IMMERSED in the stunning landscape of the Torbay Inlet near Albany and far from madding crowds, acclaimed fiddler Robert Zielinski’s head filled with music.
Inspired by the gentle awakening of dawn and serene starlit nights under the karri forest’s canopy, Zielinski listened deeply to the sounds around him and was inspired to compose a suite he says will transport the audience to the Great Southern at its world premiere at the Perth Concert Hall on Sunday May 12.
Kiangardarup – The Torbay Suite, takes its name from the Minang Noongar word for “kangaroo place” as the traditional owners knew the inlet, and was gifted to Zielinski by local elder Vernice Gillies.
• Robert Zielinski immersed himself in the landscape of the Torbay Inlet.
“I didn’t set out to write anything but was just inspired,” Zielinski said of the experience.
The studio where he crafts violins, including his own, is in the heart of the karri forest and Zielinski says he’d take daily walks down to the inlet, becoming attuned to the natural rhythms around him.
Listening deeply is part and parcel of Zielinski’s fiddle-playing, as he never learned to read or write music.
But he says composing the suite came naturally, with each piece unfolding in a predetermined sequence. Drawing on years of training to learn music by ear, he skilfully translated the essence of his surroundings into the melodies of the suite. Afterwards, Zielinski played the various parts to fellow musicians, who also learned it by ear and together they refined the composition.
“I never learnt to read or write music, so I don’t,” he said.
“It’s like the piece plays you, you have to get out of the way and let it play.”
• Zielinski records amongst the giant karris.
The result is a medley of sound that blends Zielinski’s fiddling with Melinda Forsyth’s cello, Manuela Centanni’s wooden flute and Jim Green’s bouzouki, with recordings the composer made of the inlet’s sounds.
Although of Polish decent, Zielinski was adopted by Perth’s Irish community in the early 1980s because of his obvious talent, and when he was 12, local fiddling legend Mick Doherty took him under his wing.
He moved to Ireland at the age of 17 and ended up staying for a 14-year residency studying with the country’s top traditional fiddle players and teaching at the Galway School of Traditional Irish music. His dedication and skill were recognised when he received the Michael Coleman Fiddle Player of the Year Award in 2000.
Zielinski says choosing the Perth Concert Hall to premiere the suite was a natural choice.
“The hall allows the audience to hear the natural sounds of the instruments and the emotions in every note without a microphone.”
The concert is from 4-6pm, and tickets are $35-89 from https://perthconcerthall.com.au/events/event/kiangardarup-torbay-suite
by EZEKIEL WHITE-U