OR, MAYBE, YESTERDAY
Cyrus Meurant Composer
Lucy Macourt Violin
In this new work for solo violin, I have tended towards presenting my musical ideas in a somewhat fragmentary way. Just as the act of ‘remembering’ is increasingly challenged with the passing of time, our sense of time and self can become increasingly elusive whilst in ‘lockdown’.
The title Or, maybe, yesterday is taken from the opening lines of Albert Camus’ novel L’Étranger (The Outsider or The Stranger). I had initially looked at Camus’ The Plague (La Peste) for inspiration, though felt these opening lines (written in 1942) conveyed the feelings of malaise many of us have found ourselves in recently.
It’s also 300 years since Bach compiled his ‘Sonatas and Partitas’ for solo violin, so there are echoes of those works here.
– Cyrus Meurant
Or, maybe, yesterday was premiered online on 14 August 2020.
COMPOSER
CYRUS MEURANT
Cyrus Meurant studied composition and violin at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music with Anne Boyd, Ross Edwards, Matthew Hindson and Richard Meale. He continued his study at the Conservatoire de Paris with Frédéric Durieux, and at the Royal Academy of Music, London on a Churchill Fellowship. Cyrus holds a Doctor of Musical Arts and has won the Frank Albert Prize for Music and the Sarah Teresa Makinson Prize for Composition.
Cyrus’ critically acclaimed work spans theatre, dance, concert hall and the health sector, including music for The Australian Ballet, Divadlo F.X. Šaldy (Czech Republic), Theatre Basel (Switzerland), the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Signal (USA), NIDA, Orchestra Victoria, Momentum Ensemble, Inventi Ensemble, Omega Ensemble, Alleyne Dance (UK), Dance Makers Collective, the National College of Dance, the Sydney Symphony Fellows and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. The Cyrus Meurant Ensemble forms to present his collaborative works.
Recent works include his opera Herakleitos which premiered at the Laeiszhalle Hamburg (Germany) under the baton of Rebecca Lang and the acclaimed score for the ballet Le Petit Prince, in which Cyrus was featured as solo violinist and which ran for two years at the Divadlo F.X. Šaldy. His album Monday to Friday – commissioned by Beaumont Care – has been recognised internationally for its contribution towards research of music in dementia treatment and was nominated for ‘Innovation of the Year’, Eldercare Innovation Awards, Singapore. In 2019, Cyrus released the vinyl EP Four Pieces, recorded with saxophonist Andrew Smith.
SOLOIST
LUCY MACOURT, KINGSLAND RESIDENT
Hailing from Sydney, violinist Lucy Macourt completed a Bachelor of Music (Performance) at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, studying with Dr Goetz Richter. She held the Matteson and Nancy Scholarship, the Kathleen and Allison Short Scholarship and a Sydney Scholars Award. Prior to her tertiary studies, Lucy was enrolled in the Conservatorium’s Rising Stars program, studying with Dr Evgeny Sorkin.
Lucy is an alumni of the Australian Youth Orchestra and National Music Camp, has interned with the Opera Australia Orchestra, performed with the Sydney Symphony fellows, and the Regional Youth Orchestra, encompassing workshops with the Staatskapelle Berlin. She has also performed in masterclasses for Andrea Gajic (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) and Charles Stegeman (Concertmaster of Pittsburgh Opera Ballet Theatre).
Lucy is an experienced music educator, having conducted and tutored string ensembles at primary and secondary schools across Sydney, as well as running her own private studio. Lucy continues her teaching at Canberra Grammar School, the ACT Academy of Music, and her own private teaching studio. She also conducts the Sinfonietta ensemble at Music for Canberra.
This year sees Lucy join the Canberra Symphony Orchestra’s Kingsland Residency program, performing with the orchestra across the 2020/21 seasons.
PRODUCED BY
PRESENTED BY
