Claire Edwardes

A Hush Foundation release, Magic Sky is an enchanting and otherworldly album, featuring new works from Australian female composers for marimba and harp performed by Claire Edwardes and Emily Granger. Together, they explore the experience of waiting in hospital spaces, inspired to create an offering that aims to ease the anxiety patients and families face at this time.

Waiting in hospitals, be it treatment rooms, wards, or transition spaces is an experience the vast majority of us have faced at some point - it is time spent that can have both positive and negative impacts on the wellbeing of patients, their families, and hospital staff.

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Music can play a powerful part in promoting wellbeing in these moments and this album seeks to empathetically respond through music to the experience of waiting within healthcare spaces.

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Claire and Emily, along with composers Anne Cawrse, Elena Kats-Chernin, Andrea Keller, Hilary Kleinig, Natalia Mann, Katia Mestrovic, Jessica Wells and Sally Whitwell, attended site visits at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney and Melbourne and a visit to Cairns Regional Hospital. Some of the waiting spaces included the Intensive Care Unit, Emergency Department, Transit Lounge, Maternity Ward and Renal Area, where the composers spoke to patients and staff about their experiences and their surroundings.

Magic Sky speaks to the innate healing powers of music, with a selection of works that intend to soothe and calm.

The Hush Foundation is proud to be releasing their twenty fifth volume of music at a time when, more than ever before, our most vulnerable people need a village.

 

“...expertly and vividly presented, occupying a rarified and alchemistic quality, the silvery springiness of harp juxtaposed with a more earthy, fecund richness of the marimba.” 10/10 Harp Column

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"Magic Sky is unexpectedly soothing not simply because the sounds are light and comforting, but instead because they are so interesting. The pieces engage the mind and imagination as well as the spirit…” 10/10 Harp Column

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"It’s difficult to listen to Magic Sky and not feel moved by it. Granger and Edwardes’ connection to the cause and with each other shines throughout the album, and the result of that synergy is a beautifully produced album with a whole lot of heart.” Limelight