A few notes on “Vantage”, for solo cello and fixed media electronics being written for Christopher Bennett, as well as “Remote Control”, a 75 min solo dance work Dean’s creating and I’m making some sound for….

There was a Facebook discussion asking advice for young composers…. I couldn’t help but want to offer a few more thoughts! This list is by no means exhaustive, but I reckon a good start!

I leant a lot by being a part of my partner’s work, Threshold NRC, and I’ve just started making a new work for cellist Christopher Bennett…

I taught algorithmic composition workshops for 4 days at Bronte Public… and I think I’ve found the area of music/composition that I’d like to teach on a more regular basis.

Ben Hinchley and I, in our duo Flœk, made a 30 min work for Jaimie Leonarder’s “The Experiment”, presenting 1st friday of each month at Brand X, ESCAC in Darlinghurst, Sydney. Also this week, I taught 350 kids some composition and sound creation fundamentals at Bronte Public…. (photo by Guy James Whitworth)

Another work is in development and about to be heard... and a few other thoughts on life the universe and everything. 

Detailing a couple of gigs I've got coming up soon. 

Lucid by Vordenker, performance in a nursing home, some plans for next year, a few reflections on failures and successes in 2017. 

An update on what I've been up to recently; a performance for Arts Initiative Australia launch, a workshop in improvisation in Perth, and my next gig in Berlin. 

It has been a while since I've updated you so I thought it is a good time to do so!

Out of the Deep was premiered by the Song Company last night at Yellow House in Sydney. I've written a bit about my work and the concert in which it is presented.

Last night's premiere of "30/31 - Lobotomy" changed my life... it was a small but important work and event as it was the first performance of a work I'd used a devising method of creation for on other musicians... 

An update on the progress of two works about to be premiered over the next 4 weeks.... 

In this blog I talk about the last session I had with the Australian Art Quartet at Bundanon, the sudden flash of "I know what to do", and outline the next steps to making this work complete!

Lyrics excerpt from Pink Floyd's "Brain Damage"

The lunatic is in my head
The lunatic is in my head
You raise the blade, you make the change
You re-arrange me 'til I'm sane
You lock the door
And throw away the key
There's someone in my head but it's not me

I had my second session with the quartet today. I didn't have a lot of time allocated (2 hours were scheduled for me!) and I ended up going over time.

We went from easy and free to EXTREMELY CHALLENGING...

You wouldn't believe what the Australian Art Quartet did today. It is amazing working with really accomplished musicians and relating their music techniques to movement techniques, their understanding of music composition to movement composition... I'm making an integrated sound/movement work... we don't know what about yet, but we've got an 8 day residency at Bundanon to figure it out!

It's been a while between news posts, and there's a lot to catch up on... a few performances done, and a number of projects in the pipeline.... 

I write about what I've been up to for the past couple of weeks in artistic development and life!.. ok omitting a few things, but hey, there's always just so many wonderful artistic things to explore

I'm using this post to see how my Mailchimp RSS feed sender handles these things... I really want to be able to just automate everything. Wouldn't that be spectacular? 

Morphing from composer to artist, from 2016 to 2017, from Gallop House to Mattie Furphy House. 2017 Sydney Festival of Really Good Sex, Dean Walsh, The Song Company, Dapheny Chen, Australian Art Quartet, and what am I doing in a writer's residency?

The last two weeks has been immense... a few key takeaways from my experience of an extraordinary workshop

An update on the Strut / Maxine Doyle with Sarah Dowling workshop up doing... my injuries are ok, and I'm going though a bunch of developments and epiphanies whilst getting excited about our showing this coming Thursday... and you may have noticed I got a haircut. 

I’m in a hot magnesium salt bath nursing my various bruises, grazes, and what feels like a pulled left rhomboid…

I'm in a workshop with Maxine Doyle from Punchdrunk Theatre organised by Strut Dance! There's a showing in a couple of weeks time. I'm also starting this new work for the Song Company and I've started deconstructing the meaning behind the text I'll be setting... maybe you can help me with that, as I don't know if I've got it right.... 

I performed my songs for the first time today in front of a very awesome crowd.  A great announcement for 2017 happened, more dance, and more life modelling.

I had my first dance class today, by Gaga teacher Guy Shomroni produced by Strut Dance. It made me question the relationship between body, emotion, notation and performance. 

I'm continuing the path of becoming more of a performer, and discovering a few really awesome things about being the composer/performer combo along the way, as well as discovering parallels between my universes as a publisher, leader, and composer.