BY TIM HANNAH
For the Melbourne Chamber Players, music is an “obsession“. The group’s crazed passion for music will culminate in its upcoming concert Bridge | Muhly | Prokofiev, which takes place at the Melbourne Recital Centre this month and, in doing so, honours these composers old and new.
The group itself is fairly new, too, having been established in 2017 and since paved a path across broadcast and live performance. We chat with its director and clarinettist Justin Beere to see what the players have in store.
Tell us a little bit about Melbourne Chamber Players. How did you all meet?
For many years, I have admired ensembles like The Nash Ensemble, Fibonacci Sequence, and Eighth Blackbird. I love the range of instruments and repertoire these ensembles utilised, and the diverse sounds they could produce. Realising they would probably never call, I decided to start my own, and put together a group of friends and colleagues who I greatly admired to give a performance of the Martinů and Spohr nonets.
It was a great experience, but not sustainable alone. So, in 2018, I asked close friend and wonderful oboist Steph Dixon to join me in directing the ensemble. Clearly mad as a cut-snake, she said sure, ‘Why not?!’. […] In all seriousness, it has been a blast and Steph has been pivotal in the growth of our ensemble.
The core group of musicians now involved with the Melbourne Chamber Players are friends and colleagues that Steph and I have had the privilege to perform alongside for many years throughout our studies and in various festivals, ensembles, and orchestras across Australia.
Chamber music can mean so many different things to different people. What does it mean to you?
Without sounding too cliché, chamber music is life for me.
There is an indescribable atmosphere when performing chamber music. Everyone is connected; constantly assessing and reassessing, acting and reacting to create each moment. In one moment, you’re a supportive figure, and the next a soloist; always shifting roles, and absorbing the energy of each other and the audience to bring the music to life. There is nothing else like it.
You’ve put together quite an eclectic program, featuring music by Nico Muhly, Sergei Prokofiev, and Frank Bridge. That’s quite a journey for the audience! How did you decide on these works?
We love presenting all types of music. Personally, I have always loved going to concerts that re-energise the music of the masters, but also present something I haven’t heard before. It’s all too easy for us to live in the comfort of the past, marvelling in the mastery of music that has stood the test of time, but we have so much to enjoy in the music of the present.
Although each work is quite different in style, this program is centred around musical revolutionaries; composers who reshaped the compositional styles of their lifetime or created something truly unique. Many may not think of Frank Bridge as a revolutionary figure — however, his music courageously incorporated a dynamic vibrancy that was not generally associated with the British pastoral school he had trained in.
Nico Muhly is a composer we have wanted to program for a long time: his compositional output is prolific and second to none amongst young composers today. Muhly has written over 100 works with 39 albums, crossing genres and preconceived boundaries […] I find his music rhythmically enthralling, and often deeply moving and can’t wait to share his Motion (2010) for the first time with Melbourne audiences.
Sergei Prokofiev was deeply affected by the 1905 and 1917 revolutions in his home country, and fled in 1918 to America to pursue a career. His Quintet in G minor Op. 39 was written sometime after in 1924 during his time in Paris. It was originally composed as a chamber ballet for a travelling troupe that only contained five musicians. […] The quintet embodies Prokofiev’s captivating compositional style and creative fluency; demonstrating his unique capacity to vividly reflect his surroundings and the sociopolitical climate of the day.
You mention on your website that your performances contain “something old and something new”, celebrating familiar older works and “unveiling the sounds of the present”. Why is it important to strike this balance?
Our primary consideration is to serve the music we believe in, whilst also imagining the experience of the audience. We have a broad appreciation of musical styles and love to program in a way that re-energises the pillars of the chamber music repertoire, but also supports living composers who are experiencing life as we are, and reflecting it through their music.
We believe this creates a more natural topography for the performance, providing a breadth of musical landscapes to achieve a more holistic experience.
You have a superb line-up of musicians in 2019. How much influence do the players you work with have on the music you choose to program?
Thanks! We are incredibly lucky to have so many accomplished musicians who have all played together a lot over the past few years. This makes our job so much easier when considering what works we’d like to present. But, we do spend quite a bit of time considering what each musician will bring to the program we’ve selected and how those musicians will work together. Their willingness and enthusiasm to share their knowledge and experience is essential to creating an enjoyable and efficient rehearsal process that ultimately ensures a cohesive approach to the conceptualisation of the music. Chamber music for us is as much about the great relationships we have with each other as it is about the music we’re performing.
Finally, a lot of younger musicians study chamber music during school or university, and might be interested in starting their own chamber ensembles. You founded Melbourne Chamber Players in 2017 with Steph Dixon (oboe). Do you have any advice for those wanting to follow in your footsteps?
Running a chamber music ensemble is often so much more about administration than playing your instrument. Sure, keep practising your scales, and developing your technique and understanding of the various styles and approaches. However, becoming an effective communicator in your musical practice is as important as your communication without your instrument. So, start developing your knowledge of successful marketing principles, website design, sound engineering, philanthropy, grant writing and arts funding. Practice using Photoshop and video software whilst continuing to submerge yourself in musical history, and find the areas or styles you connect with. This will directly inform the identity of your ensemble, and make it much easier to engage with potential audiences.
Also, study the successful ensembles (or those you love) and ask yourself, ‘Why do I love this ensemble?’. Analyse every aspect of their model and how it could be applied to yours.
But, on the whole, be kind. You never know where life leads you or who you may collaborate with in the future.
Bonus question: anything else you’d like to mention that we haven’t explored?
We would like to thank CutCommon for their time discussing our upcoming performance.
If any readers would like to learn more about Melbourne Chamber Players, our musicians, or upcoming events, you can visit our website or email us.
See the Melbourne Chamber Players in the Melbourne Recital Centre’s Primrose Potter Salon, 6pm April 29.
Shout the writer a coffee?
If you like, you can say thanks to Tim for volunteering his time for Australian arts journalism. No amount too much or little 🙂
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Images supplied. Justin by Cameron Jamieson.
