Honouring all

Untitled
(Gallipoli Art Exhibition, Sydney, 2006)

This year at the remembrance ceremony at the war memorial in Canberra the didgeridoo was included in the for the first time, joining the trumpet and the bagpipes. Ninety nine years of not including our most recognisably Australian musical instrument is a very long time. (The ceremony was broadcast on ABC, but the ceremony that followed it honouring Aboriginal soldiers was not.)

At the remembrance ceremony in Sydney this morning one speaker noted the fact that new Australians had not been brought up on the Anzac myth and publicly wondered how this new generation could be motivated to take part. Including our first peoples in more than a token gesture would be a good way to start. 

Concert to commemorate the centenary of Gallipoli

Last night a concert of new works by Australian, Turkish and New Zealand composers was presented in the Paddington Church by soprano AyşeGöknur Shanal.

Ayşe won the Australian Singing Competition in 1998 and has won many national and international awards since. She is a passionate advocate of 21st Century music and this year she commissioned work by six composers which were presented for the first time last night.  Ayşe was accompanied by pianist Patrick Keith, himself an award winning accompanist. 

Composers Ross Fiddes, Diana Blom, Sylvia Rice and  John Wayne Dixon with
pianist Patrick Keith and Soprano Ayşe Göknur Shanal

It was fascinating having the composers on hand to explain their music, at least all but one, Erberk Erylimaz, who is currently in America but who wrote a stunning piece called Songs Against War that included voice sung into the piano which was quite extraordinary - you have to see it performed to appreciate it.

Below is a video in which Ayşe explains how she discovered her love of opera singing.

Gallipoli: a homecoming

Homecoming
Oil on Canvas
51 x 76 cm

There has been a lot of talk about the Gallipoli campaign this year which is not surprising I suppose, since April 2015 is the 100 year anniversary.

When I began this painting I had not intended for it to be anything to do with war but the First World War took it over. I was unaware that I had been influenced by the general chatter about Gallipoli until it appeared in my work. It showed me just how influenced we are by our environment, even when we don't particularly take notice of it.

So I dedicate this painting to my grandfather Philip who fought with NZ troops against the Germans in WWI. He died of his war wounds sixteen years after the war ended and featured in my childhood as the father my mother spoke of who had died when she was fourteen.

The young man in the picture, a German citizen, is grandfather Philip's namesake and direct descendant.

NZ WWI  troops including grandfather Philip (top right)

ACO and Gallipoli

ACO Gallipoli concert (from ACO website)

The latest Australian Chamber Orchestra concert, Reflections on Gallipoli, depicts the horrors of first World War so graphically that is is hard to sit through. Soldier's letters are read by two actors, one of them an Australian with Turkish background. (Congratulations Director Neil Armfield.)

The Western and Turkish musical selections accompanying the readings are inspired as is the singing of soprano Taryn Fiebig.

A series of photos from the conflict is projected on a huge screen behind the musicians and as you watch one face after the next, both allied troops and Turkish forces, you can't help remembering the diggers and their refusal to take part in the glorification of war, much to the chagrin of modern war mongers.

We are continually told that the Anzac spirit defines Australia's national identity and we  remember and revere Gallipoli heroes each Anzac day. As a recent twitter post pointed out, it is ironic that we are now told that the current crop of  passionate men who want to fight in foreign lands are a threat to us all.