latest generation of composers getting their hands dirty in this kind of long-neglected innovation.
You’ve said you are ‘challenging the norms of musical performance and staging’. What are these norms, and why the need to challenging them?
Ben: The norms of live musical performance have been around for hundreds of years and are equally pervasive in popular (as well as classical) music. In general, the audience sits in a whole heap of seats in front of a stage and they look forward at the performer, and they hear the music in stereo. We believe that in unique venues, and especially with art music, this doesn’t have to be the case. So with each performance we whack up a surround sound speaker array, so when we perform on electronics, sounds appear all around the audience. We then set up an atmosphere where the audience is free to explore the performance on their own terms, whether it be through just their eyes and ears, or even by walking around the space. This usually involves placement of performers all around the venue or projecting visuals or using unique lighting effects, anything to subvert any kind of fixed focal point. We want our audience to not feel like we are telling them where to look, to feel they are complicit in the creation of their experience by the ways in which they choose to witness our events.
Tell us about Meditations and how you tailor the concert to its cathedral venue.
Ben: The most important feature of the cathedral venue is undoubtedly its clarity crushing reverb, which stretches upwards of 10 seconds in length. Each and every work in this program has been written with this reverb in mind and with the intention to use the natural features of the building’s acoustic to their fullest effect. A case in point is our collaborative composition music for large spaces, which is scored for two grand pianos placed approximately 50m apart. This work makes use of the cathedral acoustic to create expansive textures and reverb soaked delays. We also seek to highlight the tremendous architecture of the space during the concert by projecting visuals across its walls and vaulted ceiling.
Want to get a feel for what Argo does? Attend its first concert of the year – Meditations – and listen to the world premieres by these two talented musical masterminds. Head to St John’s Cathedral in Brisbane, March 19 and pick up tickets at argosound.com/meditations.
Look out for them next at the University of Queensland Nickson Room (March 24), Spring Hill Reservoir (May 6), and as part of the QSOCurrent festival.
Ben Heim and Connor D’Netto have works featured in our Digital Music Store. You can have a browse here.
Image supplied.
