Composer Eden Mulholland Photo: © 2020 Stefan Gosatti
Once upon a time, there was talented Canterbury boy who could sing and play the guitar. But he took up dancing and performed with some of the best contemporary dancers in the land.
Then he wanted to be a rock star so he formed a band and sold records, but eventually he got bored with that and now he writes music for the Royal New Zealand Ballet and one day, maybe a symphony orchestra.
RNZ Concert's Bryan Crump spoke with the multi-faceted and multi-talented Eden Mulholland ahead of the premiere of his latest ballet score To Hold. It's one of three new works that form the Royal New Zealand Ballet's Solace tour of Aotearoa.
It's Mulholland's third ballet score, all three of which he's written for the choreographer Sarah Foster-Sproull.
How did the founder of bands like Motocade get access to such great dancers?
Simple. Mulholland was a dancer himself, working with the likes of Foster-Sproull and other leading lights of Aotearoa's contemporary dance scene, such as Malia Johnston.
He grew out of dance into rock bands, and from that into composing, but with an instinctive understanding of what sounds work for choreographers such as Foster-Sproull.
Beyond ballet, Mulholland has also written the music for the World of Wearable Art show (which is directed by Malia Johnston), three years running.
Crump asks if the WoW music is performed live.
No, says Mulholland, but this year he's looking forward to working with a new sound system in the venue which replaces the usual array of speakers next to the stage, with dozens spread around the auditorium so that sound can come from anywhere in the room.
After that, Mulholland, who these days lives in Brisbane, is thinking about re-scoring his latest ballet for a larger ensemble, maybe an orchestra.
And then, what's to stop the ever-changing Mulholland from writing a symphony as well?
