ACO Collective And ABC Classics Release New Hush CD
ABC Classics has released Volume 18 in the Hush series, Collective Wisdom, performed by the musicians of ACO Collective, the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s mentoring and regional touring ensemble. Already available for purchase, the launch concert will take place in Sydney and Melbourne in September.
Developed by medical pioneer Dr Catherine Crock AM to reduce the stress and anxiety felt by young patients and their families in hospitals, the Hush music collection transforms that difficult environment with carefully curated music from some of Australia’s foremost musicians and talents, and is now played in hospitals and homes across the globe.
For this project, Hush appointed twelve Australian composers to undertake residencies and workshops in adolescent health units in Hobart, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth. Composers Stuart Greenbaum, Matthew Hindson, Maria Grenfell, Paul Stanhope, Elena Kats-Chernin and James Ledger mentored six emerging composers, Caerwen Martin, Katia Beaugeais, Thomas Misson, Natalie Nicolas, Rachel Bruerville and Olivia Bettina Davies. The composers and the teenagers played music together, talked, shared experiences and explored how music might help people during hard times.
Based on what they saw, heard and learnt during those collaborative sessions, the twelve composers then wrote the pieces on this disc. The music is heartfelt, acknowledging the fears and anxieties of the hospital experience yet full of hope, joy and optimism. As Caerwen Martin and Stuart Greenbaum point out, ‘Music can remind patients that they are more than their illness…and what they might be when they are better.’
The tracks: RACHEL BRUERVILLE Dancing on Tiptoes/ STUART GREENBAUM The Rotation of the Earth/ NATALIE NICOLAS We Won’t Let You Down/ MARIA GRENFELL Knitting Unicorns/ MATTHEW HINDSON Nothing Is Forever/ THOMAS MISSON Glow (Abridged)/ PAUL STANHOPE Dancing on Clouds/ KATIA BEAUGEAIS Like Snowdrops You Will Shine/ JAMES LEDGER Daydream/ CAERWEN MARTIN Stars Come Out in a Midnight Sky/ ELENA KATS-CHERNIN Moon Feather Magic/ OLIVIA BETTINA DAVIES Crystalline
Performed by ACO Collective/ Leader: Helena Rathbone
Album available 10 August 2018 | 1CD + Digital album | ABC 481 7374
