Soloist Spotlight: Jessica Aszodi

When did you realise that you wanted to become a professional performer?

I’ve always known I wanted to sing. I am informed I began telling folks I was going to be a singer at the age of four. Though, my Dad tells me, a clairvoyant informed him I was going to a singer while I was still in utero! It took a while to figure out I wanted to do it professionally. Took quite a while longer to figure out what “professionally” meant. But I’ve been figuring it out, bit by bit, over the last 20 years.

How does it feel to be making your WASO debut?

I’m thrilled to be finally making my way across the country to WASO. I recently returned home to Oz after 15 years of living overseas, so it feels very grounding to be performing with the Australian Orchestras. This will only be my second time ever performing in Perth, and my first time performing either of these pieces. I’ve long admired the Golijov but WASO were the first to ask me to do it. It’s rarely performed, probably because the score is complex and not at all simple to put together. So perhaps, one thing I’m feeling is excited and just a pinch nervous.

Golijov’s Ayre has been described as “an ecstatic demonstration of the power of music to express the human condition”. How do you connect with the work and what have you discovered about yourself during the process of preparing it?

Ayre is a powerhouse of a piece. Each movement digs deep and direct into different traditions, juxtaposing centuries and cultures right up against one another in ways that are very affecting.

It moves between several different threads of sacred and secular music styles that the composer had personal affiliations to – himself a multinational product of different traditions. It’s a political piece composed in the aftermath of the Oslo accords. Full of good intentions. Imperfect. Earnest. An ecstatic release of feeling, expressing joy, pain and a grief that’s hard to put into words.

At one point in the piece, the singer begs: “water, be a string for my guitar,” in the voice of a wandering refugee. It's a text by Palestinian activist poet Mahmoud Darwish, that Golijov poignantly interweaves with phrases calling out desperately in Hebrew: “god, where will I find you, where will I not find you”. On a personal level, as the child of a refugee, with ties to Israel and strong feelings about the horror taking place in Gaza, it’s been an emotional journey. 

You’re a multidisciplinary artist whose work spans a wide range of genres and styles. How does preparing for a contemporary classical concert like this differ from the other works you perform?

I do a lot of things, but at the heart of it, contemporary classical concert music is my bread and butter. A core part of my practice my whole professional life. Works like these demand that one approaches the score with curiosity, generosity, and a willingness to problem solve creatively – which is exactly how I like it!

On a practical level, this means opening the score on day one of preparation and listening very attentively for clues about what the piece needs from me. How shall I negotiate these few notes here? Shall I use this technique or the other? Do I need to learn a new technique? Where have I seen something like this before? How can I practise this so that my muscle memory will be grounded enough that when I stand on stage to perform, I can let go of all that clever stuff and sing from my heart and guts?

What’s something Perth audiences should know about you?

I am something of a specialist in mimicking different styles of music, often performing pieces that demand a wide range of different colours and styles coming out of my mouth in quick succession. Ayre really pushes me in this respect. It’s constantly oscillating between operatic soprano, contralto and various folk styles. This could be your once in a lifetime chance to hear one human singing in Spanish, Ladino, Arabic, Hebrew, English, and Sardinian in the same piece of music.

Why should people come to see Mayhem and Rapture?

This is truly a one-off program. You’ll get to hear a variety of works from contemporary local and international master composers. It’s rare that a program manages to be fun, innovative and genuinely full of feeling – and this concert has it all. A not to be missed set of works.

Mayhem and Rapture
Friday 27 & Saturday 28 February, 7.30pm
Studio Underground, State Theatre Centre of WA