Beyond the Woodshed

Sarah Ballard, Reuben Jelleyman, and William Philipson have all been busy since they participated in the first edition of CMNZ’s Composer Woodshed last May. Some of their latest projects have received peer-reviewed accolades, while a more recent recording was the noteworthy outcome of the composer’s experimentation made possible by the Woodshed residency.

At the 2022 Aotearoa Music Awards, Sarah Watkins and Robert Ashworth recently received a Tūī for Te Kaipuoro Inamata Toa | Best Classical Artist for their albumMoonstone released on Rattle recordings. Featuring all works by Aotearoa composers, the ethereal album includes a work by Sarah Ballard entitled sarva-ātmanaḥ.

Sarva-ātmanaḥ is a Sanskrit term which refers to the universal kindness in the hearts of all living entities, the higher self. This piece was gifted to Robert Ashworth and Sarah Watkins in appreciation of their generosity in the art of music.

Reuben Jelleyman won the 2022 SOUNZ Contemporary Award | Te Tohu Auaha for his piece Catalogue. Of the winning work, he says: “Catalogue was written for the ensemble Multilatérale to complete my masters at the Paris Conservatory. The piece is quite a chaotic collision of my musical explorations during my studies, and yet, it’s hardly the conclusion to anything. It’s more of an explosive start: there are things in the piece that are a little out of control, and struggling to find their place. For me that’s quite exciting.”

After completing his Masters studies in Europe, Reuben returned to Aotearoa and is currently Auckland-based. He is pursuing his explorations of his instrumental language and working on new and exciting projects.

Following his Woodshed experience last May, William Philipson was inspired to write a piece for string quartet entitled Observations I & II. He turned to the ideas and techniques he explored during the workshop into the bases of the piece – a work on his experience of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, dedicated to his friend, Ukrainian filmmaker Valeriya Golovina.

“The work is called Observations, because that was my experience of the war […] — observing events through social media, the news, messages with Valeriya,” William explains. He recalls thinking that his initial, simply sketched out, melodic fragments workshopped during Composer Woodshed and the Valeriya piece were two distinct projects, but his conversations with his friend kept informing his writing. The diptych was first presented at the CANZ’s Nelson Composer’s Workshop in July and, more recently, recorded professionally with members of the NZSO.