a sunflower fades
for solo trumpet
Composed for Isabella Thomas
Performed as part of The ANAM Set 2024
This ANAM Set commission was generously supported by the Australian Government through Creative Australia and the Anthony and Sharon Lee Foundation
Program note:
a sunflower fades. is composed for Isabella Thomas in solidarity, and inevitability. In regard to the transient and ephemeral nature of human condition.
I. I cry amongst (an echo chamber), a re!ection on conflicting narrative. The struggle to find clarity and connection amidst the constant hum of modern discourse.
II. Reaping... Asphalt, Ruins, and Dark Plumes, from the The Ukrainian Cossock Song ой на горі тай женці жнуть (Oh, on the mountain, the reapers are reap) to recognise the harsh realities of conflict. Amidst the chaos, there is a sense of defiant perseverance.
III. Introspection, rather than protest, Garden Paths, Borders, and Other Loose Delimiters, an almost inconclusive contemplation on human interaction and identity. Questioning the conventional notions of nationalism, and belonging in an increasingly interconnected world.
About the composer:
Callum Mallett (he/him) is a composer, multi-media artist, and collaborator based in Wellington, NZ. His work is informed by materiality and function, with work that integrates aspects of place and moment. His work explores experiential form in collaborative performance contexts.
Past commissions have included work for (MIDI Controlled) Organ and Live Electronics, and Chamber work for the SMP Ensemble. Site-specific work performed at the Pūtangirua Pinnacles on the south Wairarapa coast, with further work produced at the Pyramid Club, Wellington Cathedral of St. Pauls, the Wellington Foyer of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, and Sound-Art exhibited at New Zealand Parliament exhibition space.
He has had works performed by the NZTrio, SMP Ensemble, Peter Scholes, and Green Room at the Pyramid Club. Callum has participated in several development programs, including the Nelson Composers’ Workshop and the impuls International Academy for Composers and Ensembles of Contemporary music, Austria.
Callum has been a finalist in the Lilburn Trust NZSM Composition Competition and placed in the University of Auckland NZ Clarinet Festival Composers Competition. Callum has been a co-winner in the NZTrio Composing Competition with ‘Departure, at the Going Tide’, the same work programmed for the Asian Composers’ League 2022 Festival in Christchurch.
Callum studied Sonic Arts and Composition with Michael Norris, and Kenneth Young at the New Zealand School of Music - Te Kōkī.
As a performer, Callum is a multi-instrumentalist and regularly performs with the SMP Ensemble and Wellington Brass. Past international engagements include tours to the UK, Australia and China.
Learn more about Callum at his website: callummallett.com