A montage of the Fergus Fry-produced recording sessions for the virtual concert of Auckland University's composition students' Class of 2021. Photo: Chris Watson
It's understandable.
Most budding musicians want to make music. Most budding composers want to write music that other people want to play or listen to.
The art of the producer, that's not so glamorous.
But as a teenager growing up in Hawkes Bay, Fergus Fry was already wrangling other musicians into band projects, organising performance and recording spaces and getting music down on tape.
So he was a natural fit when Auckland University's Music Department decided to film and record the works of its 2021 Masters composition students, including Fry.
It was Fry's job to hire the musicians, the videographer, the sound engineer, find the recording spaces, and make sure all the people were in the right place at the right time, and in the right frame of mind.
The impressive results are now on line for all to see and hear.
The 80-minute ‘virtual concert’ features eight music videos ranging from five to twenty minutes long, recorded by engineer John Kim in the Kenneth Myers Centre and Auckland University’s Music Theatre.
Speaking with RNZ Concert host Bryan Crump, Fry says the experience was nerve wracking.
The whole project involved around 30 musicians, including NZTrio, for which two of the works were specifically composed, members of the Auckland Philharmonia, several of the country’s top freelance musicians, and Auckland University staff.
“We only had two hours of rehearsal per piece, so in those first moments you’re waiting for it to fall apart, all while being overjoyed with how it sounds in some places, and desperately uncomfortable in others.”
Time is money for busy professional musicians, and their hourly pay rates are far lower than your average consultant.
As a producer, Fry also has to make sure once they're in the recording studio they're in the mood to put some musicality into music they've never heard before.
Don't under estimate the usefulness of having good snacks on board, Fry says.
Shot and edited by SOUNZ Films’ Chris Watson, the films feature the compositions of Fry, Oliver Bramah, Rosa Elliot, Ewan Collins and Joshua Taylor, with Australian conductor Leonard Weiss conducting the two large ensemble works.
One of Fry's own works is Pareidolia I.
Pareidolia is a Latin word which describes our human ability to see living shapes in things that are not - a face in the moon, a horse in the clouds, arms sprouting from a tree.
It's a large ensemble work where live music mixes with recordings of home videos shot by members of Fry's own family. Its catalyst was the death of one of Fry's uncles.
When not writing or producing music, Fry calls on his wrangling skills to help manage the Wellington-based contemporary music ensemble Stroma, and he'll soon be taking on a doctorate in musicology at Victoria University.
You'll can view the results of his Auckland University production work online via Facebook, YouTube and the SOUNZ website.
Or you can just click on the videos above.
