Paul Smith

Making music on the wild side

Paul SmithIf you were to write a piece of music to capture composer and UNE music lecturer Dr Paul Smith's career, it would be dramatic and dynamic. From a childhood of classical piano, to singing opera and then composing it, research and teaching, his personal score is rich in vocal and instrumental flourishes.

When thoughts of becoming a concert pianist gave way to opera singing, the bass baritone joined a young artists' company and began performing the arias of Mozart and Puccini for corporate functions and parties. Composing music was the next movement, and Paul wrote two chamber operas, the second - The Spidermaiden and the Runaway Plum Blossom - successfully premiering in Singapore.

Then there was the theatre score (with piano) that he devised and performed, based on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and passages of cabaret and musical theatre, before Paul upped the tempo with the "fun-loving boutique opera company" Blush, which continues to strike a chord with a new generation of opera goers.

"It's been a full and varied career so far, filled with lots of different musical influences, but as in every good opera it all comes together in the end," says Paul, who lectures in music theory and composition at UNE Sydney, our learning hub in Sydney's west. "I guess it comes from my interest in exploring different styles of music and expressing them in different ways."

Paul came relatively late to music, from a non-musical family, and only began learning the piano at the age of 10. "I approached music as an open book, without any baggage," he says.

It was his own formal musical studies that opened up the world of composition, and today, as co-artistic director of Blush, Paul is experimenting with ways opera can both explore contemporary themes and appeal to new audiences. His latest work Chop Chef, which satirises reality television's appetite for cooking competitions, will premiere in June 2020 at Parramatta's Riverside Theatre.

"Some people don't respond to opera but most respond to TV, so that's where Chop Chef had its origins," Paul says. "Through Blush, we are keen to help people discover that opera can be fun and wacky as well as emotional and dramatic. Opera doesn't have to be grand and opulent, and our latest madcap piece, How to Build a Billy, shares that most relatable of experiences - the frustration of building IKEA flatpack furniture."

With Blush, Paul aims to give expression to people who have traditionally been excluded from opera. "We're working in smaller, inclusive venues, and I'm particularly interested in telling minority stories concerning race, sexuality and gender," he says. "At its best, music can cause people to reflect on issues and sometimes to change their minds. It can also be wildly fun."

Brave choices and a willingness to collaborate with other artists have been hallmarks of Paul's eclectic career and his teaching. "I have never worried that my work will fit," he says. "I try to foster that in my students by exposing them to new music in a non-judgemental way. I learn from their musical influences and tastes, too."

This all makes for some fascinating discussions. "Music generates strong emotions and ideas among students," Paul says. "Studying music challenges you to consider what music means culturally and socially. Together, we test the limits of what can be considered music and how it can be performed.

"Some have gone on to curate musical programs for arts organisations, while others have become specialist teachers, performers and experimental artists, as well as composers of film scores. It's amazing where music can take you."

Like Armenia, where Paul enjoyed a three-week residency last year writing and performing scores for toy pianos, or Italy and Korea, where he has premiered some of those playful orchestral numbers. And no experience is lost on his students.

"I draw directly from such experiences to provide practical and theoretical trouble-shooting sessions," he says. "All the shows I do are creative forms of research that ask questions of what music is going to look like in 10 or 20 years' time."