Expats home in on HIP note

Written by RON BANKS

Back in Perth to perform at Winthrop Hall — Nichola Boud, Paul Wright, Kathryn McCusker, Kate Walpole and Shaun Lee-Chen.

Christmas always seems to draw home those young musicians who are pursuing their careers with orchestras, chamber ensembles and academies across Europe.

Coming home is a time for family celebrations, but also the time to put into practice those talents honed by years of training with the great teachers and orchestras of Europe.

Flying in for Christmas this year will be the members of the Australian Classical Era Orchestra, formed by expatriate West Australians — with a couple of members from Sydney.

The orchestra members are spread across Europe as they pursue their individual careers but whenever possible they like to get together to play very HIP music — that is, “historically informed performance” — using period instruments to get an authentic sound.

They also like nothing better than to play for their home crowd, which is why ACEO will give a concert at Winthrop Hall on January 7.

It will be followed by a concert at the Margaret River Cultural Centre on January 8.

The orchestra was formed in Brisbane last year from musicians who spend their time mostly in Europe.

ACEO was founded by bassoon player Kate Walpole, a graduate of the WA Conservatorium, who decided to move to Europe to study historical bassoon.

It was while working and studying overseas that Walpole realised that many of the musicians with whom she was playing came from Australia — and WA in particular.

“On one occasion in Holland, when working in an orchestra under the baton of Phillipe Herreweghe, all the principal wind chairs were occupied by Australians — three of them from Perth,” Walpole said. “It was then I realised we should be doing this at home.”

It was easy for Walpole to network with her WA colleagues, and soon the orchestra came into being, with most members from WA.

Vocalist for the group is opera singer Kathryn McCusker, who flew into Perth this week from her base in London where she is continuing her career with British opera and concert houses. The instrumental line-up is led by director and violinist Sophie Gent, who graduated with first-class honours in music from the University of WA. Gent is studying early music at the Royal Conservatorium in The Hague, in Holland. In addition to her studies, she frequently performs and records with ensembles throughout Europe, including Orchestra Van Wassenaer, Nuova Practica, the Mozart Akademie, Concerto d’Amsterdam and La Petite Bande.

She has recently been part of the Opera Quarta, who were winners of two major international period instrument chamber music competitions.

Flautist for the group is Georgia Browne, who moved to Holland to further her studies after a bachelor of music at the University of WA. Browne regularly performs with ensembles such as Florilegium Musicum, the New Dutch Academy and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

Another musician with a similar career path is clarinetist Nichola Boud, who followed her studies at the University of WA with postgraduate studies in clarinet at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in The Hague. Boud also has played with many European chamber ensembles and been a soloist with symphony orchestras.

The other members of the group include Sydney-raised cellist Tim Blomfield, who has studied in Holland, and Sydney violinist Kirra Thomas. Thomas and Browne are members of the British-based Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, which will perform as part of the Perth International Arts Festival in February.

To introduce itself to Perth audiences, the Australian Classical Era Orchestra will present an all-Mozart program under the musical direction of Perth-based violinist Paul Wright.

The program will include McCusker singing arias from Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro, La Clemenza di Tito and Idomeneo.

There also will be Mozart’s clarinet quintet as a vehicle for Boud, and the beautiful Flute Quartet for Browne. “The level of excellence of this new ensemble and its status as the first national ensemble to perform exclusively in this new HIP mode has already attracted support from several major sponsors,” founder Walpole said.

First published in Today section of The West Australian, 19 December 2005, page 66.

For ticket details, see WA Mozart's 250th Birthday.