To keep these updates as sporadic as possible (whoops) – heres a bunch of 2015 news all rolled into one post!
April: new work “View of a Fractured City” was premiered by Andrew Kennedy‘s chamber quintet in Sydney. An absolute monster of a piece, an absolutely captivating performance by absolutely wonderful musicians, and an absolute pleasure to attend the premiere!
June: Barega Sax Quartet have launched our new album “Three Serpents”! It’s been a labour of love and we’ve put a lot of work into this project – from commissioning new local compositions as far back as 2011, polishing, performing, recording and releasing a really fun and energetic set of music. It’s been a pleasure to collaborate with some genuinely world class composers: Michael Bakrnčev, Louise Denson, Tom Green, Andrew Garton (and more wonderful people TBA on Volume 2!) Three of my own works are also featured: “Three Serpents“, “Antikythera Mechanism“, and “Spring and Rust“. You can stream for free below (and purchase if you wish of course.) We’re proud of the result and are excited to share with the world!
July: True to form, I’ve been writing a lot of music with saxophones in it. I have 3(!) brand new works to be premiered at the World Saxophone Congress/ SaxOpen in Strasbourg, France. “Abandon control cast fire” is a frenetic, capricious, adrenaline-charged sax quartet for Barega – a truly terrifying piece to rehearse! “Gravitational Lens” has been commissioned by Diana Tolmie for the Queensland Conservatorium Saxophone Orchestra – groovy, but rhythmically warped, like the more ‘noisy’ version of an MC Escher. And finally, “Shadowed Pathways” is an experiment into a pulsating semi-aleatoric large ensemble approach – written for the newly-formed Australian Saxophone Orchestra.
Super excited. Stay tuned for recordings…
August(ish): Excited to announce that I’ve also just completed a huge commission for the Queensland Youth Orchestras Wind Ensemble, entitled “Wings of Daedalus”. A challenge I’ve immensely enjoyed writing for; I’ve found my inner ‘band nerd’. Colourfully mechanical steampunkish vibes, and a pretty strong theme of ‘flight’ – can’t wait to hear where the ensemble takes it!