Rose Bay Secondary Concert Music Ensemble and Bondi Brass invites you to attend the world premiere of Evan Lohning’s Bondi Pavilion Suite, alongside a repertoire featuring a range of works from popular classics by Gustav Holst to jazz standards by George Gershwin.
Tickets available here: https://www.bondipavilion.com.au/whats_on/bondi_su…
Proudly supported by Waverley Council, the Bondi Pavilion Suite was commissioned in 2021 by Rose Bay Secondary College Music Ensemble Program to provide the high school concert and stage bands with a composition that would reflect the unique role that the Bondi Pavilion, the historic building at the centre of Bondi Beach, plays in the local cultural landscape.
A three-movement composition that encapsulates the past, the present and the future, the Bondi Pavilion Suite musically reflects the cultural significance this iconic building has had through the ages. Using ‘composed spontaneity’, Evan Lohning creates the impression that this musical piece is formed as naturally as the beach setting. The instrumental solos weave and flow as if improvised yet interact precisely with the band capturing the sounds and rhythms of the beach and the surf culture and sonically reflecting the long association the venue has had with dance hall, swing and brass bands.
In the opening movement, ‘We Are Here’, the wind instruments create a sonic impression of the ocean from the crashing of the waves to the presence of the Bidjigal, Birrabirragal and Gadigal people who walked on its shores and fished and swam in its water. The second movement, ‘The Most Up-to-date Surf Sheds in Australia’, with its toe-tapping swing rhythms, echoes the Swing Bands and Big Band era and recaptures the glamour of the dance hall days. The final movement, ‘Sparkling Surf and Golden Sands’ with its charging percussion section and irresistible bossa-nova rhythms anticipates the future of the Pavilion, a time of energy and renewal and a hub that connects the sea with the cultural heart of the community.
RBSC Music Ensemble Program 