With this work I am continuing to facilitate the creation of much-needed high quality new repertoire for guitar ensemble.
Three brand new works by emerging composers were chosen through a workshop process, then further developed based on feedback and finally rehearsed and premiered for public and online performance.
Two newly reimagined arrangements of existing works by Django Reinhardt were also premiered in this context.
ERA Category
- Performance of Creative Work - Music
Eligible major research output?
Research Statement
This work seeks to expand the existing (very small) body of concert repertoire for large guitar ensemble. Large guitar ensembles have traditionally consisted of school groups or amateur ensembles, and therefore the music written (or arranged) for these beginner-intermediate players in such ensembles has by necessity usually been quite simple (and often somewhat derivative).
There are now a number of high-level guitar ensembles emerging around the world, of which Riverside Ensemble (based at Griffith University) is a very strong example. In creating, curating and directing programmes for Riverside Ensemble, I am working together with composers, arrangers and performers to create a new body of guitar ensemble repertoire.
During 2022, I curated 2 major programmes for Riverside (which were then performed with variations in various contexts) and these included new arrangements/re-imaginings of works by Django Reinhardt and also, significantly, 3 new works by emerging composers. These new works were the outcome of a workshopping process in which the composers received feedback on their works, in some cases for modification and then these works were premiered by the Riverside Guitar Ensemble. “The River” by Zac Miezio and Emma Percival was premiered in concerts in Ian Hanger Recital Hall, Queensland Conservatorium and online via Australian Digital Concert Hall. “Evergreen Breeze” by Oscar Gill and “In the Shadows” by Shelby Devenish were premiered in the Conservatorium Theatre, Griffith University.Number of work performers
17