PV Orchestra

Main Menu

  • Home
  • Orchestra concert
  • Classical orchestra
  • Popular orchestra
  • Orchestra opera

PV Orchestra

Header Banner

PV Orchestra

  • Home
  • Orchestra concert
  • Classical orchestra
  • Popular orchestra
  • Orchestra opera
Popular orchestra
Home›Popular orchestra›“When a symphony orchestra knocks on your door, you don’t really know how to say no”

“When a symphony orchestra knocks on your door, you don’t really know how to say no”

By George M. Ortiz
July 4, 2022
0
0

Lyrics by Ben Lamb

Electric Fields took the stage with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for a special NAIDOC show this week.

Electric fields are an unstoppable force. Since breaking into the industry as a duo in 2015, they’ve played a bunch of shows around the world and even been in the running for Eurovision. Now they’re back home and adorning the iconic Hamer Hall stage for a show with the legendary MSOand they are very excited about it.

“It’s the first time we’ve done something like this,” says Zaachariaha (Fielding, vocals). “It’s not just going to be me and Michael, it’s going to be a bunch of other talented cats. I’m so happy, and hearing the tracks with the orchestral elements, it’s so beautiful that our songs can go in that direction.

Read Melbourne’s most comprehensive range of articles and interviews here.

A show with the MSO seems like a rite of passage for some of Australia’s most notable bands; Electric Fields joins artists like Hilltop Hoods, Flight Facilities and Vera Blue, to name a few.

“Someone who works for the MSO was working for the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, and he wrote to me that we might be working with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra,” says Michael (Ross, keyboards). “In the meantime, he went from ASO to MSO, and he talked about it again and just said, ‘How about we do a show together? When a symphony orchestra knocks on your door, you don’t really know how to say no.

There always seems to be something special about a joint show with the iconic orchestra, the crossover between very different musical genres providing the special sauce that makes these events so popular. “It’s exciting,” notes Zaachariaha. “Australians with these creative minds coming up with these weird things and mixing them together. I can’t wait to see what happens next with the next bold and brave move the creatives will make.

It’s been a collaborative process from the start, with the artist often working with the MSO to shape the show from the earliest stages.

“The main players were myself and Alex Turley (MSO Cybec 2022 Young Composer in Residence). He and I have been working together for a few months now,” adds Michael. “We would have a conversation about how he was going to be. I would say ‘We can kind of try to take it a bit trippy, in the sense of unexpected twists and turns that really use the texture of the giant organism that is the orchestra.

“But it’s not just about replacing pads with strings, replacing this with that. For example, in a part where you expect a giant chorus, we took a twist, where we bought it completely and changed all the chords underneath. I wrote new chords, sent them to Alex and then Alex orchestrated that. So we played with it.

“We played a little tennis back and forth. He obviously did the heavy lifting with the orchestration, but it was a collaboration between the two of us.

The show is one of the highlights of Arts Center Melbourne’s NAIDOC week program, a week of great cultural significance across Australia. Zaachariaha has always kept his native heritage close to his heart, inspiring elements throughout Electric Fields’ work.

“I think it’s a great opportunity, it has to happen,” added Zaachariaha. “There is so much to learn and so much to understand on both sides, with our darkness and with the Western way of doing things as well.

“When you come up with a feeling, you’re not a black person, or a gay person, or a white person, that frequency is just for energy. I feel like we can tap into that, and that’s that’s what aboriginal people have always done.

“We never saw ourselves as a label, it’s just once the western world came along and then confused us with; ‘This is the cat you must buy; it is the house that you must have, it is the husband or the wife that you must marry.

“Since my upbringing and being among my seniors, these things have never mattered. I feel like with this music, I would like to contribute to this philosophical way of thinking about events like NAIDOC Week.

“Our way of thinking is completely different from that of Westerners. It’s good that we have this week so that we have a moment to celebrate and learn from each other, and it’s a good platform for First Nations people who want to be to give something and receive in return.

Electric Fields hit Hamer Hall with the MSO this Thursday, July 7. Get your tickets here.

Categories

  • Classical orchestra
  • Orchestra concert
  • Orchestra opera
  • Popular orchestra

Recent Posts

  • The Irish Chamber Orchestra presents a festive concert at Birr
  • Could It’s a Wonderful Life prove ENO’s saviour? National Opera Arts Council cuts funding to London Coliseum
  • West Australian Opera announces 2023 season
  • Alive Music Orchestra will perform an annual Christmas concert at Valley Church – The Vacaville Reporter
  • NTD’s Special Thanksgiving Program – Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra Concert

Archives

  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • July 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • November 2016
  • September 2016
  • February 2016
  • April 2015
  • January 2013
  • November 2012
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions