The eerie sound of silence was all that could be heard from an audience when a musical duo finished performing their pandemic born collaboration.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Cellist and vocalist Lucy Wilson and classically trained vocalist and violone player Quin Thomson came together to create Dark Clouds / Silver Linings 2020.
The piece explores the emotional journey of lockdown during the pandemic, and the challenges and opportunities that arose from that.
"We have all had different challenges and it's really easy to focus on the way it's been hard," Thomson said.
"We didn't want to dismiss the ways it's been hard but we wanted to adopt a more balanced way of looking at things."
The work contains four movements - uncertainty, repetition, grumpiness and hope - derived from the four music modes chosen.
IN OTHER NEWS:
Though the musicians had a framework for the piece, they also worked with improvisation.
"It was improvised and slightly different each time," Thomson said.
"It's amazing how much you can convey in terms of emotion and a journey without using words at all."
When they finished performing the piece at the Supper Room in Cygnet, instead of a round of applause, the audience all simultaneously decided, without uttering a word to each other, that they would stay quiet.
"We didn't even think of that happening but the fact that it did means that it has gone beyond our expectations of what we hoped to achieve," Wilson said.
Thomson said the audience held the silence for five minutes until the duo walked back on stage.
The duo will also perform Dark Clouds / Silver Linings 2020 in Launceston on December 6 at the City Baptist Church. Bookings are essential and can be made through Eventbrite but the concert is entry by donation.
"This was a conscious choice, because we know how much people have missed the opportunity to hear live music, and we're aware that a lot of people are struggling financially at the moment," Thomson said.
"We didn't want anybody to not be able to come."
Wilson said it was wonderful to be able to perform and connect with audiences again.
She was the one who found the grant so the two could collaborate and create the piece.