Forces of Nature: A French Encounter

Padma Newsome, a Mallacoota (VIC) resident, composer, performer, and community recovery worker, created The French Violin in response to the 2019 – 2020 Australian bushfires.

Living on the edge of the fire ravaged Karbeethong forest Padma was fortunate not to lose his home. Friends living just 400 metres away lost theirs but had entrusted a bundle of broken violins to Padma, which including one made by Didier Nicolas, c. 1820, from Mirecourt, the French ‘capital of violin making’. It was in need of loving restoration, and there just happened to be a luthier staying down the road.

Padma says, ‘The most beautiful thing is the luthier got this fiddle [The French Violin] up and running. Now it’s not a fantastic violin, but it’s got a very particular character. My composition, The French Violin will be more about storytelling, rather than the direct translation of how the instrument sounds, or a direct representation of the post-fire landscape. I’m thinking of bringing the Didier violin to Adelaide, providing it can fit on the small plane and won’t have to be thrown into the hold! I think I’ll be able to bring it over… if not to play, but to show.’

Padma Newsome studied composition at the Elder Conservatorium in the 90s, then continued postgraduate studies at Yale as a Fulbright Scholar, where he formed the ensemble Clogs. He toured the world for many years before settling in Mallacoota and developing relationships with the people and the natural environment.

Forces of Nature: A French Encounter will conjure the power of the seas, the sun and the elements depicted in the theatrical splendour of the French Baroque of Paris and Versailles.

Concert duration is approximately ninety minutes, including a twenty-minute interval.

Since 1977, Adelaide Baroque’s aim has been to excite contemporary audiences with the power of baroque music, as well as to nurture the next generation of performers in the presentation and promotion of historical performance practice.

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