BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
Alexander Voltz is based in Brisbane — a city boasting well over 2 million inhabitants.
But the composer has found new inspiration hundreds of kilometres away in a town called Emerald — population 14,000.
Through his role as Emerging Composer-in-Residence of Camerata — Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra, Alexander crafted a new work called Central Highland Rounds, drawing from his experience of this regional community and the stories of locals he met along the way.
The music will be performed as part of Camerata’s annual regional tour, which sees the ensemble returning to Emerald as well as Barcaldine, Longreach, Rockhampton, and Mackay to present a program of classical and new music.
Through its collaboration with schools, local musicians, community members, and aged care residents — as well as supporting the work of emerging composers — Camerata is expanding the reach of classical and new music in Australia.
In this interview, Alexander — a composer whose music has also been performed by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Opera Queensland, and the Australian Youth Orchestra among others — talks about his time in Emerald and the Camerata commission he created.
Hi Alexander, congratulations on scoring the role of 2022 Emerging Composer-in-Residence with Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra. Why were you interested in working with Camerata, anyway?
I’ve been familiar with Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra for many years, and I’ve always enjoyed the ensemble’s performances. So I hastily applied for this compositional post when it arose at the end of last year.
I had observed the many opportunities afforded to my predecessor John Rotar, and knew that working for and with Camerata would be an excellent step in developing both my knowledge and my career.
That, and it’s such an affable organisation; [Camerata artistic director] Brendan Joyce and his team are inspiring.
You’ve composed a place-based work called Central Highland Rounds. It’s inspired by the town of Emerald in Queensland’s Central Highlands Region, which you recently visited as part of your residency.
That’s right. This is a regular activity for Camerata’s composers. John went out to Winton, Isabella Gerometta visited Barcaldine, Connor D’Netto spent time in Charleville, and so on.
I was offered a choice between three destinations. From that pool, it wasn’t a decision to select Emerald: I could fondly remember a holiday to the town as a child, and I’m pleased to report that my memories weren’t at all misleading. Emerald is a wonderful community with some of the friendliest people I’ve met.
So what did you get up to in Emerald?
All manner of things at odds with my metropolitan upbringing, let me assure you; there is no reason I should ever pick up an irrigation siphon again, simply because I think I did more damage than good to the poor cotton! That said, such experiences are ultimately healthy as they afford new and important perspectives. Let’s come back to that later.
For someone leading a fairly sedentary lifestyle, I got up to more in three days than I have in a long while. It’s impossible to list everything, but an impromptu road trip through The Gemfields at the suggestion of the adventurous Patricia Bock was incredibly moving. I say moving and not exciting because — whilst speeding by 40-year-old signs that read ‘IF YOU MINE ON MY CLAIM YOU WILL BE SHOT (TO DEATH)’ does stir a certain amount of adrenaline — there seems to me a great spirituality in staring out across a landscape besieged by abandoned earthworks and rusted machinery.
In this regard, I find man’s interaction with nature terrifying, in the biblical sense. There is beauty in the industry of it all, but you also feel that the desert really did win.
You also met with locals. What were some of the stories or impressions that you received, and how have you carried them into Central Highland Rounds?
I truly did meet some wonderful people, and I am particularly grateful for their candour.
The discussions I had involved politics, history, the law, sociology, the economy, religion, and many other topics.
Central Highland Rounds is informed by my journey and what I learnt, certainly. But it isn’t necessarily about anything specific. You see, I believe in the power of interpretation, and I loathe explaining my music. If audiences hear absolutely nothing of Emerald in Central Highland Rounds, that is their prerogative, and one that I am completely comfortable with.
As a composer, how do you feel about the responsibility of adopting a musical voice for this region? Or are you simply composing as someone who has observed it?
My interpretation of Emerald and Central Queensland is simply individual; whether it’s representative or not is a different matter entirely.
However, I would like to think that Central Highland Rounds does right by those I met in Emerald. I would like to think that I engaged with curiosity and alacrity towards the town’s community and history. And, as a great lover of all things Australiana, I do feel a deep reverence and affiliation with rural communities and their histories.
My primary concern is to behave as an authentic artist; to create honest work about instances and issues that interest me.
Why do you feel it’s important to create new music in response to — and to be performed within — regional Australian communities?
Regional Australia is Australia. Australia as a nation relies upon the backbreaking work of our regional communities. Thank God some people actually do know how to siphon irrigation tubes, because otherwise I wouldn’t be able to wear cotton button-ups on Saturday nights.
With that notion in mind – that regional Australia is Australia – I’d love to see a new age of Australian music that embraces our country’s fascinating history and cultural heritage. Our country’s Dvořáks, Bartóks, Coplands, and novo Sculthorpes must insert themselves back into Opera Australia, The Australian Ballet and the state orchestras! Resurgence in this movement can only lead to a more exciting cultural future for Australia; this is something I should very much like to be a part of.
Although creating artistic experiences with and for regional communities is a responsibility of any Australian artist, it is a financial and administrative challenge. I think governments, but also organisations, can rethink their strategies to better safeguard the supply of art to rural Australians.
Camerata has certainly made a consistent effort in this area over the past 12 years of travelling throughout Queensland, and commissioning new music based on iconic regional locations and identities.
Anything else you’d like to add about your work or residency?
Only to say that I am grateful to Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra for my posting, to the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation for its generosity, and to CutCommon for affording me this interview.
Visit the website to view the program and full details of the Camerata — Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra regional tour, which runs from 7-15 May.
Images supplied. Alexander photographed by Brayden Lowe.
