About the residents, and highlights of their stay
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2005–2006: Dame Gillian Whitehead Gillian, normally resident in Dunedin, was the first composer to stay at the Lilburn Residence. She helped to equip the house for composers and was a generous host who established a tradition of the regular social gatherings. Gillian also:
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2006–2007: Lyell Cresswell Lyell and his wife Catherine came from Edinburgh to be in residence. They had an eventful year musically and socially. The Composers' Association of New Zealand hosted the Asia Pacific Festival and Conference, and SOUNZ hosted the International Association of Music Information Centres' Conference. Both events allowed many international musicians and composers to visit the house. Lyell and Catherine also became surrogate carers to a number of the neighbour's cats. Lyell also:
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2007–2008: Samuel Holloway Samuel became our third resident through a call for applications – the first time that the composer in residence at the New Zealand School of Music had not needed the house. The opportunity allowed Samuel, from Auckland, to work closely with musicians based in Wellington. Samuel also:
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2008–2009: Helen Bowater With her parter, Andrew Caldwell, Helen returned to her home town of Wellington from Waiheke Island to spend a year at the Lilburn Residence. By special dispensation she was able to bring her elderly dog. During Helen's stay there were many happy social occasions and it became clear that the heating in the house required some improvement. She donated the frames for two prints by Greg O'Brien celebrating the life of organist and conductor, Maxwell Fernie – the prints themselves were donated by Greg. Helen also composed:
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2009–2010: John Rae John's stay in the house was notable for several reasons: he was the first jazz composer to be in residence, and it was also the first time a whole family had moved in. John, his wife Suzy and their two children moved down to Wellington from Hawkes Bay and have remained in Wellington. Because of his background in jazz, John was able to collaborate with musicians at both the Massey and Victoria campuses of the New Zealand School of Music. John also:
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2010–2011: Chris Gendall Chris returned to Wellington from New York to take up residence at the house. He appreciated the space and time that living there gave him to compose. He also helped host various events including the launch of new publications of Lilburn's music published by Promethean Editions. Chris also:
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2011–2012: Juliet Palmer Juliet arrived from Toronto, Canada to take up residence with her husband James Rolfe, a leading Canadian composer, and their daughter Miriam. Among their memorable experiences were the variety of birds in the garden at the house and joining Gamelan Padhang Moncar at the New Zealand School of Music. Juliet was the first composer to have a residency with Orchestra Wellington, through a partnership with the New Zealand School of Music. Juliet also:
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2012–2013: David Downes David moved across Wellington to take up residence with his partner, Ingrid Gotlieb. As well as being a mentor at the Composers' Association Nelson Workshop for the first time, David also had a trip to Berlin to present his film/music works. With Ingrid's help, the garden flourished. David also:
David and Ingrid gifted framed photographs of Thorndon that can usually be found in the kitchen. |
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2013–2014: Jeroen Speak and Dorothy Ker
Jeroen and Dorothy moved from London to Wellington to take up residence in the house – a return to New Zealand after a long absence. Jeroen was the Creative New Zealand/Jack C Richards Composer-in-Residence at the New Zealand School of Music, while Dorothy was a visiting Research Fellow there, on leave from her position at the University of Sheffield. They hosted a number of previous residents and social events at the house and heard many performances of their works by musicians around New Zealand. Jeroen also:
Dorothy also:
Jeroen and Dorothy both attended the ‘Composing Now’ Composers Association conference in Auckland, at which Dorothy was keynote speaker. |
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As the composer in residence at the New Zealand School of Music in 2014-15 had not needed the house, the Lilburn Residence Trust held a call for applications and selected three composers. 2014: Ted Apel Ted spent September and October at the Lilburn Residence to work on a new sound installation based on the painting Central Otago by Rita Angus to commemmorate the Lilburn centenary in 2015. The work will highlight correspondences between the electronic music techniques of Douglas Lilburn and the painting techniques of Rita Angus. |
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2014–15: Karlo Margetic and Tabea Squire Karlo and Tabea moved into the Lilburn Residence in November 2014 and stayed until the end of June 2015. They were successful in a call for applications for our 2014-15 residents. Karlo was working exclusively on a piano concerto for Michael Houstoun, making use of the space the house had to offer in order to commandeer two electric keyboards for his workspace. The work, Melting Furniture was premiered by Orchestra Wellington in December 2015. Tabea worked on a set of dances for unspecified ensemble, which involved notating some basic choreography. She also started an orchestral work and completed a book of violin studies for beginner violinists which she uses with her students. |
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2015-2016: John Elmsly John's residency coincided with the 10th year of composers living in the house and also Douglas Lilburn's centenary. He, together with the Trust, hosted an open day on 1 November to celebrate the centenary. During his year in Wellingotn, John and his partner, Darryl Foong greatly enjoyed, 'the vibrant but manageable city life.' John also:
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2016-2017: Alison Isadora Alison came from Amsterdam to enjoy the birds and the garden at the Lilburn house, and was very pleased to spend a year in Wellington where she could compose full time. She hosted some very enjoyable social occasions at the house and was joined by her husband, Dutch composer, Jan-Bas Bollen for 3 months. Alison composed:
Alison donated a kaka beak plant which can be found under the camellias in the rear garden. |
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2017-2018: Rob Thorne Rob Thorne is Palmerston North-based composer, performer, educator and ethnomusicologist. As an expert in the performance of taonga puoro, the traditional instruments of Māori culture he enjoyed being surrounded by birds and bush, as well as getting to know Lilburn’s electronic works and responding to them through the taonga puoro. Rob composed:
Rob's other activities included:
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