Congratulations and many thanks to the men of the Pemulwuy National Male Voice Festival, who performed my commissioned work, The Redemption of Captain Ahab, in their Finale Concert at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre last week.
The piece, with words by Queensland poet Mark Svendsen, develops the idea that the ghost of Captain Ahab would not be too pleased to hear about another white whale wandering free! This time, the whale is not Moby Dick, but Migaloo, the white humpback who journeys along the east coast of Australia every year. As the title suggests, it has a rather different ending to Melville's classic novel...
The men of the Pemulwuy Festival Adult Choir did a first rate job and were a pleasure to work with and sing with (I joined the choir for the Festival). We performed under the superb direction of internationally renowned choral conductor Dr Christopher Kiver and with the great accompanying of Justine Favell. The Festival is organised by Voices of Birralee and brought together over five hundred men and boys, choirs from all round the country, conductors, teachers and composers. It was a huge success and we all left in great spirits! A CD and DVD of the Finale Concert will be available soon. Many thanks also to Kate Albury and the boys of the Brisbane Grammar School Chamber Choir, who gave a very sensitive performance of Hush the Waves at the Sunday evening concert!