Michael Waye hangs up his piccolo

Can you tell us some of your favourite memories over your 36 years with WASO?

Touring with the orchestra both within Australia and China was truly memorable for many reasons. On our China tour we met musicians in the Beijing and Shanghai street markets who gave my colleague Jill and I a crash course in Chinese flute playing. What I thought I had mastered as a lovely, simple Chinese folk tune, “Jasmine”, assumed the guise of a Paganini Caprice in the hands of my humble instructor. It proves that you CAN teach an old piccolo player new tricks!

WASO took me to the Kimberley to play for wide-eyed kids in remote communities, who’d likely never seen orchestral instruments, let alone have a go with playing one. Their faces were brimming with wonder and there were ear-to-ear grins aplenty. Another Kimberley memory is of playing Debussy’s Syrinx for solo flute in Geikie Gorge, sitting on a one-metre diameter rock protruding a few centimeters above the water level. This was in a beautiful amphitheatre-like bend in the river. I played the solo several times whilst our sound and film crew floated past making a recording. I only noticed later, as I was getting back into the boat, the crocodile claw scratch marks on the rock!

One amusing memory is of a ballet season performing The Taming of the Shrew. I discovered in my score the requirement to switch from piccolo to a range of slide whistles at different pitches throughout the entire ballet. It soon became apparent that I was the comic relief in the ballet and was to accompany the male dancer as he attempted to croon his way into the “Shrew’s” affections. I was to give him his shrill and increasingly desperate voice as time and time again the said “Shrew” cruelly rejected him. As I became more confident of my role, my playing became more and more outrageous to the point where my lovely colleagues, including Mary-Anne Blades, were reduced to fits of laughter and tears and almost unable to play. Success!

I must say however, that my all-time favourite memory would have to be meeting my partner as a direct result of a WASO concert. WASO was playing the Verdi opera Il Trovatore to a packed house at the Perth Concert Hall when I spied some audience members taking their seats and commented to my lovely colleague Leanne Glover (Oboe) that she should check out the handsome guy in the upper box. As fate would have it we met by chance the very next day at a coffee shop and the rest, as they say, is history. 28 years of happy history to be precise.

Who are your favourite artists that you’ve performed with during your time with WASO?

WASO works with absolutely astonishing musicians on a weekly basis.

If I had to pick a few, I would have to start with my supremely talented colleagues in WASO.

I’ve been fortunate to work with so many great conductors and soloists. Standouts have been artists such as Asher Fisch, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Vladimir Verbitsky, Simone Young and Lisa Gasteen in Tosca.

I loved playing the challenging piccolo solo from Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony under the impish and hugely enthusiastic baton of Ashkenazy. Playing with Asher is always exciting, but I especially enjoyed the Brahms and Beethoven cycles.

I have to mention a (literally!) cheeky favourite memory as being kissed by the violinist Hilary Hahn after her superb performance of a Shostakovich Violin Concerto.

Working with conductors and soloists who respect the orchestra and let it shine utilizing its own unique voice is a magnificent experience.

What have you enjoyed most about your career?

I grew up listening to my mother, Margaret playing Karajan’s recordings of the Beethoven symphonies at full volume. I had no real notion of what an orchestra was, but I liked the sounds. I first encountered a live orchestra in my early teens; it was the Sydney Symphony and I was hooked from that moment on. I pestered my brother to show me how his flute worked and was eventually introduced to the famous Sydney flautist Linda Vogt. Linda and I got on like a house on fire and it wasn’t long before she had me auditioning for the prestigious Canberra School of Music.

What all this is leading to is that I had a dream that I would one day play in an orchestra. That dream came true in 1987 when WASO took me on as its Principal Piccolo, and I’ve been pinching myself every day since. The thing I have loved most about my life in WASO is definitely the music, but moreover the joy of listening to the artistry of my colleagues on a weekly basis. What more could one ask for?

You’re enjoying a scene change for your retirement from WASO to Leura in the Blue Mountains - what has drawn you to that beautiful area of Australia?

As a Sydney boy partnered with a Sydney boy we both always kept strong links to New South Wales. As far as the Blue Mountains go, I’ll blame that choice on my friend and mentor, flautist Linda Vogt. Linda and her husband Col (former Principal Piccolo of the SSO) retired many years ago to the beautiful Blue Mountains village of Leura. We visited Linda and Col at their home in Leura every time we stayed in Sydney. We adored the beautiful gardens, tranquility, architecture and thriving art scene of the mountains and I guess the place embedded itself in our psyche. Watching many episodes of “Escape to the Country” helped fuel a desire for a tree change as well. My interests in life outside music are, amongst other things, gardening and furniture restoration. Our new house in Leura has a beautiful old established garden, a magnificent workshop and a resident wallaby. Heaven! Oh, and we are closer to our families.

What will you take away from your time with WASO?

I guess what one carries away in one’s heart, are the profound personal and musical friendships that have been forged over 36 years.

What I will dearly miss is the routine of arriving at work, unpacking and checking I have my music and instruments. It can be a scary thing opening one’s case half an hour prior to a rehearsal or performance to find nothing inside! I’ll also miss chatting over morning coffee with my colleagues and then launching into some epic orchestral work, opera or ballet. All this in a day’s work.

Do you have any parting words for your WASO colleagues?

To the Second Violins who, because they sit directly in striking range of my sound, have borne the brunt of my playing for all of these years,

SORRY FOR THE TINNITUS!!!

To my colleagues and the management of WASO, I’d like to say it’s been a wonderful 36 years and I would do it all again in a heartbeat.

Thank you ONE and ALL.

Michael Waye’s final concert with WASO is Ravel’s Piano Concerto.

Friday 11 & Saturday 12 August, 7.30pm
Perth Concert Hall

Michael’s Chair is supported by Pamela & Josh Pitt through the Duet program.