BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE, WITH INTRODUCTION FROM JASSY ROBERTSON
Many composers and musicians will allow their art to speak for itself. Not always are they asked about their personal lives.
We think it’s important to give all individuals a platform to express their views – to speak openly about what shapes them, and tell us how they feel the world perceives them. We want to share stories that will help others express their individuality as they navigate a career anchored in past traditions.
This story comes when news of the postal plebiscite on same-sex marriage in Australia has made this an anxious and painful time for many in our country’s queer community. In light of this survey and the impact it makes on our nation and its people, we are proud to introduce LGBTQIA+ identifying conductor and broadcaster Graham Abbott.
You’ve likely heard Graham’s voice on ABC Classic FM as presenter and producer of Keys to Music and Evenings. He’s been with the ABC since 2003, but is also a trained conductor and has led musicians in the country’s biggest orchestras and choirs as well as those of Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Graham is a Sydney Conservatorium graduate, having studied music education and taken out the ABC Willem van Otterloo Conducting Scholarship. In 2007, he won the University of Melbourne’s Bernard Heinze Award for his contributions to our industry.
This November 11, Graham will join with the Adelaide Philharmonia Chorus to conduct the South Australian premiere of Handel’s Belshazzar in Elder Hall. (And having conducted the composer’s Messiah more than 70 times, we reckon he’s definitely looking forward to this Handel event.)
How do you feel your identity has affected your career in music?
This is really hard to answer as I’ve never sought to identify as a ‘gay musician’ or ‘gay broadcaster’. Rather, I’ve always tried to be a musician/broadcaster/whatever who happens to be gay. It means I’m open about my sexuality in exactly the same way straight people are about theirs. If someone can talk about their partner/spouse socially, then I can too. My sexuality rarely impinges upon my performing or broadcasting, but if it does then it’s just a part of who I am and I mention it naturally in the course of things. I certainly don’t censor myself.
What have been the career challenges, benefits, or impacts (either real, or perceived) of publicly expressing your identity?
Well I still haven’t found out how to join the ‘gay mafia’! I’m really lucky that the arts world – at least, as I’ve experienced it – generally finds minority sexuality a big yawn, a non issue. The same at the ABC, where I feel my sexuality is treated – as it should be – as completely natural and normal.
Sometimes it’s led to some fun moments, where an orchestra thought it was really funny (in a rehearsal of Bohemian Rhapsody) when I apologised for not knowing enough about Queen. On another occasion, I was talking to an audience about gay figures in the music industry (such as Michael Tilson Thomas) whose careers didn’t seem to have suffered by being ‘out’, and when I added that it didn’t seem to have done my career any harm either, no-one fainted.
I do feel a strong affinity with minority or oppressed figures in operas or other dramatic music I might conduct. I guess this is natural, as we all connect with dramatic situations which reflect our own experiences. When I conducted Elke Neidhardt’s production of Il trovatore, her updating of the setting to Franco’s Spain was very powerful to me, and the prison scene – reminiscent of the most severe mental torture – was something I’ll never forget. I like to think it helped me conduct the piece better.
How would you describe the sense of community between LGBTQIA+ artists, musicians and composers?
To be completely honest, I don’t sense such a community at all. I connect with colleagues as colleagues, not as fellow LGBTQIA+ people. If a colleague happens to be gay, lesbian or whatever then that’s nice – we have a sort of connection or shared experience – but when there’s work to be done we just do the work.
Are there other queer artists who influence your work, and who are they?
Even though he left us in 1991, Stuart Challender has always been a role model to me. The quiet dignity with which he conducted himself when his illness became public because of media threats (shown in a stunning Four Corners feature at the time) has never left me. I’ve never had to face what he faced, and I’ve not always been so dignified in the face of hostility, but the two occasions on which we worked together remain as treasured memories of a great musician.
More recently there has been another who has provided quiet and inspiring advice, but as they are not open about their sexuality I can’t speak further on that.
How has the recent postal vote, and its associated Yes and No campaigns, affected you in your professional life?
The postal vote and its campaigns have affected me disastrously. I can’t put into words how bad it’s been. My own journey to self-acceptance was tortuous, chaotic and unguided. Growing up gay, musical and Christian with undiagnosed Asperger’s and depression in the outer suburbs of Sydney in the ’60s and ’70s wasn’t fun; I didn’t fully come out (of both the closet and the church) until the mid-’80s when in my late 20s. I was painfully aware of the campaigns to decriminalise gay sex state-by-state in the ’70s and ’80s, and now it’s all happening again over marriage.
My professional work has only been affected insomuch as the current climate has exacerbated my mental health issues. And after a period of managing my depression well with professional help, I’ve had major relapses in recent months because of the constant sense of invalidation and sheer lies which have come from the No campaign. This in turn has meant I’ve had time off work and withdrawn from some engagements because I’ve not been able to face them. My employers have been extremely supportive.
There have been serious and irreconcilable differences in my family on the issue of marriage equality as well. I’m fortunate that I have family members who are supportive and fully accepting of me and my sexuality, and many friends who have been there for me, both in person and online. I can’t wait for it all to be over, whatever happens.
What advice would you give to LGBTQIA+ identifying artists who hope to achieve their dreams in Australia?
To any artist, regardless of their sexuality, I would say that dreams are wonderful, but remember they don’t always come true. There’s no single path set out before you which, if you don’t get right, will mean your life is ruined. You have an infinite number of options, and many of them could make you happy. Keep you options open, and be creative.
But to LGBTQIA+ identifying people, all I would say is, ‘be yourself’. Be respectful, but not cowed. Be honest, and realise that the worst we expect rarely comes to pass. I feel I wasted so many years and so much energy by trying to be what others told me I should be. Being what I know I am hasn’t always been easy, but it’s easier in the long run than pretending otherwise.
Graham Abbott will present a pre-concert talk at 6.30pm before conducting the 7.30pm performance of Belshazzer with Adelaide Philharmonia Chorus in Adelaide’s Elder Hall, 11 November. The performance will also showcase soloists Robert Macfarlane, Kate Macfarlane, Sally-Ann Russell, Matthew Rutty, and Jeremy Tatchell.
Image supplied. Credit: ABC Classic FM.
