THE prospect of crafting a six-hour composition with two international collaborators might seem daunting.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But David Chisholm feels he is ready.
And, as the recipient of a $50,000 grant from the Victorian government, he now has both the time and the resources to undertake his most complex project yet.
“It’s a culmination of decades of work,” David said.
Being the founder and artistic director of the Bendigo International Festival of Exploratory Music has provided the 47-year-old with opportunities to work with creatives from all over the world.
He developed an interest in Finnish music group defunensemble through the festival, in which the artists featured in 2015.
That interest led David to live and work in Finland for three months from February this year.
“I went there to create a 20-minute work,” he said.
That piece became the prototype for Into Darkness, the ambitious project for which he received the grant.
To David, the idea of darkness is both literal and metaphorical.
He is curious about the culture of light in Finland, where ‘nightless nights’ and ‘periods of gloom’ are just part of the seasonal extremes.
“I’m interested in that turning point where darkness returns,” David said.
The project will be presented at – and shaped by – Suomenlinna, the UNESCO world heritage listed maritime fortress in which David developed and showcased the prototype.
“Context is everything,” the composer said.
Work on the project doesn’t officially start until next year, but David is already delving into the history of the site in the hopes of bringing its stories to life through art.
He envisages the work will be presented at Suomenlinna in September 2020.
David was grateful to be one of 21 inaugural recipients of the Victorian government’s $700,000 Creators Fund – of which he was awarded the largest share.
“The Creators Fund is one of the new ways we are backing our creative talent – supporting ground-breaking new work and ensuring Victoria is – and always will be – the creative state,” Minister for Creative Industries Martin Foley said.
The selection panel received more than 200 applications for the fund.