Blue Grass Minuet
An operatic children’s film by David Chisholm and Cazerine Barry
| Music | David Chisholm |
| Design & Direction | Cazerine Barry |
| Executive Producer | Mark Patterson |
| ScreenLab Producers | Marianne Fisher & Constantine Koukias |
A mythical fable about natures strength & sensitivity.
A brother and sister live on either side of a glittering forest.
He likes Bluegrass music she prefers a minuet.
There livelihoods are in the forest. He chops down trees to make a path and so that he can remember his way – a tree chopper, stopper, lopper, shocker.
She tracks the time by scattering seeds so that trees will grow – a tree planter, prancer, enhancer and advancer.
One day they cross paths and their worlds collide in a duet.
Brother is a tree chopper, stopper, lopper, shocker. Sister is a tree planter, prancer, enhancer, advancer.
His work makes crazy weeds that invade nature. Her work enhances and heals natures way. They come to one tree that both Brother and Sister care about. Dusk is coming, and they should go home to shelter, but they stay and hug and sing to the tree. It’s getting late and cold and they are scared, but they find that under the tree it is warm, so they huddle together against the trunk, feeling warm and safe.
A brother and sister live on either side of a glittering forest.
He likes Bluegrass music she prefers a minuet.
There livelihoods are in the forest. He chops down trees to make a path and so that he can remember his way – a tree chopper, stopper, lopper, shocker.
She tracks the time by scattering seeds so that trees will grow – a tree planter, prancer, enhancer and advancer.
One day they cross paths and their worlds collide in a duet.
Brother is a tree chopper, stopper, lopper, shocker. Sister is a tree planter, prancer, enhancer, advancer.
His work makes crazy weeds that invade nature. Her work enhances and heals natures way. They come to one tree that both Brother and Sister care about. Dusk is coming, and they should go home to shelter, but they stay and hug and sing to the tree. It’s getting late and cold and they are scared, but they find that under the tree it is warm, so they huddle together against the trunk, feeling warm and safe.
BIOGRAPHIES
David Chisholm – Composer
David graduated from University of Wollongong in 1992 with a Distinction in Musical Composition. He has studied under Andrew Schultz, Andrew Ford, Barry Connyngham, Brenton Broadstock. He was awarded the French-Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry 2005 French Flair Award and the National Young Achiever of the Year in 1994.
David was Chair of Melbourne Fringe and has acted in a variety of curatorial and policy development roles for bodies such as Music Council of Australia, Arts Victoria, City of Melbourne, Next Wave Festival, Melbourne International Arts Festival, Chamber Music Australia, Brisbane Festival, Lygon Street Festa, Geelong Waterfront Festival and Opera Australia. He is a graduate of the Cranlana Programme Colloquia and since 2003 has taught at Centre for Ideas, Victorian College of the Arts.
David’s music has been performed by Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, The Australian Ballet, Dead Horse Ensemble, Silo Quartet and soloists including Genevieve Lacey, Richard Haynes, Marshall McGuire, Timothy Phillips, Nic Synot, Calvin Bowman and Jessica Aszodi. His work is frequently broadcast on ABC Classic FM. In 2006 his first CD of music from ORIGAMI featuring Silo Quartet was released through Move Records. Past creative collaborators include choreovideographer Cazerine Barry, Koorie historian and sound artist Genevieve Grieves and writer Angus Cerini.
2007 sees the development and premiere of BalletLab’s Brindabella, collaborating with choreographers Phillip Adams and Miguel Gutierrez, as well as a US tour of his 2006 BalletLab collaboration ORIGAMI. David will also collaborate on installations with cross-media artists Natascha Stellmach - Book of Back and Boris Eldagsen - No Cure at Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney (the former also at Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin).
David’s epic song cycle setting of Yves Bonnefoy’s the beginning and the end of the snow will premiere in August 2007, featuring acclaimed soprano Miriam Gordon-Stewart and a stellar ensemble of musicians Alice Giles (Harp), Richard Haynes (Clarinets), Ceridwen Davies (Viola), Caerwen Martin (Cello) and Peter Dumsday (Piano/Harpsichord/Celeste).
David is financially supported in 2007 by Arts Victoria, City of Melbourne and Julian Burnside QC.
Cazerine Barry - Digital Media Artist
Cazerine has been making performance for more than 15 years, partnering music theatre and digital media. She has created a body of more than ten independent productions. She is the winner of the 2000 New Media Fellowship and the Eva Czajor Memorial Award for young female directors.
Her performance work has been presented internationally in UK, France, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia and Monaco. Cazerine created the media for Melbourne Festival’s A thousand doors A thousand windows, with composer Constantine Koukias and a video installation for the Concertbrow Orchestra for Holland Festival with composer Brett Dean. Her work Sprung, with David Chisholm as composer, toured internationally in 2005.
MARK PATTERSON - ScreenLab Executive Producer
Mark is a filmmaker with significant credits to his name.
His collaboration with world-renowned writer and director Paul Cox includes (as producer) the highly-acclaimed feature film Innocence (2000), and Human Touch (2004) which was selected for the Toronto, Montreal and Melbourne film festivals; plus (as executive producer) The Remarkable Mr Kaye (2005), Kalaupapa Haven and Salvation (both in production).
He is also developing the feature film, Mindless Ferocity of Sharks, with director Jonathan Teplitzky. Mark's other credits include executive producer of government documentaries for the South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) and writer/director/producer for corporate and independent documentaries.
He established the production company Co-Media to specialise in social issue documentary, and he has worked in Aboriginal communities making documentaries and teaching filmmaking skills.
Currently Mark is chairman of the United Film Group, which formed in 2003.
