Questions for the new year 2020
I quit Facebook and consequently have had muuuch more time to read for pleasure – books given as Christmas presents where you can buzz through ...
Miscellany: recent music & talks
I gave a keynote talk for a conference at Sydney Conservatorium of Music in September called ‘How to make a woodblock sing (using composition to experiment with thought)’. Eugene Ughetti performed the said woodblock piece, a 15 minute solo called ‘An Elemental Thing’ (2017) and the video is set to start at that point in ...
On gender disparity, structural luck and other things people have been saying for a very long time
I had the privilege of being invited by Dr Natalie Williams to give a keynote at the Women in the Creative Arts conference held at ANU’s School of Music during 10-12 August 2017. My fellow keynote speaker was Prof. Cat Hope, Head of Music at Monash University whose talk, ‘Stepping Aside: Gender equality and privilege ...
Time, possession & ventriloquism in my operas
I recently participated in a very stimulating workshop on opera, ‘Sound & Story’, convened by the composer Hans Thomalla and held at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, 28-29 June 2017. Here’s my talk text (long read – who knew that the scroll format would come back into vogue after all these centuries…) The Future-present-past voice: possession ...
The Spinning World
2016 Tree of Codes How Forests Think An ocean beyond earth the turning dance of the bee ~ Ronda – The Spinning World ~ ** ** **** just finished: the last piece for the year, Ronda – The Spinning World, premieres on 25 February 2017 in Frankfurt, performed by Ensemble Modern with a big trumpet part ...
My exhale is your inhale
It’s been a lovely harvest September with two premieres of my music. What a privilege to hear and see Séverine Ballon weave her magic in An ocean beyond earth and to work with the equally magical Wu Wei and ELISION on How Forests think. I’m hearing a music which I think has a different approach to form than in ...
