Tip of the tongue
Two Tasmanian performers who are making their mark on the world stage are joining forces for a couple of very special concerts in Hobart, writes Penny McLeod
SOPRANO Allison Bell and viola player Stefanie Farrands have watched each other perform on some of the world’s greatest stages. In Berlin, Germany, they would sometimes meet for coffee after shows, and talk about the prospect of one day working together.
Next week the two internationally acclaimed performers will realise that goal when they perform together at two special free concerts in Hobart.
“We met for the first time in Hobart, at Dark Mofo in 2015, and since then we’ve met in Europe a fair bit, talking and dreaming about collaborations over the years,” says Farrands, the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra’s principal viola.
The concerts at The Old Mercury Building (TOMB) on December 19 and 20 are the next in Bell’s Nobody
Belongs Here More Than You series. Tickets to the unusually intimate shows are limited and audience places are chosen by random lottery. Both
Farrands and Bell are excited about the show, in part because it includes the world premiere of an important new work for two violas, commissioned by Farrands and inspired by the lost language of the Barngarla Aboriginal community.
The piece, titled Mother Tongue, was written by Israeli-born Australian composer and pianist Yitzhak Yedid, and features Farrands and Berlin-based violist Avishai Chameides.
“I’m so grateful for the support of Detached in allowing me to program these really special concerts,” says Bell, the current artist-in-residence with the Detached Cultural Organisation within The Old Mercury Building.
“It’s rare to see artists of this calibre for free, anywhere in the world. This concert is really featuring some of the world’s and Australia’s most exciting chamber music string players.
“It will be the same program both evenings. We’re giving two performances as we’ve had such overwhelming audience response to my concerts at TOMB so far, with far more people wanting to come than audience space available.”
In addition to Mother Tongue, the concerts will include music by Dowland, de Falla, and Glass. Lucy Carrig, Ambra Nesa (violins) and Michael Dahlenburg (cello) will also be performing, and there will be a few surprise musical additions on the night. Farrands commissioned Mother
Tongue, which has five parts, after being awarded a Freedman Fellowship in 2016.
“It’s amazing that it’s finally here and it’s ready and about to be performed,’’ she says. “It was commissioned with Avishai in mind to perform it, so to have him available and able to come all the way from Berlin to do the premiere with me is a real honour.
“I always wanted to commission a duo, and I am really passionate about languages. The topic [of the piece] is really interesting. It’s about linguicide and the Barngarla Aboriginal community [of Port Lincoln in South Australia] who have had their mother tongue, their language, die and become a sleeping language.
“I felt like the combination of two violas was able to communicate in such a raw and earthy way that it could reflect and be inspired by this topic.
“It’s fiendishly difficult and the music is raw and it really hits a deep, dark spot in people’s hearts.”
Bell, whose residency at Detached ends in April, bookends the piece with two beautiful vocal pieces “that are also an expression of sadness and despair, but also how we come to terms with despair and loss”.
She says it was serendipitous that both she and Farrands ended up in Hobart this year.
“It was obvious that [Detached] was the right space for me both artistically and ethically,’’ Bell says. “Spatially, acoustically it’s just such a good fit for this chamber music. As soon as Stefanie came in here and we met here and had a look at the collection and space, Stefanie immediately said ‘This will be the space to premiere this piece’ rather than in a concert hall.
“[It’s ideal to be] somewhere like this where we are trying to take away any kind of hierarchy between the audience and the players.” If you would like a chance to be in the audience for one of the one-hour concerts at 7pm on December 19 or 20, email voice@detached.com.au. You can apply for up to two tickets per email, including the names and contact details of all people you are applying for. Please specify the date you are applying for. If you can attend either night, please state that. Audience places will be chosen by random lottery and are not transferable. Apply before December 15.