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Newsletter March 2000

This will be a quiet month as far as public appearances are concerned, but I have quite a bit of composing and arranging to do for events later in the year; also a number of meetings to do with the same.

The CD sessions with the Sydney and Adelaide Symphony Orchestras went very well. The two Sydney sessions recorded a charming suite by Martin Wesley-Smith called Pip!, a kind of Playschool narration and singing piece. The Adelaide Saint-Saens sessions were a delight, although hard work. The orchestra played brilliantly, and with great power for the Organ symphony and Danse Macabre. Their commitment and concentration produced long takes of sustained quality. This means the shape of the whole will not suffer from a patchwork of editing. Despite prior concerns over recording organ (played by Mel Waters) and orchestra simultaneously (often a nightmare with pitch and balance), there were virtually no problems. We were able to finish the week one day ahead of schedule. The Carnaval of Animals will have narration between movements, but the narrator has yet to be found. ABC Enterprises have a number of choices here; possibly new poems and the use of several narrators rather than one only are being considered. But all the music is finished apart from the harmonica! Saint-Saens wanted a glass harmonica in the movement "Aquarium", and we are determined to have that sound rather than the substitutes that are invariably used. There is such an instrument in Melbourne, apparently, and we may be able to sample the sounds it makes and reproduce it on an electronic keyboard. Failing that, producer Stephen Snelleman and I will sample the sounds of various wineglasses! (And perhaps the contents afterwards....)

I should mention that I have taken on an agent recently - Patrick Togher Artists' Management - see links page for further information. Patrick is now handling my concert/recording appearances, but anything to do with composition remains with me and my publishers.