North Queensland Ensembles
Barrier Reef Orchestra
Launch of 2010 Season
6th February, 2010
Deputy Mayor, Townsville City Council, Councillor David Crisafulli,
Townsville City Councillors, Jenny Lane and Ray Gartrell,
Acting Vice-Chancellor, James Cook University, Professor Andrew Vann,
President, North Queensland Ensembles, Mr Simon McConnell,
Conductor, North Queensland Ensembles, Professor John Hopkins OBE,
Director, Australian Concerto and Vocal Competition, Mrs Carol DallÓsto,
Manager, Australian Festival of Chamber Music, Ms Yvette Braithwaite-Bragg,
Chief Financial Officer, Queensland Nickel, Mr Basil Ahyick,
Members, friends, supporters and sponsors of the Barrier Reef Orchestra,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As has become customary at public events in our State, in the spirit of reconciliation, I acknowledge the first, indigenous peoples of Australia and the traditional custodians of these lands, the Wulguru-Kaba and Bindal peoples, their elders and their descendants.
I am delighted to be back in Townsville (especially at this time when the rains have made the city and region so wonderfully green!) for this launch of a new season of music by the North Queensland Ensembles, performed by its "flagship", the Barrier Reef Orchestra. And what better way to mark the occasion than that stirring performance of Schubert's orchestral showpiece, followed by that beautiful, more gentle work, creating a softer, more lyrical mood ... and most certainly whetting the appetite for more. It is a hard act to follow.
I spoke at last year's launch of my admiration for North Queensland Ensembles' commitment to excellence in the promotion and performance of popular classical music, and also about the strong community character of both the organisation and of the orchestra. I would like, tonight, to focus a little more on that second theme - and am happy that this dovetails with Professor Hopkins' remarks and the emphasis he placed on the pleasure he finds in working with a regional, community orchestra.
The community character of the Barrier Reef Orchestra provides opportunities that are not as readily available in more traditional professional arrangements. In particular, the Orchestra provides opportunities for younger players to join the Orchestra and to experience, very early in their careers, the discipline, the hard work, drive for excellence and the sheer enjoyment of playing with a full ensemble under expert direction.
The Orchestra itself is a microcosm of the community, bringing together players of all ages and backgrounds united in a common cause - the love of good music. And of course the Orchestra gives back to the community from which it springs, providing an experience that only live performances can bring and communicating in that direct, unique, wonderful, international language of great music. As I see it, the community wins handsomely in every way.
This is therefore an opportune moment to thank those organisations and individuals within the broader community who have helped make this possible. As Governor and as the Orchestra's Patron, I acknowledge the Queensland Government's support for the Orchestra through the Regional Arts Development Fund. I acknowledge also the Townsville City Council's ongoing financial support of North Queensland Ensembles and of the Orchestra. I believe this to be a far-sighted and astute investment. Bravo! And long may it continue (and I trust, Mr Deputy Mayor and the other Councillors present this evening, that you will convey this message to the Mayor and your other colleagues on Council, urging - and arguing - the benefits of continued support for the Arts whenever those difficult budget decisions are being made).
I am very pleased to acknowledge the generosity of Queensland Nickel, represented - very appropriately - this evening by its Chief Financial Officer, Mr Basil Ahyick. As we have just heard, Queensland Nickel has donated a substantial sum to the orchestra for a period of two years, which will be used to fund a part-time manager for the Orchestra. This is a very welcome development that I know will ease the burden on the many volunteers who assist the Orchestra. I hope Queensland Nickel's example will inspire other companies active in the region also to support the Orchestra. Again, Bravo!
For North Queensland Ensembles, volunteers are, as always, the backbone of this community effort - parents, other family members, friends, community-minded lovers of music. Thank you - and Bravo also - to all of you. (I will risk a special vote of thanks to those who support our cello and bass players, where the challenge of transporting these instruments is often greater than that of ferrying the players themselves to performances and rehearsals.) I have not forgotten the musicians, whose talent and enthusiasm brings about that wonderful miracle of transforming the complex code of staves, clefs, bar lines, and notes on the printed page into sounds that can move us to joy or tears. Prominent among those talented, enthusiastic and dedicated people this evening is Professor John Hopkins, whose deep knowledge, experience and musicianship enriches the music and the musicians. Professor Hopkins has been a longstanding friend of Townsville and of the Orchestra. Bravo and thank you to you, too, Professor - or perhaps I should say ‘Encore' - and may there be many, many more.
Nor have I forgotten the important links between North Queensland Ensembles and the Orchestra and the JCU, local secondary schools, the Australian Concerto and Vocal Competition and the Australian Festival of Chamber Music, which were highlighted by Simon McConnell earlier. This is an important collaboration which serves each entity and institution well - as it does the wider community - both responding to and helping to increase interest in Music and the Arts in this city and region.
Music has played a prominent role in communities throughout recorded history and tens of thousands of years before that. We need only think of the culture of indigenous Australians to be reminded of how deep and ancient the roots of music are on our ancient continent.
Another ancient peoples, the Greeks, believed that their modes - ancient forms of musical scales that still bear Greek names - could deeply affect the human spirit and even character. On a more unusual note, for many years in the seventeenth century, the Vatican banned the transcription of Allegri's Miserere, allegedly because it was "too beautiful for common people". The ban lasted until a fourteen year-old boy named Mozart heard the piece in Rome, memorized it, transcribed it and ultimately made it available to "common people".
Martin Luther believed that music was "the handmaiden of theology" and mandated the teaching of music in schools. In the Baroque period in Europe, princes and aristocrats measured their status, not by having the latest model in coach and horses, but by showing off the quality of the musicians employed by them or under their patronage. Incidentally, that is precisely how J.S. Bach's career acquired momentum. I will stop there. The list is endless.
In our own time, classical music has retained its place and status in the concert hall but has also been appropriated by popular culture. This phenomenon is not always met with approval, but it has spread classical music far beyond the performance space and specialist recordings.
For instance, the soundtracks of films as often as not use techniques and tools of classical music to achieve their effects, or simply borrow classical music wholesale. The soundtrack of the film Master and Commander features music by Bach, Boccherini, Mozart and Vaughan-Williams. The character played by Russell Crowe is an amateur violinist who is seen playing classical music in the film. Russell Crowe's miming of the violin music was coached by none other than Richard Tognetti.
Even a quick glance at the classical music offerings on the internet video-sharing site YouTube reveals a vast - and I do mean vast - selection of classical music from well known and loved works to the most arcane and little-known pieces. What is more, the videos are often accompanied in the Comments section by detailed and frequently informed critiques of the music and the performance.
Moving on to more controversial territory, dare I ask: what would the advertising world do without the resources of classical music to enhance its products? When Leo Delibes finished composing his opera Lakme in 1882, he could not have known what an aircraft was, much less dream that the duet in Act One known as the Flower Song would one day be used to promote British Airways. Had he known, he might have shown a keen interest in the royalties arrangements (and as we all know, royalties are very much on the minds of musicians and publishers at present, with the recent ruling against the Australian group ‘Men at Work' over their use, conscious or unconscious, of note sequences from the Australian popular song Kookaburra sits on the old Gum Tree).
Legal rulings aside, what is clear is that music - great music - still matters to communities and in communities, even if it appears in new media, new guises and new contexts. It matters because it retains the power to enrich our lives in unique ways. Whilst I listen constantly to recorded music - with radios tuned to classical stations strategically placed throughout the house - I still prefer to encounter great music in its most immediate form - sitting, as we have done this evening, hearing the sound come to us, live and unadulterated, from the musicians on the stage. There are few other experiences that can match it.
I am certain that this year's programme of concerts by the Barrier Reef Orchestra and distinguished visiting artists will bring great pleasure to the audiences who make the effort to attend and, as Patron of North Queensland Ensembles, I will be encouraging as many people as possible to do so throughout this very special, tenth anniversary year - celebrating a decade since the Orchestra's first performance.
It is now my pleasure to declare the 2010 season of the Barrier Reef Orchestra officially launched - and to wish the Orchestra and everyone involved with it a most successful and enjoyable year, one that will anchor it ever more firmly as one of the great community assets of North Queensland and that will earn it many more Bravos', accolades and ‘Encores'.
Thank you.