BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
“When you do an improvisation with someone, you immediately know whether you’re going to be friends,” Mindy Meng Wang says. “It just shows so much about a person; a musician’s inside world.”
The Chinese/Australian composer will play with her partner in music – her friend – Paul Grabowsky as part of Melbourne Recital Centre’s Sanctuary Suite. As you watch them improvise, you might feel like you’ve made some new friends, too. Their music will be “very close to the heart, very sincere, sensitive, and very deep”. It’s the sort of performance that has the power to reflect common feelings; the power to make you feel safe.
“We want to play music that you’re comfortable to sit and listen to next to a fireplace,” Mindy says. She will craft melodies on the guzheng, Paul beside her on piano. They’ll continue to warm up Elisabeth Murdoch Hall after a community of local musicians – Lady Lash, Zoe Knighton, and Nick Tsiavos – have filled the space before them.
Sanctuary is designed to celebrate Australian composition and creativity. It’s a little bit like a music festival, and features a lot of improvisation. You will hear transient melodies that chime only for you, and those who surround you, in that very moment.
To Mindy, this means “the music goes very deep in the emotional world that is the sanctuary for a lot of people”. Sanctuary gives you permission to sink into Australian soundscapes that will calm your mind.
But don’t think for a moment that the series is without creative risk. Mindy – Melbourne Recital Centre’s 2022 Artist in Residence – says “this kind of music is not traditionally a ‘safe’ choice”. It’s not a typical program, and it prioritises representation above convention. With First Nations programming from curator Neil Morris, the Sanctuary series of events features “poetic rhymes and haunting sonic sequences” from Kokatha and Greek woman Lady Lash, deconstructed chants and pub music from Nick Tsiavos, and a concert from composer James Howard who explores his reconnection to Jaadwa Country through improvisation and song.
“When you look at Melbourne Recital Centre’s program, it’s really got everything. They recognise the excellent talent in different musicians and different styles,” Mindy says. “You feel like, as a musician, it’s a trust that you’ve been given. It makes you want more to give more back to the audience.”
“You feel supported and free.”
Mindy’s views are echoed by those of composer-pianist Nat Bartsch. Nat, who performs in the Sanctuary Suite after Mindy, finds tenderness between the worlds of classical and jazz, improvisation and notation.
“When I can truly be my cross-genre self, my heart is full,” Nat says.
Nat connects with Australian composer-pianist Luke Howard in this event. The pair first collaborated in 2014 at Melbourne Recital Centre’s Festival of Beautiful Sound. They’ve worked together on albums and sheet music books, sharing “a love of the meditative and ambient”.
Two pianos will be waiting for them on the Sanctuary stage.
“What I love about Sanctuary is its ethos around creating the space for meditative, beautiful music, no matter the genre,” Nat says.
“There are so many artists from different musical and cultural backgrounds that have the same creative objectives as me. Similarly, there are so many music lovers that listen broadly, and genre is irrelevant to them too.”
When asked how their music fits in with the calming and reflective theme of Sanctuary, Nat is drawn right back to the core of why she makes music.
“My albums, and also Luke’s, are often used in these incredibly personal and vulnerable moments: childbirth, in a person’s dying hours, and many other moments between. When people write to me to tell me they’ve used my music in this way, I am moved to tears. It is the greatest honour,” Nat says.
“It has always been one of the driving forces behind the music I write. I think it started with regulating my own emotions as a neurodivergent person, and has expanded to have an impact on others, which is the best possible outcome.
“Composing and performing with empathy, mindfulness, kindness and warmth – this is my jam, but also I think what Sanctuary is all about.”
Sanctuary Suite begins at 2pm July 9, and continues through the afternoon in Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre.
Explore the full Sanctuary series online, including James Howard’s event Ancestral Redux on July 8.
First Nations audiences can access free tickets to this event – simply use the promo code FIRSTNATIONS when booking.
Images supplied.
Featured portraits of Mindy Meng Wang by Renji Pan.
