The struck chime sounds in the distance. Perched on the wet wood log of a fallen eucalypt that is suspended between three granite boulders and another tree, I am hidden from view by the moss, ferns, and rise of the rock. I start the tracks—recorded… Read More
![Adult female Iris oratoria performs a bluffing threat display, rearing back with the forelegs and wings spread and mouth opened. By CaPro [CC BY-SA 3.0], from Wikimedia Commons.](https://hannahreardonsmith.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/gottesanbeterin_abwehr-e1538545795227.jpeg?w=720)
This interview first appeared on the blog of my ensemble Kupka’s Piano, ahead of our performance of five brand new works by young Australian composers in ‘ELEMENTAL’ on Friday 31 August, 2018. My fellow KP flutist Jodie Rottle chatted to me about my piece Mantis for 2… Read More
This post was originally published on my PhD blog: stay and make kin. There are definitely some salvageable insights in Peters’ Philosophy of improvisation (2009), and I will do my best to tease them out over time. I’m also aware that a lot of this will… Read More
First concert back in the subtropics was a duo performance with the incredible Nicole Carroll as part of a music technology staff showcase at the Conservatorium. It will be a semi-planned improvisation, named “Moon in Libra”. We structured it through a combination of making decisions… Read More
This is a bit out of character for a blog that is mostly talking about my own music practices, but I’m so dang excited about this that I was inspired to get a few thoughts down. Please note that in the great tradition of blogging… Read More
Kupka’s Piano‘s debut studio album is available NOW! You can purchase a digital copy from bandcamp here. Hard copies will be available at our launch event (7pm, 7th November, at The Burrow in West End) and any future Kupka concerts until they’re sold out. We are… Read More
I am a classical flutist by training. How did I go from traditional orchestral ambitions to having such an interest in the anarchic self-expression of free improvisation? (A word of warning… Despite my ambitions to keep this story fairly straightforward, this has somewhat turned into… Read More
A bit overdue … but earlier this year I had a paper published in the new Australian online journal Directions of New Music, and I thought I’d better share it here! Abstract: This paper examines the process of preparing Barrett’s codex V (2007) and codex… Read More
When I wrote my previous post on beginning the process of learning Chris Dench’s alto flute solo Gelb : Violett I had been struck by a few key things that I felt I needed to say. Now, a few days later – and the first time… Read More
Today I began learning Chris Dench’s alto flute solo Gelb : Violett from his Vier Darmstädter Aphorismen (which contains a solo for each of the four standard western classical flutes – piccolo, concert/C-flute, alto and bass). When I start out learning a solo like this one I’m… Read More
