Local composer and puppeteer, Kerrin Tatman, is one of the 2022-23 Artists in Residence at the Sage, and they ended their residency with the emotive and masterful ‘Requiem For A Fading World’.

The piece tells the story of the separate journeys of a mother and daughter through a war-torn world, plagued by a perpetual winter. Excellent casting choices let the audience delight in this powerful story narrated through the solo voices of Emily Gibson and Jacqui Wicks, Daughter and Mother, respectively. With a chamber ensemble and choir to complement the soloists, Requiem captivated the audience throughout.

Extreme weather is affecting the world so that people and animals are forced to migrate south to warmer climes. Daughter leads soldiers into battle to capture the last power resource, to allow people to heat their villages. She plans to bring it home, to save their frozen farmstead. Tragedy strikes when an avalanche kills her battalion before she discovers the last power resource. Meanwhile, Mother has realised that the only way to survive is to head south, to warmer, fertile land. As she travels, she leaves a trail of seeds. Daughter’s heart breaks at the discovery of her abandoned home and she realises that her efforts were in vain. After burning the last fuel resource, Daughter leaves the farm in anger. As she leaves, she discovers the tiny green shoots from the germinating seed trail that her mother left - and follows it.

Across eleven movements, this thoughtfully written work allowed us to really feel the protagonists’ emotions. Not only did the ensemble’s music compel us, but Rosie Bristow’s lyrics elicited the feelings of loss, anguish, love and hope. Mother asked “when will enough be enough”? I for one, could not get enough of this performance and neither could the audience, who gave a lengthy standing ovation.

Kerrin is certainly a rising star in the world of contemporary classical music and based on this piece of work, I’m very excited to see how their future works will dazzle us further.