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Edwin Carr Scholarship composers go international
The three recipients of the annual Edwin Carr Scholarship - Dylan Lardelli, Robin Toan and Lissa Meridan - are all overseas undertaking composition studies and building networks with international composers and performers.
The annual Edwin Carr Foundation Scholarship, administered by Creative New Zealand, supports outstanding New Zealand composers to further their studies overseas.
Lissa Meridan, the 2007 recipient of the Edwin Carr Foundation Scholarship, is in France studying with Gerad Pape at the Centre des Creations Musicales Iannis Xenakis in Paris.
The director of the Lilburn Electroacoustic Studio at the New Zealand School of Music in Wellington, Lissa Meridan says: "This scholarship allows me to spend time exploring and developing my music and refining my skills as a composer while immersing myself in this creatively challenging city."
Creative New Zealand Chief Executive Stephen Wainwright says that the Edwin Carr Scholarship is an excellent opportunity for New Zealand composers to be able to work and study with their international counterparts.
"One of Creative New Zealand's key priorites is to develop the potential of New Zealand artists to produce high-quality work so we are pleased to administer this scholarship on behalf of the Edwin Carr Foundation," he says. "This is the first scholarship in New Zealand dedicated to the professional development of our composers."
Globe-trotting exploration of composition
Robin Toan, the 2006 Edwin Carr Scholarship recipient, is sending back regular reports from her globe-trotting exploration of composition and music, made possible by the scholarship. She has already worked with Dorothy Ker, Nicola LeFanu and Roger Marsh in England, and Dieter Mack in Lubeck. She also attended the Prague Spring Festival, including the final round of the International Conducting Competition.
"I had a wonderful time at the festival," she reports. "The conducting competition entrants were so different and created very different sounds from the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra. The Rudofinum concert hall was an attraction in itself with beautiful pillars and chandeliers, and much of the audience dressed in ball gowns."
The first recipient of the Edwin Carr Scholarship, Dylan Lardelli, is again undertaking overseas study with the support of a $25,8000 grant from Creative New Zealand.
This funding will support the young award-winning composer to attend European festivals and workshops, undertake composition tuition, build on existing networks with composers and performers, and pursue opportunities for future performances of his work.
He has also been invited to participate in the Ostrava Days festival of music in the Czech Republic in August.
