Latest news with #SimonTedeschi
Sydney Morning Herald
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
This song was written in a war zone on Australia's doorstep
Forgotten pianist Isador Goodman's New Guinea Fantasy has never been performed in concert. Simon Tedeschi is bringing it back to life.
The Age
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Age
This song was written in a war zone on Australia's doorstep
Forgotten pianist Isador Goodman's New Guinea Fantasy has never been performed in concert. Simon Tedeschi is bringing it back to life.
The Guardian
31-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Archibald prize 2025: finger-painted portrait of musician William Barton wins people's choice award
Artist Loribelle Spirovski has won the 2025 Archibald prize people's choice category for her portrait of didgeridoo player William Barton, painted entirely with her fingers. Spirovski, a four-time finalist at the Archibald prize, Australia's most prestigious portraiture award, won the $5,000 people's choice category, picked from the Archibald prize finalists each year by the public. This year 40,842 votes were cast for the people's choice category, the highest number of votes ever received. Spirovski said she was 'overjoyed' to win the category. 'I am infinitely grateful to William for allowing me to paint him and so humbled by everyone's responses to the work,' she said. 'It has been a difficult few years and this whole experience is the most beautiful reprieve and reward.' Barton is a Kalkadunga man and acclaimed composer who is regarded as a virtuoso in the yidaki, playing the Indigenous instrument with classical orchestras around the world. In the past he has said it is his wish 'to take the oldest culture in the world and blend it with Europe's rich musical legacy'. Spirovski and Barton met last year at a concert at which Spirovski's partner, the concert pianist Simon Tedeschi, and Barton both performed. When Barton came to sit for her, Spirovski was still recovering from a nerve injury that had affected her ability to paint – but she was spontaneously inspired to use her fingers. 'When it came time to work on William's portrait, I played his composition Birdsong at dusk,' she said. 'As the music began, my hand set the brush aside and I dipped my finger into the soft, pliant paint. I turned the volume up, the music guiding me. Without a brush, painting was almost painless. As the portrait painted itself, I felt alive in a way I hadn't for a very long time.' Spirovski was born in 1990 in the Philippines, to Filipino and Serbian parents, and immigrated to Australia when she was eight years old. Mostly self-taught, Spirovski was previously an Archibald finalist in 2017, 2018 2019. The Art Gallery of New South Wales hosts the Archibald each year. On Thursday the AGNSW director, Maud Page, congratulated Spirovski for her 'well-deserved win and for her magnetic portrait of William Barton, rendered with expressive paint strokes and lit by Barton's radiant smile'. The $100,000 Archibald prize was won by Julie Fragar in May, for her portrait of fellow artist Justene Williams. The 104-year-old prize is awarded to the best portrait of a person 'distinguished in art, letters, science or politics' painted by an Australian resident. Abdul Abdullah's Archibald portrait of his friend and fellow artist Jason Phu won him the $3,000 packing room prize, which is decided by the AGNSW staff who hang the paintings each year. The Wynne prize for landscape painting and figurative sculpture, and the Sulman prize for genre, subject and mural painting are also awarded alongside the Archibald each year. This year the $50,000 Wynne prize went to Jude Rae for her painting Pre-dawn Sky over Port Botany Container Terminal, while the $40,000 Sulman prize went to Gene A'Hern for his work Sky Painting. A record 2,394 entries were received across the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman prizes this year, with more than 70% of finalists across the three awards being female artists. All finalists in Archibald, Wynne and Sulman prizes 2024 will be exhibited at AGNSW until 17 August. The Archibald finalists will then tour to Geelong, Gosford, Muswellbrook, Mudgee, Shoalhaven and Coffs Harbour later this year and in 2026.
The Age
25-04-2025
- Politics
- The Age
Not glorifying war, but exposing its horrors
To submit a letter to The Age, email letters@ Please include your home address and telephone number below your letter. No attachments. See here for our rules and tips on getting your letter published. ANZAC DAY It seems Ohad Kozminsky (″ Pro-Palestine group urges: teach Anzac atrocities ″, 25/4) may never have experienced an Anzac Day ceremony, attended a school that discusses the historical struggles of Australian soldiers, or spoken with a digger. I've attended – and performed at – many such ceremonies, and I can assure him Anzac Day does not ″glorify war″. It is a day that seeks to expose the horrors of war: lawless chaos, senseless slaughter and the endless suffering it causes. That's why we say ″never forget″. Atrocities are committed in every war, including those currently ravaging the Middle East and Eastern Europe. This harsh reality does not diminish the courage of those who fight with honour, nor the truth that their sacrifices have secured the freedoms we enjoy, such as the right to vote and live in a multicultural society. Anzac Day is not about blind nationalism or rewriting history. To claim otherwise is to reduce a complex day of remembrance to a simplistic, distorted caricature and to impose a divisive ideology on a day meant to unite. It is a time to honour sacrifice, recognise suffering and reflect – not with guilt, but with humility and pride. Simon Tedeschi, Newtown, NSW Ignorance and bigotry never goes away The booing at the Anzac Day dawn service by those allegedly associated with neo-Nazi groups has been rightly condemned (″ Neo-Nazi arrested as 'frankly disgraceful' stunts mar Anzac Day dawn services ″, 25/4). That Nazi scourge against which we fought had at its heart in the past: racial loathing, a sensed superiority and ultimately systematic state-sanctioned murder, and it is clear its ignorant and bigoted ways still have a potential to raise its head. This might be a salutary time to reflect more broadly on the mostly male predilection toward mindlessness and violence in so many areas: towards women, refugees, indigenous populations, children, the disadvantaged, difference, fact-based decisions et al. And, when choosing a new government have in mind issues that don't just start and end with mammon. Graeme Foley, Werribee Giving protesters what they crave What a shame the ABC chose to repeatedly highlight in its news coverage the abhorrent behaviour of a few at the Melbourne dawn service. By doing so, not only was the reverence of the day diminished but those who disrupted the service got exactly what they sought – publicity. Mandy Bridges, Barwon Heads Is this how we behave? I hope no politician will declare the booing at the welcome to country ceremony at the Anzac Day dawn service in Melbourne yesterday was 'un-Australian'. Unfortunately, it is Australian. All the people who voted against the Voice were Australian. Sandra Crockett, New Gisborne Anzac Day bias on show Having attended the dawn service and listening afterwards to the ABC commentary on the so-called disruption during the opening address by an Indigenous leader, I am compelled to comment. As with everything, there are always two sides to a story. Keeping to its long-continued bias, the ABC chose only one side. The large screen beside us, from 5.25am heralded the commencement of the service. At 5.32am, the invited Indigenous speaker commenced his address, telling us his mother was from one region, his father from another, then tributes to other tribal areas, far and wide. Not once throughout the whole address, which lasted several minutes, was the reason why we were assembled mentioned, to honour the memories of those who had fought and fallen in the defence of our wonderful country. It would be difficult to encounter a more divisive speech than the one delivered at the Shrine this Anzac morning. There was raucous shouting from a group within the crowd, but also, in my opinion, there was a totally inappropriate address at the commencement of the service. A brief acknowledgement of Native title is apt. A political diatribe is not. Henry Glennie, Melbourne Realistic curriculum It is appropriate that a teaching resource 'Challenging Anzac Day' is being developed to challenge the glorification of war which is often associated with Anzac day (″Pro-Palestine group urges: teach Anzac atrocities″, 25/4). If people were provided with the truth of the horrors of conflicts, particularly the effects on innocent civilians, they may have second thoughts about engaging in wars. In relation to Palestine today, much of the western world is silent in the face of the Israeli atrocities currently being inflicted on children, women, health workers and others. This is not the way towards world peace. A more factual and unbiased analysis of conflicts is essential to prevent the perpetration of war atrocities. The teaching of a more realistic curriculum in relation to Anzac Day could be a good start. Leigh Ackland, Deepdene Apt history lesson My great-uncle was wounded at Gallipoli and I have always admired the exceptional courage of Australian soldiers, but the 1918 massacre of Palestinians at Sarafand by the Light Horse, followed by the burning of villages in Egypt, highlights a tendency towards mindless support for racist imperialism. As historian Peter Stanley comments, the Light Horse was 'used as part of an imperial military force' (25/4). The emphasis should be on 'used' – the Light Horse were mostly poorly educated country boys who believed they were off to have a jolly stoush and be home by Christmas. It's important to educate ourselves about this history because discredited empires in decline have a habit of using brave soldiers in their front lines. Caroline Graham, Cromer, NSW
