Seven Last Words from the Cross

Scottish composer James McMillan's work Seven Last Words from the Cross is a stunning piece of contemporary music. It's a droning, shuddering atonal drift which is performed with strings and voices, but somehow seems to invoke the timbres of electronics and humming machinery as well.. perhaps what you'd get if you crossed Surface of the Earth with Mahler's 8th, or something.

My attempts to buy a recording of this work have always been stymied; I still have the cassette I recorded a copy of it off the radio about 10 years ago, and I listen to it often.

A rare occasion to see and hear the work performed is upon us; the Tudor Consort is collaborating with Gate Seven Orchestra and presenting a performance of Seven Last Words from the Cross on Saturday August 21 at Sacred Heart Catholic Cathedral. You can book at Ticketek.

Extra 44 Quid Exhibition

The Extra 44 Quid collective [myself and three friends] are staging our inaugral exhibition this week. It kicks off on Tuesday night and runs for 10 days or so.



Here is some more information on the show:
Extra 44 Quid #1 is a group-exhibition featuring the work of four artists; three from Wellington and the fourth straight outta Germany. The show features an interesting range of work - drawing, painting, and 3D work - sculpture and assemblage - from the four very different artists in the E44Q collective:
Terence Turner (Tainui) is a celebrated bone-carver who is currently helping to make King Kong for Peter Jackson. He is also reknowned for his paintings of blowflies and intestines. He will be exhibiting paintings and souped-up re-wired and generally deranged toaster ovens.
Kathy Bartlett (Wairarapa) has an ever-growing number of followers, enthralled with her stunning and incisive portraits. She recently exhibited a series of portraits of her friends as saints, portrayed in the Orthodox Christian-style replete with gold leaf and halos. In an inspired move these were shown in an auxiliary building at Wellington Cathedral. Kathy will be showing her new paintings.
Sandra Schmidt (Saxony) hails from Dresden in the Communist heartland of the GDR, but she evaded the Stasi, moved to Wellington to teach art. She is known for her assemblages of found objects, and repetition drawing and painting, the execution of which verges on obsessive-compulsive. Sandra will be showing a number of large objects constructed from many, many small objects.
Stephen Clover (Tawa) leads a double life; by day he is a quiet, shy lad working as a tea-boy for a Government department . At night his shadow looms large over the sleepy vale of Aro as he works long into the night, with only his pet chainsaw for company. Stephen will be showing wooden sculptures and ink drawings.
The show runs from the 3rd to the 11th of August, at Thistle Hall (upper Cuba Street) and is open from 12pm to 6pm daily. The opening celebration is on the 3rd of August at 6pm. Please come... it'll be fun. We've got a keg of beer and some DJs... what more couldya want, huh?