Trans-Tasman Composer Exchange between Australia and New Zealand
Trans-Tasman Composer Exchange Program
The Australian Music Centre, in collaboration with SOUNZ, the Centre for New Zealand Music, established the Trans-Tasman composer exchange residency in 2003 to further develop music relationships between the two countries.
2006 Trans-Tasman Composer Exchange Residency
Colin Bright's new work Surf Symphony was recently premiered by the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra during Aquatica ’08 – Auckland’s Harbour Festival. Aquatica is a celebration of the ‘City of Sails’: its anniversary, history, cultures, people and unique harbour. A water-themed party of city sized proportions, the festival spans all three days of the Auckland Anniversary weekend (26 – 28 January).
Attractions include major local and international live music acts, the naval frigate, tall ships and displays of classic craft, maritime re-enactment displays, tug boats, street theatre, buskers, acrobatic performances, warbirds flypasts, fireworks, a ‘fare on the pier’ food market, and carnival rides. The Auckland Anniversary Day Regatta concludes the event with action shifting to the water on Monday.
Surf Symphony is a celebration of the beach, which according to Australian composer Colin Bright – a body surfing enthusiast as well as a creative artist – is one of life’s great pleasures. ‘Sun, sand and surf create an atmosphere for relaxation and play, bodysurfing and board surfing’, he says. ‘It is the playground of the hedonists. As a composer I tend to live somewhat in my head much of the time, whereas with bodysurfing I am forced to live in the present. It is an experience very much of the moment’.
Ambient in style, this psycho-acoustic work embodies the spontaneity and continuous frenzied movement of beach life from the glistening reflections of the sun, through to the splashing of water on the rocks, the sparkling grains of sand and the sporadic bursts of spray from breaking waves.
Bright is an important figure in the Australian music landscape. His music – often driven by socio-political issues – explores aspects of place, both physically and psychologically. The Wild Boys (1995), however, saw a shift towards what Bright refers to as ‘urban psychoscapes’. Using sampled voices, many of his works since this piece seek to project the spirit of a particular writer/poet by integrating music and voice, adding a theatrical facet to his music. He is influenced by Australian aboriginal music – especially didjeridu – but also by aspects of jazz, rock and techno, particularly in the choice of instruments, electro sounds and rhythms.
Bright has achieved great success as a composer having received Fellowships from the Performing Arts Board of the Australia Council, as well as numerous commissions from Australia's leading ensembles. His music has been performed and broadcast in twenty-seven countries throughout the world.
Colin Bright
My compositions aim to define aspects of where I live (i.e. 'place'), and how I/we live (my perception of the psychological state of the society of which I am a part)...
The Auckland Philharmonia
The Auckland Philharmonia performs more than 145 concerts a year, accompanying the national opera and ballet, as well as international touring companies. As well as performing alongside renowned musicians such as Luciano Pavarotti, Nigel Kennedy, and Diana Krall, the Orchestra has a strong commitment to performing contemporary classical music and is dedicated to developing music education at all levels...
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