The Frances Hodgkins Fellowship - Previous Recipients

Christopher Adams

Mozart Fellow 2010 and 2011

May 2011

The Mozart Fellowship gives you the time and freedom to observe, to take in and reflect; something that often gets lost when you are busy going from project to project, or maintaining a number of different and often conflicting jobs at the same time.

I have also really enjoyed being in an “artistic hub” with the different arts fellows at the University of Otago, being able to meet and talk with dancers, authors and artists. I have been particularly lucky to have been able to meet last year’s fellows as well as the current fellows.

I’m currently looking at working on a collaborative project with Fiona Farrell later in the year and hope also to be involved in the project that Lyne Pringle is working towards as part of her residency.

May tends to be a busy month for music in New Zealand (NZ Music Month). I have a number of performances scheduled: the NZ Trio are performing Jekyll Rat in Titirangi (Auckland, 1st May), Oamaru (3rd May) and Dunedin (4th May); the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra are reading Anastasis as part of the NZSO-SOUNZ readings in Wellington on the 9th May; the Auckland Philharmonia are premiering Antonyms of Trust (11th May) as part of the the Auckland Writers and Readers Festival and I have a new string trio being performed in the lunchtime concert in Marama Hall on the 18th May.

I have also recently finished work on the commission for the Southern Sinfonia, Symphonic Dances will be premiered as part of their second matinee series concert on the 19th of June.

May 2010

Chris Adams is only three months into his Fellowship and has already completed a number of new works for different groups around New Zealand. Three premiere performances will take place in May with further concerts planned for later in the year.

Prior to coming to Dunedin to take up the Mozart Fellowship, Chris was the 2009 Auckland Philharmonia Composer in Residence. “It was an honour to have such a prestigious residency so early in my career, but there were very specific output requirements which meant that most of my writing last year was for the orchestra and players from the ensemble. I also had commitments to the school where I was part-time Head of Music which gave me limited time for creative exploration.”

“The Mozart Fellowship, by contrast, has allowed me a fantastic amount of artistic freedom. I’ve had the flexibility to accept projects as they arise for an extremely varied range of groups and I have also had the space to develop my compositional process and ideas. The financial stability of the Fellowship means that I have been really productive and that I can completely focus on composition while I’m here.”

Of the upcoming performances of Chris’ music, one of the pieces is a commission by the contemporary music ensemble Silencio for a programme of new works to be performed in Christchurch on the 25th May. Two further compositions will be premiered in Dunedin: one for the Otago Symphonic Band, a wind band of around 30 members, on the 15th May, and one for violin quartet on 19th May as part of the Department of Music’s Showcase series.

Chris is also doing some lecturing on composition to the second year students in the Department of Music and also taking first year tutorials. “The department is very vibrant and supportive and being involved in teaching obviously helps my own work. No matter what level you are at, a lot of the processes you go through as a composer are similar, so teaching helps you to be more aware of the range of possibilities available in composition.”

Chris is currently working on a major piece for actor and orchestra for the Auckland Philharmonia to be workshopped and recorded later in the year. The text, by the New Zealand writer, Sam Mahon, is about water conservation issues and environmental degradation in New Zealand. The Auckland Philharmonia will perform the work next year as part of the 2011 Auckland Writers and Readers Festival.

Chris Watson

Mozart Fellow 2008 and 2009

2009 has, following on from a busy first year as Mozart Fellow, been packed with creative activity.  The major areas of focus have been the completion of a major new work for piano duo and the preparation of a documentary film about the Nelson Composers Workshop.  The piano duo, named coffee table book, was commissioned by pianists Xenia Pestova (Canada) and Pascal Meyer (Luxembourg).  As Duo Pestova/Meyer, they will premiere the work in Wellington in June, with a follow-up performance at the University of Otago (July 29).  The prospect of working with performers of this calibre and who have such a dedicated approach to complex new music is very exciting.

While it might seem strange for a composer to be working in the field of filmmaking (aside from soundtrack creating duties), I see the Mozart Fellowship as a wonderful opportunity to spend some time expanding my skillset.  The subject of my film, the Nelson Composers Workshop is an institution to which many New Zealand composers, myself included, owe a great deal and is one that I feel is in urgent need of video documentation.  This midwinter injection of inspiration through rehearsal and performance opportunities and meeting up with other composers is widely regarded as the cause of great collegiality in the New Zealand composition community.  My film draws on some ten hours of footage that I shot at the 2008 Workshop.  Over the course of some 40 minutes, the film follows the experiences of two composers through rehearsal, performance and open forum, offering an all too rare insight into the creative lives of emerging composers.

The remainder of 2009 will see the finishing touches put on my documentary, the composition of a piano trio for performance by Otago Music Department staff and the writing of a new work for gamelan for the retirement concert of the New Zealand School of Music's Jack Body.  I'm also hoping that there will be some time at the end of the year to embark on a new work for orchestra, having enjoyed writing a violin concerto at the conclusion of 2008.  While I find myself working very hard, this doesn't feel like hard work  - it's pure creative freedom and is something I feel grateful to wake to each day.

Further details at http://www.chriswatsoncomposer.com/news.htm

Closing remarks, 2009

The final six months of my tenure as Mozart Fellow have been productive and reflective, with the premieres of three works prepared during my time in Dunedin.

My documentary film about the Nelson Composers Workshop was premiered on the opening night of the same event in July and is available to view online at http://www.vimeo.com/5533607. It is hoped that the film will serve as a document of the successes of this almost thirty year old institution and as an encouragement for emerging composers to attend.

Later in July my piano duo, Coffee Table Book, received its premiere performance in Wellington by Xenia Pestova (Canada) and Pascal Meyer (Luxembourg). Xenia and Pascal gave an additional performance (along with a new work by Dugal McKinnon and Stravinsky's Rite) at Otago University's Marama Hall. The Wellington performance can be seen at http://www.vimeo.com/5689470.

And in September I had the privilege of working with Otago musicians Tessa Petersen (violin), Jono Squire (cello) and John Van Buskirk (piano) in preparation for their Marama Hall premiere of a piano trio in three micro movements called Schemata (http://www.vimeo.com/6773478).

I'm hoping to complete two more compositions and a short documentary film about a recent new work by Anthony Ritchie before my time in Dunedin is up.

Inevitably, the worst thing about being an Otago Arts Fellow is that one's time must come to an end. While I don't expect to be able to enjoy the kind of time, freedom and funding that the Fellowship has afforded me again any time soon, I'm confident that the memory of the last two years will sustain me as I step back into the everyday run of life of a composer.

2008

Being the Mozart Fellow allows me to dedicate myself to my art form under very privileged and rare circumstances. The freedom to simply spend my days writing music is something that very few composers ever experience and, as such, I feel a keen sense of responsibility to make the most of my time in the role.

I have a number of projects lined up for 2008. The first two are ongoing Creative New Zealand commissions, both duos: for percussion and violin (for Arnold Marinissen and Marco Roosink) and for flute and piano (for Mette Leroy and Jamie Cock). These works are scheduled for performances in Europe in 2008/09. In late June I will be providing music for dance choreographed by Caroline Plummer Fellow Barbara Snook. I also intend to return to orchestral writing, with a large new work. Finally, I hope to branch out somewhat in my creative endeavours by realising a video documentary about the Nelson Composers Workshop, an institution to which I owe a debt of gratitude.

The staff at the Music Department have been very welcoming and supportive, and have given me the opportunity to lecture second year composition students, something that I look forward to very much. Moving from Wellington to Dunedin gives me the chance to explore Otago, Fiordland and Southland; I expect that these travels, and the less hectic (but no less vibrant) living environment provided by Dunedin will have a positive impact on my compositions.