production Archives - Luke Byrne Music

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and Elizabeth Scott

tdrp@lbwusr — Fri, 16 Sep 2022 16:03:50 +0000

Luke has played, chorus-master’d and composed for Sydney Philharmonia since 2009, but none of it would ever have happened without his friend and colleague Elizabeth Scott.

As well as working on countless rehearsals and projects over the years, she commissioned him to compose what would become one of his most significant and well-received works ever, Four Songs from Grimm’s (particularly Foundling). Not content to merely commission him, Elizabeth has since championed his music around Australia and the world ever since, to the extent that Foundling has travelled to parts of the world that he hasn’t, and he is much older than it is!

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Gondwana National Indigenous Children’s Choir (since 2015)

tdrp@lbwusr — Fri, 16 Sep 2022 15:56:51 +0000

As well as playing piano for them in the past, more recently Luke has composed three significant works for GNICC and each one represents a shift in the way he writes music and/or has taken on a life well beyond its original inception.

Storm Bird from 2015 was conceived at a music camp in the Atherton Tablelands in Northern Queensland and the elemental, cinematic music he wrote was prompted by both the traditional story of Yidinji elder Gudju Gudju and the choristers Goya-esque drawings in response to this.

Buruwan Elegy was the toughest commission he’s ever been given in that he had to write a song to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Appin Massacre for a children’s choir to sing at the very location the massacre occurred, but it forced him to find a clarity of expression that means that the music communicates its meaning even with no singing.

Birinyi was his second collaboration with Gudju Gudju and a life-goal opportunity to compose for the Australian Chamber Orchestra who he’s watched and listened to for decades.

His relationship with Gondwana Choirs, Sydney Children’s Choir and artistic director Lyn Williams goes well beyond these instances, but the opportunities he has been given to compose for and with Indigenous elders and children have been a unique pleasure and privilege.

https://gondwana.org.au/gondwana-indigenous-childrens-choir/

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Bloody Murder by Luke Byrne (music) and Shirley Keane (libretto), Guildhall School of Music & Drama, July 2022

tdrp@lbwusr — Fri, 16 Sep 2022 15:53:56 +0000

This is Luke’s first opera, and it probably couldn’t have gone better as a debut. He was blessed to have an experienced collaborator in Shirley who shared his pragmatic approach, and their field trip around the West of Ireland as research for this opera is something he will never forget.

Luke came to Guildhall (and to London in general) to challenge himself, to not settle for writing the same music over and over, and in this he believes he succeeded inasmuch as he extended his technique and compositional language but retained enough of his personality and idiom to still be recognisably his.

Who knew that a contemporary opera about people who consider murdering their siblings on a remote farm in 1970s Ireland could be so universal?!

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Starstruck by multiple authors and composers, NIDA, Sydney, 2019

tdrp@lbwusr — Fri, 16 Sep 2022 15:49:39 +0000

This new musical was an adaptation of the 1982 film of the same name, populated with Australian rock & roll songs from the era.

Luke was the musical director and arranger but this show (despite having not continued beyond that point yet) was more than that for him. This was the music of his childhood, music that he had been brought up on, and playing these songs every day and night for a few months was the closest he’s yet come to fulfilling his rock star dreams.

https://www.nida.edu.au/productions/productions/all/nida-presents/starstruck-the-stage-musical

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Between the Sea and Sky by Luke Byrne, New York Musical Festival (NYMF), Acorn Theatre, NY, August 2018

tdrp@lbwusr — Fri, 16 Sep 2022 15:35:35 +0000

This show is more of Luke than anything else he’s ever done.

Luke’s known Ruth Park’s books since he was a child so to hear and see her words and characters brought to life was just extraordinary. Even better, Kate Mulvany had chosen various Irish folksongs and others to be sung by the actors, and so as musical director and arranger it was his job to weave these into the fabric of the play.

It would take many paragraphs to describe this show, but for now it suffices to say that it’s very rare for any show to ever be “finished”, of which “Between the Sea and Sky” is no exception, but Luke looks forward to the day when someone else picks it up again and he can apply what he’s learned since then.

https://www.playbill.com/article/new-york-musical-festival-names-2018-award-for-excellence-winners

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The Harp in the South by Ruth Park, adapted by Kate Mulvany, Sydney Theatre Company 2018

tdrp@lbwusr — Fri, 16 Sep 2022 15:30:31 +0000

Luke told Kate that he was very grateful for her selection of such bittersweet tunes as “The Last Rose of Summer” and “Siuìl à Run” because sad Irish-sounding music is his default, it’s in his DNA and he could have created an entire film score from just those two.

https://www.sydneytheatre.com.au/whats-on/productions/2018/the-harp-in-the-south-part-one–part-two

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Muriel’s Wedding by PJ Hogan, Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall, Sydney Theatre Company 2017

tdrp@lbwusr — Fri, 16 Sep 2022 15:27:38 +0000

A massive hit and a massive commitment that devoured Luke’s life, it was truly singular to be part of such a cultural phenomenon, a new musical that was actually sold out and received standing ovations every night.

Luke will ll never forget the feeling before the performances that he had to conduct (two a week as Assistant MD), the thrill mixed with panic and then the absolute euphoria in songs like “Sydney” and “Here Comes the Bride”.

https://www.sydneytheatre.com.au/whats-on/productions/2018/muriels-wedding-the-musical

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Chimerica by Lucy Kirkwood, Sydney Theatre Company 2017

tdrp@lbwusr — Fri, 16 Sep 2022 15:24:27 +0000

Luke was the musical director for the ensemble who were actually his own NIDA students.

A titan of a work about the Tiananmen Square massacre and the iconic “Tank Man”, Luke’s role was to weave the singing of the Chinese and American national anthems (anthems of course being his thing) and other songs into the play. Luke found it very gratifying to see his students become so integral to the mechanics of the production.

https://www.sydneytheatre.com.au/whats-on/productions/2017/chimerica

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The Events by David Greig, Sydney Festival and Belvoir St Theatre, Sydney, 2016

tdrp@lbwusr — Fri, 16 Sep 2022 15:20:33 +0000

The Events by David Greig, Sydney Festival and Belvoir St Theatre, Sydney 2016 (followed by multiple touring locations).

Luke was musical director for this confronting play based on the massacre on the island of Utoya in Norway by Anders Brevik in 2009.

The play transfers the action to a community choir in England, and every performance had a different community choir perform that part, which Luke would rehearse an hour before each show. It was a perfect alignment of his theatre and choir worlds and he worked with incredible choirs including The Choir of Love, a group of mostly Syrian and Iraqi refugees in SW Sydney.

https://belvoir.com.au/productions/the-events/

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Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Belvoir St Theatre, Sydney, 2013

tdrp@lbwusr — Fri, 16 Sep 2022 15:07:04 +0000

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