Award Recipient - 2006

OLLIVIER-PHILIPPE CUNEO

VISION STATEMENT

I believe that the future of music in Australia is extremely bright. While conditions for musicians and musical organisations may appear precarious at times, I cannot imagine a healthy, vibrant society without music.

Classical music will continue to flourish in this country thanks to the many initiatives currently being undertaken to pass on the love of music to today’s schoolchildren. If I am currently pursuing a career in music, it is entirely thanks to the passion for music that was fostered and demonstrated by my teachers through the activities organized by the WA Youth Orchestra, the WA String Quartet and the WA Conservatorium of Music. Today all the major musical institutions in this country - the orchestras, Musica Viva, as well as the state and national opera companies - complement such programs with their own education programs, which means that almost every child is exposed to classical music-making of the highest calibre. In addition, instrumental music is available in schools to many students all over Australia, taught by highly-trained, experienced musicians. These school programs not only teach orchestral instruments, but also encourage participation in orchestral and chamber music, which will hopefully not only ensure that our professional orchestras continue to be supplemented with talented young musicians, but also that they will continue to have a knowledgeable and passionate audience to perform to.

Clearly the main obstacle facing our musical institutions is a financial one. As free outdoor events demonstrate, classical music and opera are extremely popular – this year’s ‘Opera in the Domain’ in Sydney was estimated to have attracted an audience in the tens of thousands- however the prohibitive price of concert and opera tickets remains one of the main impediments to consistently filling venues during the main part of the season. As part of my PhD, I studied Pierre Boulez’s activities as musical director of the Domaine Musical in Paris, and then the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. Boulez was an extremely original thinker in terms of programming and demonstrated that with a strong personality, some lateral thinking, and an assurance of quality, it is possible to consistently attract a good audience to the most challenging, even daunting programs.

Like most conductors, I would like eventually to become the music director of an orchestra or opera house, and I believe that I have the vision and the ideas to one day accomplish that. I believe that the most important thing for orchestras in this country is to connect with the community and to establish the profile of the orchestra as a central cultural pillar of the community. In order to do this, orchestras must go out into the community, finding new venues, formats and even time-slots so as to offer live music to as broad an audience as possible.

The Brian Stacey Trust is fulfilling a vital role in helping to nurture the conductors whose duty it will be to lead Australia’s musical development in the years to come. I am hoping to compete in The Dimitri Mitropoulos Competition in Athens later this year and would use the money which accompanies this award towards travel and scores.

CURRENT POSITION
Member of the Moffat Oxenbould Young Artist Program at Opera Australia (2006-2007), assisting Richard Hickox and other conductors.

QUALIFICATIONS

• PhD, entitled “Pierre Boulez – The Interface Between Conductor and Composer”, submitted August 2005, University of Western Australia
• M. Mus (violin performance), Indiana University, Bloomington (1995)
• B. Mus (1 st class Honours), University of Western Australia (1994)

• Willoughby Symphony Orchestra, May 2006
• ARCO Chamber Orchestra, May (live broadcast on ABC Classic FM) and August 2006
• West Australian Symphony Orchestra, Gala Concert, July 2006, at the invitation of Matthias Bamert, the Chief Conductor and Artistic Director
• Australian Institute of Music Symphony Orchestra, August 2006
• Opera Australia, 50 th Anniversary Gala Concert, Batavia excerpt, October 2006
• Opera Australia, Le Nozze di Figaro, Sydney Opera House, March 2007

• Opera Australia, Falstaff, Die Zauberflöte (assistant conductor)

• Adelaide Symphony Orchestra (broadcast on ABC Classic FM)
• Queensland Orchestra (live broadcast on ABC Classic FM)
• Chorus Master, West Australian Symphony Orchestra
• West Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Dido and Aeneas, Gianni Scicchi
• Fremantle Chamber Orchestra
• Guarneri Chamber Orchestra
• Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra ( Western Australia)

• Queensland Opera, Don Pasquale (assistant conductor and tour conductor for regional tour)
• West Australian Opera, Batavia, La Cenerentola (associate conductor)
• Associate Chorus Master, West Australian Symphony Orchestra

• West Australian Opera
• Don Giovanni , Carmen (backstage conductor, 2005)
• Young Artist Program, The Merry Widow, Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci, The Abduction from the Seraglio (conducting in production calls, backstage conductor)
• Emerging Artist Program, La Bohème (backstage conductor, 2002)

• West Australian Academy of Performing Arts
• Opera scenes (2003, 2004, 20050

• West Australian Symphony Orchestra (Mahler 2 - offstage conductor, 2003)
• Founded Elandra Ensemble (2000), Guarneri Chamber Orchestra (2002), Fremantle Chamber Orchestra (2005).

• West Australian Opera Chorus (chorus preparation, Batavia, 2004; Christmas concert, 2003,2004)

• Christopher Seaman ( Queensland Orchestra, 2002, 2004, 2005)
• Sebastian Lang-Lessing (Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, 2005)
• Johannes Fritzsch (Opera Australia, 2002, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra 2004)
• Arvo Volmer (Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, 2003, 2004)
• Vittorio Parisi (Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, 2003)
• Sir Charles Mackerras (Sydney Symphony, 2003)
• David Porcelijn (Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, 2003)
• Gianluigi Gelmetti ( Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, 2003)
• Peter McCoppin (Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, 2002)
• Janos Fürst ( Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, 2002)
• Ola Rudner (Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, 2002)
• Jorma Panula (Sydney Symphony, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, 2000, 01, 02)
• Lorraine Vaillancourt (Ensemble Moderne de Montréal, Marseilles, 1999)
• Yves Cohen (Institut Musical de Provence-Aubagne, France, 1997, 98, 99)
• Julius Kalmar (Wiener Meisterkurse, Austria, 1996)

• ArtsWA ‘Artflight’ to attend masterclass with Sir Charles Mackerras in Sydney (2003)
• Evelyn Shacklock Postgraduate Scholarship (1997-2001)
• ArtsWA grant to attend conducting masterclasses in Vienna (1996)
• Dagda Trust grant to attend Indiana University (1994)
• Edith Cowan Prize in Music for most outstanding fourth-year student (1993)
• UWA Choral Society Prize for Second-year Music Literature (1991)
• UWA Choral Society Prize for Music 100 (1990)

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