BY LEAH BLANKENDAAL
Stewart Kelly is one of Australia’s most eclectic pianists.
The ANAM and Queensland Conservatorium graduate performs regularly in all the roles of the modern pianist: soloist, duo partner, vocal accompanist, and chamber musician. His talent awarded him the place of finalist in the 2011 and 2012 Melbourne Recital Centre’s Great Romantics competitions and winner of the 2012 Lady Callaway prize for piano accompaniment.
In 2016, Stewart curates his fifth season as Artistic Director of the Con Brio Concert series at the Arts Centre Gold Coast.
Following on from the Con Bio series’ previous success, which has seen more than 40 artists perform to thousands of Gold Coasters, Stewart Kelly brings virtuoso Timothy Young into the mix to present masterworks from Ravel, Scriabin, and Rachmaninov.
Con Brio is a not-for-profit concert series with a mission to make classical music appealing to all. So how does it work? Find out in our chat with Stewart.
You’ve mentioned that you’re presenting this concert in a “setting that is relaxed and free from the stuffiness associated with classical music”. What specifically do you find stuffy, and what changes are you making?
Classical music is something that hasn’t really had any presence on the Gold Coast and when starting the series we assumed a lot of people would have never attended a classical performance. I was determined to make them feel welcome and to try to get through the message that there wasn’t to be any pretentiousness that is often associated with classical music. They can clap at the ends of movements if they want to. The bar is open before and they can take a drink in with them and are encouraged to stay for an informal meet and greet with the artists afterwards. And of course, being the Gold Coast, there is no need to dress up! We are all there for the music.
Tell us about the repertoire. There are some devilish works chosen – from where has the inspiration for this program come?
To be honest, they were all Tim’s choices and I think in all three cases they were works he hadn’t played for many years and was keen to resurrect in his repertoire. The process of programming is very much collaborative. In chamber programs or themed projects that are my own brainchild, of course considerable thought goes into repertoire. But generally with solo recitalists, I will only reject suggestions if it is repertoire I have had immediately in the year prior. Sadly, I can’t offer a big enough fee to demand specific repertoire – although I do often put in requests, which sometimes happen!
As it turns out, in this program there is a happen accidental coincidence. The Mason & Hamlin piano company (full disclosure: I’m its Australian distributor!) is the principal sponsor of this series and provides a magnificent concert instrument for each recital. As it happens, Ravel and Rachmaninov, the two main composers featured in Tim’s program, both had significant connections to the Mason & Hamlin company and endorsed their instruments.
Ravel described his Gaspard de la Nuit as being an attempt at composing the most difficult thing ever written for the piano. What makes it so challenging?
Ravel’s comment about difficulty was specifically in relation to the final movement, Scarbo. At that time, Ravel considered Balakirev’s work Islamey to be the most difficult piece and for some reason wanted to surpass that. In Scarbo, the technical challenges are obviously about firework virtuosity and many aspects of fast and impressive playing, but there are immense demands of control and colour in the other movements, too. The very opening of the work in Ondine is completely terrifying and needs a perfectly regulated instrument as well as precision control.
As a pianist yourself, how do you balance a performance schedule with everything else that you do?
When I figure that out, I’ll let you know! I think it has a lot to do with learning your own capacity and limits and trying not to agree to more than that. There are certainly times where the instrument or the admin side needs to take over. When the instrument is ruling your days, it typically ends with little sleep and getting all the other stuff done later on. One must be very organised though, and try to plan far ahead in learning new works and spotting quieter patches and using them to get ahead in admin and learning new notes.
Likewise, as a performer, what drives you work in these non-performance spaces (as an administrator, a concert booker, a publicist)?
I love the idea of curating and artistic direction. Trying to use the knowledge I’ve gained, from years of having music as number one passion, to create experiences and memories for those who aren’t as experienced and want to engage in the art form. Sort of: a classical music without the boring bits. People these days are so busy that I like the idea of doing the legwork of sorting out the pieces they really should find time to hear in their lives, and putting on a series where the audience comes to understand that, if they turn up, they will be rewarded with something truly extraordinary. I love tying little threads over whole seasons or trying to build an emotional arch over the whole thing that, as a whole, can be satisfying, too. It’s tremendously creative and rewarding. The publicity and logistics stuff are for me at least far less interesting and much less my skillset – but sadly, the budgets aren’t there to have pros do it and they are necessities to make it all work!
Why should a concert series be not-for-profit?
I don’t feel particularly strongly that it should or shouldn’t. However, in the case of our series it wouldn’t be possible without philanthropic and commercial support and this is extremely unlikely to come if a presenter is out to make money. Where classical music is less established, I think it is imperative to keep ticket prices as affordable as possible, too. It is a big risk to put down $100 for a performance if you aren’t quite sure what you’ll get or whether you’ll enjoy it.
Is this in part an acknowledgement of the lack of funding in the arts?
Not really, I don’t think. If you have government support for your venture, it is by its nature unlikely to be a business venture out to make money. I would love to have funding for my series from the government level moving forward. I have applied for only one grant for this series so far and was unsuccessful. I really must do more of that, but finding the time when the whole thing is essentially a one-man voluntary band is very difficult. I do have plans to build a committee of volunteers to help, and that will make those sort of things easier. I would love to grow the scope of the ambition of the projects we put on, and continue to raise the profile of artists who can be featured – not to mention rewarding the ones who come now with better fees.
See the next Con Brio Concert, Timothy Young Returns, at the Arts Centre Gold Coast, 7.30pm August 20. Tickets theartscentregc.com.au.
Image credit Pia Johnson.
