Australian Music

“The Vietnam War is one of the most complex chapters in our nation’s history, deeply traumatic and divisive,” writes Chris Latham, Director of The Flowers of War, ahead of the premiere of the Vietnam Requiem, a major commemorative work honouring the stories and sacrifices of many impacted by the war.

“I start with a provocation. Is the beauty and virtuosity of Western classical music still enough? Should it be entering the debates of our time?…I also ask us to reflect on how and why music can process seemingly intractable notions and turn them into feelings that we can respond to. Climate change comes to mind…what can music do?”

“Viridian is the work in which Meale decisively turned his back on modernism,” writes James Koehne.

“Go Ruth! Go Ginsburg! Rest forever amongst us, dearest Ruth Bader Ginsburg.” – Moya Henderson AM

“Each movement captures a section of the original painting and the artists who created it,” writes Deborah Cheetham in the program note for Song for Dulka Warngiid. “My task as a composer was to respond to capture the vitality and presence of the Kaiadilt women.”

“Contemporary Australian composers have the opportunity to learn from and be influenced by a wealth of musical styles that have passed before them. Matthew Hindson’s Rush is one such piece that, while containing a mixture of these musical characteristics, in turn displays its own style unique to the composer,” writes Michelle Kennedy.

“…Rather than shape a conflict-and-resolution musical path, ideas just start and stop in a riddle-ish or enigmatic fashion,” writes Peggy Polias of her piece, “The Moon”.

The piece Miriwa (sky in Durgha language) is about the Sky and its beauty, and its relationship to country, says Brenda Gifford.

“The weaving, soaring violin melody that opens Australian composer Arthur Benjamin’s Sonatina for Violin and Piano immediately beguiles the listener and attests to Hubert Howells’ description of Benjamin as ‘an unashamed Romantic,’ writes Angus McPherson.

Australian composer Holly Harrison’s genre-defying “Fizzin’ Fury” is inspired by musical genres associated with moshing and upbeat movement. The fury side embraces the heaviness of doom metal, punk, and progressive rock, while the fizz captures the energy of electronic dance music, disco, and dixieland.