WORLD PREMIERE Season
MUSIC
Paul Kelly, James Ledger, Genevieve Lacey & ANAM (Australia)
“Paul Kelly’s voice – sly
and warm, laconic and
sometimes frail – may
be the closest thing we
have to a national one.”
The Monthly
Conversations
with ghosts
Presented by the Australian National Academy
of Music in association with Melbourne Festival
PAUL KELLY PAYS TRIBUTE TO THE
IMMORTAL WORDS OF W.B. YEATS, JUDITH
WRIGHT, KENNETH SLESSOR AND LES
MURRAY WITH A HAUNTING SONG CYCLE
OF REMEMBRANCE AND LONGING.
Australian singer/songwriter Paul Kelly joins
forces with ten performers from the Australian
National Academy of Music (ANAM) and the
incomparable recorder virtuoso Genevieve Lacey
to present the world premiere of an original song
cycle, based on the poetry of W.B. Yeats, Lord
Alfred Tennyson, Kenneth Slessor, Judith Wright
and Les Murray, as well as several new lyrics of
his own.
Created by Kelly in collaboration with ANAM’s
2011 resident composer, James Ledger,
Conversations With Ghosts is a bittersweet
reflection on the nature of mortality and an
uplifting memorial to those who have been lost.
From Slessor’s incantatory ‘Five Bells’ and Yeats’s
‘Sailing to Byzantium’ to Murray’s ‘Once in a
Lifetime Snow’, Conversations With Ghosts pays
homage to some of the English language’s greatest
wordsmiths, offering a unique and unforgettable
evening of music and lyricism.
Warning Haze effects
Composer, Voice & Guitar Paul Kelly
Recorders Genevieve Lacey
Ensemble ANAM Musicians
Composer & Electronics James Ledger
Design Bluebottle
Event Information
Elisabeth Murdoch Hall,
Melbourne Recital Centre
Fri 12 & Sat 13 Oct at 8pm
1hr 10min no interval
$80 / $55
Transaction & booking fees may apply
Melbourne Recital Centre (03) 9699 3333
melbournerecital.com.au
Ticketmaster 136 100
melbournefestival.com.au
This project has been assisted by the Australian government
through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding
and advisory body.