The passing of a Renaissance Man – John (Ben) Hall – painter, architect, instrument maker

by philip | Jan 17, 2017 | Blog, General, Marin Marais, Maris Project Concerts

Last night I heard that Ben Hall (1935-2017) had passed away. Ben was a painter, an artist, a musician and a luthier (instrument maker). He was good at everything he did. You may never have heard of him but the Sydney Morning Herald published an on-line and printed...

Of which French composer was it said, “he had a fertile pen…”

by philip | Oct 13, 2016 | Blog, General, Marin Marais, Maris Project Concerts

Question: Of which French Baroque composer was it said: “Happy be ‘Composer X’ whose fertile pen can give birth without pain to a whole new book or piece of music every month!” Read on for the answer. We’ve had a great few rehearsals working way through this...

Who was André Campra? The Marais Project present “The French Flute”

by philip | Oct 4, 2016 | Blog, General, Marin Marais, Maris Project Concerts

Who was André Campra?  Campra was the son of an Italian surgeon and violinist and a French mother. He went on to be music master at Arles and Toulouse cathedrals from where he moved to the famed Notre Dame cathedral, Paris.  In a radical move for the time, he added...

Music making and fact-finding in the Far North

by philip | Aug 31, 2016 | Blog, General, Marin Marais, Maris Project Concerts, Non classical music

Musical ambassador meets a real ambassador! I am just back from three weeks of concerts, workshops and musical “fact finding” in Sweden and Norway.  Although my grandfather was Swedish and I have visited many times over the years, this was the first time I...

Master and Pupil: an interview with James Fraser – actor, writer and director

by philip | May 17, 2016 | Blog, Commissions and New Music, General, Marin Marais, Maris Project Concerts

The interaction between master and student is a complex and fascinating one.  The famous French novel and film “Tous les matins de monde” (All the mornings of the world) is an acutely sensitive, fictional exploration of the relationship between two great artists: the...

Program – Marais and the Operatic Muse , August 16, 2015

by philip | Aug 11, 2015 | Blog, General, Marin Marais, Maris Project Concerts

However far The Marais Project wanders into the realms of Swedish folk music, jazz or even newly composed works, we always come home to our passion and reason for being: the music of Marais and the French Baroque. This was the great era of the viola da gamba as a solo...