Symphony inspired by South Dunedin flood

Photo: Otago Daily Times/Peter McIntosh

From New York to South Dunedin . . .

Home for three months, composer and musician Nathaniel Otley has been delving deep into the issues facing his old home turf in South Dunedin for a new composition for the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra.

He talks to Rebecca Fox of the ODT about work, life and music.

Ten years ago, Nathaniel Otley waded along Bayview Rd in knee deep water and heavy rain holding his violin aloft.

His biggest concern was to get his violin home from his school, King’s High, as dry as possible despite the rain. He had considered leaving it at school, but the water was beginning to encroach into hallways in some areas.

"I was like ‘Oh, I have to be careful’. It was a very strange feeling."

That experience of the 2015 South Dunedin floods never left him and he always thought that one day there might be an opportunity to use it in a work.

Approached to compose a piece for the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra two years ago and learning it would be performed in the King’s and Queen’s Performing Art Centre, it seemed like the right time to do it.

"It’s 10 years on ,so we have some ideas of the long-term impacts as well, which has been really important. And I think for some of these more artistic projects, having a little bit of that run-out time is important, because sometimes in the moment things can be a bit raw and fresh."

He acknowledges it is still a fraught situation. Having been to some community meetings recently, he has seen how raw and real it still is to people who have faced more flooding events since.

"The work’s become sort of a mix between this, my own sort of response to it and something that has some community focus as well, which is a fine line to walk."

Based in New York, working out the logistics of the project has been a challenge, but a trip back to New Zealand last year enabled him to meet people involved in the issues following the floods and work out who to talk to.

In New York he spent six months writing the 17 minute piece This Rising Tide; These Former Wetlands - his longest orchestral work to date.

"I’ve written sort of 10 minutes before. So it’s quite a step up in that regard. And then it quickly became apparent that I wanted to expand the project."

He applied to Creative New Zealand for an early career grant, which has meant he has been able to "dig into" the reports on the South Dunedin floods and the area’s history.

"I wanted to try and get a sense of both the history and the current stories and the reports from the South Dunedin Futures team on what might happen down the line."

Otley recorded the interviews with those involved and impacted and is using them as part of an electronic addition to the orchestral work, which he will control on the night.

"So there’s sampled sounds from the local environment, everything from little springs that run down the hill into the catchment area to rain noises to the noise sampled at the South Dunedin Street Festival, things like that."

The Covid pandemic interrupted his plans to take up a Fulbright Scholarship at the Eastman School of Music in the United States. Instead he was awarded the prestigious William Georgetti Scholarship to study towards a master’s degree at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, but again Covid lockdowns interrupted and he ended up back in Dunedin and then Wellington, where McIndoe was studying, working on his masters long-distance. He was also the 2023 NZSO National Youth Orchestra Composer in Residence.

Otley persevered, returning to Sydney when he could and then came back to Dunedin before joining McIndoe, who by that time was studying in Montreal, Canada.

When McIndoe secured a place in a Columbia University doctorate programme in New York, the couple moved there.

"I genuinely don’t know where I’m from at the moment. It’s a very strange feeling, because I definitely haven’t lived long enough in New York to be New York-based or anything."

Along the way he has continued to win accolades for his work, winning the SOUNZ Contemporary Award, Aotearoa’s premiere award for Art Music Composition for his piece The Convergence of Oceans in 2024, beating his finalist position for a classical composition the year before. That composition, Mycelium, was premiered by Marie Ythier and Ensemble Ictus in France in 2022, when he attended the Voix Nouvelles programme at Royaumont.

The competing demands of Otley and McIndoe’s careers has meant long periods apart for the pair, including 18 months while McIndoe was in Montreal.

"I think anything vaguely that long again would be difficult, but she was going to come back [to Dunedin for this trip] and then she had other opportunities in the northern hemisphere that were too good to pass up. Although I have been getting slightly jealous of her summer photos in Marseille."

After the Dunedin concert, Otley will return to New York, where he will start studying towards a composition doctorate at the City University of New York.

He selected the programme because it offers him the opportunity to work on his teaching skills early on. He will be running his own class in his second year at a community college.

"I enjoy the teaching, and I want something that’s going to challenge me and give me the chance to develop that side of what I do."

He finds performing and teaching are ways to balance the time he spends "in a room torturing yourself, going ‘is it that note or that note? Is it going too long?’.

"The value of those communities and the support networks is really important."

Since moving to New York he has been playing violin in a community orchestra to keep up his skills, which allowed him to play for the DSO when he returned to Dunedin this year as he especially wanted to play in the premiere of Gillian Whitehead’s new work last month.

"If I hadn’t been playing while I was over there, I couldn’t have done that because you just need to keep the fingers sort of knowing where they’re going."

He has also been collaborating with McIndoe and performing in her works.

"So Ihlara wrote a piece that I played in New York where we collaborated with a dancer last year, and we’re doing that again at the end of August. So there’s lots of chances to do some really fun little playing things, which is nice."

Otley stakes the claim of playing in the most premieres of McIndoe’s works, but does not think that record will last long.

"There are people starting to catch on to how brilliant she is, and I’m not going to have that title forever, I’m sure."

He credits his time at the University of Otago with giving him and McIndoe the skills needed to pursue their careers overseas. In particular, the information from former Mozart Fellow Dylan Lardelli about how to put on concerts and write funding applications was invaluable.

"I think that is one of the real benefits of having the Mozart fellowship ... I worry ... it’s not being done for next year. We hope it comes back soon."

It is knowledge like this that Otley, who also lectures at the University of Otago when he is in the city, is keen to share as he believes Dunedin’s artistic community benefits when a variety of people are doing well.

"Getting defensive about your own turf is a natural response, but it’s not helpful."

TO SEE

• "Amalia plays Piazzola", King’s and Queen’s Performing Arts Centre, Saturday, August 16, 5pm; Sunday, August 17, 3pm.

• Violinist Nathaniel Otley, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Saturday, August 9, 1- 2pm.