RELIVE, from Navona Live features performances of the works by three composers from around the world. This latest edition of the Navona Live series is inspired by an eclectic blend of world topics, literature, landscapes, and seascapes. Corrina Bonshek’s Dreams of the Earth is a reworking of a large scale piece for string and percussion inspired by the sight of a swirling flock of birds amidst the backdrop of climate change.
Today, Corrina is our featured artist in “The Inside Story,” a blog series exploring the inner workings and personalities of our composers and performers. Read on to discover her thoughts on the varied emotions that come through in her work…
Who was your first favorite artist(s) growing up?
My first composer-obsession was Erik Satie. I listened to every bit of his music I could get my hands on, including obscure pieces like his furniture music (for an audience scattered amongst the musicians and told to treat the music as wallpaper!).
When did you realize that you wanted to be a composer?
I think it was when I was around 5 years old. I was dancing around the house listening to Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade and I realised moving to the music wasn’t enough, I wanted to be inside the music.
What is your most unusual composition?
When I was a student I wrote a cacophonous piece for wind quartet full of extended techniques that I called “Zen in a Busy Street.” There was nothing Zen about the music. But you did need a Zen attitude to listen to it!
What is your guilty pleasure?
Reading in the shower! I have a waterproof kindle for this purpose.
Is there a specific feeling that you would like communicated to audiences in this work?
In writing Dreams of the Earth, I imagined gently leading the listeners into the work, giving them space to be with their thoughts, and then beguiling them with waves of melodic fragments that are sweet yet sad. I hope listeners experience a range of emotional states through the work from relaxation, to sadness, hope, joy and even a morsel of outrage (there are some crunchy 2nds at the climax of the work!).
What does this album mean to you personally?
For me it’s about connecting to listeners who would have otherwise never heard my music. I am delighted about the radio play Dreams of the Earth has had both here in Australia and in the USA.
Explore Corrina’s Latest Release
RELIVE
RELIVE is available now from Navona Records. Click here to visit the catalog page and explore this album.
Corrina Bonshek (b. 1977) is an Australian composer who is inspired by sounds and patterns in nature and our cosmic existence. Her music has been described as “beautifully shaped and contemplative” (Clare MacClean, 2013), “deeply spiritual in intent” (Anne Boyd, 2002), and “connected to the essence of South-East Asian music – timelessness” (Chinary Ung, 2014).
