Fountain performance notes
Forest Collective acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we live, meet, create, and perform - Wurundjeri land of the Kulin Nation.
We pay our respects to their Elders, past and present, and extend our respects to all Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders, past and present. We recognise and respect their cultural heritage, beliefs, and relationship with the land. We recognise Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first inhabitants of this nation.
Act I
All Waters by Perfume Genius - orchestration by Evan J Lawson.
Gasoline by Max Lawrence - orchestration by Evan J Lawson.
Excerpt from Jeux d’eau (Fountains/Water Games) by Maurice Ravel - orchestration by Evan J Lawson.
Down Here by Max Lawrence - orchestration by Evan J Lawson.
—Remedy by Max Lawrence - orchestration by Alex Morris.
—Bystander by Moses Sumney - orchestration by Evan J Lawson.
—Float by Max Lawrence - orchestration by Alex Morris.
—Hearts a Mess by Gotye - orchestration by Evan J Lawson.
All I Want by Max Lawrence - orchestration by Evan J Lawson.
Aerials by System of a Down - orchestration by Evan J Lawson.
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Interval - 20 mins.
Act II
I Stretch My Extremities by Max Lawrence - orchestration by Evan J Lawson.
Blood Defies Gravity by Max Lawrence - orchestration by Evan J Lawson.
Dionysian Wine by Max Lawrence - orchestration by Evan J Lawson.
Excerpt from Jeux d’eau (Fountains/Water Games) by Maurice Ravel - orchestration by Evan J Lawson.
It’s Okay To Cry by SOPHIE - orchestration by Evan J Lawson .
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Ecosystem by Max Lawrence - orchestration by Evan J Lawson.
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Icarus by Max Lawrence - orchestration by Alex Morris.
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Great Fairy Fountain from The Legend of Zelda by Koji Kondo - orchestration by Evan J Lawson.
Fountain by Max Lawrence - orchestration by Matt Hirst.
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Welcome to Fountain!
Welcome you back to Abbotsford Convent for our 2023 Midsumma Festival offering, Fountain.
We’re delighted to be collaborating with Max Lawrence again. Last time we shared the stage with Max was February 2020, just before Covid took hold across the world, and so returning to working with Max again is a cathartic after so many difficult years.
At the core of what Forest Collective does is collaboration and the reimagination of music, sound and performing arts with new ways of experiencing works. Every year we try to collaborate with a musician outside of the ‘art music’ world, who can bring their skill and craft to chamber music, to help rethink what chamber music can do and who it is for.
When first talking with Max about the concepts for this show I immediately thought of incorporating the stunning piano work Jeux d’eau by Ravel as a way to centre the show, create a musical path between the songs and provide the band with a moment to shine outside of Max’s songs. This piece, it’s coloration and soundworld was my initial starting point and influence for the new arrangements and I have attempted to craft not a series of songs, but a full show that flows and ripples from beginning to end.
As with all Forest Collective performances clap where it feels comfortable and feel free to document and share your experience, however, please be respectful to other concertgoers and be sure to turn your mobile phone to silent.
I would finally like to give a special thank you to Rino Darusman playing Synth and providing the backbone to the sound design. The groove that we ‘classical’ musicians play in Rossini and Haydn is a very different groove required in songs like these, so I’d like to thank Rino for providing us with that rhythmic backbone. - Evan J Lawson, artistic director
Welcome to Fountain, thank you for being here and for going on this journey with us, below you’ll find some information on the thoughts and concepts behind the songs I chose for this show. Enjoy! - Max Lawrence
All Waters - Perfume Genius - arranged for ensemble by Evan J Lawson. World Premiere.
Perfume Genius is one of my all-time heroes, he taught me of the sacred, of the other, and when I discovered him as a teen it was one of the first times I saw myself in someone else, or who I wanted to be.
Gasoline - Max Lawrence - arranged for ensemble by Evan J Lawson
I released Gasoline in 2020, about feeling strapped into the machine of heteronormative society and who I’m ‘supposed’ to be, trying my best to be that, all the while denying this huge pain underneath, faking a smile, claiming ‘I’m happy’.
Jeux d’eau - Fountains/Water Play - Maurice Ravel - arranged for ensemble by Evan J Lawson. World Premiere.
Jeux d'eau is a piece for solo piano by Maurice Ravel, composed in 1901 and given its first public performance the following year. The title is variously translated as "Fountains", "Playing Water" or literally "Water Games". At the time of writing Jeux d'eau, Ravel was a student of Gabriel Fauré, to whom the piece is dedicated. The work is in a single movement, typically lasting between four and half and six minutes in performance.
The piece is known for its virtuosic, fluid, and highly evocative nature, and is considered one of Ravel's most important works for piano. The piece is characterized by its fast, shimmering, and cascading piano figurations, which are meant to evoke the sound of flowing water. The overall atmosphere of "Jeux d'eau" is one of lightness, playfulness, and sensuousness, and the piece is often described as a musical depiction of the joy and beauty of nature. "Jeux d'eau" is considered a masterful example of Ravel's distinctive style, which is characterized by its clarity, precision, and sensitivity to color and texture.
Note taken from Wikipedia.
Down Here - Max Lawrence (unreleased) - arranged for ensemble by Evan J Lawson. World Premiere.
I wrote Down Here during lockdown in 2021 about feeling like a canary trapped at the bottom of a mine, with all of this song in my head and heart but just trapped in solitude, unable to do the do the most important thing to me, which is singing and sharing music with people in the real world.
Remedy - Max Lawrence - arranged for ensemble by Alex Morris.
Remedy is the opening track of my debut EP ‘Chlorophyll’ released in 2019. A dirge about feeling hopeless, like things will never be okay and satisfaction will never come.
Bystanders (in space) - Moses Sumney - arranged for ensemble by Evan J Lawson. World Premiere.
Moses Sumney is another huge inspiration to me, his music strikes a chord so deeply and is so poetic and existential. This song is from his 2020 album ‘græ’, but is a live version he released in 2021 on an album entitled ‘Live From Blackalachia’
Float - Max Lawrence - arranged for ensemble by Alex Morris.
Another song from my debut EP ‘Chlorophyll’ - I wrote this song when I was 17 and it was the first song I ever finished, about wanting to escape, wanting to drown out the noise, to go elsewhere.
Heart’s A Mess - Gotye - arranged for ensemble by Evan J Lawson. World Premiere.
I think Heart’s A Mess is one of the best Australian songs ever. Gotye is such a masterful writer and producer and this song has always stuck with me, it’s so inquisitive, intimate and powerful.
All I Want - Max Lawrence (unreleased) - arranged for ensemble by Evan J Lawson. World Premiere.
I wrote this song after a big breakup of a relationship where in the end I didn’t feel seen, wanted or that my love was received. All I Want is about rediscovering what I want in a relationship, and deciding that I had to leave this one.
Aerials - System Of A Down - arranged for ensemble by Evan J Lawson. World Premiere.
I had to.
Mid 2000’s metal was such a time. Armenian/American band System Of A Down were a huge part of my childhood. My big brother listened to them all the time and I wanted to feel cool like him so I stole the CD’s from his room and was blown away by how grand, complex and pained the melodies and arrangements were, with so many deep truths in the lyrics.
I Stretch My Extremities Beyond their Breaking Point - Max Lawrence (unreleased) - arranged for ensemble by Evan J Lawson. World Premiere.
This song is about longing to know something greater than myself, about recognising my existence as a sack of meat in an endless void and what that means. About stretching my physical form as far as it can go and then further, searching for more.
Blood Defies Gravity - Max Lawrence (unreleased) - arranged for ensemble by Evan J Lawson. World Premiere.
This song is a rebirth, a communion of the self with the other, an act of forsaking an old form for something unknown.
Dionysian Wine - Max Lawrence (unreleased) - arranged for ensemble by Evan J Lawson. World Premiere.
A conversation with the other on the intoxicating nature of pleasure and how too much will drown you, and not enough leaves you parched. How do I know what choice to make at any given moment? To indulge or not to indulge?
It’s Okay To Cry - SOPHIE - arranged for ensemble by Evan J Lawson. World Premiere.
I wanted to honour one of the most important and innovative voices in music in recent years, who unfortunately met her untimely death at the start of 2021. SOPHIE built a whole new world of sound and was/is a beacon of light for the trans and queer community. I remember collectively grieving with everyone when she passed, and this song is such a perfect encapsulation of softness that I’ve kept with me.
Ecosystem - Max Lawrence (unreleased) - arranged for ensemble by Evan J Lawson. World Premiere.
A song about bathing in the complex, beautiful and abundant tapestry of love I’ve come to weave with someone I hold so dear and close to my heart.
This song is for Josh.
Icarus - Max Lawrence - arranged for ensemble by Evan J Lawson. World Premiere.
Icarus is the first song I ever released, capturing the wide eyed, all encapsulating feeling of being in love and wanting each other to be the best versions of themselves, and if they fall from those great heights you’ll always be there to catch them.
Great Fairy Fountain from The Legend Of Zelda Soundtrack - arranged for ensemble by Evan J Lawson. World Premiere.
The video game The Legend Of Zelda was a huge part of my childhood and shaped me in so many ways that I’m still discovering to this day. Ocarina of Time taught me that music was magic, that helping people was one of life’s gifts and that our union with nature is sacred. Listening to Koji Kondo’s beautiful melodies from the game gives me such a deep feeling of nostalgia and oneness with my inner child, and reminds me to seek out and appreciate beauty in our world.
Fountain - Max Lawrence - arranged for ensemble by Matt Hirst.
Fountain is the closing track on my debut EP ‘Chlorophyll’, I wrote the lyrics while observing the fountain in the middle of Washington Square Park in New York City a few years ago. The concept of a fountain just struck me, it’s a work of human ingenuity which harnesses the power of nature for the sole purpose of beauty. I decided I wanted to live like a fountain, with every drop of water, every moment and every feeling dancing in a different way, with no configuration of droplets ever being the same. The people of the park were gathering, skating, singing, playing and celebrating all around this work of art and I felt such a deep appreciation for humanity and our ability to create. This moment became an endless well of inspiration that I would drink from for years to come and still do.
Thank you so so so SO much for coming to Fountain, there’s a lot of my heart poured into this show and I just want to thank you for being here, for sharing this with us, and for your support. I want to thank Evan Lawson and Forest Collective for bringing my music to life in such a beautiful way and for everyone involved. Thank you to Matt Hirst and Alex Morris for some of your arrangements from ‘Chlorophyll’, Abbotsford Convent and Midsumma Festival for having us, and City Of Yarra for helping to fund this project. Thank you to Anastasia La Fey for lending your beautiful work of wearable art for me to perform in. Much love to you all and thank you again for being here with us. - Max Lawrence
The Band.
Max Lawrence - singer-songwriter (guest musician).
Evan J Lawson - orchestrations & music director.
Alex Morris - orchestrations.
Matt Hirst - orchestrations.
Rino Darusman - Synths (guest musician).
Gabe Bethune - Lighting Designer.
Soda - Post-show DJ.
Kim Tan - Flutes.
Helen Bower - Violin.
Ali Fyffe - Saxophones.
Ryan Lynch - Clarinets, Saxophones, Flutes.
Zela Papageorgiou - Percussion.
Trea Hindley - Trombone.
Phoebe Smithies - Horn.
Ian Crossfield - Double Bass.
Ryan Williams - Recorders.
Alex MacDonald - Viola.
Tom Sinclair - Cello (guest musician).
Presented by Forest Collective, Midsumma Festival & Abbotsford Convent, as part of Convent Live.
This performance is supported by the City of Yarra.
