Friends pair up for all-female concerto
A female violinist and composer are teaming up for a surprising new work.
Amalia Hall, 27, and Claire Cowan, 32, are in preparation for a violin concerto to be played with Orchestra Wellington on December 3.
Entitled ‘The Stark Concerto’, the piece is so named to give a ‘New Zealand feel’ to the work, and evoke the wild scenery of the west coast.
Multi-award winning violinist Hall says the themes came out of conversations about being female musicians, and what they associate with ‘coming home’.
‘‘The dramatic cliffs [of the west coast] and everything are quite striking.
‘‘I wish I had the time to go there more, because I can’t get enough of it.’’
The piece is likely to be around 20 minutes, with three movements. The story of New Zealand dancer Freda Stark also provided inspiration.
‘‘There’s so many options when you write a work... to have a sort of story line and figure to base the energy and path of the music around is really helpful,’’ Cowan says.
Cowan says Stark had a similar height and stance to the soloist.
‘‘She’s really graceful, in the same way that Amalia is super graceful when she plays violin.’’
They agree it’s unusual to have a concerto both written and performed by women.
‘‘In the last 15 years there’s only been two concertos written by women, and I think only six altogether in the history of New Zealand music,’’ Cowan says.
Rather than crowdsource for funding, they are looking for larger contributions from several donors.
The two met in 2006, and last worked together in Cowan’s Blackbird Ensemble in 2014.
Cowan says working with Hall is like working with a friend - albeit an extremely talented one.
‘‘I think because we’re both around the same age, and have a similar perspective and experience with life [means] we can kind of feed off each other’s ideas.’’
‘‘I think Claire has such an innovative approach to music,’’ Hall says.
‘‘It’s really different to anyone else that I’ve ever encountered.’’
Email clairesmusic@gmail.com to contribute or to find out more.