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22 July 2011

Fresh Meat - between the emerging and the established


Fresh Meat - between the emerging and the established

Annie Hui-Hsin Hsieh and Melody Eötvös explain their Fresh Meat project. Also involved are: Amy Bastow, Alex Pozniak, Luke Paulding, Timothy Tate, Chris Williams, Nicole Murphy, Anthony Moles, Mark Wolf, Mark Oliveiro and Joseph Twist. (See also: AMC Calendar 25 August)

Fresh Meat is a vibrant, gallant venture that we, two 'emerging composers', have undertaken because of what we've come to understand about our plight in the 21st century as artists who are driven towards building a career as a composer. There is much to say about this plight, but the point of what we're doing isn't about complaining or ranting until we get what we want (and no one really ever achieves anything this way). Rather than react bitterly and with resentment to our frustrations, waiting anxiously for that 'moment' to come which will elevate us to the rank of established composer, we've instead chosen to recalibrate our efforts and remember that we are more than just emerging composers (a title often associated with still finding one's feet); we are capable individuals who can and have written some really great music, and that we are capable of acting on ourselves and that, when it really comes down to it, there is nothing stopping us from sharing the incredible body of work that we've found amongst our generation of colleagues and good friends, with the audience that we know our music deserves.

Fresh Meat, both as a concert and project, has been a year in the making; for many months now we have been preoccupied with how we can make it work. We know it isn't a one-off. We are establishing Fresh Meat as a platform that will grow as we do and as more young composers join us in our suspended lives between the 'emerging' and 'established'.

Fresh Meat implies the younger generation of composers, presenting and featuring compositions in our own right, where we can speak with our own voice, with no reservations or limitations. Crucial to this pilot concert is the fundamental act of bringing together our colleagues and friends, both composer and performer alike, who we have met through various professional development workshops and schools.

There is no set 'way' or preconception of what is expected of the works these composers bring to the table - it is about what the composers want to write and not what is expected of them by a set notion or criteria. Being young, determined, and ambitious artists, we are putting the control back into our own hands in regards to the music that is representing us as composers - determined through our own self-reflection rather than external criticism, judgment, or decisions.

Fresh Meat is indebted to every aspect of the education and opportunities we have received over the past decade of our careers. The universities we have attended and professional development programs that linked us all together, where we all met and began discussions of the future and shared our understandings of how our world works and how we can navigate through it. Our mentors who nod their heads in comprehension and insist they, too, underwent the same formidable experiences. And to our colleagues who exert similar effort and inspiration in their composer collectives and ensembles.

Fresh Meat. It is the juicy, the tender. It provides fuel, energy and nutrition for the future. It needs to be carefully nurtured and farmed without pesticides, but allowed to grow strong on its own accord without excessive environmental protection. We are Fresh Meat!

Event details

Fresh Meat
The Salon, Melbourne Recital Centre
25 August 2011 at 6pm
Full details: AMC Calendar

Further links

Fresh Meat (www.freshmeatproject.com)


Annie Hui-Hsin Hsieh and Melody Eötvös are AMC-represented composers.


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