Fiona Hill is a composer specialising in electroacoustics and immersive sound. Drawing on contemporary classical and electronic art music styles, Fiona’s work often explores the dichotomy of the natural and industrial worlds to create a “powerful emotional impact” (The Advertiser).
Based in the Blue Mountains, Fiona draws inspiration from her natural surrounds and connection to place, as well as the psychological landscapes of the subjects and artists with which she collaborates.
Fiona’s work has been recognised with numerous awards, including the Ukaria Residency (2021), an APRA AGSC Women in Screen Music mentorship with Elliott Wheeler (2019), APRA AMCOS Art Music Fund (2018), Ensemble Offspring’s Noisy Women Commission (2017) and an Australia Council grant to study electroacoustics at IRCAM (2009). Currently Fiona is teaching at Sydney Conservatorium of Music whilst undertaking a PhD with an Australian Government Research Training Program scholarship as part of the Composing Women program.
Veronique Serret is a super versatile violinist who is carving a niche for herself improvising and leading string sections with bands. She is a member of art music group Ensemble Offspring and Joanna Newsom’s touring band as multi instrumentalist and backing vocalist. Veronique has a strong classical background and has worked extensively with Sydney Dance Company, the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the Darwin Symphony Orchestra and many of Australia’s contemporary composers. Current projects include Bangarra Dance Theatre, Gurrumul Djarimirri live, performances at Woodford Folk Festival and recording an album of commissions for electric 6 string violin and electronics.
Alana Blackburn: Australian recorder player Alana Blackburn is highly regarded throughout Australia and Europe as a soloist and ensemble musician. With a passion for both early and contemporary music, Alana performs music spanning over 500 years, often finding ways to incorporate medieval, renaissance and baroque repertoire and modern composition either through juxtaposition and/or assimilation within a work or program. Using multiple instruments to discover an enhanced sound-world, Alana pushes the confines of traditional recorder playing, bringing together early historical performance practice and contemporary performance delivery through solo performances, collaborating with other artists, commissioning new works, interdisciplinary performance and electro-acoustic presentations.
In addition to early music, Alana performs experimental music, often with live electronics or soundscape, incorporating elements of improvisation. She has commissioned several Australian electroacoustic works for the recorder, particularly from female sound designers and composers. Through her performance, she understands the important role the arts have in evoking conversation about past, present and future challenges. www.alana-blackburn.com
Emma Harlock is a Western Sydney based composer and performer. She completed a Master of Research in 2020 at Western Sydney University with the supervision of Associate Professor Dr Bruce Crossman and Dr Clare Maclean, where her research focussed on exploring the cross-cultural connections between American Minimalism and French Spectralism. Her works, both scored and performative, focus on the exploration of slowly evolving timbre and textures and sit between the minimalist, spectral, and ambient genres. Her current focus is on continuing the creation of electronic-ambient works that explore political themes.
Dr Ros Bandt is an internationally acclaimed sound artist pioneering new forms of sonic art, site specific ritual performance in ancient world heritage sites , environmental acoustic sensings and soundings and creating audience interactive installations over the past 4 decades. She is an expert historical wind player and collaborates cross culturally and internationally. She is published by Wergo, New Albion, EMI, Neuma Records USA, Move Records. Her commissions include the Paris Autumn Festival, the Greek Animart, and the Studio of Akoustiche Kunst, WDR, Koln, Radio ORF Wein. In 2020 she was awarded the Richard Gill Award for distinguished services to Australian Music. www.rosbandt.com www.hearingplaces.com
Felicity Wilcox is an ARIA and AACTA-nominated Australian composer, whose output encompasses concert music, film music, songwriting and improvisation, music for theatre, installation, live events, and radio. She has composed the soundtracks for over 60 screen productions and received commissions for many leading ensembles. Her compositions are performed and broadcast in Australia and internationally. Felicity is a Senior Lecturer in Music and Sound Design at the University of Technology Sydney, and lives on unceded Darug Country in the Blue Mountains NSW, Australia. https://www.felicitywilcox.com/
Dr. Donna Hewitt is a vocalist, electronic music composer instrument designer and academic. Donna’s research has been primarily exploring mediatized performance environments and new ways of interfacing the human body and voice with electronic media. She is the inventor of the eMic, a sensor enhanced microphone stand for electronic music performance and more recently has been creating wearable electronics for controlling both sound and lighting in performance. Her work has attracted funding from the Australia Council for the Arts, most recently with all female collective Lady Electronica. Donna has held academic positions at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and Queensland, University of Technology and is currently the Head of Creative Arts and Communication and the Coordinator of the Bachelor of Music at the University of New England, Sydney Australia. In 2018 Donna performed her work as part of the VIVID Festival, and The Bondi Feast Festival and in 2018 she presented her work at the MINT (Music in New Technologies) Conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She recently performed her collaborative work #Me Too at SFGA in Tokyo and at the Convergence Festival of Technology and New Ideas in Leicester, UK.