A few years ago, I had my 25th birthday.
I won’t lie – it was absolutely awesome. I got to celebrate it with family and friends. Because, you know, it’s a quarter of an entire CENTURY of being alive. Not like that’s a big deal, or anything.
So, obviously, this is why I’m excited that the Canberra International Music Festival is about to celebrate its own 25th birthday. And who wouldn’t want to be part of THIS fun?
Earlier this year, I was lucky enough to attend my very first CIMF event. I’d been writing about the artists and the festival program in recent years (with copious amounts of envy for Canberra residents who have these events at their doorstep). So when I was seated inside the Fitters’ Workshop, lights dimmed and historic chamber music prepared on the stage, I was buzzing away like it was nobody’s business.
I was settled in for an event appropriately named Ulysses Now – along with similarly eager concertgoers who had packed out the venue so tightly I hardly found a seat. On the stage, a group of early music musicians accompanied some of the finest names in vocal talent: the Luminescence Chamber Singers performing with standout artists Chloe Lankshear (soprano), Kate Howden and AJ America (mezzo-sopranos), Tobias Cole (countertenor), Dan Walker (tenor), Wynton Johnstone (treble), and Andrew Fysh (bass).
This Concert 13 of the festival opened with G.G. Kapsberger’s Sfessania and Passacaglia – centuries-old music that sounded through traditional performance techniques; before moving into scenes from Monteverdi’s powerful Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria SV 325. Directed by Roland Peelman (also on harpsichord), the opera was one of the finest performances of early music I’ve witnessed. But, importantly, Ulysses Now provided not only an opportunity to indulge in music of the past, but in contemporary compositions by living composers who were even in attendance on the night.
After interval, Alex Pozniak’s 2014 composition In Search of Asylum was performed by piano quartet; a work written to start us thinking about Australia’s off-shore detention policies. Mary Finsterer’s 2015 Angelus drew on Gregorian chant traditions in a performance by Magdalenna Krstevska (clarinet), Stephanie Arnold (cello), and Rachael Shipard (piano).
Perhaps the most stimulating performance for me was Robert Davidson’s 2016 Across the Water, in which Stephanie took to the stage as a soloist to perform a composition translating the verbal stories of asylum seekers into music.
For me, CIMF was a celebration of fine music, yes – but more than this, it was a celebration of humanity. From the storytelling through music to the gathering of friends at the festival, it provided a warming and memorable experience. See?
I love the arts, and I want to attend CIMF again in the future. That’s why, after attending CIMF this year, I have no hesitation in encouraging you to support the CIMF’s 25th birthday appeal. You’ll support culture, you’ll help music and stories be shared, and – importantly – you’ll help CIMF continue to provide opportunities for young Australian artists (who, obviously, I love to see achieving their dreams).
Click here to show your support so happy audience members (aka yours truly) can rock up again next year, and have a great time at what may be CIMF’s biggest party yet.
