Review: ‘Our Duty to Care: Worlds collide in thought-provoking concert’, Lily Begg from ClassikON writes.
https://www.classikon.com/our-duty-to-care-worlds-collide-in-thought-provoking-concert/
by Lily Begg | Apr 21, 2023 | Ambassador thoughts, Composer, Premiere
Robert McIntyre | Our Duty to Care
20 April, 2023, Ian Potter Southbank Centre, Melbourne
Curator and composer Robert McIntyre proved that the intersection of music and law is sustainability, in his multi-faceted concert Our Duty to Care.
Taking place in the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music’s Ian Potter Southbank Centre, Our Duty to Care was presented by Robert McIntyre and the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music as part of the University of Melbourne Wattle Fellowship. The Wattle Fellowship is purposed to support projects that promote sustainability, and McIntyre – who is currently a student at the Melbourne Law School but also holds a Bachelor of Music (Honours) in Composition – drew on his multi-disciplinary background to curate a program which explored environmental themes.
The program featured new works and two world premieres by local contemporary classical composers Laura Abraham, Sam Williams, Nat Bartsch, and McIntyre himself. The Solstice Trio – Georgina Lewis, Stephanie Arnold, and guest Isabel Hede – and soprano Bridgette Kelsey performed in shapeshifting subsets across the concert, coming together as a quartet for two of the works. The ensemble worked well together however unfortunately Kelsey’s lower register was often lost in the mix. (Arnold’s carbon fibre cello felt fittingly futuristic given the subject matter – whether a conscious choice for the evening or just Arnold’s preferred instrument, it was a nice touch.)
First was McIntyre at the piano performing his own composition A Sea Spray of Ash with soprano Bridgette Kelsey. A bold opening for Kelsey, who was exposed on an unforgiving tightrope due to the curious effect of the piano doubling the vocal line. But she handled the vocal leaps and irregular melodic contours with ease, and she and McIntyre made a very successful ensemble.
A standout was Nat Bartsch’s Homecoming, which came as welcome warmth in a program coloured by melancholy. Bartsch has a unique knack for breathing life into sparsity, and her 2019 commission for Solstice Trio was a comforting reflection on the theme of cityscapes.
Savanna Wegman delivered a powerful poetry reading before McIntyre’s Our Duty to Care. The concert’s titular piece had an involved origin story, taking its inspiration from the legal case Sharma v Minister for the Environment [2021] FCA 560. Wegman had synthesised McIntyre’s own legal research on the case to produce a three part poem, which McIntyre in turn set in a song cycle. Having ruled that the Minister had breached a duty of care to Australian children by approving coal extraction, the Sharma case set a monumental precedent by which climate change is a legally-recognised reality. McIntyre and Wegman’s collaborative response was an emotive and freeform journey, equal parts elegy and expression of hope.
There was a memorable sense of community throughout the evening. Towards the concert’s close McIntyre acknowledged the many different people and experiences that Our Duty to Care had brought together, and stressed the value of multidisciplinary projects. It was apparent from the close relationships McIntyre shared with colleagues both on stage and in the audience that Our Duty to Care was a personally significant event to many. Art produced in the realm of climate activism often conforms to a set script. We are familiar with its various tones: a call to arms, a rally of hope, an accusatory cry. But the overwhelming message of Our Duty to Care was one of reflection. McIntyre took an introspective tack, and was rewarded by a captivated audience.
Bridgette Kelsey | Georgina Lewis | Isabel Hede | Robert McIntyre | Solstice Trio | Stephanie Arnold
About The Author: Lily Begg
Lily Begg is a Melbourne-based pianist and writer. Equally at home as a soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician, she has performed and recorded with the University of Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Youth Orchestra, been a répétiteur for the Australian Contemporary Opera Company and the Berlin Opera Academy, and recently won the 2022 Melbourne Conservatorium Chamber Music Competition with her piano quintet, ‘Spell’. As a writer, Lily has been published by organisations such as the Australian Youth Orchestra and the Australian National Academy of Music, and is a twice-alumna of the Australian Youth Orchestra’s music journalism program ‘Words About Music’. Lily has a Bachelor of Music (performance) from The University of Melbourne, where she is currently completing her Honours year.
