BY EMMA SULLIVAN
In a city renowned for its chamber music scene, Melbourne’s Affinity Collective is carving out its own path. The ensemble – comprised of violinist Nicholas Waters, violist William Clark, and cellist Mee Na Lojewski – not only searches for points of difference in its programming and venue choices, but also by using its entire concert series as a platform for a much greater issue – the plight of refugees.
Their 2018 concert series Affine Territories searches for affinities between different times and places, and celebrates the transformative power of music to embrace difference.
The Affinity Collective’s next concert program Romantic Paradoxes explores the concept of romanticism and its various guises. From the youthful passion of Mendelssohn’s String Quartet No. 2 in A minor to Smetana’s deeply personal String Quartet No. 1, it showcases music that is rich in expression and emotion. It also features the Australian premiere of Séraphîta, experimental rock musician Trey Spruance’s first foray into composing for string quartet. They’ll perform with guest artist Iona Tache (also pictured above, third along).
If you watch Affinity performing these works, you’ll also help support organisations working to provide rights for refugees in Australia.
We caught up with William and Mee Na to hear their thoughts on their upcoming concerts and what audiences can expect from this repertoire.
Hi Mee Na and William, tell us a little about Affinity’s upcoming series. Last year, you used your concerts as a platform to raise awareness and funds for charities in support of refugees. Now, in 2018, you’re supporting Rural Australians for Refugees, and Refugee Advice and Casework Service.
Mee Na Lojewski: The crises facing asylum seekers all over the world is heart-breaking. As musicians, it’s easy to feel like we operate separately from the everyday functioning of society. However, our platform as performers is a public one. We have voices to challenge and encourage our audiences to be more humane, visionary, and inclusive.
Art forms at their most powerful reflect the social issues in the world around them. We hope asking music lovers to give to refugee causes brings more attention and support to the plight of asylum seekers. There’s plenty of information about asylum seekers in the media, but we are aiming to reach people in a different way.
Your upcoming program Romantic Paradoxes showcases highly evocative works for string quartet. There’s a strong sense of storytelling throughout the works, such as Smetana’s personal struggles with deafness. How does the programmatic aspect of these works affect your approach and interpretation?
MNL: Finding affinities between different works has always been central to our focus. Sometimes, an idea or movement in music is understood most vividly through juxtaposition, and this is what we aim to do with all our programs, including Romantic Paradoxes.
In this program, we are looking at three composers through the prism of romanticism, albeit from three very different angles and two centuries apart. Each composer weaves their own story: Mendelssohn wrote his A minor quartet the year Beethoven died and, like his idol, he explored a philosophical question: ‘Is it true?’
Smetana, as you said, struggled with his own deafness and set out to compose an autobiographical string quartet that embraced the joy and pain in his life.
Trey Spruance brings his world of experimental rock music and a kind of hypnotic spirituality to his first string quartet, which references the literary ideas of Balzac and Goethe. It’s fascinating to hear the direction Spruance takes our medium, with the string instrument textures sounding like a mini rock band at times. Bringing together a breadth of ideas and stories interests us creatively, and we hope our audiences find this interesting too!
You’re performing this series in the studio of an architecture firm and a synagogue, among other venues. How does each venue bring something different to the concert experience?
William Clark: A lot of the reason we choose these alternative venues is to do with the effect the space can have on the performance experience. Performing programs relevant to a setting, such as music by Jewish composers in a synagogue, shows a deeper context to the listener.
We’ve also always enjoyed performing in more intimate settings, and the Kennedy Nolan Architects building places the audience up-close to the quartet, bringing ‘chamber’ music back from the concert halls and into salon-style performance.
Spruance’s quartet Séraphîta was commissioned by the Kronos Quartet as part of its Fifty for the Future project. But Spruance is perhaps more widely known as a member of rock bands including Faith No More and Mr Bungle than as a composer of classical music. Does Spruance’s music translate well to the string quartet medium?
WC: Multi-genre crossover is becoming much more common, with many non-classical musicians starting to blur the lines and experiment with composing for traditionally classical ensembles. Spruance’s imagination certainly pushes our limits of sound-creation, asking for many extended techniques including ankle bells, and at times even using the cello as more of a percussive tool. The audience will definitely hear some Middle Eastern influence in his use of micro-tones and irregular rhythms.
As an ensemble, you regularly collaborate with guest artists – and violinist Ioana Tache will join you for Romantic Paradoxes. Do you find that each guest musician brings a new perspective to the quartet experience?
WC: Definitely! The string quartet is such a fragile setting that changing any one part will completely change the dynamic of the group, on and off stage. Every guest musician we’ve worked with has brought their own particular energy and ideas to the project, and Ioana is a friend we’ve known for a long time – it’s great to have her working with us on such a diverse program.
You’ve certainly achieved a lot since forming in 2015, with concerts and projects throughout Australia and Europe. What is next for the Affinity Collective?
MNL: More music, more projects! Next year, Affinity Collective is half-a-decade old, and the journey has definitely been equal parts passion and perseverance.
We’re thrilled to be building a loyal following who appreciates the intimacy of our chamber music. Some of our most interesting concerts have happened because we’ve met people outside of the classical music scene who have supported our work. In a city dominated by established and large-scale music institutions, we have had to survive by carving out our own niche and creating our own performing opportunities.
We’ll keep doing this as long as we can find venues to perform in and reach audiences that want to hear us!
You can check out the Affinity Collective on August 26 at Aireys Inlet (supporting Rural Australians for Refugees), 27 at Kennedy Nolan Architects, Fitzroy (supporting Refugee Advice and Casework Service), September 2 at East Melbourne Synagogue, and 9 at Scrub Hill. Book your tickets online.
Emma Sullivan is a freelance double bass performer, educator, and writer of all things classical music.
Images supplied. Emma Sullivan captured by Agatha Yim @ Polyphonic Pictures.
