Gordon Kerry Explained

Gordon Kerry (born 1961) is an Australian composer, music administrator, music writer and music critic.

Career

Kerry studied composition at the University of Melbourne under Barry Conyngham. He then worked for the Sydney Festival and resided in Sydney for the next 16 years.^[1] After the retirement of Fred Blanks, Kerry was invited to become a music critic for the Sydney Morning Herald. In April 1997 he was appointed artistic administrator for Musica Viva Australia,^[2] a post he held for 18 months but left as he had too little time to compose. He then became the organisation's musical adviser. He also contributes pieces for Limelight and The Australian's Review of Books.

Bright Meniscus was inspired by J. R. Rowland's poem "Canberra in April" and was premiered by the Canberra Symphony Orchestra in May 1997.^[2]

In 2009, he was awarded the Ian Potter Established Composer Fellowship. His book New Classical Music: Composing Australia was published by UNSW Press in 2009.^[3]

His Clarinet Concerto was commissioned by Symphony Australia and was premiered on 21 August 2002, with soloist Francesco Celata and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra under Sir Mark Elder. It includes a short quotation from Kerry's "Fioritura", a short solo piece written for Celata.^[4]

In 2012 he was Musica Viva Australia's Composer-in-Residence.^[5]

On 16 May 2012, Kerry's opera Midnight Son was premiered at the Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne, by Victorian Opera. Its libretto was by Louis Nowra, and it was directed by Nicki Wendt. The opera was based on the 2005 murder of Maria Korp by her husband Joe Korp's lover Tania Herman, and Joe Korp's subsequent suicide (it was originally to be called Korp).^[6] Principal soloists were Antoinette Halloran and Byron Watson.^[7] Although all the names were changed, members of the Korp family and victims of crime organisations criticised the production for lack of sensitivity.^{[8] [6]}

His Violin Concerto "So Dreams Thy Sails" was commissioned by Andrew and Fiona Johnston, and scored for solo violin, harp, horns and strings. It was written as a homage to Kerry's father's 90th birthday, and was premiered on 30 October 2016, with soloist Helena Rathbone and the Australian Chamber Orchestra.^[9]

His opera The Snow Queen (libretto by John Kinsella, based on the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen) was commissioned by Victorian Opera, and was premiered in Wodonga on 3 November 2017, conducted by Richard Mills.

Since 2002 he has lived with his partner in Sandy Creek, overlooking Lake Hume^[1] in northern Victoria, not far from Wodonga.^[10]

Selected other works

• Sinfonietta (1992, for the Perth International Arts Festival)^[2]
• Opera Medea (1993; libretto by Justin Macdonnell);^[2] it has been staged in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Washington, Berlin, Düsseldorf
• Variations for Orchestra (1998; Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Markus Stenz^{[2] [11]}
• Cello Concerto (1997–98; Truls Mørk, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Michael Halász)^[2]
• Piano Sonata for Ian Munro (1997–98)^[2]
• Harmonie, wind quintet (1997–98, Canberra Wind Soloists)^[2]
• Seven Improvisations for Cello and Percussion, April 1999, Sue-Ellen Paulsen and Tom O'Kelly, Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music^[11]
• Viola Concerto, SSO, 28 April 1999^[11]
• Such Sweet Thunder, 30 September 1999, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Markus Stenz^[11]
• Piano duo, for Michael Kieran Harvey and Bernadette Harvey Balkus, 2000^[11]
• Breathtaking, mezzo-soprano, piano, 4 winds, 9 May 1999, Southern Cross Soloists^[11]
• Blue Latitudes, 29 January 2000, Wigmore Hall, London, Nash Ensemble^[11]
• Cantata Through the Fire, commemorating the 2002/3 northern Victorian bushfires, Opera in the Alps Festival, Beechworth, 24 January 2004^[1]
• Opera Snow White and Other Grimm Tales (2015; libretto by John Kinsella)^[10]
• Clarinet Quintet (2019, for clarinetist David Rowden and Omega Ensemble)
• Splendera^[2]
• Completion of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Requiem, commissioned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.^[12]

Awards and nominations

APRA Music Awards

The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA).^[13] They include the Art Music Awards, which are distributed by APRA AMCOS and the Australian Music Centre (AMC).^[14]

!|-| 2018 || "String Quintet No. 2" (Gordon Kerry) for Australian String Quartet and Pieter Wispelwey || Work of the Year – Instrumental || || ^{[15] [16]} |-| 2021 || Clarinet Quartet (Kerry) for Omega Ensemble || Work of the Year: Chamber Music || || ^[17]

External sources

• • Australian Music Centre
• "Inside the Musician. Gordon Kerry: The undiscovered continent" by Australian Music Trust

Notes and References

1. Robin Usher, "Hills once more alive with opera", The Age, 6 January 2004, A3, p. 7
2. Bernadette Cruise, "A remarkable year for a Sydney composer", The Canberra Times, 11 April 1997, Arts & Entertainment, p. 11
3. http://www.plexuscollective.com/gordon-kerry/ Plexus
4. "Going solo", ABC radio 24 Hours, August 2002, p. 76
5. https://musicavivaaustralia.wordpress.com/2012/09/07/interview-with-gordon-kerry-part-2/ Musica Viva Australia Blog
6. Karl Quinn, "Too soon? Dark opera based on Korp case ready for opening night", The Age, 15 May 2012, p. 5
7. Xenia Hanusiak, "Notes from a lethal love affair", The Age, 12 May 2012, Life&Style, p. 25
8. Gina McColl, "Opera based on notorious murder", The Age, 13 Aug 2011, p. 5
9. https://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/features/gordon-kerry-sets-sail-on-a-90th-birthday-commission/ "A 90th birthday commission"
10. "The Icewoman cometh", Limelight, November 2017, p. 25
11. Jo Litson, "Take a deep breath", The Weekend Australian, 27–28 March 1999, Review, p. 19
12. http://contextjournal.music.unimelb.edu.au/context/files/2016/08/38_Wade-rxmf49.pdf James Wade, ‘Where Words Cannot Reach’: An Interview with Gordon Kerry
13. Web site: APRA History . Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) . 7 September 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100920230857/http://www.apra-amcos.com.au/APRAAwards/MusicAwards/History.aspx . 20 September 2010 . dead .
14. Web site: Classical Awards . Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) . 7 September 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100928221321/http://www.apra-amcos.com.au/apraawards/classicalawards.aspx . 28 September 2010 . dead .
15. Web site: Art Music Awards Full List of Winners . Australian Music Centre (AMC) . 14 October 2018 .
16. Web site: Performance of the Year . Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS) | Australian Music Centre (AMC) . 2018 . 15 October 2018 .
17. Web site: Winners & Finalists . APRA AMCOS Australian Music Centre (AMC) . 9 September 2021 . 9 September 2021 .