Latest news with #SydneyConservatoriumofMusic
The Age
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Age
What it takes to master ‘the best job in the world'
Conductor Benjamin Northey is reflecting on more than two decades leading major orchestras here and overseas. 'There's nothing like it. It's got to be the best job in the world. You're in this privileged position where you get to connect with these amazing works of art all the time.' Now he is aiming to pass on that privilege – and all the complex skills needed to exercise it – to the next generation, having been appointed inaugural professor of conducting at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. He adds that job to his current roles as principal conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and conductor in residence of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. 'It's a tremendous opportunity,' he says. 'It was unexpected in many ways but I was thrilled. 'This role offers me the chance to help shape the future of Australian music, ensuring the next generation understands and values music's essential role in our society.' Northey's appointment comes at a time of growing interest in the art of conducting, brought on in part by the high-profile success here and overseas of Sydney Symphony Orchestra chief conductor Simone Young as well as other young rising stars such as Sydneysider Sam Weller. Northey came to conducting by a circuitous route. Initially, he studied woodwinds, playing saxophone, flute and clarinet professionally in his 20s before enrolling in a conducting course at Melbourne Conservatorium. In 2001, he won the Symphony Australia young conductor of the year award and went on to study at Helsinki's Sibelius Academy, 'the global mecca of conductor training'.
Sydney Morning Herald
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
What it takes to master ‘the best job in the world'
Conductor Benjamin Northey is reflecting on more than two decades leading major orchestras here and overseas. 'There's nothing like it. It's got to be the best job in the world. You're in this privileged position where you get to connect with these amazing works of art all the time.' Now he is aiming to pass on that privilege – and all the complex skills needed to exercise it – to the next generation, having been appointed inaugural professor of conducting at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. He adds that job to his current roles as principal conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and conductor in residence of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. 'It's a tremendous opportunity,' he says. 'It was unexpected in many ways but I was thrilled. 'This role offers me the chance to help shape the future of Australian music, ensuring the next generation understands and values music's essential role in our society.' Northey's appointment comes at a time of growing interest in the art of conducting, brought on in part by the high-profile success here and overseas of Sydney Symphony Orchestra chief conductor Simone Young as well as other young rising stars such as Sydneysider Sam Weller. Northey came to conducting by a circuitous route. Initially, he studied woodwinds, playing saxophone, flute and clarinet professionally in his 20s before enrolling in a conducting course at Melbourne Conservatorium. In 2001, he won the Symphony Australia young conductor of the year award and went on to study at Helsinki's Sibelius Academy, 'the global mecca of conductor training'.
Sydney Morning Herald
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Sydney composer Mark Isaacs records second symphony
The piano remains central to Isaacs' craft. Credit: Louie Douvis When still a teenager, he studied composition with Vincent Plush and Kim Williams at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Williams (now chairman of the ABC) later commissioned Isaacs' first symphony. Loading But the piano remains essential to his craft. He writes his symphonies sitting at the keyboard, allowing ideas to come to him through improvisation. When a theme emerges he'll jot it down with pencil and paper, perhaps with a note about instrumentation. 'When I'm sketching I might put in 'woodwind flurries', or I know there will be a cor anglais solo – and I make a note at the piano and work out the details later,' he says. 'It's like drafting something and then going into finer detail.' He used to write his orchestral scores in longhand, working at a sloping architect's table. These days he works with music-notation software when he is filling out the orchestration. Symphony No. 2 is scored for strings and triple woodwind, brass, three percussionists and harp. It also includes a piano – not as a solo instrument, but as part of the orchestral texture – as well as celesta and harpsichord. Isaacs dedicated his first symphony to his father, Saul Isaacs, a research chemist and composer whose song In a Little Moment was recorded by Petula Clark. At the time Isaacs was writing the symphony, Saul had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. His father was able to attend the world premiere of his first symphony – given by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and conductor Benjamin Northey in 2013 – before he died. The piece impressed no less a figure than conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy, who suggested that Isaacs write his next symphony in a more upbeat mood. The second movement of Symphony No. 2 is an expansive adagietto. The third and final movement begins with an unusual expression marking, largo supplicando, suggesting supplication or prayer. Isaacs says he doesn't subscribe to a particular religion, but the musical direction is intended to evoke a 'sense of humility and devotion to what I would call Oneness, with a capital O'. Loading After this moment of reflection, the third movement launches into an exuberant finale, attended by emphatically affirmative chords and sweeping glissandos from the harp. Isaacs received an Australia Council (now Creative Australia) grant to write his second symphony. It was completed in 2017 and Isaacs spent the next seven years trying to find an orchestra to play it. To continue the literary analogy, it was like an author sending his novel to publishers and receiving only polite rejection slips. He is philosophical about this, but was determined that the music should at least be recorded, given the public investment in it. Recording the symphony in Prague cost $57,000, supported by $50,000 from Creative Australia. At the same sessions he recorded his suite of songs called Grace City, with Deborah Dicembre. Isaacs is not finished with the symphony. Indeed, he speaks of a possible cycle of symphonies – each instalment distinct but related to the whole, like a sequence of novels. 'I think the third should introduce a choral element, a choir or vocal soloists – or both,' he says. 'I've only just scratched the surface.' Mark Isaacs' Symphony No. 2 and Grace City are available on major music platforms. The Booklist is a weekly newsletter for book lovers from Jason Steger. Get it delivered every Friday.
