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Chris Sainsbury is the
quintessential Australian composer. His music depicts
something of the larger Australian persona from bushman
to academic, and from surfer to artist. It's natural for
him! This is apparent in
his 'coastal-scrub' songs, odd song cycles, a variety
of instrumental solos, the 'fishy' string quartets, casual
'swipes' at orchestra, the
substantial Symphony of the Birds, and a couple of concertos
including the Concerto for Guitar - The Luthier
("ingenious" - Gilbert
Biberian; and, "a fantastic concerto" - Adrian Walter).
He has enjoyed commissions
and performances by the Australian Chamber Orchestra under Carl
Pini and also under Richard Tognetti; from esteemed theatre
director Noel Tovey - the acclaimed Mudrooroo-Muller play
'Aboriginal Protestors' (Performance Space Production for the
Sydney and Weimar Festivals); with the Darwin International Guitar
Festival - where Spanish virtuoso Jose Maria Gallardo del Rey
premiered his Concerto for Guitar; and from the wild contemporary
music Duo Bosgraaf-Elias (Holland) for their Around the Globe
Project. Sainsbury has enjoyed features in festivals and events in
Germany, Belgium, Holland, Estonia, Finland and Sweden. "The
opportunities that arise are so random", he says.
Currently he is working on a
Concerto for Cor Anglais - Bloody Big Fire for Sydney
soloist Rachel Tolmie and the Central Coast Concertante, for 2009.
In this work the orchestra takes the role of bush-fire and the
soloist is the back-burn.
On the philosophical side,
Sainsbury stimulates our thinking through his concept of the
'Listening Grounds'. This
is contrasted by the hilarious Tropical Harmony for Alpine
Frets, a new
approach to harmony for guitarists.
Sainsbury is a leader in the
field of new developments in notation, including the notation of
Sonic Art works. In this vein he has conceived several pieces
where the performance or installation results in a musical
score. "Turning things around like this helps us to 're-hear' music
in new ways", he says.
Sainsbury is a private family
man. He is a proudly self-reliant composer, preferring to work independent of government
funding agencies and other circuses, and says "I have a life
in music, rather than a career in music".
To view
scores or hear samples visit Sounds and Scores here.
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