BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
This week the talented young singers of Voyces will come together to perform a selection of rare music written in the past 15 years. The Western Australian group is directed by Dr Robert Braham, and for this concert they’ve chosen works by Matthew Orlovich, Lawrence Whiffin, Gerard Brophy, and Caleb Burns. But the featured work in this concert is Spin by Steven Adams, and Braham says it “takes all the energy of the choir”. Braham talks us through the music and sheds light on why Voyces is a leading ensemble in WA, presenting works performed far less often than they should be.
Tell us how you came to be involved with Voyces, and your vision for the group.
A lot of the original members of Voyces were in the Western Australian Youth Chorale some years back. When it folded, there was a bit of a vacuum for a while before a fledgling choir which evolved into Voyces got started. I was the Musical Director of the WAYC and knew them well, so got on board at the outset for Voyces.
The vision for Voyces is to sing contemporary classical music at a high level. We perform a lot of [music by] Australian composers and have done some commissions as well. We aim to tour internationally and so far have travelled to two festivals within Australia.
What do you love about working with young singers?
There is always a vibrancy, an energy and a willingness to give all sorts of music a go. They thrive on a challenge and are willing to take a few risks and they can still remember things a lot easier than older singers.
You’ll be focusing on rarely performed music in the upcoming concert – music written in the past 15 years. Why does this interest you?
It is important to sing today’s choral music, to represent today’s composers and there is a lot of really clever, interesting and simply good-to-listen-to music in this area. People need to hear it. It is partly about educating the public and keeping a tradition alive. And it is fun to perform!
What do you feel is the responsibility of an ensemble in presenting new music?
In WA, we are really the only choir doing predominantly new choral music. I think it has become a good part of what we do and the choral public are coming to like what we do as well, which is very encouraging. It is nice to think that it has become part of our responsibility to Western Australian audiences.
Do you feel it’s your role to pave the way for future performances of these works?
Absolutely. A couple of the works were first performed by the Sydney Chamber choir but have never been done in Perth. In fact, a lot of what we sing has never been performed in Perth. The version of Night by Matthew Orlovich will be a first anywhere for this particular instrumentation, so that is kind of nice as well. Hopefully more WA choirs including school choirs will pick up on what is out there for them to sing.
Tell us a little about the repertoire you’ll be presenting, and what the pieces mean to you.
The repertoire for our next concert is extremely varied. The big change for us though is how we present the music. A good example is Revolutionary Fugue by Lawrence Whiffen. This fugue is based on street sounds from the student riots in Paris of the 1960s. We have added a lot of chaos to the already chaotic score with movement and visuals. It gives an added dimension to the performance. At the other end of the spectrum is No by Caleb Burhans, a static piece with the choir setting up a delightful cluster chord effect with rhythmic ostinati, over which floats a beautifully haunting Mezzo solo. The word ‘No’ becomes the chord. We deliver this in the round with subtle lighting to enhance the mood; very effective. Each piece in the concert is a different spin on choral performance. We have latin/jazz based pieces but with sacred texts, singing backed with percussion and didgeridoo and very rhythmic works. The key piece in the concert is Spin by Steven Adams. It is a dramatic work which takes all the energy of the choir and takes us into the audience for a bit. Each piece shows the choir in a different light. They all have energy in a different way and they are all good listening.
I would encourage people to come and experience a modern choral concert, a concert with great pieces of music – five of which are by Australian composers – that will leave the audience with a wow-factor about choir and new music. Don’t miss it.
See the Voyces performance at Churchland Concert Hall, 18 June. More info and tickets here.
Image supplied.
