London chamber orchestra Ruthless Jabiru has named Brett Dean as its next Patron to succeed the late Peter Sculthorpe.
Sculthorpe was announced as Ruthless Jabiru's inaugural Patron in advance of the ensemble's launch at the 2011 City of London Festival, at which he was a featured composer. Throughout his career Sculthorpe was recognised internationally for his distinctive compositional voice and lifelong advocacy for Australian cultural vibrancy. He died in 2014 at the age of 85.
Award-winning composer, violist and conductor Brett Dean will assume the mantle as honorary Patron of the ensemble. Dean is currently Artist in Association with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Artist in Residence with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra and Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
Sculthorpe was composing a major work for Ruthless Jabiru at the time of his passing. The orchestra will present an exclusive realisation of his sketches for the incomplete commission alongside music by Kaija Saariaho, Liza Lim, John Luther Adams and Eugene Birman in a forthcoming London performance planned for late 2015.
A crowdfunding campaign to support the project, titled On Reflection, is now in its final days: https://australianculturalfund.org.au/projects/on-reflection-a-concert-for-peter-sculthorpe/
Ruthless Jabiru is a chamber orchestra dedicated to exploring humanitarian stories through New music. The ensemble is made up entirely of professional Australian musicians based in the UK and conducted by its founding Artistic Director Kelly Lovelady.
Programmes are devised around existing and commissioned repertoire by today’s composers with a view to promoting sustainability and ethical dialogue.
Brett Dean studied in Brisbane before moving to Germany in 1984 where he was a permanent member of the Berliner Philharmoniker for fourteen years.
He began composing in 1988, initially concentrating on experimental film and radio projects and as an improvising performer. Dean’s reputation as a composer continued to develop, and it was through works such as his clarinet concerto Ariel´s Music (1995), which won an award from the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers, and Carlo (1997) for strings, sampler and tape, inspired by the music of Carlo Gesualdo, that he gained international recognition.
In 2000 Dean returned to his native Australia to concentrate on his composition, and he now shares his time between homes in Melbourne and Berlin.
Ruthless Jabiru