And now an extra Easter bonus for you my loyal Wandering Journo tribe!
I was lucky enough to interview fantastic Aussie muso Katie Noonan over the weekend and thought she would make perfect listening for those of you driving home from your Easter break, or to give you some beautiful music to soothe while you have an extended Easter break at home. Wherever you are this Easter, I hope you enjoy listening to Katie Noonan. She was a lot of fun in this interview! And I’ve given you a beautiful preview of the remarkable music that AVÉ (Australian Vocal Ensemble) produces in this Streets of Your Town podcast. Just sit back and soak up the heavenly sounds of AVÉ. Katie's creativity truly knows no bounds.
Katie Noonan launches AVÉ
Australian singer extraordinaire Katie Noonan is refusing to let the Covid-19 pandemic get in the way of her dreams.
This incredibly prolific musician has produced 20 albums, and won five Arias for her endlessly innovative body of work, from leading the Queensland Music Festival as artistic director, to putting a jazz spin on 80s classics in her last album The Sweetest Taboo.
Now Katie is giving audiences the chance to hear Indigenous songs and newly commissioned Australian music alongside late Renaissance and Baroque masterpieces as part of the eclectic repertoire of her new Australian Vocal Ensemble, or AVÉ.
This week the group is in final rehearsals before their big debut in Brisbane this coming Saturday April 10 at the Queensland Convervatorium Theatre at Southbank, before going on tour around Australia in September.
AVÉ sees Katie joined by three internationally renowned artists in Mezzo-Soprano Fiona Campbell (Perth), Tenor Andrew Goodwin (Sydney) and Baritone David Greco (Sydney).
“Fiona has just flown from Perth and thank goodness she’s already got an exemption (from quarantine), she’s from WA where it’s pretty hard core,” Katie says.
“Andy and David are from Sydney so they weren’t too worried—I mean everyone was worried in the lockdown. But because Brisbane did so well we’re here, we’re excited.”
AVÉ—or the Australian Vocal Ensemble—is an elite chamber ensemble of international excellence, and with the support of generous philanthropists, will become Australia’s first professional classical vocal quartet.
I was lucky enough to speak to Katie in a break from final rehearsals before AVÉ’s debut in Brisbane on Saturday April 10, before touring around the country in September.
I put to Katie that the definition of optimism in these challenging times would be starting a new arts institution in the midst of a pandemic.
Katie says she might call it “obstinate stupidity”, but she’s determined to play her part in reviving the arts sector that has been devastated by Covid-19.
“I think we make world class art here in Queensland,” she says.
AVÉ has been a dream of Katie’s since she was a little girl singing in school choirs, and with her brother, opera singer mother, and jazz crooner father.
“I love making sounds with other voices I think it’s integral to the human experience,” Katie says.
“I think we come into the world singing—some may call it screaming—but I call it singing. That’s usually the mother and baby at once.
“Homes used to have pianos in them and pianolas and radios and the wireless and also we all used to go to mass every Sunday and sing together and so I think it really is an integral part of being human and I miss it. I think we all miss it actually.
“So I’ve been wanting to sing with singers who are amazing for many years and I thought a vocal quartet—there’s something special about the quartet it’s a very intimate setup, so there’s nowhere to hide. Everyone is their own instrument.
“There’s nothing to rely on other than our inner pitch and voices.”
You can catch AVÉ at the quartet's launch concert at the Queensland Conservatorium Theatre at South Bank this Saturday April 10 from 7pm, or by grabbing a copy of their album when it’s released in August, or at the quartet’s national tour in September.
Katie will also play with the Katie Noonan trio including her son Dexter on drums at the Imperial Hotel at Eumundi on April 24, and you can catch her doing a reunion performance with her brother Tyrone and all the original members of their iconic Brisbane band george to perform the complete double platinum album Polyserena in celebration of its 20th anniversary, at Brisbane’s Powerhouse from Thursday May 6 to May 8.
Coincidences that make you listen again
You might remember my interview with Mel Manley at the Imperial Hotel at Eumundi a few weeks back. That’s where Katie will be playing—small world, hey!
Listen here: Mel Manley on reuniting trafficked children with families
Katie Noonan on her new Australian Vocal Ensemble