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CHRISTMAS APPEAL 2023 SUCCEEDS!
Dear friend,
Gratefully, I am able to report to you that Christmas Appeal 2023 has been a monumental success.
The appeal has raised $8,090 through tax-deductible donations.
Thank you so much to each and every supporter of this appeal, which is already safeguarding my creative endeavours for this year. You can read about six of these endeavours below.
Gratefully, I am able to report to you that Christmas Appeal 2023 has been a monumental success.
The appeal has raised $8,090 through tax-deductible donations.
Thank you so much to each and every supporter of this appeal, which is already safeguarding my creative endeavours for this year. You can read about six of these endeavours below.
With my very best wishes, and deepest gratitude,
Alexander Voltz
Composer & Writer
Alexander, why are you doing this?
No body enjoys asking for money. But, owing to a decline in mainstream commissions, I've had to adopt a new posture to facilitate my work, a posture that is predicated upon entrepreneurship. As someone whose first orchestral work was performed when I was only 12, every fibre of my being is driven to create, particularly to compose. That's why I am doing this: to continue down the path I embarked upon as a child, and to explore that path with uncompromising, child-like curiosity.
What's in it for donors?
- Donors must know what they are investing in: me and my work. The three key tenets of my artistic practice, I should like to think, are talent, authenticity and ambition. If there be talent, it is evidenced by my achievements to date. If there be authenticity, it manifests in my shameless pursuit of knowledge and honesty. And if there be ambition, it displays in my refusal to give up.
What happens if we miss 100%?
Nothing bad at all. All money raised through an Australian Cultural Fund project is delivered, even if the target sum isn't reached.
And if we raise over $10,000?
Well, as they say, the sky really is the limit.
Can you tell me more, specifically?
Sure. I'm striving to raise $10,000 as an advance-like lump to kick-start several projects:
In 2020, I completed Capital Hill, an 11 minute work for chamber orchestra that was subsequently premiered by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in 2021. Needless to say, Capital Hill takes Canberra for its subject. In 2023, I followed with Damascene Roads, a 19 minute work for orchestra, and a Canberran retelling of the conversation of Paul the Apostle. From these two works emerges a kind of incomplete Canberran Trilogy, one which I now hope to finish in 2024. Christmas Appeal 2023 allows me to:
Re-orchestrate Capital Hill for full orchestra and complete the cycle with a third work for orchestra.
I finished my First String Quartet in 2020, a 9 minute work of intimate significance to me. The quartet was shortlisted in the 2020 Bartok World Composition Competition (Budapest), and premiered the next year by Melbourne's Flinders Quartet. The First always did seem like a prelude, an expression of more to come. Christmas Appeal 2023 allows me to: Begin work on my Second String Quartet, a work of greater proportions than the First. At the end of 2022, I was fortunate to receive a commission from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) to compose, for ABC Classic, a six-movement suite for piano accordion trio. Recorded in 2023 by the ABC and performed by Fisarmonica Amici (Bradley Voltz, Nerida Farmer & John Cave), Stradella Suite was an instructive and gratifying experience. Surprisingly hungry to compose again for the piano accordion, Christmas Appeal 2023 allows me to: Start composing new music for solo piano accordion, to be eventually performed by Bradley Voltz in Castelfidardo, Italy. Owing to a number of circumstances, I began composing liturgical music in earnest in 2022, though the form has always, I confess, interested me. Works of this nature include The Lord is my light (2022) for chorus and strings, awarded second prize in the Harlow Chorus' 2023 Young Composer Competition; and Gloria (2023) for chorus and timpani, premiered by the choirs of St John's Cathedral, Brisbane this past Easter. With a number of incomplete liturgical works also on the go, Christmas Appeal 2023 allows me to: Pursue an album-length recording project of my Christian music, produced independently and made available for digital release. I've always been a staunch participant of composition competitions, whether held locally, nationally or internationally. The only problem with these opportunities is that they require a large investment with no guarantee of reward. Christmas Appeal 2023 allows me to: Continue participating in competitive composition opportunities, thus relieving the general financial pressures of doing so. It's not all about actually composing music, either. I write just as many words as I do notes; nowhere is this better evidenced than in my recent editorship of Quadrant Music. This exciting initiative is already generating national support from like-minded colleagues, and, through Christmas Appeal 2023, you can: Show your support for the contributions that I am making to the national arts discussion.
In 2020, I completed Capital Hill, an 11 minute work for chamber orchestra that was subsequently premiered by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in 2021. Needless to say, Capital Hill takes Canberra for its subject. In 2023, I followed with Damascene Roads, a 19 minute work for orchestra, and a Canberran retelling of the conversation of Paul the Apostle. From these two works emerges a kind of incomplete Canberran Trilogy, one which I now hope to finish in 2024. Christmas Appeal 2023 allows me to:
Re-orchestrate Capital Hill for full orchestra and complete the cycle with a third work for orchestra.
I finished my First String Quartet in 2020, a 9 minute work of intimate significance to me. The quartet was shortlisted in the 2020 Bartok World Composition Competition (Budapest), and premiered the next year by Melbourne's Flinders Quartet. The First always did seem like a prelude, an expression of more to come. Christmas Appeal 2023 allows me to: Begin work on my Second String Quartet, a work of greater proportions than the First. At the end of 2022, I was fortunate to receive a commission from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) to compose, for ABC Classic, a six-movement suite for piano accordion trio. Recorded in 2023 by the ABC and performed by Fisarmonica Amici (Bradley Voltz, Nerida Farmer & John Cave), Stradella Suite was an instructive and gratifying experience. Surprisingly hungry to compose again for the piano accordion, Christmas Appeal 2023 allows me to: Start composing new music for solo piano accordion, to be eventually performed by Bradley Voltz in Castelfidardo, Italy. Owing to a number of circumstances, I began composing liturgical music in earnest in 2022, though the form has always, I confess, interested me. Works of this nature include The Lord is my light (2022) for chorus and strings, awarded second prize in the Harlow Chorus' 2023 Young Composer Competition; and Gloria (2023) for chorus and timpani, premiered by the choirs of St John's Cathedral, Brisbane this past Easter. With a number of incomplete liturgical works also on the go, Christmas Appeal 2023 allows me to: Pursue an album-length recording project of my Christian music, produced independently and made available for digital release. I've always been a staunch participant of composition competitions, whether held locally, nationally or internationally. The only problem with these opportunities is that they require a large investment with no guarantee of reward. Christmas Appeal 2023 allows me to: Continue participating in competitive composition opportunities, thus relieving the general financial pressures of doing so. It's not all about actually composing music, either. I write just as many words as I do notes; nowhere is this better evidenced than in my recent editorship of Quadrant Music. This exciting initiative is already generating national support from like-minded colleagues, and, through Christmas Appeal 2023, you can: Show your support for the contributions that I am making to the national arts discussion.
Christmas Appeal 2023 is run through the generosity of the Australian Cultural Fund, an initiative of the Australian Government.
www.australianculturalfund.org.au