By Daniel Honan
Sydney saxophonist Sandy Evans and Melbourne pianist Andrea Keller perform at The Memorial Hall, Bellingen, on Friday 23 October, presenting their new album Resonance alongside vocalists Jenny Barnes and Michelle Nicolle.
Released on 18 September, Resonance draws on the experience of women sustaining creative careers alongside demanding personal responsibilities — caring for family members and aging parents, raising children, teaching and mentoring — in a music industry that has historically been male-dominated.
Evans, who has cared for her husband, who has multiple sclerosis, for 30 years while maintaining an international career as a saxophonist, says the project grew from conversations with Keller about experiences that rarely find their way into music.
“We wanted to bring these often invisible experiences into the foreground, exploring the tensions, frustrations, resilience and joys involved,” Evans said. “Resonance is about acknowledging the complexities of our lives while celebrating the creativity that continues to flourish within them.”
The album draws on writings by five women. Newly commissioned texts come from poets Hazel Smith and Michele Morgan, with additional work by Keller herself and settings of poems by Sara Teasdale and Jeanie Greensfelder. Smith’s line for the project distils the album’s central tension: “She holds a to-do list in one hand and lifts a galaxy with the other.”
Compositions by Evans and Keller alternate with improvised responses to the poetry. Evans says the Memorial Hall is a venue she returns to by choice.
“Bellingen Memorial Hall is one of my favourite venues in the country, with a beautiful piano, excellent sound and a very special atmosphere,” she said. “I love playing for the Bellingen community. Audiences listen so deeply and respond with such warmth and enthusiasm.”
The Bellingen performance is part of an eight-date national tour that opened in Adelaide on 17 October and continues through to Wangaratta on 1 November.
BSN readers can claim 25 per cent off using the promo code Resonance25 at checkout. Tickets are available at rudimusic.com/tours/resonance.
