Latest Canzonetta out

Canzonetta has been sent out – if we have your email address then you should already have it. If we don’t then you will need to wait a couple of days for NZ Post to get it to you. If you haven’t received it, check your junk mail in case it has ended up there and then email canzonetta@canz.net.nz to advise your email address and I’ll send it to you.

Material for Canzonetta due 31st March

If you have news or information about upcoming concerts that will be of interest to CANZ members, please email to canzonetta@canz.net.nz.

The next issue is Apr/May and material is due by 31st March.

IAMIC Virtual Composer in Residence: Jack Body.

Jack Body has been invited to participate in the IAMIC -sponsored Virtual Composer in Residence programme. He will begin his month-long residency on February 15, 2010 together with his Austrian co-virtual resident composer Katharina Klement.

Through the Virtual Composer In Residence Programme, IAMIC aims to share, network and publish information about composers and their work and processes more widely, enabling the world-wide community of composers and audience members to connect with them through a virtula and interactive environment. IAMIC is making a special space available on their website and inviting a pair of composers to use this space to explore each others work and processes. The composers can use the website space to ‘chat’, exchange ideas, thoughts, links, music: scores, audio, video as digital files, possible projects and so on. Colleagues and audience members from around the world have the opportunity to join in the conversation through comments on this IAMIC webpage.

Jack Body is one of New Zealand’s most senior composers with a long and varied musical output across all genres. He has a particular interest in the music of other cultures and in bringing these into a relationship with traditional Western European music through transcription and electroacoustic elements. A leading educator, innovator and entrepreneur he has been responsible for many projects connecting musicians and musical cultures around the world.

Jack and Katharina are the second IAMIC Virtual Composers in Residence. The inaugural residents were John McLachlan (Ireland) and Lucien Posman(Belgium).

Source: www.sounz.org.nz

The Training and Education of Composers – an international survey

From the Centre for Music and Multimedia, Royal College of Music, London

PRESS RELEASE #01 – Jan 2010

Composers and songwriters generate significant cultural and economic wealth, so understanding their lifelong educational and training needs is crucial. For this reason a major survey of composers has been launched by the Royal College of Music’s Centre for Music and Multimedia. The survey seeks to investigate the appropriateness and effectiveness of training and education opportunities for music composers, both in prospect and retrospect. It will capture the experiences of a large number and wide range of composers and songwriters across Europe and beyond, in order to lobby for better opportunities and resources to study the art and craft of composing, including lifelong learning.

The survey has been developed by Professor David Burnand, Head of the CMM at the Royal College of Music, London; with support and advice from colleagues in the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors, the Contemporary Music Centre Ireland, the National University of Ireland at Maynooth, Leiden University Academy of Creative and Performing Arts, and the University of Hertfordshire.

Survey link:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/composing

Contact:
All enquiries to: dburnand@rcm.ac.uk

Significant changes afoot at SOUNZ

Some significant leadership and governance changes are taking place at SOUNZ, the Centre for New Zealand Music.

Executive Director Scilla Askew will depart her post at this national arts organisation in February 2010. Elizabeth Kerr will join the organisation as Chair of the Board of Trustees in December 2009, replacing previous Chair, Lloyd Williams, who will be stepping down after his three-year tenure.

After more than a decade as Executive Director, Ms Askew leaves SOUNZ in a strong position. Having recently brought the organisation through major changes which include the development of SOUNZ Online, a comprehensive web-based business system and digitisation project, she noted that, “My time here has been tremendously rewarding and I am confident that the organisation will continue to make a vital contribution to our cultural landscape. Now, for me, it is time for some new challenges!”.

During her time at SOUNZ, Ms Askew has helped to facilitate many projects and partnerships to support the promotion of music by New Zealand composers, including the NZSO-SOUNZ Readings, SOUNZwrite education guides for schools and the SOUNZ Community Commission. She played an important role in the purchase of Douglas Lilburn’s house which is New Zealand’s only official residence available to selected composers and in 2004 her work was recognised by the Composers Association of New Zealand when she was awarded the KBB Citation for Services to NZ Music.

Incoming Chair Elizabeth Kerr says she wants to pay tribute to the leadership team of Ms Askew and outgoing Chair Lloyd Williams, who have achieved “some magnificent work” over recent years. “The launch of SOUNZ Online and the very many initiatives that have been launched over the last decade have significantly lifted the profile of New Zealand composers internationally.”

A highly respected arts manager herself, Ms Kerr has had a long career in music and the arts as teacher, lecturer, arts manager and board member. Currently Manager of the New Zealand String Quartet Trust, Ms Kerr has previously been Manager of Music programmes at the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council of New Zealand, Manager of Concert FM, Chief Executive of Relationship Services, Chief Executive of NZ Historic Places Trust and Chief Executive of Creative New Zealand from 2000 till 2006.

She has served on the boards of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the New Zealand String Quartet Trust, the Antarctic Heritage Council and the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACCA), and is currently on the boards of the Douglas Lilburn Studio Trust and the Vector Wellington Orchestra. Ms Kerr has also worked as a commentator in print and broadcast media, including six years as “Concert” columnist for the NZ Listener.

Of her new role as Chair of SOUNZ, Ms Kerr says, “New Zealand has many wonderful composers and it’s important that their voices continue to be heard nationally and internationally. SOUNZ is promoting their work very successfully and I’m honoured to be able to return to a role in an organisation doing such significant work so well.”

Applications for the position of Executive Director are open from 30 October at http://sounz.org.nz/content/application_ed

NZ composers on NZ On Screen

NZ On Screen, an initiative created with the aim of making some 15,000 hours of historic New Zealand television available to New Zealanders for free, has recently added some excellent items about New Zealand composers.

Click here to see a young Chris Cree Brown navigating his way around the Canterbury EMS in 1980. Includes a detour to a resonant space down the hall and the preparation of an upright piano with dangling ping pong balls.

This 2005 Artsville piece is an excellent insight into Gareth Farr’s life as a freelance composer, from Lilith Lacroix, to music for drama productions, to work with the NZSO and The Song Company.

Look out for further NZ composition related additions to NZ On Screen, including the 1987 Kaleidoscope feature about the CANZ Nelson Composers Workshop – coming soon.

2009 Subscription fees now due

A reminder to members that if you haven’t done so already, please renew your CANZ subscription. Subscriptions are for the calendar year from January through December. You can renew your subscription online or send a cheque to PO Box 4065, Wellington. Annual fees range from $20 for students to $105 for benefactors. You can also opt to pay for three years.

Your subscription enables CANZ to provide you with newsletters and publications, access to the SOUNZ Library, membership to both the Asian Composers League (ACL) and International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM), various opportunities, and access to a network of other composers and supporters of New Zealand composition.

If you have any queries, please email Lachlan at treasurer@canz.net.nz.

CNZ/Jack C. Richards Composer-in-Residence 2009–10

Scottish Musician appointed Creative New Zealand/Jack C. Richards Composer-in-Residence at the New Zealand School of Music 2009-10

Scottish born composer and jazz musician John Rae, has been appointed the prestigious Creative New Zealand/Jack C. Richards Composer-in-Residence at the New Zealand School of Music 2009-10.

The year long residency offers the composer the opportunity to pursue creative activities and is hosted by the School of Music which is part of Wellington’s Victoria University.

“It’s pleasing to see such an experienced composer writing for non-classical forces being awarded the Composer-in-Residence,” says Michael Norris, Programme Leader for Composition at the New Zealand School of Music. “Although John was largely unknown to the selection panel, we were blown away by the sophistication of his pieces that stretch and redefine the boundaries of conventional jazz idioms. It is particularly exciting given the new synergies between jazz and classical traditions that are becoming a fertile ground for exploration for both staff and students at the New Zealand School of Music.”

John, who grew up in Livingston and Edinburgh, Scotland has been actively searching for a way to compose and play music in a stimulating environment in New Zealand since moving to New Zealand in 2005. He and his New Zealand wife and family have been living in Napier for the past 4 years.

“I am absolutely delighted to have received this wonderful opportunity and intend to give it my absolute best” said John. “I have been composing music since I was 16 years old and have played, improvised and composed music with some of the most creative contemporary jazz musicians in the world. This is a golden chance to give all my attention to writing music and extending myself musically” .

“Living in a smaller regional city has been very interesting, and now I am looking forward to moving to a larger city , especially Wellington that has such a strong music culture. The last couple of years I have had to do a lot of travelling and teaching in order to continuing to write and play full time the music I love…Jazz” he said.

“I have never let go the determination to be a full-time composer/musician and educator here in New Zealand. The Creative New Zealand/Jack C. Richards Composer-in-Residence gives me that breathing space to create and will I hope lead to bigger and better things for me here in New Zealand and internationally”.

John intends to concentrate on writing for orchestral groups of varying sizes, and to develop his passion for cross cultural music. “I also want to do some writing for dance and work with choreographers using the same philosophy. I want to integrate the various influences here in New Zealand in order to produce something unique and original that could only be done here” he said.

The residency is jointly funded by Creative New Zealand and private sponsor Jack C. Richards. John will relocate to Wellington in late June 2009, where he will be resident at the former home of composer Douglas Lilburn

For more information contact , ph. (04) 463 7456

NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2009

The Annual General Meeting of the Composers Association of New Zealand will be
held on Saturday 7th March 2009 at the Music Theatre, School of Music, The
University of Auckland.

The Meeting will begin with the Presentation of Awards at 1pm.

If you are unable to attend, please complete and send the proxy form included
below to the CANZ P.O. Box 4065 Wellington by Wednesday 4th March, or
alternatively email the information to .

Where: Music Theatre, School of Music, Universlty of Auckland, 6 Symonds St,
Auckland

When: 1pm, Saturday 7th March 2009