The composition is to be recorded by the Auckland Philharmonia in the first half of next year and a live performance is planned for 2026.
“That’s all up for experimentation, which is what makes it so exciting, especially for me because I am used to being the megalomaniac, I suppose, the designer, illustrator, writer, everything.
“You go ‘I’ve got a vision, let’s go print this’. It’s nice to hand that project off to some other group of people and be really open to their artistic interpretation,” Bixley said.
As the composer responsible for interpreting Bixley’s text and drawings, Nel, who will work on the project over the summer, was enthusiastic about having to innovate within the confines of a set story.
Other commissions have specified the instruments he was to write for but have been open to his interpretation on a theme and mood.
Composer Camryn Nel.
He felt the comparisons with Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf and Saint-Saens’ Carnival of the Animals were obvious.
“The plan is a recording because the piece is narrated, so it will be for orchestra and narrator … but it’s definitely the kind of thing which could easily be performed at a children’s concert.
“It’s so important just letting kids have that kind of exposure … and especially with the philharmonia you’re hearing a professional orchestra, people who have dedicated their lives to these instruments.
“The quality is amazing, it’s a treat for students, so hopefully we do. I would love for it to be publicly performed as well, that would be quite exciting.”
Nel grew up in Taupō, and started his musical journey on guitar but began playing timpani and percussion when he moved to Auckland to study economics and composition, in which he now has an honours degree.
As a percussionist he has played for ensembles such as the Auckland Philharmonia, Manukau Symphony Orchestra, NZSO National Youth Orchestra, and the Auckland Youth Orchestra. In 2023 he was the Young Composer in Residence for the philharmonia.
Bixley is excited to be working with Camryn who he has known for some years.
An illustration from Donovan Bixley’s picture book The Fantabulous Animal Orchestra.
“I remember being a guitar tutor one Big Music Day about 10 years ago and there was little Camryn strumming away, an enthusiastic but amateur musician and to see him now a professional composer, it’s really amazing.
“It’s a fun thing and really cool for Taupō to have a collaboration between two Taupō artists that create something original that’s going to get performed on a national scale and possibly even an international scale if the book goes on to be successful.”
While the project now has some impetus and definite dates ahead, Bixley said it had taken some time to bring it to fruition.
“This book had been sitting in my drawer for five years … You wonder whether you will ever get to make it. Finding the right publisher takes another couple of years.
“Through that time, I imagined it working like a Peter and the Wolf or Carnival of the Animals. You have these cool animal characters and onomatopoeic kind of sounds.”
He has built up a relationship with the philharmonia through several past collaborative projects, he said.
“I thought if it ever gets published, I’d be keen to see if they would be interested and they were. Though again it’s taken them a long time too, because these things cost a lot of money and there are a lot of people working behind the scenes even to get it to this stage, but the philharmonia are a cool organisation to work with, they are generous with their support for that whole process of artistic collaboration.”
An illustration from Donovan Bixley’s picture book The Fantabulous Animal Orchestra.
The orchestra’s senior director of strategy and engagement Thomas Hamill is also enthusiastic to see the project move another step closer to completion.
“It’s really exciting to be collaborating with Donovan and Camryn on this wonderful project and we’re very grateful to the Stout Trust for the support that has made this possible. Music is such a powerful storytelling medium, so we’re thrilled to play a part in creating this resource for tamariki to enjoy for many years to come.”
The book has a message about biodiversity and the story metaphorically relates the dangers to the environment of removing any single species.
“It becomes totally chaotic at the end which could be quite fun, to have this kind of crazy thing that then resolves into a lovely harmonious tune,” Bixley said.
While the format of any public performance is yet to be determined, Bixley was keen to be involved.
“Maybe I can narrate or animate some big pictures for behind the orchestra, lions, tigers, elephants - whatever we might be able to wrangle.”
And as an amateur musician himself he would love to see the book and Nel’s compositions make it big internationally.
