Renowned Australian classical guitarist, Karin Schaupp brings her fretboard prowess to Adelaide Guitar Festival (AGF) this year.
As well as playing some romantic pieces on her prized replica of a 19th century guitar, Karin will also be performing some original numbers that will flex more than her finger muscles.
“I'm playing a couple of pieces that are based around a narrative, which is one of my fields of interest – narratives in music and combining words and music,” Karin explains.
“I just had a piece written for me by Richard Charlton – he's a wonderful Australian guitarist and composer – and he's written a piece for me with text by Carl Sagan, and that's called 'Suspended In A Sunbeam'.”
While being able to sing and play guitar is lauded as an admirable feat of performance talent, Karin takes that one step further with 'Suspended In A Sunbeam' by speaking while playing guitar, requiring a completely different skill set.
“I have to speak and play at the same time, which is dramatically and artistically very powerful but quite tricky because it's not like singing and playing,” she explains.
“If you speak in time with the playing it sounds really... not dramatic, so you have to speak as though you were speaking in the flow of the speech then play the music, kind of underpinning that in terms of atmosphere but not rhythmically in time with what you're saying, so it's quite tricky but very powerful.
“I'm really excited about the piece; it's really wonderful. As I said it's called 'Suspended In A Sunbeam' and it's about looking at the world from far away – as Carl Sagan does – as a pale, blue dot, and contemplating life and all the ridiculous things we do.”
Karin's performance at AGF will be part of a double-bill also featuring the winner of last year's Adelaide International Classical Guitar Competition winner, Miles Johnston, who has been busily establishing his presence as an emerging talent.
Already an admirable, world-class performer, Karin will be adding a new title to her CV when she acts as juror for this year's Australian Women In Music Awards (AWMAs), adjudicating the newly-added Classical Award category.
“I believe that the classical award is actually for someone who is mid-to-late career, so it is about a contribution that someone has made to classical music in this country,” she explains, speaking about what she's looking for in candidates.
“That, inevitably, is tied in with a real passion and a real drive to make something that is unique and honest and individual, and that is [demonstrated by] their body of work.
“It's about what people have done and if that's based on a great deal of talent and skill as a basis, then what they've done with that because talent and skill alone don't tell you what to do. It's a free world out there so really making a contribution, that for me is the most important thing.”
Adelaide Guitar Festival takes place at various locations 1-31 July. Karin Schaupp and Miles Johnston play Space Theatre (Adelaide) 16 July. Karin also performs as part of 18th Bangalow Music Festival (NSW), which runs 8-11 August.
