Page 13 - Luce 2016

Anna and Alice Stories of ‘Alice’ (Peggy and Leslie Cranbourne Artist-in-Residence Alice Pung)
and ‘Anna’ (Kenneth Moore Memorial Music Scholar Dr Anna Goldsworthy)
come readily to the lips of students and staff at Janet Clarke Hall. Both made a
significant contribution to the life of the College in 2015 as their national and
international reputations continued to grow.

For Alice, 2015 was by her own admission a ‘bit of a blur’ as she became mother
to Leo, but she still found time to speak at our 2015 Literature Dinner on the stories
behind her first fictional novel, Laurinda. The novel, which is set in a fictional private
girls school dominated by a privileged student clique (and soon to be published
in the US) has been longlisted for the 2016 Stella Prize and shortlisted for the Inky
Awards. Alice also found time to write a series of children’s books on Marly, an
adventurous girl whose adventures are delighting young readers.
As the Principal noted at our Literature Dinner ‘Alice never writes merely for the
sake of style, but rather from her conviction and desire to help those who may
not feel custodianship of a strong voice – new immigrants, outsiders, international
students, young adults. Those who, in her words, may feel “invisible”; those who
suffer from “isolation, loneliness, need for acceptance and respect”’. Her regular
national talks at schools were slightly reduced as Leo found his place in the world
(and in our College life), but Alice joined Anne Summers and Maxine Beneba Clarke
to speak on ‘feminism and class’ at the Wheeler Centre. Alice’s standing in literary
Alice Pung
circles was reflected in her award as the 2015 Sydney Morning Herald Young Author
of the Year.
Anna’s contributions to the musical life of the College began with the launch of the
Port Fairy Spring Music Festival in her last year as its Director, and culminated in
her wonderful ‘Springtime Offering’, a retrospective drawn from her decade-long
association with JCH. 2015 was a typically busy year in writing and performing in
which Anna toured with the Seraphim Trio and performed the complete Beethoven
Trios, recording three of these for ABC Classics. Anna also found time to act, touring
with the stage adaptation of ‘Piano Lessons’, including a season at the Melbourne
Recital Centre and at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival. As a composer, she wrote a
new cabaret show ‘Cole’, about the life and work of Cole Porter, commissioned by
Barry Humphries and performed at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival.

As a writer, her Monthly essay on the state of classical music, ‘The Lost Art of
Listening,’ drew significant international attention by raising the question of a
declining audience for classical music. Anna was asked to represent Australia
through the new medium that might threaten the art of listening – the internet – in a
worldwide collaboration of pianists. A full house for her JCH concert suggests that
Anna Goldsworthy
the privilege of attending a live performance by a gifted speaker, writer and pianist
is still very much in demand.

The world unites in music.
Anna (bottom right) plays in unison
with Idan Raichel (top left, in Tel-Aviv),
Can Çankaya ( top right, in Istanbul),
and Kseniia Rychkova (bottom left, in
Moscow) in the video ‘United Pianos’,
the world’s first 22 hand piano piece,
a celebration of unity through music.
The video was an initiative of the
Permanent Mission of Israel to the
United Nations, featuring eleven
renowned pianists from across the globe
collaborating to play the world’s first 22
hands piano piece. It can be viewed at:
http://bit.ly/21p5WB4

J anet Clarke Hall 13