Directed
by Katie Noonan
Canberra
Theatre Centre Playhouse.
Performance
on 6th March reviewed by Bill Stephens
Formed by
multi-award winning vocalist, Katie Noonan, to satisfy her own yearning to sing
with other people, Australian Vocal Ensemble, AVE was created in 2021. Choosing
some of the finest vocalists in the country for her associates, the a capella
ensemble consists of Noonan herself, mezzo-soprano, Fiona Campbell, tenor,
Andrew Goodwin and bass-baritone Andrew O’Connor.
Having
formed the group Noonan has set some lofty ambitions for it. She wants to
champion new Australian works, engage with First Nation peoples, and have
community engagement in every concert. One of her first decisions was to
commission 12 new works from composers including of Richard Tognetti, Ian
Grandage and Canberran, Stephen Leek, set to the writings by David Malouf.
This
first Canberra concert by the ensemble, which drew a large appreciative
audience to the Canberra Playhouse, was ostensibly to introduce the group to
Canberra audiences as well as promote their first CD, “Tumbling like Stars”
which features some of these compositions.
True to
her ambition to engage with First Nation peoples, the concert commenced with a
jovial welcome to country from Auntie Violet. Later, towards the end of the
program, the ensemble performed a charming arrangement of the J. S. Bach
chorale “Straf’ mich nicht in deinem Zorn”, sung in the language of the Gubbi
Gubbi, Noongar and Gadigal peoples.
Presented
in a relaxed atmosphere, with the various members of the ensemble taking turns
in introducing the items and occasionally engaging directly with the audience,
the concert commenced with Stephen Leek’s specially commissioned piece,
“Stars”, which contained the lyric which provided the title of the program.
From the
12 specially commissioned new Australian works, compositions by Jessica Wells,
Anne Cawrse, Isaac Hurren, Thomas Green, Robert Davidson and Alice Humphries
were also performed, interspersed with three classical pieces; two in arrangements
by Andrew Goodwin; J.S Bach’s “Jesu Mein Freude” and “Tu Del Ciel by G.F. Handel.
The
program concluded on a reflective note with the John 14.27, “Peace I Leave With
You”, also arranged by Goodwin for his father’s funeral.
As
expected, given the reputations of these singers, the singing throughout was
exquisite, the commissioned works interesting, but, as is sadly becoming the
norm, there were no printed programs available. This was unfortunate because
despite the best efforts of the individual ensemble members with their introductions,
it was often difficult to catch the names and titles of the compositions. As
some of these works were quite complex as the concert progress, the items began
to run together, making it hard to distinguish one from the other.
How much
more enjoyable the concert would have been had the audience been able to access
information about the composers, and the artists performing, while they
listened to their compositions.
I
discovered next day that all this information, including lyrics, was available in an excellent
digital program, which had possibly been emailed to ticket purchasers. However I didn’t notice anyone referring to
one during the concert. Given that the performance was one of largely new works,
this was a shame, because, unless they purchased the CD on sale after the concert, most of the audience will retain little
memory of these works, or their composers, once they left the theatre.
Photo by Peter Hislop
This review also published in AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW. www.artsreview.com.au
