In Tuesday’s (11/29) Sydney Morning Herald, Wendy Frew writes, “In a room several floors below the Circular Quay promenade, a group of young musicians is rehearsing a newly commissioned piece of music for strings, tweaking and refining the work, conferring with the composer, ahead of its premiere tomorrow at the Sydney Conservatorium. … The work is Paul Stanhope’s Qinoth (pronounced ‘Key-Nought’, meaning lamentations in Hebrew), commissioned by the Australian Chamber Orchestra for its touring youth orchestra, ACO2. … Against a backdrop of savage cuts to arts funding in Europe and North America and with recommendations from ad man Harold Mitchell about how to grow the philanthropic pie now on the Arts Minister Simon Crean’s desk, Australia’s arts community knows its future rests on discovering new ways to raise money from the private sector. … The commission was paid for by the Creative Music Fund, a loose group of music lovers who got together a couple of years ago to support new works from emerging composers. For a relatively modest contribution (membership is a minimum $1000), the fund’s 22 members have raised $50,000 for Stanhope’s work, developed a relationship with the chamber orchestra that has led to more commissions, and been rewarded with an opportunity to meet the composer and understand more about his work.”
Posted November 29, 2011
