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Editor’s Letter: August 14, 2015

It may not be Christmas just yet, but presents are definitely in the air. No, it’s not Christmas just yet, but while most of us are to be found hunkering down against the winter blasts, presents are definitely in the air. Yes, it’s the time of year when PRs lose what little hair they have left and arts companies across Australia are to be found frantically wrapping up their next year’s seasons before gifting them to a culture-hungry public. And although noticeably fewer organisations this year are launching with a champagne-popping, canapé guzzling media bash (a sign of small annual surpluses and cash-strapped, Brandis-threatened times), there’s still plenty of optimism in the air. Last week saw the Sydney Symphony Orchestra first out of the traps waving Lang Lang, Ashkenazy’s Beethoven and a concert version of Porgy and Bess under our noses. In a nicely curated programme their was a strong sense of commitment to new music and the announcement of Brett Dean as Artist in Residence was the icing on the cake. This week the Queensland Symphony Orchestra are dangling not just Lang Lang in front of us but a second helping of Maxim Vengerov, as well as an impressive line up……

August 14, 2015
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Scoring a sea of flowers

Composer Lyle Chan reveals the startling effect of Sydney siege on the creation of his new orchestral work. Untitled (Dec 2014) was begun as a ‘party piece’ for orchestra. When the Queensland Symphony Orchestra asked if I had a piece to contribute to its new music initiative, Current, I wanted to give them a fun, glittering showpiece. I wrote about 3 minutes of high- energy frolicking, almost mischievous music before, out of nowhere, came the Sydney hostage crisis.    I tried to ignore it but got absorbed into watching it unfold on TV. Martin Place is a 10-min walk from my home across Woolloomooloo Bay and I’m there a few times a week. That day I rescheduled my meetings in the area because it was out of bounds, surrounded by police, but my friends who worked inside the cordoned area were not allowed to leave, which distressed them because of speculations a bomb could go off at any time. I went to bed that night with no further information and woke early the next morning to news of the saved and the killed. I walked to Martin Place that morning and saw the start of the floral tributes. As I…

May 5, 2015