INTERVIEW: Meet Tenth Muse Initiative, breathing fresh air into the arts scene
Tenth Muse Initiative is a new collective worth keeping an eye out for. The group put on arts events aiming to showcase and promote the diversity of Boorloo (Perth) talent, especially emphasising the works of under-represented people. Their next event, titled ‘fresh air’, will be held at Moana Hall on 21 November and features an array of poets, musicians, and artists of all kinds. We caught up with founder and artistic director Hannah Lee Tungate and co-founder Saskia Willinge to find out more about the group and event. Read our convo here and make sure to follow the links to ticketing and event info at the end!
Saskia Willinge (left) and Hannah Lee Tungate (right) at the first Tenth Muse Initiative concert (photo by Partografia)
IN: Can you tell me a bit about the inspiration behind Tenth Muse? How was the collective put together?
HT: Tenth Muse Initiative was born out of my frustration with the classical music world. The music you hear in the concert hall, or that you learn when you study music is overwhelmingly written by men, and mostly cis white European men. There’s just very little diversity, so I wanted to change that. Saskia and I have similar values but different skills, so after we got talking about how annoyed we were at a 21st party we decided to collaborate and do something about it! The whole thing grew from there- we’ve now welcomed Jessica Taylor and Rachel Doulton onto our team and will hopefully keep expanding in the future.
IN: What was the concept behind ‘Fresh Air’?
SW: Our starting point was wanting to put together an event celebrating our friends and colleagues, and the absolutely brilliant art music that young people in Boorloo/Perth are making. The timing of this concert is just as exams are wrapping up (many of the musicians involved are studying at UWA and WAAPA) so the music itself and also the time of year influenced us in creating an event which is ‘fresh air.’ On a very literal sense we are welcoming the next generation of classical musicians who are a breath of fresh air and have so much to say and give. But to me, it’s also representing the beginning of Summer, being able to take a break, and the excitement of seeing better things on the horizon, whether it's going to the beach, finding new music you love, or simply knowing change is coming and people want to hear a wider range of music.
IN: What was the process like for curating the Fresh Air event? How did you go about putting together the line-up?
SW: I mentioned to my friend Lara Pollard, who is featured in fresh air, that we were planning on a concert featuring WA composers. And then, we both got super excited and started dreaming about all the amazing people we know, and how great it would be to hear their music. Everyone we discussed that day said yes to being involved, and that is the short version of how this all came about.
Because we created this list based on the composer, and not a specific piece they’d written, I approached people asking if they had music that they could perform themselves, or that would require singers and/or piano. I also threw in that we were hoping for a ‘pastoral’ or folky vibe, so that there would (hopefully) be some aural and thematic unity. Each composer has absolutely delivered, and we have some stunning singers involved too who are helping bring everything to life.
A lot of the pieces ended up having a nature element, so another friend Sara Morgillo, a brilliant poet that spends a lot of time in nature, jumped to mind. We thought it would be really lovely to have poetry interspersed throughout the concert, and that this would help make it a unique and welcoming experience for people that have never gone to a classical concert before, because the inclusion of poetry automatically shows fresh air isn’t a standard ‘classical’ event. This is also why we approached Jewel Owusu, who I still cannot believe we have on our lineup! She writes RnB/Soul music and is a local musician who is really making waves in WA. We wanted to have a concert that situates classical music as part of the broader musical landscape, and as a genre that is relevant to everybody, not off in the corner somewhere as it is often perceived by young people in particular. We’re hoping that by breaking down genres a bit, this concert can have something for everyone, and expand everyone’s expectations of what art music is and can be.
IN: To my understanding, this is the second event Tenth Muse have put on so far. What is your vision for future events?
HT: Depending on how you look at things, this is our second or third event. We originally launched in March 2020, literally a week before Covid lockdowns began, so our second concert in July 2021 also weirdly became a launch! And I’m so glad you asked! 2022 is going to be a pretty packed year for us, starting with a Fringe show ‘Tea Break’ which will combine classical music by NSW composer Christine Pan that is inspired by tea, with actual tea being served, on the 23rd and 30th of January.
After Fringe we have a few interesting collaborations in the works involving a couple of local organisations. We can’t talk about it quite yet but we’re very excited! Our vision for future events is a mixture of un-earthing forgotten music from history and also offering a platform for underrepresented artists. We want to create a buzz around discovering new things in art and music and improve the accessibility along the way. Hopefully this will look like coming at things from multiple directions - doing concerts that introduce classical music to new audiences, or audiences that haven’t previously felt interested in/welcomed by it, as well as concerts collaborating with existing classical groups, and helping them expand their programming beyond dead white men. For much of history women and all marginalised people writing music couldn’t get their compositions publicly performed or recognised. This meant that it often didn’t become part of the standard repertoire that was passed down from musician to musician, and that is not because of its quality! Helping people rediscover music that falls into this category is really important to us.
IN: Obviously, there are ton of amazing people involved with fresh air. Are there any that you’re particularly excited about the audience seeing?
HT: This is a super hard question to answer because I love all the people we have involved. I guess at the top of my list would have to be Kate Milligan. She’s a composer I’ve really admired for a long time, and I haven’t heard a single piece by her that I dislike! I am also so stoked to have Julia Nicholls performing one of her original songs in fresh air. Julia has performed in every concert I’ve organised since 2017, her songs are amazing and she’s an all-round amazing human being. Julia is going to be performing with her sister Lucinda so it’s guaranteed to be a special performance that the audience are going love.
SW: I have thought about this question for a few hours and I honestly cannot decide! This concert will be the first time Liam Russell has had their music performed outside of UWA, so I’m really excited to be there for that, and his composition will be sung by a singer I absolutely love, Rachael Liu. But then, I’m also so excited to hear Lara perform their folk songs, because they are absolutely exquisite and her lyrics are bloody brilliant. But THEN, Victor Arul has written a new electronic piece based on codes written by the world’s first computer programmer Ada Lovelace, and I think that will be absolutely fascinating. BUT THEN how on earth could you not choose Jewel Owusu who is quite possibly Perth’s brightest star at the moment. And I love Sara’s poetry so much! So I guess what I’m saying is no, everyone is part of the concert for a reason and I am bursting with excitement about all of it.
IN: Finally, why should someone attend fresh air?
SW: If you like classical, folk or RnB music, singing, or poetry, it’s a no brainer. (Surely that covers most of WA.) If you don’t think you like classical music, or you see classical music as something that is old/stuffy/problematic, yes it sometimes is like that! But not in this concert. So you should come along and see the future of classical music, and the classical music that excites uni students. If you like supporting diversity and/or young artists, you should come. And finally, if you like sitting back, relaxing, and having a drink on a Sunday afternoon, Moana Hall is a beautiful venue and the bar will be open. So, if you’ve made it this far, see you on Sunday I guess!
