Marilyn ForeverGavin Bryars EnsembleGavin Bryars Ensemble with guestsJesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet and selected orchestral works

Gavin Bryars in Residence Fri 27 Feb – Thu 5 Mar

BASS 131 246adelaidefestival.com.au

Gavin Bryars in Residence

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Gavin Bryars in ResidenceMarilyn Forever Gavin Bryars Ensemble Gavin Bryars Ensemble with guests Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet and selected orchestral worksEXCLUSIVE TO ADELAIDE

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A NOTE FROM DAVID SEFTON, ARTISTIC DIRECTORBy its very nature, attempting to fully represent the whole range of Gavin Bryars’ work would take the next three Adelaide Festivals and even then would barely have scratched the surface – which of course makes him the perfect choice for our festival ‘Composer in Residence’.

One of the most influential, significant, important and prolific composers working today, the range and quality of Gavin’s work and collaborations are without parallel. And while a snapshot is all one festival could ever hope to accomplish, I have to say that what we have in the festival this year is a pretty great snapshot.

Alongside the centrepiece concert in which Gavin will conduct the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra in a performance of his own signature piece ‘Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet’ alongside other key works by himself and a selection of his major influences, we can also proudly boast Gavin’s own ensemble on Australian soil for the first time ever in two major concerts, one of which will feature the Australian premiere of his own cycle of Tom Waits songs in a concert which also includes Australia’s Song Company and Irish legend Gavin Friday as collaborators.

And to this add the Australian premiere of the most recent chamber opera Marilyn Forever, featuring the Aventa Ensemble and Gavin as performer.

So. Not too shabby.

In all seriousness, I am honoured and thrilled that such a body of work has been brought together and am deeply indebted to Gavin for dedicating so much time and energy to this wonderful project.

It would ill behove me not to also express deepest gratitude to the unstoppable Jude Gun who has wrangled the project into being for the festival – couldn’t have happened without her!

And a special, personal thanks to Sally Grove in London, who was pivotal in making this happen.

Please enjoy this unique opportunity.

PRODUCER Jude Gun PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Adam Hornhardt, Taren HornhardtPRODUCTION COORDINATOR Nathan D’Agostino PROGRAM COORDINATOR Michelle WiggAUDIO CONSULTANT Jane Rossetto

ADELAIDE FESTIVAL GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGES THE ASSISTANCE OF Vincent Ciccarello, Simon Lord – Adelaide Symphony Orchestra; Andrew Dunbar–Nasmith, Louisa Hungate, Ian Mylett, Sam Rigby – Schott Music; Deirdre Bates – MDS London; Megan Stapleton – Hal Leonard Australia; Dominic Gray – Opera North; Simon Goodes, Kat McGuffie – Australian Broadcasting Commission; Alicia Gibbons, Irene Hendricks – The Song Company; Petra Cvelbar; Ralph Blackbourne, Paul Massey – Rayfield Allied; Roland Brown – RKB Management; Graham Pushee – Arts Management; John Powell – Active Artists Management, Adelaide Festival Centre Sound Department.

GAVIN BRYARS BIOGRAPHY

Gavin Bryars, born in 1943, was first of all a jazz bassist and pioneer of free improvisation with Derek Bailey and Tony Oxley in the trio Joseph Holbrooke. He subsequently worked in the USA in the late 1960’s with John Cage and in Britain as part of the experimental music community.

Early iconic works The Sinking of the Titanic (1969) and Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet (1971) achieved cult status in their first releases on Brian Eno’s Obscure Records and enjoyed major recording success with the later 1990s versions. He has written four operas (Medea, with Robert Wilson, Lyon and Paris 1984; Doctor Ox’s Experiment, with Atom Egoyan, English National Opera and Dortmund 1998; G, with Georges Delnon, Mainz 2002; Marilyn Forever, with Joel Ivany, Victoria BC 2013) and a fifth opera is planned for 2016 in France with writer Michael Ondaatje.

Bryars has composed a great deal of music for dance for, among others, Merce Cunningham, Edouard Lock, Carolyn Carlson, David Dawson and William Forsythe - and in 2014 he wrote the music for five new ballets: for Edouard Lock (Sao Paolo and Cullberg), Carolyn Carlson (Bordeaux), Gregor Zöllig (Bielefeld) and one for the Bavarian Staatsballet 2.

For a number of years he taught in art colleges and collaborated with many visual artists such as Bruce McLean, David Ward, Tim Head, James Hugonin, Bill Woodrow and Will Alsop. He has made installations/performances for the Liverpool Tate Gallery, Tate St. Ives, Chateau d’Oiron, among others and worked closely with the late Juan Muñoz.

He has a long list of instrumental, orchestral and vocal works to his credit including concertos for violin, cello, double bass, piano, saxophone, bass oboe, tuned percussion ensemble (Percussions Claviers de Lyon) and vocal works for artists such as the Hilliard Ensemble, Red Byrd, Trio Mediaeval, Latvian Radio Choir, Estonian National Male Choir, Vox Altera, Iarla O’Lionaird, Singer Pur, The Crossing (Philadelphia). He worked with Opera North on settings of Shakespeare sonnets, and the songs of Tom Waits. Since 1998 he has also written music for the films of Russian director Anna Tchernakova.

Bryars is a Regent of the Collège de ’Pataphysique and lives in Leicestershire and British Columbia. He performs internationally with his own ensemble, and has made many recordings – for ECM, Point, Philips, Naxos, Decca, and his own label GB Records.

The music of Gavin Bryars is published exclusively by Schott Music.

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Marilyn ForeverA chamber opera by Gavin Bryars Aventa EnsembleFri 27 Feb – Sun 1 Mar Studio 520, ABC Collinswood CentreAUSTRALIAN PREMIERE/EXCLUSIVE TO ADELAIDE

COMPOSER Gavin Bryars LIBRETTIST Marilyn Bowering DIRECTOR Joel Ivany CONDUCTOR Bill Linwood SET AND COSTUME DESIGN Camellia Koo LIGHTING DESIGN Kevin Lamotte PRODUCED BY Aventa Ensemble

MARILYN (SOPRANO) Anne Grimm THE MEN (BARITONE) Richard Morris TENOR Adam Goodburn BASS Nicholas Cannon PIANO Robert Holliston TENOR SAXOPHONE Julien Wilson DOUBLE BASS Gavin Bryars

ORCHESTRA BASS CLARINET AK Coope BASSOON Jennifer Gunter HORN Darnell LinwoodVIOLA I Mieka Michaux VIOLA II Muge Buyukcelen CELLO Alasdair Money DOUBLE BASS Darren Buhr PERCUSSION Corey Rae

PRODUCTION MANAGER Timothy O’Gorman STAGE MANAGER Sara Robb REPETITEUR Andrew Georg

Produced by Aventa Ensemble and presented with the assistance of Canada Council for the Arts and British Columbia Arts Council.

These performances of Marilyn Forever by Gavin Bryars are given by permission of Hal Leonard Australia Pty Ltd, exclusive agents for Schott Music Ltd., London.

This program will be recorded by ABC Classic FM for delayed national broadcast.

DURATION: 1 HOUR 30 MINUTES (NO INTERVAL)

PROGRAM NOTEMarilyn Forever is my fourth opera and emerges from my experience of having written three large-scale operas. I chose to write a chamber opera partly in order to give the possibility of more frequent performance, and also to create something intimate and confined.

The opera grew out of my friendship with the Canadian writer Marilyn Bowering, whose poems and radio play on Marilyn Monroe touched me deeply. When I was a student I was almost obsessed with The Misfits, written for Marilyn by Arthur Miller. This became the last film for many involved – Clark Gable, Marilyn herself, and almost for Montgomery Clift – and I once watched it in the cinema over twenty times in one week...

The opera takes place on the night of Marilyn’s death and is set in a rehearsal space where there is an onstage jazz trio – piano, tenor sax, and bass (which I play). Essentially this is a one-woman opera with the singer onstage almost throughout. Apart from what one might call ‘classical’ singing, the singer has to move from quiet moments of understated reflection to Marilyn’s own style of singing.

As the work progresses, the performance interweaves what is taking place on stage with the trajectory of her life through relationships, fame and myth. Marilyn is often looked at as a sex object, victim or fantasy. But in this work, we are given through her own voice, her combination of sensitivity and exhibitionism, and a view from the ‘inside’ of her conflicting emotions and ambitions. The people and forces summoned by her fame and sexuality ultimately destroy her and it is only in death that she is seen with clarity and receives the pity and love for which she has longed.

Gavin Bryars

ACCESS INFORMATIONPRESENTING PARTNER

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MARILYN BOWERING, LIBRETTISTMarilyn Bowering is a poet and novelist based in British Columbia, Canada. She has received many awards for her work including designation of Notable Book by the New York Times, short-listing for the world-wide Orange Prize and the recent Gwendolyn McEwen poetry prize. In 2008, she was a Fulbright scholar. Her latest publications are the poetry book, Soul Mouth, and the novel, What It Takes To Be Human. Current projects are a novel, Pearl and the Storytellers Academy, and Threshold: an encounter with the 17th century Gaelic bard, Mairi McLeod.

The libretto for Marilyn Forever is the result of a long-standing interest in Monroe’s intriguing personality. Bowering says, “Growing up having the name Marilyn, was like having a stamp on your forehead – as soon as they heard the name, people would look at you differently. What fascinated me was that Monroe was sexy but not coarse – and she not only had a sense of humour but clear ideas about how things should be, in terms of love and art and beauty; and she never caved in to conventional ideas about women.”

ANNE GRIMM, SOPRANO – MARILYNAnne Grimm has performed throughout Europe and North America. Highlights include touring with Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra (Salzburg Festival) and performances with the Amsterdamse Bachsolisten under Roy Goodman (Concertgebouw). Other highlights include Rameau’s Les Indes Galante with Frans Bruggen and the Orchestra of the 18th Century, and also performances with the Netherlands Opera and National Reisopera. North American highlights include appearances with Canada’s National Arts Center Orchestra (Pinchas Zuckerman, conductor), Toronto’s Tafelmusik, as well as Apollo’s Fire Cleveland at the Ojai Festival in California. Ms Grimm has recorded for Erato, NM Classics, Vanguard Classics, Troubadisc, Sony and Harmonia.

RICHARD MORRIS, BARITONE – THE MEN Richard Morris studied at the Guildhall School of Music in London where Leonard Bernstein chose him for the lead role of Celebrant in the composer’s Mass. Mr Morris continues to work with many leading composers including Stephen Sondheim, Harrison Birtwistle and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. Appearances include Vancouver Opera, Opera de Toulouse, Opera North, Scottish Opera, ROH and Aldeburgh. In 2014, Mr Morris appeared in Under Milk Wood, which featured in the Guardian’s top 10 list of opera productions.

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JOEL IVANY, STAGE DIRECTORCanadian stage director Joel Ivany is the founder and artistic director of Against the Grain Theatre (AtG) and was a recent finalist and winner in the European Opera Directing Prize for his concept of Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi. He recently directed Carmen (Vancouver Opera); Macbeth (Minnesota Opera); Albert Herring (University of Toronto Opera); Les contes d’Hoffmann (Edmonton Opera). Mr Ivany is the current program director of Opera at The Banff Centre, and in 2016 will direct a semi-staged presentation of Mozart’s Requiem with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Carmen for the Canadian Opera Company.

BILL LINWOOD – ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, AVENTA ENSEMBLEBill Linwood is the co-founder and Artistic Director of Aventa Ensemble. He has conducted premieres of a wide variety of Canadian and international repertoire, including the North American premiere of Boulez’s Dérive II. Recent highlights include the Danish premiere of Norwegian Rolf Wallin’s Appearances, the North American premiere of Anders Nordentoft’s opera On this Planet and the US premiere of Poul Ruders’ Abysm in New York City. Upcoming engagements include an appearance with Long Beach Opera, in March 2015.

AVENTA ENSEMBLEWith a reputation for superb performance and ambitious programming, Aventa has established itself as one of Canada’s leading contemporary music ensembles. Comprised of musicians who are passionate about new music and its place in our culture, Aventa pushes musical boundaries through diverse projects, collaboration and cultural exchange. Promoting and fostering new music has been at the core of Aventa’s work since its founding.

The ensemble regularly commissions both Canadian and international new works and has presented premieres of over 100 works both in Canada and on tour. Recent highlights from the international repertoire include the Canadian premieres of Gavin Bryars’ (UK) Marilyn Forever, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’ Stormwatch, Stormfall and Pierre Boulez’s (FR) Dérive II (1988-2007) of which Robert Everett-Green from the Globe and Mail wrote; “I can hardly give enough praise to the players of Victoria’s Aventa Ensemble and conductor Bill Linwood, who tackled all this difficult music with skill, passion and dedication.”

LIKE A LAID-BACK SOUTH AFRICAN REINCARNATION OF THELONIOUS MONK THE GUARDIAN

Abdullah Ibrahim [ZAF]

Revered pianist and composer, hailed as the greatest exponent of Cape Jazz, Ibrahim’s solo concerts create an intimate atmosphere, heart-stopping melody combined with a powerful spirituality.

Adelaide Town HallTue 10 Mar

PRESENTED BY ARTS PROJECTS AUSTRALIA IN ASSOCIATION WITH ADELAIDE FESTIVAL

ADELAIDEFESTIVAL.COM.AUBASS 131 246

SOPRANO Peyee Chen TENOR John Potter GUITARS James Woodrow VIOLA Morgan GoffCELLO Nick Cooper DOUBLE BASS Gavin Bryars WITH GUEST Imants Larsens – Viola II (in Irish Madrigals)

PROGRAM NOTEI have had my own ensemble for over 30 years, comprising musicians with whom I want to work rather than players who are there because I need certain instruments. All are versatile musicians, chamber musicians who are also exceptional individual soloists. They are my friends as well as close colleagues, whose musical characters I know and love. Much of my work refers to earlier forms of music and my musicians move effortlessly between this and more contemporary work.

Gavin Bryars

Gavin Bryars Ensemble Tue 3 Mar Elder Hall, University of Adelaide

PROGRAMLauda Dolçe I (2008) solo cello, electric guitar, double bassLauda 4 “Oi me lasso” (2002) soprano and tenorLauda 13 “Stomme Allegro” (2003) soprano, tenor, ensembleLauda 19 “Omne Homo” (2003) soprano, tenor, electric guitar, bassThe Flower of Friendship (2009) electric guitar, viola, cello, double bassfrom The Morrison Songbook (2012) soprano, tenor, ensemble

WebStormyAll the homely arts and craftsAlmond TreeThe print of solesIn AprilJust as the ash-glow

INTERVAL

Lauda (con sordino) (2009) solo viola, electric guitar, pianoLauda 42 “Salutiam devotamente” (2012) soprano, tenor, ensemble Irish Madrigals (2004) soprano, tenor, ensemble

He asks his heart to raise itself up to GodHe wishes he might die and follow LauraHe considers that he should set little store on earthly beautyHe recalls his visions of herHe finds comfort and rest in his sorrowsHe is jealous of the Heavens and the EarthPetrarch is unable to contain his griefHe sends his rhymes to the tomb of Laura to pray her to call him to herLaura waits for him in heaven

Lauda 28 “Amor dolce senza pare” (2006) soprano, tenor, ensemble

ACCESS INFORMATION

DURATION: 1 HOUR, 50 MINUTES (INCLUDING INTERVAL)

GAVIN BRYARS ENSEMBLE WITH: MEZZO SOPRANO Jess Walker NARRATOR Gavin Friday CLARINET/BASS CLARINET Anna Coleman VIOLA Imants Larsens PERCUSSION Rebecca Lagos ACCORDION James Crabb TENOR SAXOPHONE/BASS CLARINET Julien Wilson PIANO/HARMONIUM Roland Peelman

THE SONG COMPANY directed by Roland PeelmanSOPRANO Anna FraserSOPRANO Susannah LawergrenMEZZO SOPRANO Hannah FraserTENOR Richard BlackBARITONE Mark DonnellyBASS Alex Knight

PROGRAM NOTEOne of the pleasures in a festival is the opportunity to meet great musicians in a new environment. In the first part, I have Roland Peelman and the extraordinarily fine Song Company. The second and third parts are from two projects developed with Opera North (UK): Nothing like the Sun sets eight Shakespeare’s Sonnets; and my arrangements of the music of Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan, come out of love and respect for the music. Tom wrote: “I’m honoured to have an artist of Gavin Bryars’ stature dress these songs up and take them out to an elegant night on the town.”

Gavin Bryars

Gavin BryarsEnsemble with guests Wed 4 Mar Elder Hall, University of Adelaide

PROGRAMACT I LAUDE AND MADRIGALS FEATURING THE SONG COMPANYFrom The Second Book of Madrigals (2002)

l’vidi in terra angelici costumiUna candida cerva sopra l’erbaMorte à spento quel sol ch’ abagliar suolmi

It Never Rains (2010) ensemble Lauda 38 (2009) The Song Company + ensemblefrom The Sixth Book of Madrigals (Petrarch) (2015)

1 “Voi ch’ascoltate in rime sparse” 2 “Per fare una leggiadra sua vendetta” 3 “Era il giorno ch’al sol si scoloraro” 17 “Piovonmi amare lagrime dal viso” 18 “Quand’ io son tutto volto in quella parte”

INTERVAL

ACT II NOTHING LIKE THE SUN (2007) 8 SHAKESPEARE SONNETS (NARRATOR GAVIN FRIDAY)soprano, tenor, clarinet/bass clarinet, electric guitar, percussion, piano, two violas, cello, double bass

Sonnets: 60, 123, 128, 94, 102, 146, 55, 64

INTERVAL

ACT III MERCY AND GRAND BY TOM WAITS/KATHLEEN BRENNAN (ARR. GAVIN BRYARS) FEATURING JESS WALKERvoice, tenor sax/bass clarinet, accordion, electric guitar, piano, harmonium, violin, cello, double bass

A Little Drop of PoisonAliceWhistle Down the WindA Little RainYou’re Innocent When You DreamPonyGeorgia LeeTrain SongBarbara AllenThe Briar and the RoseLullaby

ACCESS INFORMATION

Nothing Like The Sun and Mercy and Grand originally commissioned by Opera North (UK)

Sixth Book of Madrigals co-commissioned by Adelaide Festival and The Song Company

DURATION: 3 HOURS (INCLUDING INTERVALS)

ADELAIDE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRACONDUCTOR Gavin Bryars SOPRANO Anna Fraser BASS Alex Knight

PROGRAMHoward Skempton Lento Gavin Bryars The Porazzi FragmentArvo Pärt If Bach had been a BeekeeperGavin Bryars Ennelina’s Aria from ‘G’Gavin Bryars Epilogue from ‘G’

INTERVAL

Gavin Bryars Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet

PROGRAM NOTE We bring together one of my earliest, and perhaps best-known pieces Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet, alongside more recent orchestral pieces, almost large-scale chamber works – both The Porazzi Fragment and Epilogue from ‘G’, use 21 solo strings. There is the first performance of two arias from my third opera ‘G’ in the original English (until now in German). I also include works by Howard Skempton and Arvo Pärt, my friends for many years who, like me, have emerged in a new way from a relatively obscure past.

Gavin Bryars

Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet and selected orchestral works Gavin Bryars conducts the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra Thu 5 Mar Adelaide Town HallPRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE ADELAIDE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

ADELAIDE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA VIOLINS Natsuko Yoshimoto, Rebecca Chan, Shirin Lim, Michael Milton, Alexis Milton, Janet Anderson, Ann Axelby, Erna Berberyan, Minas Berberyan, Gillian Braithwaite, Julia Brittain, Hilary Bruer, Jane Collins, Belinda Gehlert, Danielle Jaquillard, Zsuzsa Leon, Alexis Milton, Jennifer Newman, Julie Newman, Emma Perkins, Alexander Permezel, Judith Polain, Marie-Louise Slaytor, Kemeri Spurr VIOLAS Imants Larsens, Martin Butler, Lesley Cockram, Anna Hansen, Linda Garrett, Natalie Maegraith, Rosi McGowran, Carolyn Mooz, Cecily Satchell CELLOS Simon Cobcroft, Christopher Handley, Sarah Denbigh, Sherrilyn Handley, Rachel Johnston, Gemma Phillips, David Sharp, Cameron WatersDOUBLE BASSES David Schilling, Hugh Kluger, Jacky Chang, Harley Gray, Belinda Kendall-Smith, David Phillips

FLUTES Geoffrey Collins, Lisa GillPICCOLO Julia Grenfell OBOES Celia Craig, Renae Stavely, Grant DicksonCOR ANGLAIS Peter DugganCLARINETS Dean Newcomb, Darren Skelton E FLAT CLARINET Darren SkeltonBASS CLARINET Mitchell BerickBASSOONS Mark Gaydon, Leah Stephenson, Miriam ButlerCONTRA BASSOON Jackie Hansen

HORNS Adrian Uren, Sarah Barrett, Bryan Griffiths, Alex MillerTRUMPETS Martin Phillipson, Robin Finlay, Timothy KeerihanTROMBONES Cameron Malouf, Ian DenbighBASS TROMBONE Howard ParkinsonTUBA Peter Whish-Wilson

TIMPANI Robert HutchesonPERCUSSION Steven Peterka, Gregory RushHARP Suzanne HandelPIANO Jamie Cock

ACCESS INFORMATION

This program will be broadcast live nationally on ABC Classic FM

DURATION: 1 HOUR, 50 MINUTES (INCLUDING INTERVAL)

Join Julie, Simon and Graham for the best seats in the house from concert halls and festivals around the world. You’ll hear performances from Australia’s leading orchestras and ensembles along with the best international concerts. Evenings is also the place to hear live broadcasts of concerts as they happen around Australia.

Evenings - from 7pm Monday - Saturday

Simon HealyMonday - Tuesday

Julie HowardWednesday - Friday

Graham AbbottSaturday

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