Queensland Music Festival 2019 Magazine

28 — 19 05 20 ly

Ju

Q

M

O F.

R

G

.A

U

2

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

CRICOS 00233E J002260

Contents 06 09

Welcome

30 Twilight in the Red Box

Acknowledgements

33

10 Transforming Lives & Communities Through Music

11 12 18

2019 Festival Programme

Festival Schedule

On Pointe – Article

20 The Little Green Road to Fairyland 22 23 24

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

26

4

28 29

34 36 38 40 42

The Cape York Music Program

46

Jessie Lloyd’s Mission – Article

47

On Song @ Green Jam

The Genius of John Rodgers

Birds of a Feather – Article

The Night Parrot

Raising Your Voice in Song – Article

Help is on its Way

Immersion

The Fortitude Music Hall Official Opening

Mission Songs Project

48

Let Love Rule

50

Striking a Chord – Article

52

Play Me, I’m Yours

54 An Opera at Jimbour with

The Mount Isa Blast

Frank and Fearless

Score IT! Public Lecture

Hayley Sugars – Article

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

56

Opera at Jimbour

58 JMI Live Up Late

Singing Our Songlines

59 Between the Lines

Women of Woodstock

60 Maps & Journeys Kitch Culture

61 Stradbroke Chamber Music Festival 2019 Ensemble Q: Champions

62 Our Place 63 ASQ Close Quarters @ Bromley Room Verdi Requiem

Mail PO BOX 1060, Fortitude Valley, QLD 4006 Phone

07 3010 6600

Fax

07 3010 6666

Email

info@qmf.org.au

Facebook /qldmusicfest

Carol Lloyd’s Inspirational Legacy – Article

66 A Spotlight on Queensland’s Yarrabah Music & Cultural Festival – Article

69

Address Level 1, 381 Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley, QLD 4006

Twitter

@qldmusicfest

Instagram @qldmusicfest YouTube

/qldmusicfest

qmf.org.au #qldmusicfest

20th Anniversary Special Edition Section 20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

64

CONTACT DETAILS

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

5

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION 6

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

Welcome to the 20th anniversary celebration of Queensland Music Festival.

The festival is one of our State’s iconic events, harnessing the power of music to unite and delight communities across Queensland.

Queensland Music Festival brings diverse and vibrant performances to all corners of the State, and offers Queenslanders fantastic opportunities to be involved in making music that has the potential to change lives.

It is truly a magical thing.

Since 1999, Queensland Music Festival has captivated more than 1 million people across the State and involved over 100 communities, helping us tell our uniquely Queensland stories.

This year, the festival continues to touch lives with the uplifting and inclusive choral program Help is on its Way, in support of positive mental health, and The Mount Isa Blast, bringing the Mount Isa community together to celebrate the region’s beauty, diversity and resilience.

Exceptional and original experiences sit alongside perennial festival favourites, the Yarrabah Music and Cultural Festival, Opera at Jimbour and so much more.

Welcome to Queensland Music Festival 2019 and thank you to the many cities, towns and remote communities across Queensland which will host music events during July 2019.

At Queensland Music Festival, we are committed to transforming lives and communities through music and, leading up to the festival, I would like to thank the many Queenslanders who have allowed us to work with them to present Queensland Music Festival 2019.

As to music itself, I am conscious that there are moments in each of our lives when we are deeply conscious of its power - whether it be the beauty and simplicity of its sound, a special moment with family and friends, how it feels in whatever form it takes, a special location or the story which the music clothes.

During Queensland Music Festival 2019, I hope that everyone who attends the many events that will unfold across the festival enjoy special moments when music transforms their lives and those of their communities.

Finally, in welcoming you all to Queensland Music Festival 2019, on behalf of the entire Board, I would like to acknowledge the efforts of many within Queensland Music Festival and especially our Artistic Director, Katie Noonan, for her engaging vision and unstinting contribution over the last four years.

We invite you to enjoy this fabulous program.

All the best,

ANNASTACIA PALASZCZUK MP PREMIER OF QUEENSLAND MINISTER FOR TRADE

DOMINIC MCGANN CHAIR QUEENSLAND MUSIC FESTIVAL

LEEANNE ENOCH MP MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT AND THE GREAT BARRIER REEF MINISTER FOR SCIENCE AND MINISTER FOR THE ARTS

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

Congratulations to Queensland Music Festival on this special anniversary year, as it continues a fine tradition of collaboration and celebration, nurturing and inspiring a love of music in Queenslanders of all ages, and leaving lasting legacies through powerfully rich experiences.

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

7

I am delighted to present the 2019 programme to you!

Like our beautiful State, the 2019 programme is big and bold. It encourages us to reflect on who we are as a people and to search for our best selves. It asks us to look to our past for teachings, question who we are now, and celebrates our unique identity.

Music is a safe space, the maker of friends and a force for good. This attitude of caring for our people and artists is at the core of my curation.

The belief that music should be available to every human is reflected in the programme’s vast reach of over 800 events in more than 40 locations. Queensland’s world-class talent features in each and every event.

In our 20th year, we are collaborating with an unprecedented number of organisations, including Queensland Ballet, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Opera Queensland, Queensland Youth Orchestra and Queensland Performing Arts Centre.

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

I am honoured to lead the artistic direction of this incredible organisation. As the youngest and first Queensland Artistic Director, I have been very proud to help tell our stories and celebrate our artistic brilliance.

8

KATIE NOONAN ARTISTIC DIRECTOR QUEENSLAND MUSIC FESTIVAL

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

Queensland Music Festival’s 2019 programme is the majestic culmination of the Organisation’s 20 year history of producing ground-breaking music and community engagement projects.

Particularly for people living in regional and remote places, Queensland Music Festival has become a cherished platform for unique access to and participation in world-class performing arts experiences, many of which are specially designed to inspire communities to celebrate their own unique role in the story of Queensland. Queensland Music Festivals’ signature events, this year finding form in The Mount Isa Blast, are a spectacular vision of how music can foster community collaboration and togetherness.

In my first festival as Executive Director, I have been hugely impressed by the commitment of the staff and Board, as well as the contributions of artists, arts workers and arts companies from around Queensland and beyond. Many thanks must go to our outgoing Artistic Director, Katie Noonan, whose deep faith in the power of music has left an indelible imprint on the people of Queensland.

I encourage you to take the time to read the fascinating history of this iconic event and look forward to seeing you at events across the State in July.

JOEL EDMONDSON EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR QUEENSLAND MUSIC FESTIVAL

Acknowledgements Queensland Music Festival would like to respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands on which Queensland Music Festival events are taking place, and Elders past, present and emerging.

CONTRIBUTORS Steve Bell, Gabi Bergman, Claire Booth, David Burton, Deborah Conway, Joel Edmondson, Linda Gordon, Erica Hart, Elverina Johnson, Nigel Lavender, Myles McGuire, Sean Mee, Noel Mengel, James Morrison, Katie Noonan, Marguerite Pepper, Sean Sennett, Comm.Lyndon Terracini AM, The Hon. Matthew Joseph “Matt” Foley.

His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC Governor of Queensland.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Wendy Mansell Regional Engagement Director

Elverina Johnson Managing Producer

The M Agency Festival Identity & Design

Katrina Torenbeek Programming & Technical Director

Gabby Gregory Associate Producer

Nude Agency Creative Agency

Bart Mangan Technical Manager

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Dominic McGann Chair

FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION

Danielle Duell Deputy Chair

Jodi Kelly Finance Manager

Darren Busine Treasurer

Beata Kennedy Finance & Administration Assistant

BOARD MEMBERS

Peta Winters Administration Manager

Diat Alferink Prof Margaret Barrett Alison Mobbs Jim Reeves Jane Williams John Willsteed QUEENSLAND MUSIC FESTIVAL EXECUTIVE TEAM Katie Noonan Artistic Director Joel Edmondson Executive Director Simon Buchanan Business Development Director Linda Gordon Marketing & Communications Director

Sally McRae Managing Producer Kylie Mitchell Senior Technical Manager Ruby Newport Associate Producer Bernd Neumann Technical Manager

Danielle Bentley Development Manager Jacqui Grinzi Partnerships Manager Wendy Mansell Philanthropy & Grants Consultant YOUTH TOURING

Lia Pa’apa’a Co Producer

Laura Bonner Youth Touring Manager

Oliver Samson Project Coordinator

Katy Holmes-Brown Touring Administrator

Jeff Warnick Technical Manager

Lizzie Moore Touring Administrator

Kate Driscoll-Wilson Managing Producer

MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

STATE CO-ORDINATION OFFICE

Aaron Dora Project Coordinator

Natania Hinwood Senior Digital Marketing Executive

Jess Cuddihy Communications & Events Coordinator

PROGRAMMING & TECHNICAL Pip Boyce Managing Producer Jake Cook Production Coordinator

Joc Curran Creative Producer Erica Hart Executive Program Producer Isabel Hart Associate Producer

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this publication may contain images of deceased persons which may cause sadness or distress.

FESTIVAL FEEDBACK Queensland Music Festival would love to hear about your festival experience. Tell us via email to marketing@qmf.org.au INFORMATION FOR PATRONS WITH INDIVIDUAL NEEDS Queensland Music Festival is dedicated to being welcoming, accessible and inclusive. For patrons with individual needs, we strongly encourage you to contact the office on (07) 3010 6600 or visit qmf.org.au.

Alex Komarowski Marketing Coordinator

Madonna Davies Regional Arts Officer Yuverina Shewpersad Amber Lenoy Marketing Executive Digital Marketing Coordinator SGC Media Media Relations

CONDITIONS OF SALE All ticket prices are inclusive of GST and booking fees where applicable.

Transaction fees may apply. Additional charges for phone, credit card, EFTPOS and postage may apply. Once a sale is finalised, there are no refunds, cancellations or exchanges, except as provided for in the Live Performance Australia Ticketing Code of Practice for event ticketing.

DISCLAIMER Every effort has been made to ensure program details are correct at the time of printing, however, details are subject to change where necessary and without notice. Please check qmf.org.au for updates.

ABN 67 084 526 876.

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

PATRON

9

Transforming Lives & Communities

through music

For over 20 years, Queensland Music Festival has delivered the gift of music to over a million people across more than 100 locations throughout Queensland.

Since its inception, Queensland Music Festival has grown from a biennial statewide festival of music, to a creator of annual festivals and events, producing over 800 live music experiences for the 2019 Festival. By its geography, length, participation and attendance, Queensland Music Festival is the largest live music festival in the world.

Over three weeks in July, Queensland Music Festival will unfold an unforgettable musical journey through the cities, regions and remote corners of Queensland.

From the large outdoor opera experience to intimate and bespoke concerts, world premieres, and mass community participation projects, Queensland Music Festival offers a unique festival experience like no other.

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

2019 marks the 20th anniversary of Queensland Music Festival. This special edition of our festival programme commemorates two decades of transformational music experiences.

10

We invite you to join the next stage of this glorious musical journey as the 2019 Queensland Music Festival unfurls its wings across this great State.

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

1

7

26

3

23

18

20 Fe 19 Pr st og iva ra l m m e

13

19

14 24

17

16

2 25

5 20

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

Aurukun Cape York Music Program Barcaldine Help is on its Way Barrine Cape York Music Program Beaudesert Help is on its Way Birdsville Help is on its Way Chinchilla Help is on its Way Coen Cape York Music Program Cunnamulla Help is on its Way Currumbin Between the Lines Eumundi Between the Lines Goondiwindi The Little Green Road To Fairyland Gympie Mission Songs Project Hope Vale Cape York Music Program

15 11

B

22

4

9

14. Hughenden Help is on its Way 15. Jimbour Opera at Jimbour 16. Longreach Mission Songs Project 17. Moranbah Help is on its Way 18. Mount Isa The Mount Isa Blast 19. Palm Island Mission Songs Project 20. Roma The Little Green Road To Fairyland 21. St George The Little Green Road To Fairyland 22. Stradbroke Island Stradbroke Chamber Music Festival 23. Townsville Help is on its Way 24. Winton The Night Parrot 25. Woorabinda Mission Songs Project 26. Yarrabah Cape York Music Program Yarrabah Music and Cultural Festival

BRISBANE ASQ Close Quarters @ The Bromley Room Between the Lines Ensemble Q: Champions Frank and Fearless Help is on its Way Immersion JMI Live Up Late Kitch Culture Maps and Journeys Mission Songs Project On Song @ Green Jam Our Place Let Love Rule Play Me, I’m Yours Score It! Public Lecture Singing Our Songlines The Fortitude Music Hall Official Opening The Genius of John Rodgers The Little Green Road To Fairyland The Night Parrot Twilight in the Red Box Verdi Requiem Women of Woodstock STATE WIDE Kitch Culture On Song Score IT! QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

21

1.

10

6

8

REGIONAL

12

11

Festival Schedule 5 JULY - 28 JULY

5, 6, 10, 25, 26 JULY

6 JULY

Play Me, I’m Yours

Immersion @ The Johnson

ASQ Close Quarters @ The Bromley Room

BRISBANE Art Series - The Johnson Spring Hill FREE - Register online

BRISBANE The Bromley Room, West End FROM $15

BRISBANE Various Locations FREE Join us on a musical treasure hunt in our sparkling city.

Experience the stars of the contemporary music scene up close and personal in a live performance like no other.

Taking chamber back to its roots, the Australian String Quartet perform a selection of classical and contemporary works bound to thrill and delight.

5 - 7 JULY

6 JULY

Our Place

Singing our Songlines

BRISBANE The Block, QUT Creative Industries Precinct, Kelvin Grove FROM $30

BRISBANE SunPAC FREE

5 JULY

Let Love Rule BRISBANE The Tivoli FROM $49 Australian living legend Archie Roach gets to the heart of what it means to be human, opening with Mission Songs Project.

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

A unique collaboration exploring songs of the bush, backyard and balcony.

12

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

Songs of hope, songs of healing, featuring Elders connected to Inala and Shellie Morris.

7, 14, 21 JULY

11, 12, 17, 18, 19 JULY

11, 18, 25 JULY

Twilight in the Red Box

Immersion @ FV

by Peppers

JMI Live Up Late

BRISBANE Red Box, State Library of Queensland FROM $17.50 Sit back and watch the sun set over the Brisbane river while listening to classical greats in this intimate concert series.

BRISBANE FV by Peppers, Fortitude Valley FREE - Register online Experience the stars of the contemporary music scene up close and personal in a live performance like no other.

BRISBANE Jazz Music Institute, Bowen Hills $10 Don’t miss one of the best opportunities to listen to live jazz in Brisbane!

12 JULY 10-14, 17-21 JULY

11, 13, 20 JULY

On Song @ Green Jam

The Little Green Road to Fairyland

Between the Lines

BRISBANE Melbourne Street Green, QPAC FREE

Enjoy this magical fairytale for the littlest lovers of dance and music.

We’re bringing the state’s best young emerging singersongwriters to Brisbane!

Danny Widdicombe and Trichotomy bring their new LP to life in a live performance launching its international release.

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

BRISBANE Playhouse, QPAC FROM $20

CURRUMBIN | BRISBANE EUMUNDI Dust Temple, Currumbin Old Museum, Brisbane Imperial Hotel, Eumundi $25

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

13

Festival Schedule 13 JULY

17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 27, 28 JULY

19 - 21 JULY

The Genius of John Rodgers

Help is on its Way

Women of Woodstock

CHINCHILLA | MORANBAH BARCALDINE | HUGHENDEN BIRDSVILLE | CUNNAMULLA BEAUDESERT | BRISBANE TOWNSVILLE Regional - FREE Brisbane - $25

BRISBANE Visy Theatre, Brisbane Powerhouse FROM $44

BRISBANE Concert Hall, QPAC FROM $45 A celebration of one of Queensland’s true musical masterminds.

Lend your voice to this national choral initiative fostering a dialogue around positive men’s mental health.

15 - 26 JULY

21 JULY

Kitch Culture

Maps and Journeys

QUEENSLAND SCHOOLS $8 PER STUDENT A unique musical experience combining cultural arts and storytelling with music technology.

17 & 19 JULY

The Night Parrot WINTON | BRISBANE Shire Hall, Winton Cremorne Theatre, QPAC VIEW ONLINE FOR PRICING DETAILS

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

Music and conservation unite to tell the enchanting story of one of the world’s most elusive birds.

14

Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Woodstock by honouring the iconic women who performed at this era-defining event.

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

BRISBANE Concert Hall, QPAC FROM $28 Discover Australia’s rich and captivating history of star navigation through music.

21 JULY

26 JULY

26 - 27 JULY

Ensemble Q: Champions

Score IT! Public Lecture

Frank & Fearless

BRISBANE Conservatorium Theatre, Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University FROM $10

BRISBANE Ian Hanger Recital Hall, Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University FROM $12

BRISBANE Powerhouse Theatre, Brisbane Powerhouse FROM $39

An immense performance featuring the winning group from the inaugural Queensland International Chamber Competition.

Renowned composer Cameron Patrick, returns to Brisbane to share his Hollywood industry knowledge!

A musical journey through the life of a true trailblazing Queensland woman, Merle Thornton.

26 - 28 JULY 26 JULY

The Mount Isa Blast

The Fortitude Music Hall Official Opening

MOUNT ISA Kalkadoon Arena, Buchanan Park Events Complex FREE - Register online.

BRISBANE Fortitude Music Hall $64.90

An explosive outdoor theatrical spectacular created for, by and with the Mount Isa community.

Join some of Brisbane’s finest artists as we launch the new treasure for Brisbane’s live music and artistic community.

Stradbroke Chamber Music Festival STRADBROKE ISLAND FROM $45 Six captivating concerts amid the Quandamooka Festival, winter sun, surf and of course, the whales.

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

25 - 27 JULY

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

15

Festival Schedule 27 JULY

Opera at Jimbour JIMBOUR Jimbour House FROM $28 A full day of magnificent fun for the whole family, set amidst the glorious grounds of Jimbour House.

28 JULY

Verdi Requiem BRISBANE Concert Hall, QPAC FROM $35

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

Experience the insight, passion and drama of one of history’s most superlative composers.

16

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

With thousands of markets, festivals and events, find out what it means for you.

More to see and do QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

17

Pointe

On

Li Cunxin on The Little Green Road to Fairyland and collaborating with Queensland Music Festival.

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

CONTRIBUTOR: MYLES MCGUIRE

18

When one thinks of ballet for children, there are certain images that spring immediately to mind. Pink tutus; The Nutcracker; a younger sibling taking to the stage in their first performance. For many Australian children, ballet is a rite of passage, with weekend mornings spent at a local hall or church, perfecting pirouettes and pliés— and, though few continue to a professional level, the memory of these classes remains vivid and formative.

Li’s own story is well-known, his childhood documented in the memoir Mao’s Last Dancer and its film adaptation. His experience of ballet as the child of impoverished parents living in Maoist China may be worlds away from that of most young dancers, but it has become a touchstone for those interested in the art form; contrasting the extremes of discipline with creative and personal freedom.

For Li Cunxin, now in his seventh year as Queensland Ballet’s Artistic Director, the importance of this cannot be understated. “You plant this magical seed in their imagination, in the formative years,” Li says, “And you never know what kind of incredible impact it will have as they get older and make their own contributions to society.”

If anyone can testify to the life-changing power of the performing arts, it’s Li, and it’s clear this philosophy has inflected Queensland Ballet under his direction.

Since 2012 it has grown from sixty employees to two hundred, doubled the size of its ensemble, and implemented a world-class academy while enjoying unprecedented prosperity. With this infrastructure it’s now possible to bring metropolitan ballet to regional Australia, Fairyland just one of several shows the company has plans to tour.

We are talking about The Little Green Road to Fairyland, a coproduction with Queensland Music Festival. Adapted from Annie R. Rentoul’s beloved 1922 children’s book of the same name, Fairyland is a unique mixture of dance, music and vocal performance, a rich imaginative palette for both creatives and audience. The story of a Fairy who forfeits her supernatural gifts for the benefit of others, it is a tender tale of understanding and kindness.

Given his own upbringing in remote Northern China, and the intensely politicised nature of his training in dance, it follows that reaching audiences outside of the city is important to Li. Fairyland is a particularly apt choice for this reason, with its quintessential Australian bush setting and themes of selflessness and community.

“It has really important messages for young children,” Li says, visibly excited as he describes the production.

“I think it will really implant this passion, this love affair for music and ballet, but more importantly the messages the story delivers—the love, compassion, hope—is something we desperately need in our society.

The sooner we can influence our young children with those positive, uplifting, inspiring stories, the better we’ll be when they grow up.”

“Arts is non-political,” Li says. “It really impacts people on that emotional level, it’s not superficial.

When we think of our own childhoods, art is really in the forefront—the sounds it creates, the images, the happiness. It truly opens people’s imagination, particularly young people. It’s not just the entertaining aspect, not just to make people happy, it really challenges people. And it really challenges their thinking. It challenges them to be more creative.”

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

With Fairyland to tour St George, Goondiwindi and Roma, ballet lovers of all ages will have the opportunity to observe not only a wonderful performance; but an exciting new chapter in Queensland’s development as a hub for the arts. It’s this legacy that Li is most interested by, and Queensland’s future as a place that produces not only exceptional dancers, but audiences with an appetite for the highest calibre of performance. For this reason, Queensland Ballet shows are developed with touring productions in mind.

There are clear parallels between this ambition and Queensland Music Festival’s raison d’être.

“Queensland Music Festival’s reputation for regional community engagement is unparalleled,” Artistic Director Katie Noonan says. “This is Queensland Music Festival’s first collaboration with Queensland Ballet, and having been lucky enough to work with them before, I knew that we could trust the team implicitly to deliver a ballet as magnificent as the music.”

“We would like to take [our shows] to as many regional Queensland centres as possible,” Li says.

Not only is Fairyland magnificent; it’s a collaboration between two organisations that represent Queensland not just in name, but in essence. Above all it’s an opportunity to inspire a new generation of people who love ballet, both dancers and audiences—no matter how far they live from the main stages of the city.

“Every year we’ll be touring anywhere between five to twenty centres, and that means smaller communities— where we might be performing in a town hall or gymnasium, but we’ll put up the stage. People drive two or three hours to see a performance like that.”

margaret olley p a i n t i n g s a n d wat e r c o l o u r s 25

june –

20

j u ly

2 ARTHUR STREET, FORTITUDE VALLEY, BRISBANE 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM TUESDAY TO SATURDAY TELEPHONE: 07 3358 3555 FAX: 07 3254 1412 EMAIL: INFO @ PHILIPBACONGALLERIES.COM.AU PHILIPBACONGALLERIES.COM.AU Tea with lemon (detail) c.1984 oil on board 76.5 x 90 cm

T he Cape York

Music Program

Access to quality music education experiences in remote Queensland has always been a challenge, with many young people denied the transformational impact that participating in group music-making can have on their sense of personal agency and social inclusion, academic ability, and resilience.

Since 2012, the Cape York Music Program (CYMP) has offered students in the remote Indigenous communities of Aurukun, Coen and Hope Vale the opportunity to gain instrumental music experiences on par with metropolitan schools.

The program provides year-round artists-inresidence, exclusive teacher mentoring, an annual intensive music camp program that brings together the three Cape York schools, and the chance to show off their skills with a public performance.

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

Kayla Walker, Indigenous instrumentalist and CYMP student mentor, reflected on her experience as a mentor in the early years of the program.

22

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

“I am just overwhelmed and proud. It is important because you don’t see this much with Indigenous students. It’s just amazing because they can just go to their community and perform to their family, their Mum and Dad. It makes them so proud. It gives them a boost so that they can go further in life.”

Students who participate in a band often become school leaders, which prepares them for being community leaders. And the real impact of the program happens when the students transition into Secondary School as it equips them with social and educational tools needed to thrive in a new environment.

“Observing the development of the students is an incredible experience. The students grew in their ability to concentrate, listen, communicate clearly, and work with others. These skills are taught directly and indirectly, having a holistic, positive impact on the students’ musical and broader learning. Observing the connections and friendships being made between different communities was also an enriching cultural experience,” said Dan Quigley, one of our CYMP leaders.

CYMP is a partnership between Queensland Music Festival, Cape York Aboriginal Australian Academy and the Department of Education and is made possible through the generous support of The University of Queensland, Tim Fairfax Family Foundation, Skytrans, Frazer Family Foundation, the Pavetta Foundation and Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts.

Jessie Lloyd's

The legacy of Queensland’s Mission Era is one of immense pain and dislocation for Aboriginal people.

Taken from their homes and placed into the custody of the state, generations of Indigenous Australians were severed from their traditions and culture, and with very little record-keeping from their perspective, this tragedy is at risk of being lost to history. For composer and producer Jessie Lloyd, this was the impetus for her work on Mission Songs Project—a project dedicated to recovering the secular music performed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Missions.

“These songs are precious first-hand accounts from people’s family members or community members from the past,” Lloyd says.

“The songs show their emotions, ideas and hopes during the mission days, and also provide an opportunity for our old people to have a voice when they couldn’t have one.”

CONTRIBUTOR: MYLES MCGUIRE

In arranging these pieces, Lloyd was determined to preserve the original compositions as much as possible.

Traveling widely and speaking with various communities in her attempts to recover the pieces, she began to assemble a vision of life in the missions that might be told through song to a contemporary audience.

“When presenting these songs to a modern audience I try to present in a very authentic and historical way, keeping to original instrumentations, vocal arrangement styles and even rhythms,’ Lloyd explains. ‘As a cultural practitioner it is important for me to make sure these songs are given life and have the opportunity to be valued as cultural assets.”

Instrumental to the development of the project has been Archie Roach, the iconic Australian musician who brought the plight of the Stolen Generations to the attention of the international community with his 1990 ballad Took the Children Away. It is for this reason Jessie will be opening for Archie’s Let Love Rule performance with Mission Songs Project, at the culmination of the project’s tour this year. The union of these powerful artistic perspectives to give voice to those ignored or supressed by history is an overdue opportunity to learn, and above all, to listen.

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

Mission

23

Striking a

Chord

CONTRIBUTOR: MYLES MCGUIRE The outdoor piano is a striking motif, both visually and sonically. Traditionally seen as a domestic instrument - an important source of family entertainment, at least until the advent of the wireless - its presence in a public space disrupts our notions of what a city should be. As anyone who has walked past Bunyapa Park to be serenaded by Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance knows, there is something curiously powerful in the image of two people, seated, playing and singing as if they were at home. Amid the clamour of a modern city it creates an oasis of sound, moving and surreal.

For Play Me, I’m Yours creator Luke Jerram, the power of the instrument to connect people sharing a public space was the genesis of an idea that has affected millions around the world. Conceived while visiting his local laundrette, Jerram noticed that despite the familiar faces he saw there, people rarely seemed to interact with one another.

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

“I suddenly realized that within a city, there must be hundreds of these invisible communities, regularly spending time with one another in silence,” Jerram says. “Placing a piano into the space was my solution to this problem, acting as a catalyst for conversation and changing the dynamics of a space.”

28

Jerram has brought Play Me, I’m Yours to fifty-five cities since 2008. Nearly two thousand pianos have been installed in these locations, typically decorated by local artistic talent. Partnering with local arts organisations has allowed Play Me, I’m Yours to be adapted to the personalities of each home city, creating an experience at once unique and universal.

The power of these pianos to create meaningful connection cannot be understated. “I like the way the project breaks down social barriers,” Jerram says. “I’ve seen old ladies teaching teenagers QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

they’ve just met how to play a particular piece. I’ve seen a homeless man playing a piano surrounded by dancing and applauding business men. Several people have got married as a consequence of the project and it has changed many peoples’ lives.”

It’s fitting that Play Me, I’m Yours features as part of Queensland Music Festival, an organisation committed to creating lasting associations between the enjoyment of music and the experience of community. Many of the pianos that will be featured around Brisbane have been decorated in collaboration with community groups, who will be able to continue enjoying the instruments after the installation is finished. One such group is West End’s Art Gang, a collective of artists who have experienced hardship including homelessness.

“The Art Gang are excited to know their artwork will feature on a public artwork that will be enjoyed by the wider community,” Program Director Sue Loveday says.

“Even though the artists lead lives that are different to most, this project allows a chance for the gang to contribute and to be appreciated for their talents.”

It’s a beautiful sentiment, and one that will hopefully give people pause as dozens of these pianos appear across Brisbane in the coming months.

Feather

Birds of a Composer Jessica Wells on what drew her to the mysterious tale of the night parrot.

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

CONTRIBUTOR: MYLES MCGUIRE

36

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

The history of the night parrot is characterised by absence. Thought extinct for almost a century it is considered an extremely secretive species, a grounded, yellow-green enigma. Since 1972 there have been very few confirmed sightings, and though it has been reported in each Australian state, birdwatchers consider a glimpse the event of a lifetime.

So wherein lies the appeal to a composer? To create the musical syntax for a creature heard by almost no one, an incredibly rare bird unheard of by most people, seems less an exercise in composition than in silence.

For Jessica Wells, this was key to the development of The Night Parrot, a world-first performance commissioned for Queensland Music Festival.

“Finding the text was going to be difficult,” Wells says, “I decided that the best source of text would be my father, Jeffrey Wells, who had collaborated with me on the Victorian Opera piece ‘Melbourne – Greed’ and had written lyrics about Melbourne mob boss John Wren, which turned out to be a great success on stage. Being a retired journalist and novelist, my father spent a lot of

time researching the history of the night parrot and concocting a fantastic ballad-style poem that takes the audience on a journey into a landscape that is quintessentially outback Queensland and expresses the human endeavour that had almost destroyed and has now saved this little bird.”

The Australian psyche is often drawn to the landscape, in its immense and humbling ambiguity.

So much of our art is informed by its character, the vast silences and absences that punctuate this incredible canvas. For this reason the landscape is as much a texture of the performance as the birdsong; the long, rustling spinifex and dry earth in which the night parrot makes its home. Likewise, it’s why Wells hopes the message imparted to audience is a conservationist one.

“As a nation we have to do what we can to preserve what we have,” Wells says, “And if this song cycle helps to bring this message to an audience through an entertaining story about a tiny bird, then I will be very happy it has a deeper meaning embedded in it.”

your

Raising Voice in Song CONTRIBUTOR: STEVE BELL

During the 2017 instalment of Queensland Music Festival, the You’re the Voice project culminated in a mass choral performance of that iconic Australian anthem at South Bank Piazza, encouraging Australians to come together in song to take a stand against the scourge of domestic violence.

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

In excess of 2,500 choralists – led by Choral Director Dr Jonathon Welch AM and featuring the voice of John Farnham himself, as well as other stars including Queensland Music Festival Artistic Director Katie Noonan and Kate Ceberano – joined forces in a display that transcended its obvious artistic triumph and became something much more, a galvanising display of empathy, unity and solidarity.

40

Now that same team is reuniting to bring the Help is on its Way initiative to the 2019 Queensland Music Festival, enlisting legendary Australian artist Glenn Shorrock to help foster a national dialogue around mental health, raising awareness of available services

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

and encouraging help-seeking behaviours, particularly for our men and boys.

“You’re the Voice really did open a dialogue,” explains Festival Producer Pip Boyce. “It resonated at the time with the media because the issues were newsworthy, but it was certainly an impactful activity too for many of the participants, who found themselves in a community and surrounded by people who validated their experience and allowed them to explore other options and in many cases talk about it for the first time.

“There’s a lot of research talking about the neuroscience of singing and the benefits of singing together in a group: your hearts start beating as one, it raises your endorphin levels and it just makes you feel good.

“But also by being in that environment people make connections and friendships and develop a support network for each other which eases that sense of social isolation, something that can so often trigger mental health issues.”

Dr Welch – who will once again be front and centre conducting the mass choir at Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre – is no stranger to the inherent benefits of such communal experiences, having helped found the world-famous The Choir Of Hard Knocks in Melbourne back in 2006.

“I was involved with the You’re the Voice project in 2017 which was an amazing initiative and quite groundbreaking in many ways in Australia,” he reflects.

“This new project came out of conversations with Katie off the back of You’re the Voice, we were talking about the success of that project and John Farnham coming to be involved, and I thought the song itself captured everyone’s imagination because it was so well-known and iconic.

“So Help is on its Way was a natural next choice because it’s again an iconic Australian song and Glenn Shorrock is from Little River Band who were an iconic group, so following that model it just seemed natural for this project to support and further using music as a way of highlighting how being able to talk about these issues is very important to mental health.

“That conversation about men’s mental health is very important in Australia and something that I felt very strongly about. I think the statistics about male suicide in Australia for men aged between 15 and 45 – and especially in Queensland with all of the hardships facing farmers like drought and isolation – is something that we need to take very, very seriously.

“The healing qualities of just getting together and singing in harmony is actually profound,” she explains. “The deeper I go into investigating the stories of the people in my choir and why they’ve reached this point in their life, the more I discover that we are just longing to find a place of belonging.

“I feel like men – in general, but especially in those country towns – are taught that it’s not manly to talk about your feelings, and I think this song particularly speaks to those men: the lyrics really resonate.

“And getting them to join a choir and breaking down that idea that being in a choir has certain connotations about masculinity, when in reality it’s just about having fun and forging connections and tapping into the joy of music.”

Transforming business with technology.

Proudly supporting Queensland Music Festival: Silver Partner

“Music, for me, has always been the way I’ve made sense of the world, and I feel that projects like Help is on its Way can bring people together and let them feel that they have some sense of connection and support and community through the simple act of singing together.”

Help is on its Way adds an extra altruistic component in that Glenn Shorrock and his band will also be conducting a tour of outback Queensland, with each performance culminating in a choral rendition of the titular song featuring local voices.

Queensland artist Emma Dean – who spearheads Brisbane community choir Cheep Trill and arranged You’re the Voice and Help is on its Way for the project – can’t wait to get out amongst the regional communities.

All systems are go veracity.com.au

The Queensland Government proudly supports the Queensland Music Festival

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

Celebrating 20 years of enriching and inspiring our communities through the magic of music

44

www.arts.qld.gov.au The Power Within, 2017 Queensland Music Festival. Photo: Rob Maccoll

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

45

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

47

School of Music The University of Queensland is proud to partner with Queensland Music Festival once again to deliver the intimate concert series – Twilight in the Red Box – featuring instrumental and vocal students from The School of Music

music.uq.edu.au

An Opera at Jimbour

with Hayley Sugars CONTRIBUTOR: GABI BERGMAN

Mezzo-soprano Hayley Sugars has had a whirlwind career.

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

She started her training at the University of Southern Queensland and completed postgraduate study at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, receiving many academic and performance awards along the way, including the Elizabeth Muir Postgraduate Scholarship (QCM) and the Joyce Campbell Lloyd Overseas Scholarship (USQ).

54

A highlight in Hayley’s operatic career was performing in national opera competitions, and winning the German-Australian Opera Grant in 2010. This win resulted in contracts with prestigious German companies such as the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden and the Landestheater Coburg.

She has performed numerous roles both in Germany and in Australia, and will be showcasing her stunning singing skills as part of the Opera at Jimbour line-up in July.

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

What was the biggest difference between performing in Australia and in Germany?

Rehearsing in German! There are so many things to consider when preparing and performing a role. Adding a new language into the mix had my brain running on overdrive.

Also, it was a special privilege to experience being a ‘full-time’ opera singer. In Germany, each theatre has a core Ensemble of singers (as well as an orchestra, chorus, dancers, actors, etc). This was a luxury that simply isn’t available in Australia.

When you aren’t singing, what do you like to spend your free time doing?

Spending time with my two little boys.

How do you feel the Opera Queensland Young Development Program shaped you as an opera singer?

The program was an invaluable introduction to the professional world of opera. It was exciting having

access to many professionals in the field and receiving further quality coaching in singing, languages and acting - training that a young singer otherwise couldn’t afford.

There were many performances which provided opportunities for putting what I had learned into action. Also, I believe having this experience listed on my CV helped me secure further employment.

What is one important piece of advice you were given about Opera that’s stuck with you?

There are no small roles, only small players.

Is there a role or show you have performed that sticks out as a favourite?

I always find this question difficult as it tends to be whatever I am working on at the time but I do enjoy performing characters with a different personality to my own.

What about one that was the most challenging?

No particular role stands out but I do remember making my debut in three large roles over only a couple of months, two with virtually no stage rehearsal. The roles were Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Rinaldo (Rinaldo) and Mrs Grose (The Turn of the Screw). That was a frightening, but also exhilarating, time!

Is there a role or show you would love to do in the future?

I would love to have the opportunity to perform more baroque opera (e.g Ruggiero from Alcina) and I also like the idea of singing an Octavian from Der Rosenkavalier.

What advice would you give to aspiring Opera singers?

Work hard. Be open minded to advice and critique. Have a healthy level of self confidence. Be a positive and kind colleague.

What can fans expect from Opera At Jimbour? Why should they buy a ticket?

I think this year, Opera at Jimbour will be particularly exciting for all involved. The programme will include a lot of what are considered the ‘best bits’ of opera. There will be an orchestra, a great chorus, good food, good wine, fabulous atmosphere - something for everyone! Come along and have a great day out at this beautiful venue.

Proudly supporting Queensland Music Festival

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION 62

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

Carol Lloyd's

Inspirational Legacy CONTRIBUTOR: SEAN SENNETT The late Carol Lloyd was a force of nature. The singer, songwriter and fierce front woman left an indelible mark on any audience that had the privilege to see her perform. Carol’s career took off in the early 1970s as a member of Brisbane’s Railroad Gin. She later fronted the Carol Lloyd Band and had a worldwide record deal with EMI. Carol became synonymous with Railroad Gin’s biggest hit, “It’s Only A Matter of Time”, while her trademark red locks were insured with Lloyd’s Of London for $100,000. In May 1974 Carol brought the house down as she stood centre stage at Festival Hall and that was before the headliner Suzi Quatro had taken to the stage.

When Carol was initially diagnosed with Interstitial Pulmonary Fibrosis and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, she carried on as she always did, by making music. Carol led from the front as she not only worked on her own craft but continued to mentor and inspire a legion of women (and men) throughout Queensland.

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

The Carol Lloyd Award was instigated while Carol was still alive in 2016 by Queensland Music Festival’s Artistic Director, Katie Noonan. Carol Lloyd passed away on February 13, 2017.

64

prominent industry figure Leanne de Souza, performer Annie Peterson and music industry writer, songwriter and broadcaster, Sean Sennett.

The calibre of the artists is high and entrants have included genuine first timers who have recorded a demo tape in the bathroom through to artists who have already enjoyed radio play and have an industry ‘profile’ but could use the Carol Lloyd Award to break their music into the wider community.

The inaugural award was presented to Georgia Potter (front woman and singer-songwriter with Moreton).

Potter calls herself ‘a genuine Carol Lloyd fan’ who was suitably inspired after seeing Carol perform in the famed Women In Voice concert series.

In 2018 the Award went to Cairns based singersongwriter Leanne Tennant. The results have been immediate: Tennant went to work with producer Konstantin Kersting (Mallrat, Tia Gostelow) to record a new single ‘Cherry Cola’ which will be followed by an album late in 2019. A new direction for Tennant, ‘Cherry Cola’ has popped up on playlists everywhere from the BBC to Triple J.

Queensland Music Festival and the Queensland Government created the award in Carol’s name to honour her lifetime achievements and to support up-and-coming female artists. The Carol Lloyd Award is worth $15,000 and was presented for the first time in May 2017.

A finalist in 2018, the recipient of the 2019 Carol Lloyd Award is Sahara Beck. Originally from the Sunshine Coast, Beck is a remarkable young songwriter and performer. Already a festival favourite, the Carol Lloyd Award will allow Beck to continue recording with LA based producer Tony Buchan on an album of original material that is slated for release in early 2020.

Each year Queensland Music Festival are swamped with entrants. Judges ensured with the responsibility of honouring Carol’s legacy with the award, include Katie Noonan, John Willsteed (Ex – The Go-Betweens), Joc Curran (The Zoo),

The Carol Lloyd Award not only honours Carol’s legacy, it has empowered three very special artists in Potter, Tennant and Beck. The reverberations of the Carol Lloyd Award are being heard at home, around the country and around the world.

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

QUEENSLAND MUSIC FESTIVAL, YARRABAH ABORIGINAL SHIRE COUNCIL AND QUEENSLAND GOVERNMENT PRESENT

SAT 15 JUNE Open Air Stage Jilara Oval, Yarrabah Gates Open at 11.30am

BAKER BOY THANDI PHOENIX YARRABAH BRASS BAND + MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED + LOCAL ACTS + FOOD, MARKET & ART STALLS + CULTURAL WORKSHOPS & EXPERIENCES

FREE ENTRY - REGISTER ONLINE yarrabahfest.com.au

YARRABAH MUSIC AND CULTURAL FESTIVAL IS AN ALCOHOL FREE EVENT

The Queensland Government, via Tourism and Events Queensland’s Destination Events Program, is proud to support the Yarrabah Music and Cultural Festival which features on the It’s Live! in Queensland events calendar, worth $800 million to the state’s economy in 2019.

A Spotlight on

Queensland’s Yarrabah Music & Cultural Festival

CONTRIBUTOR: ELVERINA JOHNSON

Local cultural festivals have been a major part of Yarrabah’s history and community life for many years.

Music, cultural activities and local cultural dancing have been a main feature with the locals as well as with the visitors from as far as the Torres Strait Islands, who have come to participate.

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

The ‘Yarrabah Festival’ has been a part of the community from as early as 1901 and since then, several festivals such as ‘Yarrabah Week’ (established in July 1936) have brought attention to a variety of causes. These historical events have been far buried in the history pages of Yarrabah’s life of festivities where the sharing and showcasing of local talent and culture has paved the way for keeping these festival traditions alive.

66

I have been involved in uncovering many of the stories and history of the Yarrabah Brass Bands which date back to as early as 1901. This iteration of the Yarrabah Brass Band was made up of only one local trumpet player, until more locals were encouraged to learn brass instruments and join the band. This newly formed Yarrabah Brass Band performed in Yarrabah and surrounding areas in and around Cairns, raising much needed support for the community and its people.

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

My research on the history of the Yarrabah Brass Bands began in 2002. I was approached by the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) to work on a project ‘Blow Im’, a story about the Yarrabah Brass Band. The project began as an exhibition at QPAC, and later as a two-character play, which toured schools across Queensland, starring Steven Oliver and Nadine McDonald.

Fast forward to 2013, when the first Yarrabah Band Festival was established by Queensland Music Festival’s Artistic Director, James Morrison. James worked with local musician Greg Fourmile, the grandson of Henry Fourmile, a trumpet player in the second wave of the Yarrabah Brass Band, to breathe new life into the band.

The Yarrabah Music and Cultural Festival is the most recent instalment, an annual festival which brings together community, music and cultural activities, encouraging visitors from all over Queensland to celebrate and enjoy this event.

And now who would’ve thought that after being involved as the local Yarrabah Band Festival Coordinator for the past five years, that this year in 2019, I would be

appointed as Queensland Music Festival’s first Indigenous Producer for the Yarrabah Music and Cultural Festival?

I now have the huge task of helping deliver a new festival concept that includes cultural components that give audiences the opportunity to experience and embrace the festival in a more culturally integrated way.

This year the Yarrabah Music and Cultural Festival invites all people from all backgrounds to come and experience Yarrabah with an open mindedness, a willingness to participate and to engage and learn from people from one of the oldest living cultures in the world. This year we will host the unique music and sounds of Young Australian of the Year, Indigenous Rapper, Baker Boy and the soulful sounds of Thandi Phoenix as well as local artists in song, dance and cultural activities such as weaving,

spear making and other local craft works by local artists. We look forward to seeing you there.

In recent years the festival has featured Paul Kelly, Vika & Linda Bull, Kira Puru, Mau Power, Troy Cassar-Daley, Archie Roach, Montaigne, Sara Storer, Shellie Morris, James Morrison, and the host of Triple J’s House Party, KLP. In 2019, the day opens with local bands and ends with a massed finale on stage with headline artists, local artists and bands.

Yarrabah Music & Cultural Festival is an annual festival held in partnership with the Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire Council.

Further details can be found at www.yarrabahfest.com.au

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

F I N D YO U R PERFECT NEXT EVENT

QUEENSLAND.COM/EVENTS QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

67

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

Ye ar s

Ce 20 le ic Y br th on ea at Q ro i c r s i n 1 9 u e u g ev o g 99 en h en f – sla out ts 20 n 19 d

Y IT N U M M O C ER L ST IC A G IC HE US IN P S S RC T M K S PO R DE L A O R OC IE L A AR RT C A A U D R P T G L ER RA S IN A O U P A N R S P PE I NG IO O R AV H N T O O R L C E IC VA B A V S SC IC M E U R S A ET M LM TR ER E E H C A R T- , FI E A MB RIT NC Y R AB AL OP TH HA W MA N P C Z C NG OR O Z T L S , A , SO RF R JA L L E I CA R E R G A SS G PE G E T I NG L A PO IN , B N N K I U I P M OR CK L A R C E V SIC S LL OR T C O O A O E U S P NT SC RO A R B SC R R A IC SC - U M A LT I O T P US ER CO LM DE A L R LM L A R IT Y Y K E FI PU LE PO M FI A R R A A T R R O G HO UL OC T Y V AL IE AL NI RD A W P R B D G C OP R NI U A S N E IN OR M G IE PO CK P ZZ U O , C T H O T M M G C -S AL O AN IVI EM -R E JA M I N A N TS R C T C O I T N A LT R D E N C OR M AV C R , R O A C AT Y GA EV S C FO R ER E RA R E R IT P A B C Y E I O R PE T R N R P M S R P O W O VA A P T G R ITE R A H MU A R N O C E R A EM T T T R TS SO ING W MP N AN T A N S ING TE O S C AV A R N VE U S O E IO ER R IC C R E IT BE S VA D U R R W AM M A G H S G IN C U A R -S NG IO PE E R R I A R

20

69

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

Meet The Masterminds Behind the Festival

The Queensland Music Festival was created to delight the senses and to light a fire of artistic expression. Its goal is to bring superb music to Queenslanders from all walks of life and all over this vast State.

My best memories included the two Rockhampton Choral Symphonies composed by Elena KatsChernin to the words of Queensland poet Mark Svendsen commissioned by Queensland Music Festival and performed at the Rockhampton Botanical Gardens, The Mornington Island Dancers launching the Festival at dawn in Barcaldine and the Bach Cello Suites performed in St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Brisbane in 1999.

I believe Queensland Music Festival’s impact on the music culture of Queensland has been to gather diverse musical sensibilities into a meaning, as the great Queensland poet Judith Wright expressed in her poem “Five Senses”.

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

Now my five senses gather into a meaning all acts, all presences; and as a lily gathers the elements together, in me this dark and shining, that stillness and that moving, these shapes that spring from nothing, become a rhythm that dances, a pure design.

70

May the muse be with you!

THE HON. MATTHEW JOSEPH “MATT” FOLEY FOUNDER QUEENSLAND MUSIC FESTIVAL

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

A Homage To Our Queensland Music Festival Artistic Directors

1999 - 2019 1999

Simone de Haan 1999 | Jazz Train, Rock on the Back of a Truck, Fire and Passion: The Drummers of Burundi

20002005

Lyndon Terracini 2001, 2003 & 2005 Festivals 2001 | Turangalila Symphony, Rockhampton Gardens Symphony 2003 | Bob Cat Dancing, Opera at Jimbour 2005 | Credo, Tristan and Isolde, Charters Towers – The Musical, Cooktown Corroboree – Gunbu Gunbu

20062007

Paul Grabowsky 2007 Festival 2007 | Pig City, African Childrens Choir, The Dream Catchers

20082011

Deborah Conway 2009 & 2011 Festivals 2009 | Cannot Buy My Soul, Laid in Earth, The Road We’re On, The Little Green Road to Fairyland 2011 | Ailan Kores, Meet Me In The Middle Of The Air, Behind The Cane, Piano Lessons

20122015

James Morrison 2013 & 2015 Festivals 2013 | World’s Biggest Orchestra, Tambo – Heart Of An Open Country, Boomtown, Swingin’ Utes, Yarrabah Band Festival 2015 | Keys To The City, Under This Sky, Mount Isa Celebrates

20162019

Katie Noonan 2017 & 2019 Festivals 2017 | You’re the Voice, The Power Within, 16 Lover’s Lane, Hang with QYO, Carol Lloyd Award, Immersion, Currie Street Music Crawl 2019 | Help is on its Way, Play Me I’m Yours, Frank and Fearless, The Mount Isa Blast, The Night Parrot, Mission Songs Project, Let Love Rule

CLAIRE BOOTH EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR QUEENSLAND MUSIC FESTIVAL

COMM. LYNDON TERRACINI AM ARTISTIC DIRECTOR QUEENSLAND MUSIC FESTIVAL

1999

2000 - 2005

Prior to joining Queensland Music Festival as Executive Director, I held management positions in arts organisations including the Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra which toured extensively across regional Queensland. My understanding of regional communities and how they operate was enormously beneficial. I was extremely proud of the first festival, it exceeded all expectations and importantly, it positively touched the hearts and minds of numerous communities throughout Queensland.

For me Queensland Music Festival is a wonderful celebration of community music making, which fosters a love of music in people of all ages, connecting Queenslanders from Barcaldine to Cooktown and from Mount Isa to the Gold Coast.

Mounting a state wide music festival with only seven months lead time was both challenging and exhilarating. I was blown away by the generosity of spirit I encountered in the communities with whom I worked so closely. In the end, the opportunity to see and hear events that was as much about people, place and community cohesion as the music-making itself was nothing short of inspirational.

I also remember how powerful Messiaen’s Turangalîla-Symphonie and Richard Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde resonated with audiences and of course the inaugural Opera at Jimbour was a great and (for many people) surprising success.

The emotional friendships made with colleagues and audiences across the great state of Queensland will stay with me for the rest of my life and I have always felt that it was an enormous privilege to be the Artistic Director of what is now known as Queensland Music Festival.

Happy Birthday Queensland Music Festival and I hope your joy of making music resounds throughout Queensland for many years to come!

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

My best moment was the performances by the Tuvan Throat Singers which was ethereal and breathtaking.

I will never forget the performances by the Drummers of Burundi. Their music deeply affected me... I recall the rhythms and sounds pulsating through my body!

I will always remember with great affection Bob Cat Dancing in Mount Isa, The Rockhampton Gardens Symphony and the Barcaldine Big Marimba Band.

71

DEBORAH CONWAY ARTISTIC DIRECTOR QUEENSLAND MUSIC FESTIVAL

JAMES MORRISON ARTISTIC DIRECTOR QUEENSLAND MUSIC FESTIVAL

2008 - 2011

2012 - 2015

Queensland Music Festival gave me an opportunity to commission some truly grand schemes. Opening in 2009 with Hidden Republic & then Ailan Kores in 2011 were amongst many highlights. Cannot Buy My Soul, the songs of Kev Carmody to a packed Riverstage; being present as Elena Kats-Chernin composed & Rosetta Cook choreographed & brought to life The Little Green Road to Fairyland, an old favourite book from my childhood and seeing it continue to enjoy a creative life beyond its original production. To bring to Australia legends like Dan Hicks & Randy Newman.

What did I bring to the role of Artistic Director of Queensland Music Festival? Jazz, a sense of fun and lots of trumpet. My focus was on education and participation, I tried to keep most of the program very broad and inclusive, whilst still wanting to expose people to things they wouldn’t have heard, seen or done without Queensland Music Festival. During my time we broke world records, started a brass band in Far North Queensland and did a concert in the back of utes, all things that centred around my musician background, but were for everybody.

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

So many great memories shared with my brilliant colleague, Erica Hart as we drove for days across and back the width and breadth of Queensland.

Particularly memorable, the silence in the expansive outback between Charters Towers & Mount Isa; the way the scenery changed from tropic lushness to desert; the Winton landscape of towering red rock jutting out of flatness; the enormous starry skies over Charleville; the fresh lobster plucked from the Torres Strait waters.

72

It was a privilege to be at the levers of such a life affirming organisation that is so much more than a delivery system of events; to be able to bring the very best out of the communities in the regional and remote corners of Queensland and the joy that clearly brought to people’s lives is something remarkable.

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

One of my best moments was watching our Executive Producer (Erica Hart) use a credit card to scrape ice off the wing of a plane in the pre-dawn light in Tambo, we couldn’t take off with the ice there and in a typically Queensland Music Festival (and Erica) way, she just got in there and did what had to be done...no matter how outrageous it seemed – stuff like this happened a lot :-) I learnt a lot about how wonderful things can be with the right team. Most of my working life had been in smaller teams (bands) and where I was always the band leader. At Queensland Music Festival we all worked together and really used the talents and input of everybody to create amazing things. I have still not seen anything like Queensland Music Festival, the scale, the reach and the legacy is not like any other music festival.

NIGEL LAVENDER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR QUEENSLAND MUSIC FESTIVAL

KATIE NOONAN ARTISTIC DIRECTOR QUEENSLAND MUSIC FESTIVAL

2008 - 2018

2016 - 2019

I am so grateful to have had the chance to lead Queensland Music Festival through five festivals, 2009-2017, and so many other projects.

Since its inception, Queensland Music Festival has played an important role in my own evolution as an artist in Queensland.

When Deborah Conway and I arrived in 2008, greeted only by Erica, Ken, and a wonderfullysupportive board led by Elizabeth Jameson, we had little idea what we were doing except there was an empty canvas captioned Queensland on which we could daub some paint. With a lot of luck, and some guidance from old hands, it started to come together.

As a young musician I was deeply inspired by Simone de Haan’s audacious vision and appetite for new music, which enabled me to discover the genius of Berio and his Laborintus II.

The heart of Queensland Music Festival remains story-telling through music; enabling communities to reflect on their own history, celebrate character and identity, and empowered to understand their origins and future. I pay tribute to all the artists and community participants who give breath and life to amazing projects throughout Queensland, and the incredible Queensland Music Festival team for their loyalty, skills, commitment and resilience.

During my time as Artistic Director it has been such a privilege to create programs that help more Queenslanders to find their voices through music, from shining a light on the tremendous talent of artists from all over this great state, to large-scale participatory events that bring people from all walks of life together to experience the transformative power of music.

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

In my first festival in 2009, nothing seemed impossible, so much so that when Deborah said let’s take an orchestra to Thursday Island with the Black Arm Band, the answer was not How? It was Why Not? When Cannot Buy My Soul sold out the Riverstage in the same festival, it felt like we were skiing down a slalom with perfect balance.

During Lyndon Terracini’s tenure, his commissioning of the Before Time Could Change Us song cycle (Grabowsky/Porter) in 2003 was a profound musical awakening and also lead to my first ARIA award as a soloist. Paul Grabowsky enabled the performance of my Songs of Love and War concert that saw me singing alongside Vince Jones, and also working with extraordinary cellist Louise King. In 2013, James Morrison enabled me to celebrate the genius of the Gibb Brothers in a duet with my childhood hero Tina Arena.

73

74

Ja

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

zz

Tr a

in

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

G R onz Sa uba alo Br n l is ch cab ba e ne z Q a/D ua av rt id et

B

nc in g

03

99

20

M ob ou C nt at Is D a a

Fi Pa re A D ss nd Bu rum ion :T Br r is un me h ba d rs e ne i O f

J M azz Lo a r y T ng bo ra re ro in ac u g h h

19

to n

T Ro he G ck Sy ard ha Ro m en m pt ck ph s on ha o m ny p

O Ce pen Ba le in rc br g al a di ti ne on

20 01

Bo

b

C

at

D

an

ci

ng

Highlights

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

75

an

no

tB

uy

M

y

So

ul

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

C

Su w nr C ith ise W hil Af Vo in d to re ric ice n n an s sC ho ir

T Ca he D In tc ni h re sf e am ai r s l

P

Br ig C is ba ity ne

07

20

C

20 09 C So ann ot Br u is l Bu ba yM ne L y C aid oo I kt n ow E T n art h h O eR C n oa ha d r le W vi lle e’ re

C Co ook G rr to C un ob wn oo b or kt u ow G ee n un : bu

Br red is ba o ne

20 05

Pi

g

C

it y

76

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

Be

hi

nd

Th

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

e

C

an

e

11

T Ro he L Br a itt is d ba to le ne F Gr D ai e r ry en Br a la is g ba Q nd M ne ue en M ee sl Br id t M an is dl e ba e d I n Ai ne O T f Th la T he he ur n K sd o Ai Be ay r r es Bo h I s la w in en d nd T he Ca ne

20

S M win ou g nt in Is ’ U a t

ra g

Q

ue

en

sl

an

d

20 13

es

T An am Ta O bo m p :H bo e n ea Co rt W un Of O orl tr La rch d’s y En rg est Big e r Br s g is em st T a & es ba t ne ble ru m Bo pe G o la m t ds t to ow ne n

D

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

77

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

Yo u

’re

Th

U

e

Vo i

ce

M Ce oun Sy leb t I T m ra sa M he ph te ou In o s nt la ny : Is n O a d Se f a

Lo nd ga er n

K

T hi sS ky

15

eC ity

Br ey is s T ba o ne T h

20

Ya Fe rr Ya st ab a rra iv ba al h B an h d

T

M he or P an o ba we h r

Y Br ou is ’re ba T ne h e

Vo ic e

om

W ith in

20 17

Bo

to

w

n

Queensland Music Festival and BHP Ten years of transforming communities through music Music is a universal connector. It transcends, empowers and tells stories of struggle and success.

The team at BHP are extremely proud to be a major partner of Queensland Music Festival. Our relationship dates back to 2009 and our partnership during this time has inspired creativity, built regional capacity and critically, shed light on some important regional social issues.

This year BHP is the Platinum and Co-Presenting Partner of the Help is on its Way project: a large-scale choral initiative fostering important dialogue around men’s mental health.

With increasing and compelling evidence of the health benefits of singing as a group, BHP is excited to be working on this project to shine a light on the unifying power of song.

A component of this initiative is the associated Site of Origin project, a key collaboration which seeks to enhance the mental health and wellbeing of employees through the power of singing together as a group.

BHP Communities Manager Melita Shirley said the relationship with Queensland Music Festival was one of shared value.

“We’ve had people come together across BHP to belt out their best rendition of the Aussie classic. It’s generating a lot of interest, and you can see how much fun people are having with it” said BHP Corporate Affairs Manager Dominic Nolan.

“Through the creation of world-class musical and performance experiences, our partnership with the Queensland Music Festival harnesses the incredible talent, fosters creativity and celebrates the unique strength and resilience of our communities,” she said.

Aside from studies showing that singing can improve mood and decrease stress, depression and anxiety, BHP has already noticed an improvement in morale, which in turn leads to better performance. All from the power of singing!

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION 78

“The workshops and culminating performances bring together stakeholders from all walks of life including in our business, and really showcase the passion, diversity and the dynamism of regional Queensland.”

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

“A rescue service that saved my life.

To me that’s big.”

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

Rosey Cameron, CQ Rescue

In an emergency, when precious time is saved, precious lives are saved. The CQ Rescue Service has saved the lives of so many in Regional Queensland, just like Rosey Cameron.

It's another way we support the communities we are part of.

Find out more at BHP.com/community/programs QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

79

A Queensland

Music Festival CONTRIBUTOR: NOEL MENGEL

Ten years before the birth of Queensland Music Festival in 1999, two of Australia’s finest songwriters were on a camping trip to Wivenhoe Dam. Sitting around a fire, instruments in hand, something started to flow, and fast. By 2am they had a song.

The songwriters were Paul Kelly, from Adelaide, one of Australia’s most-loved musical artists, and Kev Carmody, from the Darling Downs, then with a growing reputation as one of our most powerful songwriters, Indigenous or otherwise. The song, From Little Things Big Things Grow, told the story of the strike by Gurindji stockmen in the Northern Territory in 1966 and the land rights struggle.

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

The song, its anthemic qualities, the wisdom of the title itself, spread out slowly. It wasn’t a hit but it spoke to just about everyone who heard it. When it became an integral part of Queensland Music Festival’s Cannot Buy My Soul celebration of Carmody’s music at the Brisbane Riverstage in 2009, no one was in any doubt of the importance of the song or Carmody’s ability to vividly convey the Australian experience.

80

For thousands in the audience, for the performers, for Kelly, who calls that night one of the highlights in more than 40 years of making music, it was an unforgettable demonstration of the power of song.

It was also an affirmation of Queensland Music Festival in creating events that bind people together, that

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

transform lives, build friendships and collaborations which keep bearing fruit. The way the song planted seeds in the minds of the listener, so too the festival. This year Queensland Music Festival marks 20 years and 11 festivals which have enriched the lives of Queenslanders in events from the Torres Strait to the Gold Coast and west to Bedourie and dozens of other stops.

The 1999 festival, then called the Queensland Biennial Festival of Music, was delivered after seven frenetic months of activity. New Arts Minister Matt Foley was clear that the festival should get out of the theatres and concert halls to the places where people lived. Artistic Director Simone de Haan and his team set out creating partnerships for emerging and professional musicians using our environment and stories as inspiration.

There was room for all genres. Rock On The Back Of A Truck took music to towns that rarely saw original bands. The Jazz Train teamed outstanding jazz students to work with players including jazz legend Don Burrows, stopping in towns from Brisbane to Townsville for workshops and concerts. Journeys in Time in Mackay brought together members of the Indigenous, Torres Strait and Pacific Island communities, culminating in a collaboration with African group the Drummers of Burundi. A world of collaborative possibilities was opening up.

The first General Manager of the festival, Claire Booth, says: “The reason the festival has been so successful is the great respect for place, recognising that wherever we are in Queensland these are communities with a lot to say and a lot to give.”

The logistics of the undertaking are as immense as the diversity of the programs: opera soared at Jimbour and musicals shone a light on social history.

The Queensland Symphony Orchestra worked simultaneously with performers in Belfast, Istanbul and Jerusalem, shared on a giant screen, in CREDO. The Brodsky Quartet played Shostakovich; works incorporated A Musical Fence in Winton; Randy Newman played Brisbane for the first time.

That spirit of nurturing partnerships was alive: future Artistic Directors Paul Grabowsky, Deborah Conway and Katie Noonan all first took part in the festival as performers.

In 2001, under opera singer-turned-director Lyndon Terracini, Queensland Music Festival deepened its community engagement with the Rockhampton Gardens Symphony, with music by Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin and 400 musicians and singers from the region.

Sean Mee’s experience in community theatre made him a great fit with Queensland Music Festival. Terracini explained to Mee his vision for a work in Mount Isa, one that switched on the entire city of 22,000.

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

Mee recalls: “Lyndon said, ‘You know they are obsessed by machines.’ And I had just seen on the internet people doing precision driving and tricks with machinery like bobcats.’’

Photo credit: Waak Waak Djungi, Queensland Biennial Festival of Music 1999 by Rob Maccoll.

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

81

So began Bob Cat Dancing, one of the signature events in the history of the festival. It attracted national attention and provided a roadmap for future productions. Hundreds of locals took part.

“An amazing thing happened, the entire town did get behind it,” Mee says. “We built a 60x40m stage on the bank of the Leichhardt River with the mine as the backdrop. We found great people like the bobcat drivers and Megan Sarmardin, who was 19 and blossomed into this wonderful talent as a singer.”

An audience the size of the city came to see it.

“The key idea that came from it was not to impose a story but see what skills and gifts the community has and work with that,” Mee says.

“Country people take great store in the value of the arts. They crave it but they have very little access to it as participants or audience. In Mount Isa there was a transformation, you could sense it and feel it.

People didn’t think these things were possible and then they could see they were. It wasn’t that the Queensland Music Festival made it happen, it was the city that made it happen.’’

The success of Bob Cat Dancing in 2003 led to a sequel, Bob Cat Magic. The Road We’re On in 2009

EXPLORE YOUR BACKYARD

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

T O D AY

82

Weekly flights to Cape York & The Torres Strait.

Call us today on 1300 759 872 to find out more!

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

was another breakthrough, created in collaboration with the community in Charleville. In 2011 Behind The Cane in Bowen told the story of the origins of Australia’s South Sea Island community. In 2013, Queensland Music Festival worked with 300 locals to stage Boomtown in Gladstone. That original vision of Queensland Music Festival, to take inspiration from the people and places of Queensland, was flourishing.

The festival’s growing reputation ensured the success of ambitious events. In 2007 Artistic Director Paul Grabowsky backed a concert inspired by Andrew Stafford’s history of rock in Queensland, Pig City. It achieved what many fans thought was impossible, the reformation of Queensland’s most influential rock band, The Saints, to headline the Pig City concert. In 2009, Artistic Director Deborah Conway took the Black Arm Band to perform Hidden Republic on Thursday Island, with the Queensland Youth Orchestra.

The networks, with councils and community groups, were strong. In 2013, James Morrison’s first year as Director, performances took place in 36 localities outside of Brisbane.

Artistic Directors always understood the need for iconic events that could grab attention. In 2013, the world’s biggest orchestra – 7,224 of them – assembled in Suncorp Stadium. Katie Noonan’s passionate belief in the power of the human voice led to You’re the Voice at South Bank, with John Farnham leading a choir of 2,500 in a rendition of his most famous song.

The collaborations encouraged by Queensland Music Festival keep spreading out.

Paul Kelly says the friendships encouraged by the Cannot Buy My Soul concert continue. “There was such love and respect evident on that stage, the way the singers performed, Kev enjoying every minute of it. The whole thing is vivid in my memory.”

Kelly returned to Queensland Music Festival in 2011 for Meet Me in the Middle of the Air, reimagining his songs with Grabowsky and his Art Orchestra. Kelly and Grabowsky continue to work together.

Last year Kelly performed at Queensland Music Festival’s Yarrabah Band Festival, which builds on the Indigenous community’s brass band tradition and is now an annual event. He says that is another of his most cherished career highlights, on stage with Yarrabah musicians, performing the song he wrote with his great friend 30 years ago.

From Little Things. They got that right.

SUPPORTING THE COMMUNITY THAT SUPPORTS US

© City of Gold Coast

Follow us on Facebook @MoranbahWorkers

Brisbane | Cairns | Gold Coast | Sunshine Coast | Townsvillle

We shape a better world

Culture and community at the heart of new urban village

Yeerongpilly Green Music and arts will be front and centre of Brisbane’s newest urban village, Yeerongpilly Green, where Consolidated Properties Group and CVS Lane Capital Partners are creating a cultural hub that fosters community connectedness.

Queensland Music Festival will play an integral role in bringing the music and arts precinct to life, hosting a series of events in the 1.8 hectares of parks and open space at the heart of the $850 million riverfront community.

Queensland Music Festival Executive Director Joel Edmondson says this commitment to promote arts and culture will have far-reaching benefits.

“Queensland Music Festival is really excited by the genuine importance that Consolidated Properties Group places on the cultural activation of its developments,” he said.’

In addition to providing a platform for local and visiting artists and musicians, Yeerongpilly Green will comprise providores, restaurants and 1,200 residential dwellings, surrounded by landscaped parks and boulevards including walkways lined with established trees and lush undergrowth.

The community, which is being developed by Consolidated Properties Group in partnership with CVS Lane Capital Partners, Hutchinson Builders and the Queensland State Government, will be easily accessible to the public with the Yeerongpilly Train Station just a short stroll away.

Consolidated Properties Group Executive Chairman Don O’Rorke says the vision for Yeerongpilly Green is to create a vibrant community that celebrates art and culture.

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

“Music is such an important part of our social fabric and it is something that connects people from all walks of life, which is why it will be a cornerstone of the Yeerongpilly Green community,” he said.

84

“We anticipate Yeerongpilly Green will be home to a wide range of people, from first home buyers and young professionals through to empty nesters and retirees.

“Queensland Music Festival’s ability to create events that encourage engagement from people of all ages will form an important part in the delivery of this riverfront community and cultural hub.”

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

For more information, please visit www.yeerongpillygreen.com.au

“Unfortunately, it’s rare to see precincts where this is sincerely valued, but for those that embrace it, the benefits are far-reaching.

“We’re really looking forward to the opportunity to work with Consolidated Properties Group, its partners and the local community at Yeerongpilly Green to deliver musical experiences that firmly establish the cultural identity of this vibrant new part of our great city.”

Launching in Spring this year, Yeerongpilly Green will comprise three boutique residential buildings, each positioned to make the most of the unique lifestyle on offer.

Park House, comprising 35 apartments, will overlook the community’s lush parklands.

Garden House, which will feature 56 one, two and three bedroom apartments, has been designed to maximise the northern aspect and capture breezes from across the river.

Green Terraces will be a collection of 10 spacious, three-bedroom townhomes overlooking the Riverwalk, complete with designer kitchens, private lifts, secure parking and multiple outdoor living spaces.

Fun Facts: • Yeerongpilly Green is Brisbane’s largest new urban regeneration project and is being developed by Consolidated Properties Group in partnership with CVS Lane Capital Partners, Hutchinson Builders and the Queensland State Government.

• The development will ultimately comprise more than 5,000sqm of retail complemented by restaurants, commercial buildings, five hectares of parkland and a boutique hotel, all at the doorstep of the community’s proposed 1,200 dwellings.

• Woolworths has committed as anchor tenant for the community’s neighbourhood shopping village.

• The first stage of boutique apartments is set to launch to the market in August, with a heritage-listed building currently being transformed into a sales and display centre.

• Yeerongpilly Green will boast the only corporate office park within ten kilometres of the CBD, offering 28,000sqm of commercial floor space.

Music Makes the World “We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams.”

- Arthur O’Shaughnessy

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

One of the core challenges facing the leader of a publicly-funded arts organisation is how to successfully convince others of the company’s value. Why does Queensland Music Festival matter? Why is it unique and indispensable? Extensive meditation upon this question invariably leads one back to the more fundamental question of the purpose of music in human and social development. Fortunately, there are many centuries of answers posited by artists and philosophers, as well as overwhelming contemporary scientific evidence linking music to an extensive array of health, education, productivity and community wellbeing outcomes. Music matters – and everyone knows it.

86

Music can play a far more instrumental role in the evolution of our civilisation than our everyday engagement with it might lead us to assume. Music inhabits a very specific place in our personal and private lives, one idiosyncratic to the individual, but history has also shown that music has had myriad transformational QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

CONTRIBUTOR: JOEL EDMONDSON

roles at the transpersonal and societal levels. Music can be thought of as a kind of fluid technology that can be repurposed to achieve infinite ends, depending on the context in which it is implemented. For example, the first custodians of the lands we now call Australia have always used music to transmit and preserve knowledge about their culture, most crucially their relationship to country and to spirit. On the west coast of the USA in the 1960s, an anti-war, free-love movement for political change arose inspired by songwriters like Janis Joplin and Bob Dylan. Electronic dance music’s community culture was the salve for a 1980s English working-class atomised by Thatcherite austerity.

How music might transform the world does not have to be a design process that is articulated in hindsight.

No compelling proof exists to demonstrate that human beings have exhausted their ingenuity in how music might be utilised to achieve certain purposes. 21st century people are preoccupied with innovation, and design-thinking tools are now ubiquitous, meaning that we are in a position, if we so choose, to consciously, proactively and skilfully use music to create the kind of society we want.

Queensland Music Festival’s signature works are an internationally unique example of how musical

experiences can be designed to facilitate social change.

Since Lyndon Terracini’s tenure as Artistic Director, Queensland Music Festival has produced a long line of artistically and socially ambitious projects in partnership with regional communities and leading artists, creative producers and performing arts organisations. From Boomtown in Gladstone, to Bowen’s Behind the Cane, and this year’s The Mount Isa Blast, communities from around regional Queensland have come together in a musical conversation that celebrates their cultural identity and opens up a space to imagine new possibilities. It is the universal appeal of music that draws everyone into this conversation, even those who do not consider themselves artists or musicians. Those lay contributors bring something unique of their own creativity to the table, and in doing so, challenge our preconceived notions of what art is.

What is most wonderful about this work is that it provides a totally different (and otherwise non-existent) context for communities to genuinely come together to reflect and imagine themselves anew. At its heart, it is a kind of experiment in cultural democracy and togetherness of which the polarised echo-chamber of social media is a poor facsimile. There is an increasing sense that the traditional institutions that have underpinned community cohesion are in terminal decline, and we will need new fires around which to collectively warm ourselves if we are to find a renewed sense of togetherness (hint: they won’t be screens). We could do much worse than build a social culture of collaborative artmaking that genuinely enables everyone’s contribution to a creative visioning of a new world.

Katie Noonan’s final program as Queensland Music Festival’s Artistic Director provides audiences and participants with many windows into their own empowerment – and I encourage you to look through them all. The mass choir participation works that have been a signature of her Queensland Music Festival programmes find their final form in Help is on its Way, which is sure to be an ocean of goose bumps for the thousands of vocalists that will literally sing as one voice in support of men’s mental health. Frank and Fearless will provide the next generation of changemakers with an insight into the life and times of Queensland’s iconic feminist activist, academic and author, Merle Thornton.

Jessie Lloyd’s Mission Songs Project will remind you of the power of music to preserve stories that might otherwise die with those that lived them, stories that nevertheless have deep resonance in the Queensland of today, and that we need to understand if we are to have a genuine connection to the true history from which we are all born.

As the convenience of technological connectivity begins to eclipse the visceral value of real human contact, Queensland Music Festival gives us a chance to unplug for a while, and instead, plug into each other. I call on everyone attending the festival this year to think about how to best use those moments of connectedness to achieve something greater than themselves.

The only question remaining is: Who do we want to be?

The World’s Biggest Orchestra!

CONTRIBUTOR: ERICA HART

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

“I became personally overwhelmed to hear the string section play the opening of Ode to Joy. I could not stop the tears of absolute joy streaming down my face.

Then when the brass entered, I was just blown away...I was playing my trumpet that I have had since I was 7 years old and the reason I learnt trumpet was because my brother Jack played the cornet in his school band.

His daughter was beside me on Saturday (my niece) and I had been her original music teacher. My brother recently died and so to be there was a huge emotional journey for us both. I dedicated the performance to my brother Jack Schlink and am grateful for his musical influence in both our lives.” Marita Schlink

88

In 2013 Queensland Music Festival staged the World’s Biggest Orchestra and musicians flocked to Suncorp Stadium in their thousands determined to break the record held by Vancouver Symphony since 2000.

Players young and old, school bands, a solitary English horn player, hundreds of drummers and triangle players, mass strings and of course hundreds more playing trumpets and horns. What a day! Brisbane had never seen such a gathering of musicians of this scale ever before or since. To be awarded the title World’s

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

Largest Orchestra in the official GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ was a momentous day in Queensland Music Festivals’ 20 year history. This is at the heart of what we do, by bringing so many musicians together Queensland Music Festival unites in a spirit of music and fun...and then to achieve the award was a special moment for all participants that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.

The “World’s Largest Orchestra” consisted of 7,224 musicians. Conducted by James Morrison, the musicians performed a medley of tunes including Banjo Paterson’s iconic Waltzing Matilda, Beethoven’s Ode to Joy and Queen’s We Will Rock You with crowds of supporters who lined Suncorp Stadium to cheer them on.

Queensland Music Festival not only took the official GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title for the World’s Biggest Orchestra, but also The Australian Book of Records title for the “Largest Brass Ensemble”, “Largest Woodwind Ensemble”, “Largest Clarinet Ensemble” and “World’s Largest Orchestra”.

Queensland showed the world the strength and power of Queensland’s musical community.

Reflections on

The Power Within CONTRIBUTOR: DAVID BURTON

I’m here to write and direct a musical for Queensland Music Festival.

I spend months embedded in the region with a creative team. We collaborate with the community to create a show about the Isaac people that they will also perform. We spend hours in the car traversing the flat bushland, covering a council region that is bigger than the size of Tasmania. Even in the dusty outskirts, in small mining towns like Glenden, Middlemount and Dysart, we meet people eager to participate. The cast list soon bubbles to over two hundred.

Isaac locals stand at the edge of an existential precipice. Without mining, which is declining, many of the towns will shrink and possibly die. It’s a depressing thought for residents, who already feel as though they are at the bottom of a low tide. Just six years ago, Moranbah was the most expensive place to live in Queensland. As the price of coal plummeted, so did house values. Land and house packages can now be purchased for under fifty thousand dollars in Dysart. The cheap price draws a diverse population.

The locals that have been here for more than a handful of years have seen the boom come and go. Their complaints about the mining companies are so unified they could almost join in chorus. As the companies push more towards a completely FIFO workforce, the value of local businesses and real estate plummets. On the ground, it’s as though the companies simply don’t care about local communities. They’re here to pillage the landscape as efficiently as possible. They don’t particularly care what they leave behind.

We stage the musical, The Power Within, a fantastical re-imagining of the issues at the heart of the Isaac region, and a celebration of its abundant human resources. 250 locals are featured. There are horses, belly-dancers, and singers galore. The finale features all cast members singing in a mass choir, a singular united voice. The show centres on a fictional town that’s built to mine a precious resource: song. But young people in the town end up searching for something greater.

The town floods, characterised in our production by an accomplished classical pianist unleashing Chopin.

In the aftermath of the disaster, the residents come together to support each other, re-build, and find hope.

The mining continues, profit keeps coming in, but the emphasis is placed on the people, not the resource.

It’s an optimistic message that the community rallies around. In the closing night after party, many are weeping. For so many of the young people in the region, the production is the first sign that their town is worthy of celebration. That’s it’s more than just a ‘mining town’.

It’s home.

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

Flying into Moranbah, Central Queensland, the opencut coal mines don’t so much dot the landscape as colonise it. A dozen big black holes yawn out of the earth, their inner-contents shoveled out and piled up around their borders in biblical proportions. It resembles a child-god’s sand pit. The sun is about to set as we touch down, but it’s still forty degrees outside. The hot air slams into my solar plexus the second I leave the plane. I am one of dozens of young men walking across the tarmac to the large shed where our baggage is waiting. I’m the only one not wearing neon orange.

I go in search of local legends that might provide interesting fodder for the show. UFOs? Ghost stories?

Larrikins and heroes from generations past? There are none. These places are too young and too transient to have a sustainable mythology. Instead, all chatter comes back to mining.

89

Whole Lot of

Hart

In thirteen years with Queensland Music Festival, for Executive Program Producer Erica Hart, the most memorable events are often the quirky ones.

A former librarian, she recalls sleeping on the floor of a library on Saibai Island, having spent her flight searching through the Perspex wall of the customs plane for crocodiles. It’s an anecdote that perfectly illustrates both the spirit of Queensland Music Festival, and the staggering geographic reach of twenty years of community programming. From Mount Isa to Cooktown and the Torres Strait Islands, Erica has been instrumental in implementing many of these events, and describes their impact proudly.

One 2011 performance featuring Sarah Blasko and chamber music collective the Kurrawong Ensemble moved people to tears when the set was delivered; the Musical Ship, a now permanent piece of public art in Cooktown, built and transported from Maleny. ‘I remember the Mayor saying “I was a bit dubious, I’m more of a Sound of Music kind of guy,’ Erica says, smiling. ‘But at the end he found it quintessentially Cooktown.’

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

Erica’s tenure at Queensland Music Festival has included several years as the Director of Programming, and having worked with four different Artistic Directors, she has seen the organisation evolve from humble beginnings to where it is today.

One of the most satisfying things about this for Erica is watching events transition into the custody of communities, with programs like the Yarrabah Music and Cultural Festival poised to entertain generations of music-lovers for years to come.

90

Nominated last year for the Industry Observer’s Impact Award for services to Australian music, 2019 will be Erica’s last year with Queensland Music Festival. Some of her final projects include Opera at Jimbour, Mission Songs Project and The Mount Isa Blast, a line-up which showcases her dynamic, community-centred approach to producing.

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

“I think the memory stays on quite a long time,” she says. “Wherever we’ve worked, we always maintain a connection with some of the people, even years later.

One of my choir members used to send me photographs of fish that she caught,” she adds, laughing.

Talking with Erica, it’s easy to see the joy created by these events. Not only do they allow people to experience the highest calibre of musical performance well outside of our coastal metropolitan cities; they also allow communities to connect in ways they might not have otherwise. Whether it be through dancing tug boats in the Port of Gladstone; or performances like Behind the Cane in Bowen, that retell important stories from Australia’s colonial past; it’s clear Erica’s work for Queensland Music Festival has made a lasting impression on people from all over Queensland.

get exposed

2013/14 ANNUAL performance REPORT

healthywaterways.org

2013/14 Annual Performance Report

Healthy Waterways | One Clear Vision

Proudly Supporting Queensland Music Festival

nudecreative.com.au

through music

Changing the Narrative

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

CONTRIBUTOR: SEAN MEE

92

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

Under This Sky was the biggest Queensland Music Festival community event I was involved with.

It brought together over 750 people from across the city who joined in partnership with Queensland Music Festival to tell a story of their own making. And for the first time, we invited musicians from the community to compose the score. It was a joining together of two Queensland Music Festival programs; these community events and Song Trails, the workshops series for musicians deployed in the recent festivals with great success. We did this because we could.

Our initial research and connections with community revealed an amazing depth of musicality throughout Logan; from the excellent music and performance programs in the schools to the highly skilled choirs and singers with the many different cultural groups that are resident in this most complex of communities.

As Creative Director, I was responsible for the development and realisation of the work. But really, it was a partnership of many; artists, teachers, local government, Queensland Music Festival staff and executive, producers, writers, facilitators, all seeking to connect and empower this community to create something impossible.

These projects work in reverse from conventional performance processes. Normally, we start with a story and find ways for the community to hear that story. At the beginning of these projects, there is no story. It emerges from multiple meetings and conversations from the experts of the city, its people.

And overwhelmingly, the people of Logan wanted the opportunity to change the narrative of their city.

Regardless of the economic and social challenges of the city, it was their place and their lives and their stories. They felt that stories of violence, intolerance and generational poverty were swamping the real story of their city. In the day-to-day flow of life in Logan, people showed respect and tolerance, none more so than for new arrivals in the city of which there are many. They were proud of the dynamism and diversity of Logan. They wanted the rest of

the world to know that they were hopeful for their city and their future, that their young people were joyous, ambitious and culturally strong. It was the importance of this story to the city that brought together singers and dancers from seniors’ groups across the city, children and young people from over 20 schools to sing and dance, go karts from the local raceway, enough musicians to build a 70-piece orchestra, 4 different choirs, fire twirlers and a gamelan orchestra. It was this story that ensured the construction of an 80-metre stage on the side of a football field. And it was this story that brought over 15,000 people to the performances.

It was this ambition that brought SBS to the city to tellingly document the journey of project.

They brought the best of themselves and the city. And we, the creatives, had to bring our best game as well.

Nothing else would have sufficed. It was an amazing, exhausting and joyful experience.

QUT is committed to supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. qut.edu.au/about/oodgeroo

CRICOS 00213J

Š QUT 2019 24114

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION 94

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

The Responsibilty

I believe the arts have a responsibility to comment on the orders of the day. I believe that music is the most accessible and inclusive form of art.

I believe that music comes from a place of love and healing.

While ruminating upon my first festival as an Artistic Director, I felt that as Queensland’s only state-wide arts festival, we should use the power of music to talk about difficult issues affecting our State.

Each day there seemed to be a new story about the domestic and family violence epidemic and after reading the Not Now Not Ever report, I felt compelled to dream big and envisioned a choir of thousands of voices unified in communal compassion.

This dream became a reality in 2017 and was a profoundly moving experience. Using the iconic You’re the Voice, we combined as one powerful

CONTRIBUTOR: KATIE NOONAN

voice, singing out for those whose voices had been silenced by violence, singing out for change.

While reflecting on this year’s festival, the story that kept speaking to me was the crisis of the mental health of our boys and men, particularly in regional Australia.

I have also been alarmed by the increasingly negative rhetoric around our boys and men.

This year we are using Glenn Shorrock’s iconic Help is on its Way - a song about mateship and singing to your inner self. We are encouraging our boys and men to commune, talk and sing together and we are reframing seeking help as an act of bravery.

This dream is being realized across eight regional Queensland centres and will culminate with a choir of thousands across the county, unified as one voice, singing about self-care, compassion and community.

There is nothing more beautiful than a communion of voices united in sound. I believe that everyone that can talk can sing and I hope Queensland Music Festival encourages you to find your voice and use your voice for good.

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

of The Arts

95

Where the

Treasure Lies

CONTRIBUTOR: MARGUERITE PEPPER

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

My journey with Queensland Music Festival began in 2005 when I was appointed by Artistic Director, Lyndon Terracini, as Supervising Producer, with the brief to mentor the staff and develop their producing skills.

My first adventure in regional Queensland was with Cooktown Corroboree (Cooktown) and Bob Cat Dancing (Mount Isa). Other projects with communities included Charters Towers The Musical (Charters Towers), The Greatest Show on Earth (Longreach), The Road We’re On (Charleville), Behind The Cane (Bowen), Boomtown (Gladstone) and The Power Within (the Isaac region).

96

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

In each of these community cultural development projects, collaboration was the key. Queensland Music Festival brought together various teams of extraordinarly creative and generous arts workers who fully immersed themselves in the productions.

Our approach was to build trust in order to creatively break down barriers and achieve the impossible - choreographing a tug boat ballet on Gladstone Harbour, creating a BMX track on the main road out of town in Charleville, or harnessing a large group of trick horse riders in Longreach. The tug boat pilots, BMX trick riders and horse riders proved that everyone has artistic potential and were celebrated along with actors, singers, dancers, choirs and musical ensembles and local production personnel. Many of our participants took the opportunity to grow their craft and subsequently moved onto professional careers in the arts. Others have taken up the reins and produced their own shows or continued to manage local choirs.

There were many stakeholders involved behind the scenes, ranging from State and Federal Government to Regional Councils, to corporate and philanthropic sponsorships. Without them we could not have delivered our artistic vision and we are very grateful for their contributions.

Living and working in regional Queensland is often a challenge. The elements, the isolation and the lack of services that many city dwellers take for granted, serve to make these populations resilient and strong.

Uncovering their stories in the various projects helped to unite and empower and often encouraged locals to reconsider the values and specialness of their community, thereby engendering new respect and greater reason to remain.

The process in regional communities of research, writing and then ‘mining’ local resources to embrace all available musical ability is unique. Drawing on history (sometimes long forgotten) and placing this within a contemporary context has been at our core. I believe in this process and consider it more important than the final production as what we discover during this development time is the real legacy. This is where empowerment begins and the treasure lies: where our amazing local collaborators take ownership and begin to steer the ship.

I have been privileged to spearhead many of the major community cultural development events Queensland Music Festival has produced over the past 20 years. This process of music theatre making, commissioned and delivered with high production values and a professional team of advisors has been greatly enriching to those involved. To finish with a metaphor, the process is like alchemy in that out of raw material we have been deeply privileged to find deep veins of gold.

And what a beautiful experience ‌!

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

All of the projects mentioned were based upon the unearthing of inspiring stories. They brought together sometimes surprising elements in unusual locations, while honouring the communities that had shared their experiences of place with the Queensland Music Festival team.

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

97

Special thanks to our partners PRINCIPAL PARTNERS Proudly supported by

Queensland Music Festival is an initiative of the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT PARTNERS

BARCALDINE

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

REGIONAL COUNCIL

98

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

One of the thousands of markets, festivals and events Brisbane City Council helps deliver each year.

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.

PLATINUM PARTNERS

MAJOR PARTNERS

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

GOLD PARTNERS

Exclusive Hotel Partner

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

99

SILVER PARTNERS

FILM | TV | ANIMATION

FILM | TV | ANIMATION

BRONZE PARTNERS

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

Pavetta Foundation

SUPPORT & COMMUNITY PARTNERS Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts, Black Dog Institute, Bumma Bippera Media, Bush Heritage Australia, Dirringhi Aboriginal Corporation, Kawai, Queensland Mental Health Commission, PCYC Yarrabah, Roses in the Ocean, Royal Flying Doctors Service, Sci-Fleet Toyota.

100 QMF 2019 Festival Magazine

T hank you

To Our Donors We are grateful to the Trusts, Foundations and Donors whose support has enabled the delivery of significant projects as part of the 2019 Festival. The generosity of our supporters ensures we can help create a better future for all Queenslanders.

Support our journey empowering communities through music.

Queensland Music Festival harnesses the power of music to create meaningful experiences in four key ways.

Social Impact programs are developed with, for and by communities and use the power of music to bring people together in unique and transformative ways.

Future Music initiatives ensure local stories are told on the world stage through commissions, professional development and educational opportunities.

Youth and Education programs increase access to performing arts experiences and arts education for regional and remote schools.

First Nations initiatives are delivered year-round in Indigenous communities, providing educational, economic and well-being benefits, as well as developing and promoting local artists.

Queensland Music Festival is a Deductible Gift Recipient. Donations can be directed to any of our unique projects and programs. All donations over $2 are tax-deductible.

Please visit our website to donate, to see our list of donors and partners, and for more information about our programs, please visit qmf.org.au/get-involved.

20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

We have a vision to transform lives and communities through music. A global leader in community engagement, we have reached one million people through projects in over 100 regions. Your support plays an ever-increasing role in delivering life-changing musical experiences where they are needed most. We invite you to join the Queensland Music Festival journey.

QMF 2019 Festival Magazine 101

proud to be a gold sponsor of the

Queensland Music Festival More than just a key part of a global diversified natural resources company, we’re a business that invests in our people and the communities where we operate.

We’re proud to make a positive and lasting contribution across our region.

Whether it’s developing tomorrow’s talent, supporting generations of local jobs, investing in community infrastructure or funding valuable community initiatives.

Discover for yourself how we’re connecting more possibilities every day.

www.glencorepossible.com.au

TOUCHSCREEN OPERATION

4 X HIGH QUALITY MIC INPUTS

ECHO-FREE CONNECTION

RECORD TO MICRO SD CARD

INSTANT JINGLE PLAYBACK

The RØDECaster Pro™ is the world’s rst fully-integrated podcast production studio. Whether you are just starting out, or are a seasoned broadcast professional, the RØDECaster Pro™ Podcast Production Studio is all you will ever need.

The all-new PodMic is a broadcast-grade dynamic microphone designed for podcast applications. With a built-in pop lter and a rich, even sound it will give your voice a silky, professional quality. The PodMic can be used with any XLR interface, but is optimised for use with the new RØDECaster Pro™.

P R O F E S S I O N A L

P O D C A S T I N G

M A D E

E A S Y .

Ye ar s

Ce 20 le ic Y br th on ea at Q ro i c r s i n 1 9 u e u g ev o g 99 en h en f – sla out ts 20 n 19 d

Y IT N U M M O C R L ST SIC E A G U E N IC S CH T M SI OP E S R D R K P R A R RT C LA O A E L A I O C A A R A U G D R S IN OP T AL E R U P A N R S P PE I NG IO O R AV H N T O O R L C E IC VA B A V S SC IC M E U R S A ET M LM TR ER E E H C A R T- , FI E A MB RIT NC Y R AB AL OP TH HA W MA N P C Z C NG OR O Z T L S , SO RF R JA L L E I CA R RA , E G S A PE G E T I NG L A PO IN , S ING K B U IN P M OR CK L A R C E V SIC S LL OR T C O O A O E O C T U S P R B R R SC R S N S C T- U M A S I C E LA A O M L P ER O M T I D U A C R L A IL UL R E O IT Y K M F L P FI A R R A A P TY E R R O G HO UL OC T Y V AL IE AL NI RD A W P R B D G C OP R NI U A S N E IN OR M G IE PO CK P ZZ U O , C T H O T M M G C -S AL O AN IVI EM -R E JA M I N A N TS C T O T ER RIC N A LT R D E N C OR RM AV C , G O T A C Y GA EV IN E A A S C FO E R ER R S R T R I P A B C Y E I TH E T R O R P N R P M P O W O A A US ER A P T H AV N G E R I T O R R C TM R A EM T T R TS SO ING W MP N AN T A S ING TE O EN US C AV A R V S ON E IO ER R IC C R E IT BE S VA D U R R W AM M A G H S G A SIN G C OU I E R R- N R

20

Queensland Music Festival is an initiative of the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland.