- a new Australian opus of percussion music, written by female identifying composers for the next generation -
Rhythms of Change (LISTEN) is my latest project directly addressing the current disparity in the representation of women in classical music and specifically in the world of solo percussion music. My project was triggered by the realisation that the majority of the pieces that I had been performing throughout my career were written by men. To re-address this gender disparity, for Rhythms of Change (WATCH) I commissioned seven of my favourite emerging and established female identifying Australian composers to write new works for solo mallet percussion – and I am so happy with the results!
As a commissioning and performance project my Rhythms of Change initiative ensures that the next opus of Australian percussion music will be more fairly represented by women, so that the next generation of musicians can do what makes sense in our day and age – play music written equally by male AND female composers. The works are designed to be performed by a range of musicians – from high school to tertiary students, through to professionals, with the compositions made readily available for purchase through the Australian Music Centre. I hope you enjoy listening to the works - and for those budding percussionists out there, I urge you to consider programming some of this awesome new Australian music in your next recital.
The new works are by a range of esteemed Australian composers from emerging to established and reflect our Australian culture and recent lived experiences. Maria Grenfell is a Tasmanian composer originally from New Zealand who has written a huge array of music for the Tasmanian Symphony especially. Her new marimba solo, Stings and Wings is in three movements and was inspired by her work on the film Quoll Farm with the various movements representing insects - jack jumpers, dragonfly’s and moths.
Peggy Polias is a mid-career composer who was recently part of the Classical Next Innovation Awards nominated Composing Women program at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Written during the first outbreak of COVID in Australia in 2020, her new work Receptor is a response to the pandemic, specifically the physicality of the tiny virus entity in all its various stages.
Emerging composer Ella Macens wrote her piece Falling Embers during the 2019/2020 Australian bushfires. Tracing a glowing particle suspended above desolate land where all has been lost and destroyed, the piece beautifully explores the last moments of something – the final glow before life burns out. Her upbeat marimba solo Verve was written for me as part of the Composing Women project at the Sydney Conservatorium and it’s a real show stopper.
Percussionist, composer and long-time friend, Bree van Reyk’s innovative new vibraphone solo Slipstreams utilises superballs, hexbugs, finger cymbals, snare wire and hot rods to create an array of original textures, tone colours and funky rhythms.
Adelaide composer Anne Cawrse is currently experiencing a purple patch with double success at the 2021 Art Music Awards and a Peggy Glanville Hicks residency in 2022 – her new 3 movement marimba solo Dance Vignettes (1. Meditations & Hymns, 2. Fancy & Flight 3. Scamper & Scoot) can be performed as a set or as separate pieces and it is stunningly idiomatic writing with a notable Australian flavour influenced by Ross Edwards.
Alice Chance’s new vibraphone solo Mirrorings is a sweet and melodic homage to how people relate and interact through our recent lockdowns and periods of isolation. And Elena Kats-Chernin has written two works dedicated to my two daughters (Poppy’s Polka and Violet’s Etude) and they are just a pleasure to perform!
And what is the future of Rhythms of Change? Well I hope that Part 2 in the coming years will see the commissioning, recording and dissemination new percussion solos by international female-identifying composers. But for now I’m just catching my breath for a minute, to bask in this great new Australian music – I hope you enjoy it!
"I am very grateful for your project and feel that the gender balance among composers for percussion is the most important challenge we face currently - I feel the need for greater equity more than ever right now. Thank you for your efforts Claire!” Steve Schick (legendary US percussionist)
