Perth Voice Interactive

Ellie makes her big orchestral debut

AFTER composing her first orchestral movement at just seven years old, Mt Pleasant violinist Ellie Malonzo will finally get to hear a real orchestra play her music next weekend.

The Fremantle Chamber Orchestra will be premiering her latest composition, Violin Concerto in A, at the Redemptorist Monastery in North Perth on Sunday October 16 at 3pm.

Now 12 years old, Ellie will also become the youngest soloist the FCO has featured.

But she’s already racked up multiple awards, including a 1st prize in the International Youth Music Competition in June, allowing her to attend the 2023 winners recital in New York. 

Ellie’s musical journey began with a gift from her father. 

“It all started when my dad gave me a pink ukulele – he plays the guitar – so he wanted me to learn too, but for some reason I put it straight under my chin, got a chopstick out of the kitchen drawer, and pretended I was holding a violin and a bow,” she said.

Ellie’s first concerto drew inspiration from mornings with her mother. 

“I used to sit in bed on Sunday mornings with my mum and I would sing a melody to her, and she would write it down and play it on the piano,” she said. 

“I finished writing the first movement of my first concerto for violin and string orchestra when I was seven; I have always felt that the melodies are the easy part, and the hardest aspect is linking all the ideas together, it’s a bit like a puzzle.”

FCO director and cellist Hans Hug is excited for the world premiere of Ellie’s concerto and says the event will be a beautiful and historic moment. 

“Here we have a person who, already at 12 years of age, is an accomplished violinist, on top of that, a composer, which is quite remarkable,” Mr Hug said. 

“At the FCO we try to perform beautiful music and create opportunities for young people, and Ellie is a shining example of this.” 

The orchestra will also be showcasing 17-year-old cellist Max Wung as soloist in Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C.

If you can’t make the Freo concert, the FCO will be at the Fremantle Town Hall on Saturday October 15, also at 3pm.

Tickets from at fremantlechamberorchestra. com or at the door.

RESEARCHERS have discovered a photo that may depict the first documented Chinese person in WA, a carpenter named Moon Chow who likely played a key role in building some of Perth’s oldest structures. 

Moon Chow, sometimes recorded as “Chow Moon”, “Johnny Chow” or “Chou”, arrived in Fremantle in March 1830 aboard the Emily Taylor. 

In August 1830 he was listed as one of two carpenters employed by Henry W Reveley, a civil engineer who was raised as a brother to Frankenstein author Mary Shelley. Reveley built the original Government House (now demolished), the Old Court House (the oldest surviving building in Perth city), and Fremantle’s Round House (the oldest building in the state).

But there are many competing narratives about the details of Moon Chow’s life amid fragments of records, family histories, and modern lionised tales. 

To delve into his life UWA School of Social Science researchers Yu Tao, Benjamin Smith and Petra Mosmann worked with a fifth-generation descendent of Mr Chow, Betty Walker, along with Chung Wah Association honorary historical advisor Kaylene Poone.

Prof Smith tells us: “He was working for Reveley from pretty much as soon as he came into the state, so probably about seven-odd years. So he must have worked on some of those major projects.”

Carpenter

Government House seems a likely candidate. A temporary wooden building was erected in 1832 in what is today the Supreme Court Gardens, then a more permanent iteration was built that served as Government House from 1835 to 1859. 

There were not many carpenters in the Swan River Colony in that era.

“If it was wooden, it was almost certain Moon Chow would have built it,” Prof Smith says.

Moon Chow later worked as a highly regarded boat builder, but there are decades of his life where little is recorded.

The researchers thought they’d never see a photograph of Chow, but during the research process Ms Walker discovered a cousin in Queensland had found a box of old family photos in the attic. A faded photograph showed a Chinese man standing in what had to have been 19th century Australia. 

There were no other Chinese figures in the family’s early history, and Ms Walker and her cousin believe it’s Moon Chow.

The researchers wrote: “The man appears by a fence, just as a carpenter working on a minor fencing contract might. The architecture in the background and the fence style is plausible for Fremantle at the time. The hat in the man’s left hand is also Victorian in style.”

They are now hoping someone might recognise the background, or be able to date an item of clothing.

Moon Chow died June 9 1877 after being knocked down by a mail cart in Fremantle’s High Street. An inquest ruled his death accidental. The jury appended 

a note: “We think it our duty to mention that, for safety of life and limb, more caution and less speed ought to be observed by those in charge of mail carts … we further consider that all vehicles after sundown should be compelled to carry lamps to warn passengers of their approach.”

The full article Searching for Moon Chow: A Joint Journey is up at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/ 10.1080/14484528.2022.2120593 

If you know any details about the image, please contact Prof Smith at benjamin.smith@uwa.edu.au or 64882097

by DAVID BELL and STEVE GRANT

“THE SEATS. I know it’s unlikely there’s anything you can do but they are ungodly.”

After years of complaints PICA is finally upgrading the notoriously uncomfortable seating in its performance space, calling on donors to take pity on the backsides of audiences and buy them some sittable seats.

Donors usually give to the not-for-profit Perth Institute of Contemporary Art to help fund exhibitions of up and coming artists. But the fundraising focus this season is on seats, currently so uncomfortable they could only be part of some masochistic performance art sculpture. 

They’re a frequent point of contention by online reviewers who end up more focused on what’s under them than what’s on stage.

“I understand budget constraints, but those seats are so bad, I really have to think twice about attending any show in the performance space,” one eventgoer opined.

“I need to comment on how uncomfortable the seating was,” another wrote. “I was eager for the performance to finish just so I could stand up.”

They’re currently at $23,770 of their $100,000 target, and taking donations at https://pica.org.au/no-numb-bums

NO more waiting for water: The Maylands Waterland will finally be wet again with the taps to be turned on this October 5 at 11am. 

The facility had to be closed in 2019 due to old age and Bayswater council originally hoped the renovations would be done by the end of summer last year.

Supply problems, labour shortages, and crummy weather set that target back by a summer but now stage 1 is complete, and the splash pads, waterfall, frog water sculpture, wading pool and water creek are now ready to flow for families.

Mayor Filomena Piffaretti’s heading down to turn on the tap for the October 5 family fun day. 

“I’m so proud the City of Bayswater has been able to save Maylands Waterland for future generations,” Cr Piffaretti siad.

“This facility is very close to the hearts of many people in our community, who can now continue to enjoy it for years to come.”

Stage 2 of the redevelopment involves new versions of the old deeper pools, but for now it remains a pipedream as more external funds are needed.

THE grand 120-year-old Desborough House in West Perth is in line to be demolished.

The mansion’s owners have lodged an application with Perth council to flatten the entire block. 

Dersborough House, on the hill at 1161 Hay Street, was designed by architect and former Subiaco mayor Austin Bastow around 1900 and built for real estate agent Henry Laslett. The house next door at 1167 Hay Street was built around the same time for parliamentarian Norman Kirkwood Ewing. As decades saw the suburb change and demand for housing grow, the properties later operated as a lodging house and apartments. They were joined via a glazed link sometime before the 1980s, and then became offices. 

The historic complex was listed for sale in 2018 as a prime development site, and the new owner is not named in the council’s demolition application records.

No protection

The buildings have no heritage protection against demolition, with the WA heritage council declaring in 2017 that the building “does not warrant assessment”.

The mansion almost got some local protection from Perth council but the paperwork sat unfinished for more than 20 years. 

In 1999 Desborough House, along with hundreds of other properties, was nominated to be added to Perth council’s heritage survey. That document records significant buildings and is a stepping stone to the council’s more robust “Heritage List” which can offer demolition protection.

The survey is meant to be updated every five years but no one got around to it until mid-2022 when the council finally put the draft survey list out for public comment. By then several prominent buildings had already been flattened, (Voice, June 25, 2022). 

The old recommendation to protect the buildings says despite no longer boasting the original ornate balconies, the corner tower is still “a local landmark” and “they are examples of mansions on the outskirts of Perth occupied by the wealthier class and reflect the development of West Perth as a prestigious residential suburb.

“Together the buildings are representative of the changing character and growth of the city, being former residential properties that have undergone a change of use to apartments, and then to commercial/professional offices.”

History not-for-profit group Museum of Perth has lamented the state of WA’s heritage protection laws. Executive director Reece Harley told us: “Desborough House is yet another example of a failing system of heritage protections in Western Australia. We call on the [WA heritage] minister to review the series of events which have occurred to let this building fall through the cracks with no protections in place. 

“Included in the City of Perth’s draft heritage inventory in 2001, the property is yet to be assessed by the WA heritage council and remains unprotected by the City of Perth.” 

Mr Harley points out it was likely a governmental edict that led to the building losing some of its original heritage fabric.

“The ornate verandahs around Desborough House – which were one of its defining architectural features -were no doubt removed by council edict like so many other buildings in the 1960s. 

“When will we learn, in this city, the importance of retaining, restoring and celebrating our architectural heritage and unique social history?”

The application for a demolition permit requests a complete Carthaginian treatment of the whole block, asking Perth council to allow “complete demolition and removal of the double storey house and building, rear carpark area, retaining walls, old septic tanks and soak wells, all trees, stumps and vegetation including tree lopping where required, all visible non-friable asbestos attached to the buildings and leaving a clear raked block to 800mm deep”. 

LEEDERVILLE welcomes the WAFL grand final for the first time this weekend, turning into a carnival town to welcome fans for the West Perth v Claremont clash. 

The WAFL’s first choice was Optus Stadium due to its bigger capacity, having fitted in near 30,000 people for the 2021 grand final. But that stadium’s busy hosting cricket this year so Leederville Oval with its 14,000 capacity got the job. 

The WA Football Commission said in a media statement it was “disappointing” to not get the bigger capacity Optus Stadium, but Leederville Oval was the best available option. 

There’s been some chatter in WAFL circles that Leederville’s often too muddy for a grand final but WAFC CEO Michael Roberts said he was confident Vincent council would have the turf in good order in time.

Sunny days

“As part of their bid, the City of Vincent made a commitment to have the turf match-day ready,” Mr Roberts said.

“It’s been done by bits and has had limited foot traffic since the rejuvenation started. With plenty of sunny days coming over the next couple of days, it’s looking pretty good.”

Along with spending money to fix the turf, close the streets, and funding the October 1 Footyville Festival in nearby Leederville town centre, Vincent is spending an unknown amount on “sponsorship fees”.

Former councillor Dudley Maier lodged a question at the September 20 council meeting criticising that secrecy: “Given that any adjustment to the City’s budget must eventually be made public, why is the administration failing to make public the proposed changes to the budget prior to the Council giving tacit approval?” he asked.

Vincent CEO David MacLennan said it’d been the WAFC who’d requested sponsorship details be confidential.

by DAVID BELL

CONDITIONS at the City of Perth have improved slightly since the council’s suspension in 2018, but staff are still reluctant to recommend it to other workers.

The latest staff satisfaction survey found 69 per cent considered the council an “excellent”, “good”, or “okay” place to work; up from 63 per cent in 2020. 

But only 14 per cent would recommend it as a workplace to others, citing the lack of career progression opportunities, messy policies and processes, and poor handovers which left new staff in the lurch.

In August 2020 a state government inquiry warned the council it had to improve its workplace culture, or risk staff dissatisfaction, power struggles between departments, and senior staff too timid to speak up about rule-flouting councillors.

Improvements

The current council got a look at the scorecard this week. They’ve had nearly two years in the job to improve things, and mayor Basil Zempilas said: “I think we have done a significant body of work already and I think there’s been great improvements.

“We are heading in the right direction – they are the best results that the City of Perth has scored under this reporting methodology in the history of these being done,” he said.

“That dates back to 2017 – we’re not at the end of our journey, but we’re on our way.”

CEO Michelle Reynolds will now work with her senior team to focus on the key complaints and report back to council in six months on how they’re going to improve the scores.

Many Australian councils get the same Catalyse staff surveys, but Perth’s rare in publicly sharing the results.

by DAVID BELL