I've been working with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra a bit recently, and this weekend was their David Bowie: Nothing Has Changed tribute concert at the Sydney Opera House concert hall.
I'd been in a couple of weeks ago for rehearsals and to meet some of the production crew and performers, which was great - but they'd come a long way since that first day, including incorporating the orchestral musicians, which we didn't have there at the time!
Read MoreThis week's Lost & Found post is from my last Wellington Jazz Festival - who are kicking off again today, over in New Zealand!
Our major draw card in 2011 was a one-off concert with Sonny Rollins and his band at the Michael Fowler Centre. He may have been 81 (REALLY!?) at the time, but he put on a heck of a show - and as you'd expect from someone of his calibre, the band were top notch as well...
Read MoreThe Wellington Jazz Festival of 2009 was quite a different beast from the previous festivals I've mentioned in the last couple of Lost & Found posts - this time, the management of the New Zealand International Arts Festival took on the programming and running of it, so the scale of production and calibre of performers was substantially different...
Read MoreAs I mentioned in last week's Lost & Found, the Wellington Jazz Festival is about to happen again in a couple of weeks - so I thought I'd have a look back at some of the earlier editions when I photographed the event for them...
Read MoreI was Orchestra Wellington's photographer from 2004-2011, documenting concerts and rehearsals for them with a range of guest soloists alongside music director Marc Taddei, a marvellous conductor, and a hilarious guy to work with, too.
In 2007, General Manager Christine Pearce got in touch to say they were working with a circus school on a kids' concert, and would I like to photograph it for them - naturally I was intrigued, but I'm not sure I expected THIS! Sure, why wouldn't you put hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of delicate instruments on stage with a flying trapeze, kids on unicycles, and stilt-walkers? What could possibly go wrong...?
Read MoreThe Skipper. The Mysterious Lady. The Tiger. A...unicorn? A concert by Melbourne band The Bombay Royale is always an interesting event, so when I heard they were going to open for Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings recently, of course I booked right away!
Read MoreGreat show tonight by the young Kiwi band Broods - very impressed with them, I can see why they're touring with Ellie Goulding at the moment (and she's a fan, too). Be proud of them, New Zealand! They're going to get very big, very fast...
Read MoreSo...this is a concert I went to on the weekend, featuring J-Pop superstar Kyary Pamyu Pamyu in her first Australian appearance. In fact, the first time she'd crossed the equator, she said!
I had just been intending to go and enjoy myself - I'm a bit of a fan of SBS PopAsia on a Sunday afternoon - but once I got there and started seeing the fans in costumes (who apparently had been queuing since 12:30pm for an 8pm show!), I couldn't help getting my camera out for a bit of it...!
Read MoreAlmost there - only one day left of this look back at the New Zealand Festival over the past decade or so. Of course, the Festivals we're looking back at were winding up too, so today we've got more people than shows, as naturally there were fewer & fewer rehearsals for me to attend & photograph as the shows came to an end.
Read MoreWow, we're getting towards the end of the Festival, aren't we! Well, there's still time for a few more shows - this one's Hone Kouka's play The Prophet from 2004, by Taki Rua Theatre; and a rare example of when I had to do an actual 'photo call' for a show, rather than being able to cover a rehearsal or show. I always resist doing that if I can, because I don't think you get the same emotional honesty in the images by getting actors to perform a quick bite of the show just for the camera; but sometimes, it's the only option.
Read MoreIt was a pleasant surprise to be asked to pop over to Ravi Shankar's sound check on the afternoon of his concert - I don't think I was really expecting to get a chance to photograph him or the show, but I tailed Festival Director Lissa Twomey over to greet him and spent a bit of time with them as he & his daughter Anoushka got things ready for that night. It was amazing to see him, at the age of 90, settle in and just play. Because he could really PLAY. Amazing - wish I'd been able to come back for the show!
Read MoreAnother three-show day, today; this time, starting in 2004 with a production from my old home town of Toronto! One of the few times English-Canadian theatre has visited New Zealand - in fact, I'm hard pressed to think of another - this was The Overcoat, an entirely wordless work that totally won audiences over, and possibly paved the way for The Sound Of Silence in 2010 now that I think about it. (Having proved a silent show could work, I mean!)
Read MoreFour shows today - first is Cookin' (Nanta), which apparently is the most popular show in Korea and toured to Broadway just before it came to New Zealand! I remember enjoying it, but also that I had no idea the cook in the fourth photo was going to throw that onion in the air and chop it - much less that it was stuffed with glitter...!
Read MoreTwo shows and a workshop, today - first is Out Of Order, from the Out & About series in 2002. Looking at the photos, I remember the show pretty well - I feel like the performer was French, but of course the phone box was sourced & branded locally so it would look normal. I feel like he didn't speak during the show, but convinced members of the audience to help him at various points - getting up on the box, then passing him his briefcase, that sort of thing - and I think it was the most popular Civic Square show that year. Certainly the crowd on the steps was good, and enjoyed themselves! (Of course, could you do a show about trying to get into a phone booth now? Wouldn't someone just hand him their iPhone, if he needed to make a call!?)
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