BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
I’m excited about Arcadia Winds.
Undoubtedly one of the country’s most active young groups, it all started back in 2013 when these musicians received an Australian National Academy of Music fellowship. After that, Arcadia burst onto the scene as Musica Viva’s 2015-17 FutureMakers – and the group hasn’t stopped since.
These instrumentalists have performed in most parts of the country, and their music has been broadcast across the globe through the BBC Proms Australia chamber music series. They’ve performed in concert halls in China, and have teamed up with internationally celebrated and local performers alike.
So it’s no wonder they’re going to feature as part of the Melbourne Recital Centre’s Local Heroes Series this month.
In fact, we might consider ‘heroes’ an understatement.
Their contribution to Australian music alone has seen them commission and perform pieces by Natalie Williams, Kate Neal, Elizabeth Younan, and others – some contemporary local works even featuring on their debut EP, released in partnership with ABC Classics and Musica Viva.
Alas, I do go on. But it’s a challenge to hide excitement for such a group.
Kiran Phatak feels the same way. He’s been part of it all since Arcadia’s very first rehearsal those years ago.
Want to hear a little about him, too? The flautist who won the Australian International Flute Competition in the year Arcadia was founded? The flautist who took out a prize in the 2014-15 ABC Symphony Australia Young Performer Awards? The flautist who has played with major Australian symphony orchestras and festivals, and who has tutored at the Australian Youth Orchestra’s Young Symphonists program?
Okay. I’ll give it a rest.
Let’s just have Kiran tell us all about Arcadia – then you can see how YOU feel by the end of it.
Kiran, thanks for the chat. First of all, tell us how Arcadia Winds was born.
Arcadia Winds was born out of friendship. Some of us met as early as high school, some not until after university, but each of us found a musical kinship in the others that seemed natural, spontaneous, and a hell of a lot of fun!
My enduring memory of our formation will always be our very first rehearsal at the Australian National Academy of Music in 2013. I remember being astonished at how little we had to talk. Somehow, when we picked up our instruments and played, there was no discussion required. As a musician, when you find something like that, you hold on to it—and that’s what we’ve been doing ever since!
So what do you love so much about chamber playing, anyway?
For me, music is about sharing experiences with others; chamber music allows you to do that with both your colleagues and your audiences. Chamber music is different from solo playing in that you have musical companions to discover and explore with, rather than doing so alone. It’s different from orchestral playing in that it allows you artistic freedom over what you play and how you play it, rather than largely having these things prescribed for you. And the flexibility in what you can do as a chamber ensemble is really exciting — you can combine forces with other ensembles or players, you can travel, you can teach, and you can perform in pretty much any location or situation, for anyone who wants to listen.
You have a background across a vast range of music – from clarinet, to singing, to playing in the styles of your Canadian and Indian heritage. When did you decide that flute was going to be your main focus point for the future?
I didn’t decide to pursue flute full-time until my second year of university. As well as having a passion for all things musical, I had always loved writing and critical thinking. This led me to begin my tertiary studies with a double degree in music and law. This was a stunningly terrible idea, as the amount of reading required for law, and practice required for music, were incompatible; at least for me. So I had to make a decision, and the thing I just couldn’t bear not to do was music.
There’s no doubt choosing to pursue music as a career is a risky business, but the glorious thing about being a musician today is that there are so many different ways to explore one’s interests professionally. In the 10 years since making my decision, I’ve been lucky enough to travel all over the world; play in orchestras in big concert halls and in the pit; perform in communities in every state and territory in the country; teach music in primary schools, high schools, and universities; work with living composers to bring new works of art to life; and write and talk about music to all who’ll read and listen.
Not only have you delved into the realm of wind performance, but Arcadia has also helped commission new Australian compositions. Why do you feel it’s important to service the music community through the presentation of new works?
The question of why new music is valuable is best answered by asking ourselves some deeper ones. Why would you read a newly written book? Why would you buy a new painting? Why would you go see the latest Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, or Beyoncé concert (or your generational/level-of-coolness equivalent)?
Of course there’s lots of art created throughout history that is truly great, and that can speak to us across the years with great power and meaning. But how much of it was written by someone who you can go and have a chat with? How much of it was drawn from life experiences that are similar to yours?
I find it absolutely thrilling to play music by Australian composers, and share this music with audiences, because it’s a living, breathing, exciting, beautiful expression of our experiences here and now. What could be better?
Part of Arcadia’s mission appears to be educating Australian audiences about classical and new music. You’re currently performing a show with Musica Viva that’ll be seen by up to 15,000 school children per year until 2020. Why do you value outreach as well as performance?
I value outreach because I think that sometimes art needs explanation and advocacy. It can be intimidating and a bit confusing to walk into an art gallery, or watch a play, if you’ve never done so before. I love the music I play, and believe it’s of tremendous value, but I don’t expect other people to think the same way unless I introduce them to it in approachable way. It has become very fashionable in the last 20 years to justify the inclusion of music in the curriculum, and music in the community, by claiming it makes you good at maths, or critical thinking skills, or whatever it may be. Who actually plays, or listens to music because they think it’ll make them better at maths? No-one! I play music because it’s wonderful, and outreach in schools and in communities is a way to spread that message.
What can other Australian ensembles do to better contribute to the artistic industry beyond performance alone, just as you are doing?
I’m hesitant to tell other ensembles how they can better contribute, because having the courage, dedication, and passion to keep one going at all is admirable in itself. However, there is something I think that all musicians (myself included) can do better, and that’s supporting our colleagues. It’s very easy to get caught up in your personal practice to the point where you neglect participating in your own industry. I find it very strange that often the hardest people to get to come to concerts are other musicians! For the Australian chamber music scene to become as truly vibrant as we’d all love it to be, I think we need to realise that we can achieve so much more collectively than on our own, and make a real point of getting out there to support, and cheer for, our fellow performers.
Tell us what you’re most looking forward to when you perform on April 16.
Our concert on April 16 is all about connecting with something that is fundamental to us all — our breath. The program features works that use wind instruments, which literally breathe as they play, to explore ideas of life and death.
The piece I’m most looking forward to performing is Music for a Deceased Friend by Pēteris Vasks. It was written by the composer as a tribute to a bassoonist friend who was killed in a car crash, and it’s based on a hauntingly beautiful Latvian funeral chant. It requires all members of the quintet to sing this chant as well as play their instruments, and the combination of the voices and instruments creates an extraordinarily haunting and poignant effect.
What’s in store for the future of Arcadia?
So much! We’re travelling all around the country this year for concerts, festivals, university residencies and schools shows — and feel so privileged to be doing so. However, there’s one project that I find particularly exciting, and that’s Arcadia Winds’ new Australian Wind Music Portal.
It’s our dream to create an online hub for Australian wind music. A place where anyone can watch performances of that music, view and download scores at the click of a button, and listen to composers talk about their works.
We are currently in the initial stages of development of this portal, after fundraising last year through Creative Partnerships Australia. For more information, or to contribute in any way, please visit our website.
Arcadia Winds will perform Let Me Die Before I Wake at the Melbourne Recital Centre Salon, 6pm April 16. The group features Kiran and David Reichelt, Lloyd Van’t Hoff, Rachael Shaw, and Matthew Kneale.
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Images supplied. Arcadia captured by Keith Saunders; Kiran by Darren James; Stephanie by Graziano di Martino.
