The May 9 2015 world premiere of Brian Howard’s Full Fathom Five at the Canberra International Festival of Music was reviewed by Maxim Boon in Limelight Magazine. Boon writes:
Great music should be about more than merely entertaining, and this brutal, confronting, deeply affecting piece both moves and shakes the listener in a profound and potent way.
Saturday’s concert at the Canberra International Music Festival will be broadcast 8pm tonight (14 May 2015) on ABC Classic FM. Tune in to hear the world premiere of Brian Howard’s Full Fathom Five. For those catching up on the broadcast on a later date, the link is:
http://www.abc.net.au/classic/content/2015/05/14/4236712.htm
Also, on Saturday 9 May 2015, author Elliott Gyger spoke with presenter Andrew Ford on ABC Radio National’s The Music Show about his book The Music of Nigel Butterley. The interview can now be downloaded/streamed at this link:
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/musicshow/elliott-gyger-on-nigel-butterley/6455916
We’re delighted to announce that Full Fathom Five, composed by Brian Howard and published by Wildbird, will receive its world premiere on Saturday 9 May 2015 at 3pm at the Canberra International Music Festival. The concert, ‘Movers and Shakers’ will take place at the Fitter’s Workshop, and performers on the programme include: Amy Dickson, saxophone, Geoff Gartner, cello, Roland Peelman, piano and conductor, YAFF string players, Ensemble Offspring, New Zealand String Quartet, Tinalley String Quartet.
The concert will be broadcast on ABC Classic FM, Thursday 14 May 2015 at 8pm.
Elliott Gyger with Nigel Butterley
While Elliott Gyger was in Sydney for the premiere of his opera Fly Away Peter by Sydney Chamber Opera this month he visited Nigel Butterley at his home to present him with a copy of his book, The Music of Nigel Butterley.
The Music of Nigel Butterley is the third volume in Wildbird’s Australian Composers series. After an extensive period of research, Gyger has written a book which examines all Butterley’s principal compositions, looking at his technique, style and musical language.
Written for music students, teachers and the interested public, this book has been released to coincide with Nigel Butterley’s 80th birthday.
We wish Nigel a very happy birthday… and we hope he enjoys reading his birthday book!!
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In celebration of Nigel Butterley’s 80th birthday year, Wildbird is delighted to announce the publication of the third volume in the Australian Composers series, The Music of Nigel Butterley. This book has been written by Elliott Gyger, Senior Lecturer in Composition at the University of Melbourne.
Nigel Butterley is one of Australia’s most outstanding composers. He has been writing music for over sixty years. His works include four string quartets, instrumental music, choral music, orchestral music including his Violin Concerto and Symphony and a wide range of vocal works from songs to opera. He was awarded the Prix Italia for his radiophonic work In the Head the Fire and the Paul Lowin Orchestral Prize for his Spell of Creation. For many years he taught composition at the Newcastle Conservatorium of Music.
Butterley’s music has been examined by Elliott Gyger in this new Wildbird publication. A large number of musical examples have been included throughout the book to enable music students, teachers and the interested public to see the key features of Butterley’s creative world. Books in the Australian Composers series are an important resource for schools, tertiary institutions and private music teachers.
The Music of Peter Sculthorpe was reviewed by Dr Rita Crews in the February issue of The Studio, the journal of the Music Teachers’ Association of NSW. Dr Crews writes:
Written in an easily-accessible and readable style, this book is most highly recommended and provides an accurate and valuable contribution to the study of the complex but distinctive style of Peter Sculthorpe.
Wildbird is pleased to have reviews of the first two volumes in the Australian Composers series in recent issues of Limelight Magazine. Writing in his review of The Music of Richard Meale in the October 2014 issue, Andrew Aronowicz wrote that
Wildbird’s mission to develop a set of resources exploring Australian composition is a very important project, and has so far produced two great surveys that should become valuable study materials for music students around the country.
It is with deep sadness that Wildbird writes of the death of Peter Sculthorpe.
Peter Sculthorpe was one of Australia’s finest composers. His work included 18 String Quartets, orchestral, choral, dramatic and chamber music.
The author of Wildbird’s new book The Music of Peter Sculthorpe, John Peterson, and editor Brian Howard, both former students of Peter Sculthorpe, were able to visit him in Wolper Jewish Hospital shortly before his death to give him a copy of the new book on his music. Sculthorpe had eagerly followed the progress of the book and he was clearly pleased to receive the first copy.
Many of Australia’s current principal composers are former students of Peter Sculthorpe and his contribution to Australia’s music through his teaching and his own considerable output was enormous.
He will be greatly missed.
Wildbird is pleased to announce that the first dispatch of orders for the books in the Australian Composers series has been made. The arrival of the shipment from our printers in Singapore, within days of our estimated schedule, made the initial dispatch a smooth operation for the Wildbird Team.
Brian Howard, editor of the Australian Composers series, tells us that Elliott Gyger has just completed his book, the third in the series, The Music of Nigel Butterley. We are aiming to have this book printed and ready for release in January, to coincide with Nigel’s 80th birthday year.