SALINA FISHER 

'woman 女 beneath a wave 波' was commissioned by Classical on Cuba in 2022 and scored for koto, taonga puoro, vibraphone, harp, violin, and cello. Composer Salina Fisher was given a brief to create a short piece inspired by text written or spoken by a living Wellington poet or author and chose the poem 'Sonnet with particles of gold' by Nina Mingya Powles, from her 2020 poetry book Magnolia, 木蘭.

 

Salina writes, "This poem resonates with me on many levels, and I chose the instrumentation for my piece to reflect its overall feeling and some specific references. Rather than being sung or spoken, the words are projected on a screen, in sections, for the audience to read while the music unfolds. Nina's poem has a beautiful way of exploring linguistic differences between her and her late grandmother, based around the word/character 婆 which also means 'grandmother' in Japanese. For me, playing koto is a way of connecting with my Japanese ancestors."

 

Performed by Stroma: Komako Silver (taonga puoro), Alan Molina (violin), Ken Ichinose (cello), Thomas Guldborg (percussion), Michelle Velvin (harp), Salina Fisher (koto) and Mark Carter (conductor) at City Gallery Wellington. Audio recorded by Joel Jayson Chuah. Filmed and edited by Chris Watson for SOUNZ. Film funded by NZ On Air.

​​