Appointment - Music Education Specialist, Australian Music Centre

I am delighted to announce my new position at the Australian Music Centre. Thanks for the warm welcome!

We are delighted to introduce our new Music Education Specialist, Dr Joanna Drimatis!

Joanna comes to us from highly-respected champion of Australian music and contemporary classical music – contributing comprehensively through her output as a conductor, performer, musical director, researcher and educator.

Her research, focusing on the music of Australian composers Robert Hughes and Raymond Hanson, has been given national attention through radio broadcasts on ABC Classic FM and in Peter McCallum’s book, “The Centenary of the Con”.

As Music Director of the Christchurch Youth Orchestra and Conductor for the Adelaide Youth Orchestra association, Joanna initiated numerous collaborations, commissions and premieres, with select performances broadcast on NZ Concert FM and ABC Classic FM. As a violinist/violist Joanna has played professionally as an orchestral musician both in Australia and overseas.

Joanna is currently Music Director/Chief Conductor of the Beecroft Orchestra, and in 2020 Joanna was awarded an APRA AMCOS Art Music Luminary award for her advocacy, programming and performance of Australian music.

Welcome, Joanna!

Publication - A Century of Composition by Women: Music Against the Odds

I was delighted to be able to contribute a chapter to ‘A Century of Composition by Women: Music Against the Odds’. Here is a brief abstract from my work titled ‘Programming Orchestral Repertoire by Women Composers: Challenges and Opportunity’:

The tradition of an orchestral repertory has been established in our music culture for approximately 250 years. As an orchestral conductor and educator, I have often held the position of music director/conductor of orchestras that require significant training, working with ensembles at a variety of levels in different countries. When selecting orchestral repertoire, each section of the ensemble must be given the opportunity to play a part that contributes to the structure and aesthetic of the composition. This chapter introduces significant repertoire by female composers from Australia and New Zealand that can be performed by orchestras at a variety of levels. Such composers include Loreta Fin, Katy Abbott, Fritha Jameson and Lissa Meridan, whose music is composed with the specific intention to be performed by young players through to advanced youth and/or amateur orchestras. Each work presented is analysed for its compositional and performance features that align with the proposed standards. The chapter concludes with a graded list of orchestral music by Australian and New Zealand female composers of ‘art music’ which can act as the foundation of a future digital resource and serve as a valuable resource to music directors and conductors.

Review - The Marriage of Figaro

“Under the nuanced baton of Joanna Drimatis, last night’s reduced orchestra nobly tackled the challenges presented by the Figaro score with a high rate of success. They also succeeded in drawing out the charming folk influence on its melodies, which can often be obscured by larger orchestral forces. Drimatis deserves praise for keeping the musical ensemble in time with the singers during the final scene, when the singers break out of their preceding chorale and race to the finish line allegro assai. In his recent book The Impossible Art | Adventures in Opera, composer and conductor Matthew Aucoin notes that more experienced singers and orchestras often “come unstuck” at this point.

Last night’s performance of The Marriage of Figaro was thoroughly enjoyable and often pleasantly surprising. The Cooperative should be commended on their efforts in delivering a performance of such musical quality. With performers of this calibre, it is reassuring to see that the future of the artform is in safe hands.”

Many thanks Jansson J. Antmann for your review!

https://limelightmagazine.com.au/reviews/the-marriage-of-figaro-the-cooperative/ (behind paywall)

Strike A Chord Teachers’ Conference

I look forward to talking about Australian Chamber music with new friends at Music Viva Australia’s 2021 Online Teachers’ Conference.

Panel Discussion: Australian Music for Student Chamber Groups
Margaret Barrett (chair), Stefan Cassomenos, James Le Fevre and Joanna Drimatis

There's plenty of great Australian music written for chamber ensembles, but how do you find something at the right level for your developing high school group? This panel will discuss resources, strategies for finding repertoire at all skill levels, commissioning composers to write for your student ensemble, and encouraging students to write for their friends and peers.

Review - Orange Chamber Music Festival

“Conductor Joanna Drimatis led the players with a firm, crisp style and supportive communication, and the enjoyment of the players was evident from the start.”

Many thanks Margaret Steinberger for a truly lovely review!

https://www.classikon.com/variety-enjoyment-and-collegiality-on-show-in-orange/

2020 NSW Luminary Award

I am indebted to all those who have been a part of this fabulous journey. Thank you APRA AMCOS for the award. Thank you to my husband Jonathan Morris and to my family for their love and unwavering support. Thank you to Holly Harrison and Tristan Coelho for being great colleagues and their generous nomination. I look forward to future performances and collaborations!

Article - Rare Gems: Robert Hughes on the Road to a Symphony

This article was written for University of Melbourne’s Context: Journal of Music Research.

Australian composer Robert Hughes (1912–2007) is widely known for his orchestral works, film and television music, as well as an opera and a few choral works. Much of Hughes’s significant output was linked to his position with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO), also known as the Victorian Symphony Orchestra (VSO) during the 1950s and early 1960s. In this role, Hughes was employed as a music arranger and editor with the orchestra under the umbrella of the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC), and a significant proportion of his work involved arranging major symphonic works for performance by smaller ensembles. An example of such a project occurred when Hughes was asked to arrange Mahler symphonies especially for the purpose of the orchestra’s tours to regional Australia. Through this activity, Hughes was able to fine-tune his skills as an orchestrator and incorporate this expertise into his compositions.

Hughes belongs to a generation of Australian composers whose work has been neglected, primarily because their music has not been published and only exists in manuscript form. Orchestras today prefer printed scores and parts, and consequently much of the music from this era remains in the archives, unused. As part of my project to rediscover these ‘hidden treasures,’ I explored the archives of Hughes’s music and discovered some elegant works which had been untouched since their first performances.

Limelight - Raymond Hanson: one man and his music

A celebration of Australian composer Raymond Hanson in his 100th anniversary year.

Resonate - A Centenary Celebration - Robert Hughes

Article for the Australian Music Centre’s Resonate magazine.

Article - Editing Symphony No. 1 by Robert Hughes: Problems to Solve

This article was written for the Music Council of Australia’s Journal of Music Research Online.

Abstract

How many symphonies do you know that have been written by Australian composers? Why do we not hear Australian symphonies that were composed prior to 1960? An interesting example of such a work is the Symphony No.1 (1951rev.1971) by Australian composer Robert Hughes (1912-2007). It is a work that could be seen as a major contribution to the Australian orchestral repertoire, and it raises issues that resonate through the history of that repertory. The work was written for the Commonwealth Jubilee Competition in 1951 and was awarded second prize. The symphony received attention from such distinguished conductors as Sir John Barbirolli and Sir Eugene Goossens and was performed a number of times in the 1950s. The work also prompted Barbirolli to commission a new work from Hughes for the Hallé Orchestra. Since Hughes’s revisions to the symphony, the last being in 1971, there has been little discussion or performance of the work. Why? Like many Australian orchestral works written prior to 1960, the only score available of Hughes’s symphony is still an autograph. The parts have also been copied by hand. Although Hughes was represented by Chappell Music at this time the work was not published. The score in its current state is difficult to read and there are inaccuracies and discrepancies of pitch, accidentals and articulations. In order to generate performances of the symphony, the score and parts need to be re-typeset and edited. The paper will address the variety of problems faced when approaching such a task and present possible solutions in how to overcome them. What is required to present a clean performable version of the work? The issues faced in this project will hopefully generate interest in the music of our past and contribute to preserving and promoting Australia’s musical heritage.