We Won't Let You Down
“We Won’t Let You Down” 2017 for String Chamber Orchestra, for the Australian Chamber Orchestra, premiered City Recital Hall, September 2018, commissioned by the Hush Foundation. Aria-nominated album.
Duration:
5:00
Program Note:
We Won’t Let You Down was commissioned by the Hush Foundation for its volume 18 CD, in a wonderful effort to enlighten the lives of children living in hospitals around Australia and the world. As part of this project, I visited the Westmead Children’s Hospital, and with the help of some very wonderful, selfless staff, was able to spend a couple of days understanding what life is like for a child growing up in said space.
I bonded with these children— we spoke about life, hardship, art music, pop music, and joy. We sang together and we talked about what would lift us on our darkest days. Here was founded the inspiration for Won’t Let You Down.
Written for the Australian Chamber Orchestra Collective, this piece embodies what the children taught me— the key to catharsis is drive. I interpreted this literally in my use of rhythm and tempo, whilst appropriating some pop stylistic elements into my world of art music, as homage to my inspiration.
Thank you to Paul Stanhope for trusting me with this project and instilling endless knowledge in me during the process of writing this work.
Listen:
