Out of his big brotherâs shadow: composer Paul Dean finds his voice
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Composer Paul Deanâs newest work, to be premiered next month by the Australia World Orchestra, is titled simply
Symphony.
âYou sound like a wanker if you say âSymphony Number Oneâ,â says Dean. âIt immediately tells the world that you are going to write a second.â
So is he?
âIâd like to, but I donât know if I am.â
Itâs a disarmingly self-deprecating but evidently characteristic response from Dean, who is one of Australiaâs leading clarinettists and artistic directors as well as being a prolific composer with an impressive list of chamber works, concertos and even an opera to his name.
Premium Content POPPING. Clinking. Fizzing. For the past two weeks, snippets of odd sounds coming from Tom Thum s home may have baffled the neighbours. The Ipswich-based beatboxer whose ability to create a seemingly infinite range of sounds with just his throat has dived into a project, applying his talent for noises to a bizarre medium. I ve been trying to turn a can of Pepsi Max into as many instruments as I possibly could, Tom said. Really kind of dial in a combination of voice and metal and ring pulls popping, things fizzing and sounds ah-ing and all the gassiest releases and ice clinking in jars.
Woman on the podium?
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Georg Etscheit -
When Mexican conductor Alondra de la Parra made her debut at the Mozart Week music festival in Austria in January 2019, the critics were full of praise. Germany’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung described her as a “charismatic conductor” and wondered how long it would be before she was snapped up by a German record label. The 38-year-old, known for her impulsive, physical conducting style, is currently music director of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra in Brisbane, Australia.
And she is one of a growing number of ambitious women gracing the world’s podiums.
Only a decade ago, examples of female conductors were few and far between, with a few notable exceptions: Australian Simone Young, then general music director of the Hamburg State Opera; and American Marin Alsop, then head of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
Seattle Opera Brings Conductors Together For Dialogue On Race And Gender
Seattle Opera s panel discussion The View from the Pit examines intersectionality in the art form.by BWW News Desk
Seattle Opera announces the next panel in its Community Conversations series: The View from the Pit: Maestros on Race and Gender in Opera. Panelists include Maestros Kazem Abdullah, Alondra de la Parra, Viswa Subbaraman, and Judith Yan with moderator Alejandra Valarino Boyer, Seattle Opera s Director of Programs and Partnerships.
Conductors unify performers, oversee rehearsals, make interpretive decisions on the score, and shape the music audiences hear at every performance. They also possess a unique vantage point on opera s unfolding conversations surrounding race and gender in the 21st century.