During COVID Claire was lucky enough to receive a small Create NSW grant to facilitate making high quality videos of 3 Australian marimba repertoire pieces by Ross Edwards, Elena Kats-Chernin and Ella Macens (all written for her) for dissemination on the international Vic Firth Marimba Repertoire Pages YouTube page. The first video of Violet’s Etude has already had over 5000 views in just a few weeks. Stay tuned for the other two videos to be launched soon. Watch the first one here.
KEYCHANGE AMBASSADOR FOR AUSTRALIA
In October Claire was named Australian Keychange Ambassador. Claire said: "We, as a global community, must nurture emerging as well as established talent in order to increase the visibility of women and gender minorities. Only via this means will equality in opportunities and programming become the norm. This ‘new norm’ will only eventuate through focused efforts such as Keychange, highlighting the current differences in opportunities within the music industry and advocating for gender balance. My group Ensemble Offspring has been at the forefront of this change in Australia. We programmed a complete year of music by female composers in 2017 to highlight how much inspiring music by women exists, that audiences typically don’t get to hear, and since then we have easily met a 50% target in our programming. I am thrilled about further advocating for change in Australia through my position as a Keychange ambassador.”
FORCES OF NATURE - MDCH 22/10 7pm
CLAIRE EDWARDES & EMILY GRANGER – FORCES OF NATURE
THURSDAY 22ND OCTOBER AT 7PM (AEDT)
Claire Edwardes and Emily Granger join forces for the first time with their two unique and monolithic instruments – the marimba and the harp. Their original program of solos and duos by living composers from home and the world explores the sonic glory of our natural and celestial worlds, showcasing two of Australia’s most exciting performers!
Presenting Partner: National Art School
ARTISTS
Claire Edwardes – marimba
Emily Granger – harp
PROGRAM
Parisa Sabet – When the Roses Laugh in Full Blown Beauty
Jacob Druckman – Reflections on the Nature of Water
Clare Strong – Moonlight
Ross Edwards – The harp and the moon
Laura Zaerr – Right River Rumba
Caleb Burnhams – Once in a Blue Moon
A Death Knell for Australian Arts
In June 2020 Claire wrote this article in Limelight Magazine on the current state of the arts in Australia - the diminishing federal government funding, university fee hikes for arts courses and the impacts of Covid-19 https://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/features/a-death-knell-for-australian-arts-and-culture/
The Less Trodden Path
In July 2020 Claire wrote this article in The Music Trust’s Loudmouth E Zine outlining why she chose the less trodden path in music. Enjoy the read and the photos! https://musictrust.com.au/loudmouth/inside-the-musician-claire-edwardes-why-i-chose-the-less-trodden-path/
CLAIRE'S COVID PERCUSSION STUDIO CONCERTS
Launched soon after all our concerts were cancelled in March 2020, I have now presented 5 studio concerts. The last one will be 24th May at 6pm.
‘I came up with the idea early on in COVID shutdowns to present solo concerts on Zoom from my front room. This was inspired by a young colleague Ryley Gillen who had asked me to present an artist concert for the donors to the Shoalhaven Youth Orchestra - to what was an audience of about 10 - and it was really fun chatting to them between pieces and hearing them clap after I finished a work. I know a lot of people struggle with the Facebook Live thing of finishing a piece and hearing silence. The comments on the screen are great and the interaction that it can provide is really important. I am now about to launch my 5th Zoom concert (including that very first one presented by Ryley in March) on Sunday 24 May at 6pm. Basically people secure their place by transferring the $50/head ticket price directly into my bank account. I share the Zoom link with them along with the program notes a few days prior and I cap the audience number at around 20 so we can have intimacy and everyone can chat before, during and after. Some people keep their video off and that is totally fine too if they want to remain anonymous and just listen. Lots of people ask questions - and the best bit is that I don’t have to take my marimba into 9 pieces, load it into the car, set it up at the other end and do it all again to get it back to my place. Not having to do that is pure joy for me and means I can really focus on the music. I have presented several world premieres as part of my series which I was meant to premiere at the Bowral Autumn Music Festival - these were works by Andrew Ford and Ella Macens written for me. For what will be my final Studio Zoom Concert for a while on the 24th May I’ll have a world premiere by London composer Christopher Fox who will be joining us for the show, so that is very exciting!’
