Newsletter #17 - Spring Updates!
Kia ora everyone!
House of the Faun Premieres!
My orchestral piece House of the Faun had its world premiere! It was played at the Michael Fowler Centre, as played by Orchestra Wellington and Arohanui Strings+, this was extremely exciting (and nerve-racking) for me, as it is the first time a full orchestra had ever played my music. Fortunately, I was in safe hands with conductor Lior Balachness.
If you would like to learn more about the piece, before the concert I answered a few questions about the process and the inspiration behind the piece for SOUNZ in this interview here.
I’ve gotten some nice positive feedback from the various people involved or present, which has been nice. Max Rashbrooke from The Post, describes it as a “glittering, filmic work, underpinned by delicate playing from the orchestra”, which was nice to read. Meanwhile, Peter Mechen of the local review site Middle C, gave quite a descriptive overview of the work in a review of the concert, describing a section of the piece feeling like “momentous waves breaking and washing over gorgeously-sculpted beachscapes”. You can read his full review here.
Writing a proper orchestral work, has definitely been a life goal for me, and it is wonderful that I had a chance to do it. I learnt so much doing it, I learnt a lot about orchestration, typesetting, and the realities of working for orchestra that I will be able to draw upon in the future.
48 Hour Film Festival
I competed in the 48 Hour Film Festival again this year, with my team Pixel Pixies. This is the third year running we have been a team.
This year was a bit different, for our genre we got “found-footage” and we decided to make a film that appeared like leaked behind the scenes footage - which meant no score! But that didn’t mean I had nothing to do, instead we decided that the film would follow the behind the scenes drama as a pop group were attempting to film a music video.
So this meant I had to write a pop song. I collaborated with the actors (they would after all need to sing the song on camera), and vocalist Reva Grills to create a pop-bop. We wrote the song on set, and I set up in a room off from where they were shooting with a laptop, and a SM58 microphone and worked on the track.
The film came together, and has done very well in the competition. We did really well in the Regional Finals winning Runner Up, as well as Best Cinematography and Best Editing! Since then we have been announced as Grand Finalists, and our film will be playing in the Grand National Final on Saturday 25th October at The Embassy Theatre!
Voyages
Every year the Royal New Zealand Ballet puts on a showcase of little mini ballets for friends and whānau, where RNZB dancers get the chance to experiment and learn by putting on their own mini choreographed projects.
I had the pleasure of watching two incredible choreographers and dances create works to music I previously written.
Joshua Guillemot-Rodgerson’s Anchor, set to my piece Butterfly, performed by Hannah Thomson and Dane Head.
Lauren Byrne’s A Drawing, set to Sparrow, performed by Luke Cooper.
I knew both Joshua and Lauren through our collaboration on Dazzlehands. Talking about Dazzlehands, there’s some news on that front, which I will mention later in the newsletter.
Contagion
Shortland Street wrapped up our Fracture mini-season on September 24th with a special double-length episode, which introduced a new threat to the hospital, a deadly virus, leading into our final mini-season of the year: Shortland Street: Contagion.
What’s coming up?
Music Editing
I’ve just started working on a new upcoming television series as a music editor. I am working under the inspiring composer Claire Cowan, who has been a signifiant mentor for me over the years.
It’s great to work with Claire again, I did similar work with her for two seasons of the TVNZ show One Lane Bridge in 2021, and 2022 - so this has felt a bit like getting the band back together. I’m looking forward to sharing more about this project in the future.
Dazzlehands Returning!
The Royal New Zealand Ballet has announced that Dazzlehands will return for a tour in 2026! You can look at locations and dates on their website here.
This will mark the first time the show has journeyed away from the Wellington area. I love this fun show, and it’s amazing that this will mark the shows third run - not bad, for a show that was initially just intended for a few small free performances at Te Papa.
Thanks so much for reading! Let me know if you are planning on attending either the 48 Hours Grand Finals, or the Wellington Folk Festival next week, and come say hi!
Best wishes until next time!
Ngā mihi nui,
William Philipson
