FOJAM is a contemporary international arts and music organisation showcasing the diversity and vitality of Jewish identity, culture and life. We are proud to be part of a wider arts community that seeks to celebrate diversity of all cultures and identities.
A NIGHT OF COMPASSION
Thursday 29 September
Presented by FOJAM and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
We took audiences on a journey through ancient story and song this past September.
Eight years after the critically acclaimed Melbourne debut of their award-winning song cycle Compassion, composer Nigel Westlake and FOJAM’s Festival Patron, singer-songwriter Lior reunited with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for A Night of Compassion on Thursday 29 September 2022 at the Melbourne Town Hall.
The beautiful seven-movement song cycle was created after the tragic death of Westlake’s son. Using the strengths of their individual artistry, Westlake and Lior express the wisdom of compassion through a meeting of contemporary and classical music told in song and symphony. The work draws on ancient Hebrew and Arabic poems, proverbs and texts that provide insights into a world struggling with divisiveness and how the main tenets of compassion can provide relief to this tension.
Featuring Lior and Westlake’s ARIA award-winning song cycle Compassion as the centrepiece, FOJAM re-staged this outstanding work with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for the first time since 2014.
To complement this very special concert event, a diverse line-up of world class contemporary musicians performed a variety of original music and culturally significant works that dealt with the themes of compassion and healing. Songs were sung in Hebrew, Yiddish, Arabic, English and Indigenous language. Each act performed repertoire accompanied by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra which was conducted by Westlake as well.
A Night of Compassion also featured Indigenous soul vocalist Emma Donovan, MSO Composer in Residence Paul Grabowsky AO, Billie Tumarkin and Alex Burkoy (fresh off the back of their incredible partnership in our last show When Women Speak of War) in a program of original music, language and culturally significant works that addressed themes of compassion and healing.
This was FOJAM’s biggest show yet! 1800 audience members joined us to experience the magic of ‘A Night of Compassion.’
Artists
Lior burst on to the Australian music scene in 2005 with his stunning debut album - “Autumn Flow”. Recorded and released entirely independently, the album became one of the most successful independent debuts in Australian history with sales surpassing Platinum. A swag of accolades followed, amongst them three ARIA nominations - including Best Male Artist. Most artists set out with an ambition to build a career based on musical credibility and integrity whilst maintaining an independence and individuality in their craft. Lior is certainly part of that rare breed that has achieved this whilst garnering a great degree of success and critical acclaim.
Nigel Westlake is one of Australia’s most respected composers. Recently awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Music from the University of New South Wales, his compositions have earned many accolades, including the Gold Medal at the New York International Radio Festival, 15 APRA awards and the prestigious Paul Lowin Orchestral prize in 2013.His film score credits include Miss Potter, Babe, Babe: Pig in the City, and the IMAX films Antarctica, Imagine, The Edge & Solarmax. He has conducted all the major Australian symphony orchestras in recordings & performances of his own works.
L>R Paul Grabowsky AO with Emma Donovan [image taken for The Old Rugged Cross]
The evening will also bring together two of the most powerful forces in Australian music – pianist and MSO Composer in Residence Paul Grabowsky AO, and acclaimed Indigenous soul vocalist Emma Donovan. Grabowsky will accompany Donovan performing in language as well as a selection of songs from their most recent country and gospel collaboration, The Old Rugged Cross. Best known for her work with The Putbacks and The Black Arm Band Project, this concert sees her perform in duo with one Australia’s most distinguished artists. An Officer of the Order of Australia, Paul’s prolific career as pianist, composer, arranger, conductor, has cemented him as one of the most significant figures in Australian music.
L>R Alex Burkoy and Billie Tumarkin in FOJAM’s When Women Speak of War, 2022. The National Theatre. Courtesy of Michelle Grace Hunder.
Coming together for only the second time to perform live multilingual, Ukrainian-Jewish-Australian duo, singer Billie Tumarkin and prodigious, multi-instrumentalist Alex Burkoy. Tumarkin transforms songs from the past half-millennia into embodied lamentations and celebrations of the present through striking performance and embodiment of character. A chanteuse in over a dozen languages, she is a graduate of the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. Multi-instrumentalist Alex is an audience favourite after any live performance. Having toured with Tinpan Orange, Julia Stone, Felix Reibl, YID!, The Cat Empire, Mama Kin and Monsieur Camembert, this will be Alex and Billie’s first time performing with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
Lior and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra performing AVINU MALKEINU
Lior and Nigel Westlake speak about how Compassion came to be.
ABC Classic Interview - Lior and Nigel Westlake
A Night of Compassion was presented by FOJAM and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and is proudly supported by the following partners:
