BY LEWIS INGHAM
“We’ll just take it as it comes, and I’ll keep making music regardless.”
Composer Chris Pickering is talking about the future of New Stage, a concert series dedicated to presenting new music by Melbourne composers.
But, this take-it-as-it-comes attitude follows behind a direct intention to contribute to Melbourne’s art music scene with a vibrant, yet informal, event for all music lovers.
As a fellow composer, Chris approached me to take part in New Stage. So in this interview, I would like to take you behind the scenes with us. I chat with Chris about how he and collaborative partner Jackson Fumberger started up this initiative and opportunity for composers like me.
New Stage is an exciting new concert series. How did it come into being, and what do you hope it will achieve for composers like us, and audiences alike?
The idea for the concert series is based on the thought that music is music, regardless of venue or performance format. It would be great to give composers and musicians from Melbourne’s contemporary art music scene an informal platform to be heard by taking it to the bars and indie music venues already frequented by music fans on a regular basis.
It also struck me that many people in the indie music and original music crowd would actually really like what is going on in the contemporary art and classical world, but wouldn’t normally go because they consider that music as existing in more formal concerts in stuffy venues.
With the first concert taking place at Some Velvet Morning in Clifton Hill, New Stage seems intent on tapping into Melbourne’s rich vein of music venues and bars rather than opting for the concert hall context. What drives this intent?
It’s about taking the music to a different crowd and putting the music in a different context, but it’s also about bringing the contemporary classical composers and performers of Melbourne alongside the indie-rock bands and the singer-songwriters. Everyone is trying to make interesting music, so there can always be more interaction and mutual appreciation than there currently is.
Tell us a little about your own musical background and how you developed into a composer of new music. Does your performance background influence the way you want to present your own compositions?
For quite a few years, I have been a songwriter and performer in what one would probably call the indie-rock or singer-songwriter genre; and still regularly perform my original songs with my band. I’ve always been interested in different kinds of music, especially music that pushes the barriers of what is deemed to be ‘normal’, so it just evolved that I started to write new music.
I think being a ‘composer’ is not really different to being a ‘songwriter’. Each can create an equally powerful musical statement, just as a fine improvised solo or a poetry reading can.
There’s a particular focus on the string quartet genre in this first concert. Was it intentional to present this program of new music with a genre so distinctly associated with classical music of centuries past?
Well, now that you mention it, that wasn’t a particular focus. It just so happened that myself and Jackson Fumberger, a co-founder of New Stage, share a common interest in string quartet music, particularly in its modern repertoire. It’s such a fantastic medium with so much expression. It just seemed like a natural progression for our common interest that we should focus on the string quartet in the first concert.
I’m lucky enough to feature in this program myself, but tell us a little about the concert’s program and the goals you had when programming pieces and composers.
The idea behind New Stage is to give Melbourne composers a regular, and informal, concert series to get live performances of their work and be heard by a wider audience. When it came to putting together this first program, the best thing seemed to be having soon-to-be seriously respected composers like yourself and Alice Humphries (and me, hopefully) alongside more established Melbourne composers, like Stuart Greenbaum.
I guess it tries to bring generations of music together, too. We’re all from Melbourne, we’re all trying to do the same thing. I also think that’s one of the things good new music does well: it builds on and respects what has come before it.
Violinist Jackson Fumberger leads the New Stage Ensemble in Residence that will perform this concert’s works. How has Jackson played a role in the development of the New Stage concert series? Do you intend for this ensemble to take a different shape with each event?
Jackson was really fundamental to getting New Stage off the ground. Jackson is a performer who has great relationships with young players interested in performing and promoting new music. He’s a very positive force for new music amongst the playing community, so this kind of series needs someone like him behind the reins, that’s for sure.
Our concept is that each concert will initially have a theme at its core: string quartets, trios, sonatas, songs, or other forms with some variation. It may eventually evolve to have some very open and mixed programs. We’ve already talked about the next program and it looks like we may have a Piano Trio focus for that one.
Your own work String Quartet One will feature in the first concert. Tell us about this composition and what listeners might expect from its performance.
This was the first longer piece I tried to compose. It’s in three open and expansive parts. I feel like each part has a specific feel or musical (pseudo-geographical may be more accurate) landscape to it. It definitely has some of the melodic, possibly pop-influenced, elements that my songwriter influence brings, but there’s a touch of modernism and influence from other musical cultures in there too.
The first New Stage concert is a free event, which is great for establishing this concert series as one that values accessibility over profitability. What positive outcomes do you hope will come from New Stage’s focus on Melbourne’s art music scene? Do you plan to keep concerts free?
I think into the future we’ll try and make concerts free or as low-cost as we can and most likely in venues that tend not to charge at the door. It’s about the music and providing access to that. I’d be happy if we get heaps of people coming to the shows to help spread the notoriety of Melbourne’s new music scene. There’s a whole lot of talented composers and performers in Melbourne, and it would be good to get the word out about them.
New Stage | Concert One features the music of Stuart Greenbaum, Chris Pickering, Alice Humphries, and Lewis Ingham (that’s me!) at Some Velvet Morning, Queens Parade, Clifton Hill, February 28, 8.30pm.
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