PORTAL

We are raising a commission fund for three leading composers from Aotearoa to create works for international soloist Anna Koch to be performed in early 2024

Austrian clarinettist Anna Koch opens this latest PORTAL, an innovative contemporary music series created and produced by composer Reuben Jelleyman.

As part of her New Austrian Sound of Music solo world tour Connecting the Dots, Koch will collaborate with composer and taonga puoro practitioner Ariana Tikao and composers Dylan Lardelli and Reuben Jelleyman to create new virtuosic works for bass clarinet. The works she creates here she perform at two high profile NZ festivals, before taking them on the final leg of her tour. At the end of the project she will present all the works of her travels in a solo recital series in Vienna.

Our project story begins with a very successful collaboration between Anna and Reuben in Vienna 2019; there was always meant to be a follow-up. Now, with a scholarship from the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs to travel the world creating and presenting contemporary music with musicians all around the globe, Anna makes her way to Aotearoa.

Our plans developed at the beginning of 2023 and we made three attempts for commission funding from Creative New Zealand and other funding sources. Our applications were 'highly recommended for funding', but ultimately unsuccessful. CNZ has funded very few commissions this year, but we are determined to raise the appropriate funding to support the NZ artists involved in the project.

Taking us beyond the concert hall, PORTAL promises a journey through the physical passageways of Te Uru (Tāmaki Makaurau) and The Arts Centre (Ōtautahi), through a musical gateway. The two shows will be presented for Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki / The Auckland Arts Festival and Off Centre Festival, Otautahi.

The money is needed in order for us to dedicate the time needed to do our art, to obtain the resources to create, to travel to meet and work together, and to pay the rent. The fund is necessary to create a project that properly respects the dedication of the artists to making a special project like this happen.

We would love to invite you to help us make this project a success, backing New Zealand artists to create art and share culture.

PORTAL image credit: Cameron May