Gareth Farr | |
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 Farr in 2011 | |
| Born | (1968-02-29)29 February 1968 (age 57) Wellington, New Zealand |
| Nationality | New Zealander |
| Other names | Lilith LaCroix |
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Gareth Vincent FarrONZM (born 29 February 1968) is a New Zealand composer and percussionist. He has released a number of classical CDs and composed a number of works performed by theNew Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) andRoyal New Zealand Ballet. He has also performed in drag under the name Lilith LaCroix in a show calledDrumdrag and has also released a CD under that name.
Farr was born inWellington in 1968.[1] He began his studies at theUniversity of Auckland incomposition,orchestration andelectronic music. While studying there, he performed as a member of theAuckland Philharmonia Orchestra (APO) and the Karlheinz Company. Farr was always available as a performer to play new works by other composers. Returning to Wellington in 1988 for further study atVictoria University of Wellington, he gained note for his compositions, at this time becoming increasingly excited with exploring the Indonesiangamelan. He played percussion frequently with the NZSO before going to theEastman School of Music inRochester, New York for advanced study.
Farr became the composer in residence with Chamber Music New Zealand at 25, the youngest person to hold that post. In 1994, he had four works commissioned for the 1994 International Festival of the Arts includingLilith's Dream of Ecstasy and works for flautistAlexa Still and pianistMichael Houstoun as well as a ballet. In 1996, he signed to music publisherPromethean Editions becoming a founding house composer.
His workFrom the Depths Sound the Great Sea Gongs was specially commissioned for the 50th anniversary of the NZSO. It was one of his works that has been influenced by gamelan. He has used gamelan instruments or composed for non-gamelan instruments to be played in a gamelan-like way in other compositions such asSiteran (1990) for Javanese gamelan and harp,Kebyar Moncar (1993) for Victoria's gamelan,Tabuh Pacific (1995) for Balinese gamelan and orchestra, and the piano pieceSepuluh Jari (1996).[2]
Farr's piece for percussion ensembleVolume Pig (1992) was recorded by the groupStrike in 2002.[3] Farr also wrote an orchestral pieceTe Papa for the opening ofTe Papa, the National Museum of New Zealand, in 1998.
In 2000, the NZSO performed his percussion concertoHikoi withEvelyn Glennie at theSydney Olympics. He has released four CDs of his work on theTrust label with the fifth,Ruaumoko released in early 2006.[4] Farr furtheredNew Zealand gamelan in 2003 purchasing a Balinese Gong Kebyar that is housed at the New Zealand School of Music.[5]
In 2005, he provided the music forVula staged during theChristchurch Arts Festival prior to the world debut of hisTriple Concerto performed by the New Zealand Trio andChristchurch Symphony Orchestra. During 2006, New Zealand premieres of Farr's music includedFunambulistic Strains for orchestra and trombone, performed by David Bremner and the NZSO,The Wedding for the Royal New Zealand Ballet, andTROY the Musical with librettist Paul Jenden.
In December 2005 Farr visited Antarctica as part ofAntarctica New Zealand's artist programme,Artists to Antarctica. The result of the two-week residency wasTerra Incognita, a piece for baritone singer and orchestra inspired by the ill-fated last expedition ofRobert Falcon Scott. The work was performed in 2008 by London-based New Zealand singer Paul Whelan and the NZSO.
In 2008, Gareth was appointed Composer in Residence of theAPO. Farr composed a memorial piece for theChristchurch earthquake,Nor'West Arch, first performed on 25 September 2011. The title makes reference to a particularChristchurch weather pattern, but is also that part of theChristChurch Cathedral that received most damage in the earthquake. DeanPeter Beck was part of the performance, reading out an introduction and a reflection.[6][7] The concert was one of the highlights of the 2011 Christchurch Arts Festival.[8]
In 2015,Relict Furies by Farr and Paul Horan had its premiere at theEdinburgh International Festival. Described as "a masterful portrayal of grief and desolation and one of the most moving tributes to those who lived through World War I", it also played as part of theNew Zealand Festival in March 2016.[9][10]
In 2017,The Bone Feeder played as part of the Auckland Festival from 23 to 26 March. A new opera, it was scored by Farr and written by poet and playwrightRenee Liang, and explored the mysteries, traumas and gifts of migration, home and belonging. Directed by Sara Brodie and conducted by Peter Scholes, the opera takes Farr's unique combination of Western, Māori and Chinese instruments to create sweeping beautiful and playful music sung in English, Māori and Cantonese.[11]
Also in 2017, Farr worked on another NZSO commission, a substantial cello concerto titledChemin des Dames, with a personal World War I connection. "All three of my great-grandmother's elder brothers, beautiful young boys, were killed within a year in separate battles in northern France and Belgium". The concerto premiered in New Zealand and France by cellistSébastien Hurtaud,[12] recognising a shared wartime history.[13]
AlongsideJack Body,Gillian Whitehead andJohn Psathas, Farr is one of the noted New Zealand composers.[14]
Gareth Farr also performs in drag as Lilith LaCroix in cabaret shows. Since 1997, the cabaretDrumdrag features Lilith playing the drums and Farr has recorded a CD released under her name.[15] LaCroix also made a music video to promote the album. Advertisers have also asked LaCroix to appear in advertisements.
Farr promotes himself as an entertainer as well as a composer:
I would, perhaps, be criticised for being too entertaining by some composers, but I don't know what's wrong with that because that is why I write music—I'm an entertainer. That's a dirty word in the classical department, but I don't care. I've even got it on my business card – composer/entertainer – because, hey, let's face it, that's what I do.[16]
In the2006 Queen's Birthday Honours, Farr was appointed anOfficer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to music and entertainment.[17] In 2021 Germanmalacologists named a newly-described species of tiny freshwater snailObtusopyrgus farri, after Farr.[18]
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