Paul composes a new school anthem for the International Grammar School Sydney.
Paul is no stranger to IGS, having composed the music for the 30th Anniversary in 2014 with Bonnie. Ten years later, the school as seen the need for a new unifying anthem and it has received acclaim across the community, recently sung by the entire school and orchestra at the 40th Anniversary concert in Sydney.
Dragon Spirit! Paul composes the new School Anthem for the International School of Beijing
Early in 2024 Paul was delighted to travel to Beijing as composer in residence for the International School of Beijing, recently composing the brand new school Anthem. In line with the values of the school, the rousing work, ‘Dragon Spirit’, celebrates the school’s authentic diversity and energy while paying homage to the spirt of the dragon in Chinese culture. The song works both as a choral piece but also a ‘fight song’ playable by band instruments at sporting events.
See details off this exciting new chapter for ISB and Paul’s collaboration.
Dragon Spirit, we hear your call
And we rise, your strength within us all
Dragon Spirit, we feel your power
And together blue and white, hear us roar
Dragon Spirit, we’re here for a purpose
Embrace this life, the best that we can be
Dragon Spirit, embrace diversity
High expectations and strong relations make us strong
Many nations, we are as one
And with the spirit of the dragon and promise in our wings
Together we shall fly to the sun
And with the spirit of the dragon, we’ll give all we can give
Our journey has begun
Dragon Spirit, equality for all
A joy to learn, the freedom to explore
Dragon Spirit, we all walk tall
Find your passion, make it count, give it more
Dragon Spirit, forever in our veins
Integrity, the need for knowing more
Dragon Spirit, leading the way
Since nineteen eighty, across the borders of this world
To our calling, where we belong
The foremost global school of Beijing
We’ve pride in our history and all we have achieved
Where leaders and thinkers unite as global citizens
You’ll find the answers to your dreams
And once a dragon, always a dragon
It is here we grew our wings to fly
And we’ll fly with the Dragon Spirit
Side by side, forever blue and white
We are the spirit of the dragon, one I.S.B
And with the spirit of the dragon and promise in our wings
Together we shall fly to the sun
And with the spirit of the dragon, we’ll give all we can give
Our journey has begun, and we’ll fly
Imagine the World of Tomorrow? This bold new song cycle addresses the impact of technology on our youth. Rather than treat them as the victims, these pieces empower our singers in an impassioned call to action that will ignite discussion and awarenss. It is also a lot of fun.
South Australian Public Primary Schools Music Festival 2023 COMMISSIONED WORK
WORLD OF TOMORROW
by Paul Jarman
In this rapidly evolving modern world, it is hard to imagine a world less than two hundred years ago with no electricity, no running water or central heating and cooling, no antibiotics, no cars, trucks and buses, no planes and no telephones, let alone smart phones, the internet, smart TV’s, computers, driverless cars, robots, smart watches, Bluetooth speakers and headphones, MRI’s, X-rays, GPS tracking systems, smart boards, video games and artificial intelligence; all things we use nearly every day and mostly take for granted.
And as technology changes more rapidly than we can keep up with it, and while it continues to have a greater impact on all of life, how we manage our lives, our health, our relationships and our families, our careers, our privacy, our opinions; how we go about each day within a world where the rest of the population are exploring the same challenges, is all having a large impact on the human race; and it is happening faster than we can manage it.
The world has changed more in the past fifty years than in the past two hundred and fifty years, and the population has exploded at the same time. But among all these changes, the most defining thing is that we have an endless amount of knowledge at our fingertips 24/7.
While some of the differences above have been for the better, some are not, and we are in a time of rapid change that is impacting on the human condition. Are we heading the right way?
The challenges of this rapidly changing world form the theme of this bold new four-part Song Cycle for the 2023 festival of music, “World of Tomorrow”.
FOUR PIECES all for Treble Choir can be sung as the cycle or as stand alone works.
in the Wild Southern Ocean, halfway between Australia and Africa, a snowy volcano, almost three thousand meters high, rears from the sea like a Great White Whale. Five times that Great White Whale of a mountain tried to kill the first team that attempted it. Yet back they sailed, through the worst seas in the world, to try again.
This is the extraordinary tale of both expeditions, told by those who were there, one of whom sings the story too, as befits the epic saga that it was. The beautifully shot original footage of the Expedition, the brilliant music score, the quirky humour of the expeditioners, the utter boldness of the quest, adds spice to one of the least known epic tales of our times.
International Grand Prize winner Mendi film festival Bilbao, Spain
A concert in partnership with Queensland Conservatorium – Griffith University
This emotional and ground-breaking performance partners ten influential artists and ten composers with visually impaired Australians to depict their last, most cherished memory before their sight deteriorated.
Presented by the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University and featuring the Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra and Choir with the Voices of Birralee, The Last Seen Concert brings poignant and powerful stories to life through music, art and short film.
Conducted by Peter Morris, the repertoire will debut original and inspirational works from the following ten renowned Australian composers:
Dr Jeff Usher
Steve Newcomb
Lorin Nicholson OAM
Paul Jarman
Catherine Likhuta
John Rotar
Lisa Cheney
Dr Ralph Hultgren AM
Tim Davies
Hudson Beck
An exciting collaboration with Griffith Film School will also see filmmakers Dean Chircop, Peter Hegedus, Aurora Scheelings, Herman Van Eyken and Nico Meissner premiere short films, documenting the Last Seen journey.
Due to the bushfires of late 2019 and a busy start for 2020 we are a little later than normal to bring you these new works, but very excited to get these terrific new pieces out to the world. As always, Paul would like to sincerely thank all the commissioners for the opportunity to write these pieces and share these stories.
The variety of music here is vast – from nostalgic broadway to gospel, a thundering celtic piece and a rousing massed anthem; a deeply moving WW1 tribute, a soaring sci-fi inspired piece of romantic music, a country ballad and a magical tribute to the history of cinema; and finally two huge massed finale works, one recently composed for the 30th Anniversary of Gondwana Choirs.
Paul is honoured to be working again with legendary adventure film maker Mike Dillon. After a series of documentaries together they embark on a story of great significance – the final expedition of Sir Edmund Hillary. In 1977 Mike was part of the team that took Hillary in the Hamilton Jet Boat up the mighty Ganges River from it’s mouth in the Bay of Bengal, though the delta, and over a thousand kilometres across India, up un-chartered rapids as far possible, until the final climb into the sacred mountains – the source of the Ganges, high in the Himalayas.
Paul will be co-composing and co-producing the music with multi instrumentalist and vocalist Stewart Peters from Sound Shed Productions. Guest solo artist and co-composer for the film will be one of Australia’s finest guitarists, Guy Strazzullo. Guy’s expert understanding of Indian music and his hybrid guitar are the perfect fit for this unique story of the greatest adventurer of our age on his final quest with his dear friends through the heart of India, the country he grew to love so dearly.
https://youtu.be/9E2oGFnn8oc
Mike Dillon’s original masterpiece will be re-edited with new discovered footage, a new soundtrack and heart warming, humorous and insightful interviews from surviving members including Edmund’s son Peter Hillary.
Release date will be this year (TBC) in New Zealand and Australia to coincide with the Centenary of Sir Edmund Hillary’s birth.
We are delighted to bring to you five new pieces for treble choir to start the year 2019.
Looking at the year ahead, these pieces are suited to SA, SSA and SSAA, and like much of Paul’s work, each piece contains a strong message and story to inspire your singers. These pieces are brand new and have only been sung at the premiers in 2016/17. You can be the first to sing the latest works by Paul to be published this year.
We are delighted too that among these pieces, are some by Paul and Bonnie together – a collaboration we really enjoy.
Click on the latest releases TAB and the pieces are –
LISTEN , LEAD US ALL , LET THE CHILDREN SING , MOTHER EARTH , and SOLOING FREE
Thank you and let us know how these pieces work for you
Welcome to 2019 – thank you for all the projects over the last few years. Here are some events coming up for 2019.
GONDWANA NATIONAL CHORAL SCHOOL – the world premier of Paul’s new piece “One Pure Voice”
NEWCASTLE GRAMMAR SCHOOL – music camp, guest conductor
ROCKHAMPTON GRAMMAR SCHOOL – music camp, guest conductor
PLC, KINGS, SYDNEY GRAMMAR, MORIAH and more – Artist in residence
MT ISA, BENDIGO, GUNNEDAH, PERTH, LAKE CARGELLICO, DEVONPORT, MELBOURNE, MACKAY and SYDNEY – Conducting festivals, adjudicating, mentoring and community projects
ERIC BOGLE AND THE ORANGE MALE VOICE CHOIR – collaborating with one of Australia’s great songwriters, and Paul will be arranging his songs for the choir.
FESTIVAL OF VOICES – Paul returns for his 10th Festival as conductor and director of the ‘Singers Lounge’
GONDWANA INTERNATIONAL CHORAL FESTIVAL – Paul will be there with Bonnie Nilsson, Prue Borget and the Valla Voices
Paul has just returned from another successful Gondwana National Summer School, this year conducting Gondwana Singers with the wonderful Chris Burcin. An inspiring season for Paul, both his daughters in Gondwana; Ruby touring to Berlin soon with Gondwana Voices for the performance of Brett Dean’s ‘Vexations and Devotions’, and Bonnie running the Music Therapy special project for 2019. The whole family involved this year.
In addition, Paul’s classic, ‘Pemulwuy’ was performed as was a first time showing of Paul’s and Bonnie’s ‘Forest of Dreams’, written for the Crescendo Choir of Devonport, Tasmania. Paul’s ‘Moko’ was beautifully performed by Junior Gondwana, conducted by Hester Wright.
And this years commissioned work for the massed choir of 400 singers was written by Paul. “One Pure Voice”, a tribute to all that is Gondwana and dedicated to Lyn Williams brought audiences to their feet. Thank you all.
2018 sees Paul commissioned to compose three new pieces for the Diggers of WW1 adding to a large existing catalogue including ‘Fromelles’ for the Hunter Singers, which premiered in 2016 at Fromelles, ‘Known Unto God’, also for the Hunter Singers, which premiered in 2007 under the Menin Gate, Ypres, and more recently ‘Band of Brothers’ for the Southport School and ‘Soldier On’ for the Armidale School.
Paul is commissioned by Brisbane Grammar to compose a piece for old boys who fell at the battles of Moquet Farm and Bullecourt. This year, the students will sing this piece at the actual sites of these terrible battles.
Paul has recently finished an orchestral work for PLC Croydon, ’60 Seconds Before Armistice’. An honour to write for such a terrific orchestra led by Michael O’Dea. This piece will premier June 1st at the State theatre Sydney.
And Paul is delighted to write for old friends, the Voices of Birralee, setting a poem ‘And Now the War Has Ended’ by chorister, Josh Clifford.
This year has started unlike usual. Paul has had some surgeries to attend to and one of them has recently resulted in a serious infection. We apologise to anyone for who work has been cancelled or postponed. Thank you all for your patience. Luckily, with some large orchestral and choral commissions from PLC, Dulwich, St Monica’s and Cranbrook, it has been a time to stay home, compose and heal. All will back to normal by mid MAY!
Paul was delighted to once again return to NSC in 2018 to work along side the great Kim Sutherland as conductors of a new choir, Gondwana Novus. Singers, Novus and Junior Gondwana all performed works by Paul and Bonnie…
Les Sirènes, conducted by Andrew Nunn and accompanied by Fionnuala Ward, have done a beautiful job of becoming the first choir in the world to document these stunning pieces, written by some of the leading composers of choral music in the world today. Their performance of Paul’s piece is stunning.
Paul is honoured to be invited among 6 other international composers including Bob Chilcott and Stephen Hatfield to compose a piece for the 400th Anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare. The Oxford University Press publication Hark, Hark, the Lark is compiled by Bob Chilcott and published this year.
Paul has been invited back to China for another residency at Dulwich College, Suzhou. Paul will be performing, conducting, doing master classes and running a community choir. He will be collaborating with the Taiko drummers and Jordanian cellist Kaheld Balawi.