Melbourne Symphony Orchestra commission

I'm very happy to share that I am one of four commissioned composers for the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra's 2022 Cybec Program. I'll be composing an orchestral work with mentorship from Stuart Greenbaum, to be premiered at Melbourne Recital Centre, in January 2023.

Here is a some info about the program and the composers: https://www.mso.com.au/the-blog/cybec-21st-century-australian-composers-program

And a near-impossible-to-answer question that we were each asked: https://www.mso.com.au/the-blog/what-is-the-one-piece-of-music-that-has-influenced-you-throughout-life

More details to come!

AJIRN 2022 conference

I'm excited to present a performance-lecture titled 'Slap(!) and the Death of The Electric Bass: toward a New Instrumentality' at the AJIRN conference this weekend (6–8 May) in Brisbane: https://www.ajirn.com.

The 2022 AJIRN conference theme ‘Space is the place’ invites participants to think about where improvisation occurs, where it might occur, how it interacts with its spaces and places, the movements and migratory patterns of improvising artists, what role locality in any of its forms plays in improvisation studies, and more.

I look forward to attending the many amazing presentations and connecting with new and old friends. If interested, you can attend in-person or online. Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/.../australasian-jazz-and...

And here’s a link to the full schedule: https://www.ajirn.com/_files/ugd/5666c4_c241a71785a543dcb7075f3a5445c36a.pdf

(A)Biotic Forces - for solo prepared guitar

Recently, I was commissioned to write a work for the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music’s Guitar Perspectives series, thanks to the generosity of Peter and Rasika Crowley.

Set in three movements, the work is a homage to the waters of Gippsland, in the Gunaikurnai nation. The musical material was initially generated from my solo bass practice, which was transcribed and transposed for the guitar. It was such a pleasure to develop the piece for, and with, guitarist Tom Stewart-Toner—who brought so much to the process. Also a big thanks to Ken Murray for his guidance. The score can be found at the Australian Music Centre.

Filmed and recorded by Leo Dale at WeFo studios.

freedman jazz

Recently, I was named as a finalist for the 2021 Freedman Jazz Fellowship, alongside the brilliant Maria Moles, Flora Carbo and Hillary Geddes. Feeling very grateful to be nominated and look forward to the announcement of the winner in October.

interview & performance

Earlier this year, I was very fortunate to have a piece I wrote Ataraxia performed by two wonderful musicians, Kat Tsyrlin (violin) and Danaë Killian (piano). Here is an an interview where we dicuss the work followed by a video of the performance from the Melbourne Composers’ League concert in April.

The Music Box Project - Shallow Listening

On May 15 and 16, The Music Box Project will be performing the second iteration of Shallow Listening at Australia Hall in Sydney. It’s a mix of music and madness. Look forward to performing these works again and seeing some friendly Sydney faces - it’s been a long while!

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Artfully beguiling, subtly chaotic and deliciously zany, the music box project brings you the Sydney premiere of ‘Shallow Listening’. Five ‘sonic pillars’ of exploratory works by Moya Henderson, Jasmin Wing-Yin Leung, Jaslyn Robertson, Elizabeth Jigalin and Joseph Franklin are woven together with a performative sinew of sound, motion and play. From  the clicking of scissors to slow motion singing, cheeky meditations on red, a plethora of toys and the catharsis of an internal dialogue — leave your expectations at the door and join the ensemble for an evening of signature music box madness.  Premiered at the 2019 Bendigo International Festival of Experimental Music (BIFEM), this genre-defying performance received the 2020 APRA/AMCOS and AMC Art Music Award for Excellence in Experimental Music.

More details and tickets can be found here - https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing?eid=711505&

A/Biotic Forces: Purl

Experimental label Shame File Music has released a compilation album titled Music Under Lockdown: Melbourne 2020. I was very happy to contribute to this eclectic album made by various Melbourne musicians during the recent lockdown. My piece is titled A/Biotic Forces: Purl and the liner notes are below.

“A/Biotic Forces: Purl” (September 2020) - This piece was recorded at the annex “studio” that is attached to my caravan home, on a farm on Wurundjeri land (Wattle Glen, Melbourne), surrounded by kangaroos, birds, ducks, chickens, dams, bees, trees, blue-tongued lizards and earthworks. In this time where in-person (human) collaborations are impossible, I’ve expanded my “solo” practice to include preparations, percussive instruments, the environment and animals. The very idea of a solo practice, or even isolation, seems like a distant idea belonging to an archaic colonial past. The materials I worked with in this improvisation include a semi-hollow bass guitar, blu tac, two capos, paper, plastic, 10 yellow box tree pieces (20-30cm in length, 2-4cm in diameter) that I cut from a felled tree, a kick drum from a children’s drum set, and a Korean gong—also played with a kick drum. There are some (unexpected) sounds generated by my kelpie-heeler companion, Huxley. It was recorded with two close mics, a condenser mic for the speaker and a DI signal. This nude, or in-process, work explores rhythmic cycles/relationships, sound-worlds and techniques that I’ve been thinking about for some time now. The primary inspiration was the imagined sound of wooden logs colliding in river water.

Award for Excellence in Experimental Music

Last night at the first ever online Art Music Awards, my friends and collaborators at the music box project were honoured to receive the award for ‘Excellence in Experimental Music’ for our performance at BIFEM in 2019. I was also very happy to be a finalist for ’Performance of the Year: Jazz/Improvised Music’ for the album Amen. A huge congratulations to all winners and finalists. Here is a my work Jouska from the BIFEM concert:

Jouska (2019)

Art Music Awards

This year’s Art Music Award finalists were announced this week by APRA AMCOS and the Australian Music Centre. I’m happy to share that two works created under the mentorship of Mark Applebaum (Jouska) and Marc Hannaford (Amen) were nominated:

  • The Amen album launch in Melbourne with Marc Hannaford and Satoshi Takeishi is nominated for the category, Performance of the Year: Jazz/Improvised Music

  • The Music Box Project’s theatrical performance Shallow Listening at BIFEM in 2019 is nominated for the category, Award for Excellence in Experimental Music. My chamber-opera-psychodrama Jouska was part of this performance

The awards will be streamed on on the APRA AMCOS Youtube channel on 8 September at 7pm (AEST).

weaved | swarm

Here’s a video of new duo project with Sam Gill, improvising at Dangrove in Sydney earlier this year. Filmed and recorded by Phoenix Central Park. We are recording a duo album later this month which I’m really looking forward to.

BIFEM performances with The Music Box Project

On September 6 and 7, The Music Box Project performed two concerts at BIFEM (Bendigo International Festival of Exploratory Music). We opened the festival with a ‘Cushion Concert’ for children which turned out to be one of the funnest (and funniest) performances I’ve been a part of. The following night we performed new works (and one piece from 1974) to a hyper-engaged and supportive crowd. We played works by Moya Henderson, Elizabeth Jigalin, Jasmin Leung, Jaslyn Robertson and a premiere of my theatrical psychodrama, Jouska (see pic below from the second movement, ‘catharsis’). Thank you to the wonderfully willing and bizarre family of music-boxers, BIFEM and all the brave folks who faced the music, and horrendous weather. Video footage to follow.

Picture by Jason Tavener

Picture by Jason Tavener

New album - AMEN

I’m super excited to be releasing a new album, AMEN, through Earshift Music on August 2nd. It was recorded in NYC with Marc Hannaford on piano/electronics and Satoshi Takeishi on drums/percussion. We will be performing these works live in Melbourne on the 14th at the Brunswick Green and in Sydney on the 15th at Foundry616 . Filmmaker Andrew Kaineder created some incredible visuals for one of the tracks which you can check out below.

Album launch performances:

August 14, Melbourne - Franklin, Amen - Album Launch (Melbourne)

August 15, Sydney - Franklin, Amen - Album Launch (Sydney)


The String Quartet Project

Recently, I was selected as one of six composers from around the country to take part in the Flinders Quartet Composers Development Program, with mentorship from composer Stuart Greenbaum. We spent the week work-shopping our pieces, recording them at 3MBS Studio, as well as a live concert performance at the Docklands in Melbourne. I’m very grateful to Zoe, Helen, Nick, Thibaut and Stuart for the opportunity, their insights, experience and willingness to experiment!

My piece is called The String Quartet Project and currently consists of two movements which I will continually add to. If you’re interested in seeing the score, please reach out.

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PROGRAM NOTES

The String Quartet Project is the beginning of a journey that will never be entirely completed. I will continue to add new movements to the piece ad infinitum, or more crudely, until I die. This suite of music will grow and grow, each movement informing the next, a link in the chain. The compositional approach of subsequent movements will be informed by the ensembles who perform it, each string quartet leaving their mark on the work as a whole.


I - The Slow Unfolding of the Self

These are the first marks made for the work. I wanted each note to have gravitas, hence the slow, austere mood. It is almost without pulse and utilises frequent dove-tailing. Harmonically, I've been inspired by the work of the American composer Elliott Carter.

II - Foreign Gravity

The second movement oscillates between soloist and the ensemble in a call and response-like fashion. Instructions to play freely, steady and aggressively are given. It consists of hocket-like sections, all-interval tetrachords and an absence of extended techniques.

post USA thoughts

In January I had the immense privilege to spend just under three weeks in San Francisco where I would travel to Stanford University several times a week to take composition lessons with Mark Applebaum, attend seminars and workshops (Joshua Redman, Cassandra Miller and others) as well as meeting a bunch of the faculty and post-graduate composers. The lessons consisted of lots of talking, sharing and the exploration of ideas. I felt as though Mark was stretching my mind in ways that I didn’t know were possible, with the focus being the creation of a new work to be premiered by The Music Box Project in September. There was such an open, inquisitive and inspiring vibe surrounding everyone I met there, not to mention the quality of work being produced. Wow.

Following this, I spent the next five weeks in New York composing material for an album which was recorded with Marc Hannaford and Satoshi Takeishi at Bunker Studios in Brooklyn. I would spend a few hours a week with Marc talking about the compositions, picking his brain about all things music and he constantly challenged me to take the musical ideas further. ‘Nothing bad ever came from composing too much’. 

We had several gigs booked and only had time for two rehearsals with Satoshi, who is an absolute veteran drummer/percussionist/composer. It turned out that the material was quite difficult and so Satoshi and I managed to fit in an extra bass and drum rehearsal before the gigs. Fortunately, the gigs were a great preparation for hitting the studio a couple days later. We spent a day and a half in the studio and I’m really happy with the what the group achieved in such a small amount of time. It’s getting mixed in April by long term collaborator and friend, Magnus Lindberg in his Stockholm studio.

Marc and Satoshi will be touring Australia in August with Marc’s trio we are looking to launch the new album during that period. I’m really looking forward to sharing and performing it live.

A big thank you to my old friend, artist and filmmaker Osvaldo Budet for taking these photos, and to the Australia Council for the Arts and CreateNSW for making it possible.