The composer and Limelight publisher will spend six months at the inspirational Gallop House.

Composer, entrepreneur and publisher of Limelight magazine Andrew Batt-Rawden has been chosen as the inaugural Composer in Residence at Gallop House in Western Australia. He will spend six months living in the refurbished two storey heritage building and Dalkeith landmark, which is operated by the National Trust of Australia (WA) and is now the home for the new Feilman Foundation Composer in Residence Program. The residency is the brainchild of Sydney lawyer Shane Simpson, the executor of composer Peggy Glanville-Hicks who died in 1990. Her Home in Sydney’s Paddington has been the site of an on-going rent-free composer studio for many years.

Gallop House, today

“This is a pretty significant residency that Shane Simpson has been building for quite a while. I’m stoked that the National Trust of WA, along with the other partners in the project, has had the capacity and foresight to contribute in this way to nurturing Australian Culture,” said Batt-Rawden, one of Australia’s rising compositional stars. “Neil Armfield made a speech a while ago in which he asked (and I paraphrase) ‘who’s looking after the smaller arts scene?’ pointing out that Sydney is good at its cultural monoliths, but not so great on a smaller scale. Well, a few Champions of Australian Culture have been involved in the development and launch of this project, and I hope they’re recognised for it.”

National Trust of Australia (WA) CEO Julian Donaldson praised the vision and generosity of those who helped to bring the initiative together. “The National Trust is thrilled to bring the Feilman Foundation Composer in Residence Program to life in Perth and offer Gallop House as an inspiring home and haven for creativity to the composing community,” he said. “It’s the latest addition to the National Trust’s suite of striking adaptive reuse projects which bring sustainable outcomes to State registered places and outstanding social benefits to the Western Australian community.”

Andrew Batt-Rawden

Nestled on a hill overlooking Melville Water with the Swan river beyond, Gallop House is an idyllic period home that was originally a farmstead and orchards in what was considered an isolated district of Perth. Built from local stone by James Gallop in the 1870s as a wedding present for his son, it is the oldest private residence in the City of Nedlands and a rare example of a colonial residence with its original garden intact. In 1911, the Scaddan Labour Government bought the by now dilapidated house and overgrown surrounds but the property continued to decline until in 1963 it was condemned as unfit for human habitation. Rescued by a series of 21-year rent free leases in exchange for occupational repair and maintenance, the house was restored twice and in 1985 was opened to the public as an ‘Historical Museum and Old Colonial Home’.

“From the earliest days of the Swan River Colony this location sustained the community through innovation and flourishing fruit and vegetable production while the river provided the transport route,” said Donaldson. “In 2016, the riverscape and this captivating two storey farmhouse will provide inspiration and sustain creative practices to the benefit of the entire community.”

Gallop House in Victorian times (courtesy State Library WA 3233B_92)

Sydneysider Batt-Rawden was clearly delighted at the prospect of six months in WA. “I’ve never been to Perth and I can’t wait. Gallop House is incredibly beautiful, and what a great history it has,” he said. “Getting out of Sydney’s going to be a good experience for me. I can’t wait to re-connect with mates who live there, but also to make new connections with people I’ve been looking forward to working with for years.”

Batt-Rawden’s planned composition activities at Gallop House include a collaboration and performance with the Australian Art Quartet and award winning visual artist
Wendy Sharpe; the release of the album Coming of Age and a showcase concert for November in New York for piano, string quartet and voice. “I also plan to offer guest lectures at WAAPA, engage with local schools and host an event of two at the house presenting music including my own,” he said.

The history of Gallop House has had its gothic moments so should provide plenty of inspiration. The bloody murder of Rosalinda Fox, a prominent member of Dalkeith’s Victorian community, took place on the estate in 1899 when she was brutally killed by an axe blow to the head. No one has ever been convicted of the murder, and her head was kept as gruesome evidence at the WA Museum for years. Last heard of displayed at the Royal Show Police Exhibition in the 1950s, the skull has been missing for years. Now there’s a subject for an opera if ever there was one.

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