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This is a page dedicated to "Friends of Fiddlin' Phil" - composers, performers and educators - profiling them and their work. Also, a bit about Jazz Violin and 'MIST' Jazz String Trio. Click on the links below to go directly to:
MIST is:
Phil Rooke on Jazz Violin, Kel Goyer on Guitar, Michael Barkl on Bass
Ed Goyer joins us on drums if you want a quartet - we can provide quality dinner & dance music for weddings, parties, corporate functions, harbour cruises, Jazz Festivals - in the Sydney, Illawarra, Southern Highlands, Blue Mountains areas. We can also hire in vocalists and other musicians to your budget and entertainment requirements.
Friends of Fiddlin' Phil
This is a new page dedicated to profiling and promoting other Australian Performers and Composers. We will add new people and current events, as well as links to other interesting sites here - please bookmark this page and come back and visit to see what's new.
Acclaimed Composer for Film & TV - Art Phillips
Art Phillips started as one of the top session guitarists in LA and worked with some of the big names in music in the USA - in orchestration and arranging as well as working as a session player. In 1987, he moved to Australia and established himself as one of the foremost composers for Film & TV in a growing and developing Australian Industry. Art has won numerous industry awards and nominations for his work but he has also contributed to the education and encouragement of the next generation of composers and musicians for Film & TV through lecturing at various Australian Universities and as president of the Australian Guild of Screen Composers (AGSC) from 2001 to 2008. I had the privilege of studying composing/orchestration/production for Film & TV at Griffith University - QLD under Art and can vouch for his very entertaining anecdotes and engaging style of teaching his craft.
Recently, I joined Art in his Sydney - Australia studio, surrounded by his "Children" - his favourite collection of guitars, for a very engaging chat about the craft of composing for film and TV and an inside look at the Australian Film & TV industry. I tried to cut this interview to under ten minutes, but found that I just couldn't. Please take the time to view the whole 15 minutes. You will be amply rewarded and find yourself asking for more. Find out more about the life and work of Art Phillips at www.artphillips.com
Composer/Orchestrator/Producer - Trumpet and Brass Player extraordinaire - Dominic Lindsay.
Dominic Lindsay was, in a previous existence, a class teacher of music and has a very successful reputation as such. He still teaches music in different scenarios and situations, such as workshops and demonstration concerts for schools but is best known for his work as Musical Director for the Wiggles - arranging, composing, producing music for innovative Children's Entertainment since 1994 - even occassionally donning top hat and tails and blowing his trumpet on some of the Wiggles Songs.
Dom does not just work in this genre though. He also performs regularly around Sydney as a session musician and in the John Fields Band. check one of their clips at YOUTUBE - JOHN FIELDS BAND
Dom's latest Music Education Venture maximizes his unique skill-set as a multi-instrumentalist, composer/arranger, producer and highly engaging entertainer and presenter. For pre-school to upper primary aged children, his one man show "Horns & Buttons & Tubes" shows Dom's great passion for taking children on an exciting musical journey as he jumps from the piccolo trumpet to the french horn to the accordion educating & entertaining us on the way. For upper Primary and all levels of Secondary School he presents a 2 person show featuring dynamic and talented industry acclaimed vocalist, Bronwyn Mulcahy - "Backstage Pass", featuring "Music for Theatre", "Music for Film & TV" etc, interacting and engaging the audience, whether it is a group of yr 7 & 8 students or HSC music students. Schools in the Sydney Region can find out more about booking Dominic Lindsay for one of these excellent school programs at www.stagefright.com.au
Recently, I spent a pleasant Saturday afternoon in Dom's backyard studio in sunny Bowral in the NSW Southern Highlands, discussing matters of music education and his interesting and varied career path thus far.
The first Australian Composer we will meet on this page is Ann Carr-Boyd - very appropriate as 2008 was her 70th birthday and a great celebration of her life and work through many public performances and airplay on radio and TV.
Read Ann's biography and purchase print music at Carlisle Print, who publish quality print music of Ann Carr-Boyd and other Australian Composers - go to Carlisle Print
Ann's music is very appealing to a wide audience and is especially suitable for music students - have a look at Carlisle Print
especially for pieces suitable for the 'Australian Composer' requirement for NSW HSC Music.
Fiddlin' Phil joined Ann recently for a virtual cup of coffee and a chat:
FP: Ann, you have just enjoyed a wonderful celebration of your 70th birthday
and a number of performances of your work. What was the highlight of 2008
for you?
AC-B: I think the highlight was that so many people wanted to hear my
music. The concerts began in April 2008 and did not finish until November 2008.
Also, that so many people sent me beautiful cards, which I shall always
keep, and phoned and made contact after many years when they heard my music
on the radio and on the television. Also, the fact that I have a lovely
family who have always put up with me.
FP: You have written some really stimulating material for music students - I
myself have purchased some of your pieces for HSC music students. How
important is the teaching and education aspect of your life and work in the
context of your music career? i.e. How important is educating the next
generation of composers as opposed to just composing?
AC-B: I have been teaching for a long time now ! My father became ill when
I was only 20, and I took over his students - he died the day after my
21st birthday so I kept on teaching them, and have never really stopped
teaching since then - which means I have a very long teaching career ! I
still have a range of students from age 6 years to in the 60s - I enjoy
every one. One student ( now 96 ) commenced lessons with me when she was 68
- and kept on for twelve years. In addition to individual students I have
taught in many schools and tertiary institutions and given master classes in
Australia, and in the USA and England.
Also, throughout my three daughters' school years I was involved in
accompanying choirs, violin classes and much else. All of this has kept me
in touch with the younger and older generations which is so valuable. They
attended Lane Cove Primary School and then North Sydney Girls' High School.
It has helped me to know what might appeal to a ten year old or a fifty-yr
old. A strong rhythmic structure and a strong form appeals to most people -
melody helps too ! This all adds up to the fact that I have not spent any time at all really in
the ivory tower.
FP: What would you say to the next generation of musicians and composers in
Australia in regard to their academic and musical focus?
AC-B Always be enthusiastic about what you do, and never be afraid to be
imaginative.
FP: Thanks Ann, your words of encouragement are indeed a great
gift and inspiration to Australian Students of Music of all ages.
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Willow Weep For Me
