It’s been an exciting start to the year - let me tell you about what’s been happening and what’s coming up in the next couple of weeks! It’s such a treat to be back in the concert halls experiencing live music again.
The year began over in Perth with my arrangement of Tim Minchin’s ‘Airport Piano’ for the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, as part of Perth Festival (20th and 21st of February in Kings’ Park). Then, down in Tassie, Monique Brumby and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra’s performed a couple of my arrangements for their Ten Days on the Island shows. First at Stanley Town Hall (TAS), 5th of March, and then the Odeon Theatre, Hobart, 19th of March. This forms part of a larger collaboration between Brumby and the TSO, with an album coming out later in the year - stay tuned! Over the last few months, I’ve dipped my toes into the world of arranging and it’s been loads of fun.
Photo by Corey James
On the 18th and 19th of March, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Vanessa Scammell, gave Frumious a couple of spins, alongside works by Deborah Cheetham, Anna Clyne, Missy Mazzoli, and Ella Macens.
Ensemble Offspring launched their album En Masse on the 24th of March and this features my sextet Bend/Boogie/Break. You can buy the digital release here or watch the video below, perhaps even both! The record also features works by Aussie composers Alex Pozniak and Thomas Meadowcroft, available as both audio and video releases.
My new bassoon solo Shapeshifter will be premiered by the wonderful Matt Kneale on the 31st of March in Arcadia Winds’ ‘Red Clay, Mississippi Delta’ show at the Melbourne Recital Centre.
Fizzin’ Fury will be heard by the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, conducted by their new artistic director Jessica Cottis, on the 31st of March and 1st of April. This is the Llewellyn Series opener, enigmatically titled Seven Deadly Sins.
Then, heading south, the Sydney Symphony Fellows revisit Jabberwock on Easter Saturday (3 April) for the idyllic Four Winds Festival.
Rounding off April, I’m mega excited that my trumpet concerto Hellbent will be premiered by Owen Morris and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Johannes Fritzsch, on the 22nd and 24 of April.
I’m also thrilled to be taking on two mentoring roles this year. The first is with Omega Ensemble’s 2021 CoLab program, and the second with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra’s 2022 Australian Composers School. I was a participant in the program for 2018-2019, so it’s hugely exciting to return in a different role.