Music Forum 8/4 April 2002

Jeannie Marsh

It is 1996. I am on a two-month "creative retreat" at Mirramu Creative Arts Centre outside Canberra. I am burnt-out after 15 years of running a frenetic freelance career as singer (Carmen, Cage, Koehne, cabaret – you name it), community arts worker (with Canto Coro and Dandenong Ranges Music Council), teacher (running ensembles and activities in new music-theatre for tertiary students), and arts project manager (wearing every hat in the arts admin. hat shop). I am really burnt out, seeking a quiet time in the bush, looking out over Lake George, keeping the pot-belly stove fired up to keep out the icy winter chill, going for long walks, and exploring all sorts of possibilities for new directions in my musical life.

Rosalind Appleby

Hamburg has been home to Simone Young for a year now. The port city with its well dressed citizens and tree lined canals is known as the Venice of the north. Theatres and concert halls sit alongside cafes and the red light district and at the hub is the Hamburg Staatsoper, with Australian conductor Simone Young at the helm.

Music Forum 8/4 April 2002

Sculpting Sound: New Bell Designs and Attitude

Leah Curtis takes a look into Christopher Gordon's world, gaining a valuable insight into the demands of a contemporary professional screen composer.