At work, I have always described myself as a generalist specialist. I am endlessly curious, up for adventure and anything new. Calling myself a generalist in respect to music doesn’t feel quite right, but the pendulum does swing quite spectacularly.
My mum’s side of the family is very musical, so singing was a big part of my childhood. I have a crushing memory of singing along in the car with my sister when I was about 12 and her pointing out I was flat. In hindsight, it was probably quite helpful. I still love to sing, but this little duck was never meant for the stage!
Anna Reece. Photo © Duncan Wright
My Uncle Hugh was famous for curating the music at his college parties in the 1960s. We moved to Ireland for a few years when I was little, and Hugh would send us cassettes. Our family of five would pile into our dodgy white VW Passat and explore the Irish countryside, listening on repeat to Chubby Checker, Dionne Warwick, Nina Simone, The Kinks, The Supremes, James Brown, The Velvet Underground, The Beach Boys, Patsy Cline, John Coltrane. To this day,...
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That’s all very well, but where is the classical music? There’s no opera or symphonic component. Apart from the Mahabharata, where are the big-ticket items? There’s no ‘meat and potatoes’ to anchor the program. As someone who travels from interstate, to take a risk on so many obscure artists without something solid and familiar is not really feasible, once one factors in the cost of airfares and accommodation.