From the police to The Piano: Alice Morgan's Matariki homecoming
This audio is not downloadable due to copyright restrictions.
Saxophonist Alice Morgan
Photo:
Supplied
Alice Morgan is on the line from her Sydney workplace - the New South Wales Police.
She's not a member of the force, at least not the part of the force that sometimes asks you to help them with their inquiries.
But she is a full-time member of the NSW Police Band, and she's speaking to RNZ from its practice rooms, ahead of returning to her home town to play Tony Ryan's saxophone concerto this Sunday.
It's part of an all-New Zealand Matariki Concert by the Resonance Ensemble in
Christchurch's music venue The Piano
.
Morgan's job as musician on the police beat is just one part of her multi-faceted career which ranges from playing saxophone with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, to chamber music, to music programming.
Tony Ryan wrote his soprano sax concerto for Mark Hobson who was Morgan's teacher when she was growing up in Christchurch.
Saxophonist Alice Morgan
Photo:
Supplied
She's excited to be coming back to play the work with the composer conducting.
Morgan spoke to RNZ Concert about her decision to leave Christchurch to study in Sydney, and then her decision to stay once she'd completed her studies.
These days she also plays the clarinet, and when not making music you'll find her helping to organise music festivals in the Blue Mountains or programming concerts for the young-at-heart orchestra
Ensemble Apex
.
Its latest gig involved seating the audience onstage with the orchestra for a performance of Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony.
Next time they plan to do it with Stravinsky's
The Rite of Spring
.
Morgan also performs chamber music, and loves playing new works, like the piece in the video below. Swivel & Swerve was written especially for her by Holly Harrison.
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