How I got to where I am
After stumbling across the guitar at eleven (a dangerous thing to do given it's made of delicately crafted wood), Abbey began to love the instrument.
Abbey is an Aussie guitarist, composer, and teacher. Her artistic practice is people-centred: collaborating with composers to create new music, working alongside other instruments in chamber settings, writing music for and performing alongside dancers, and programming works by living composers.
She has studied guitar with Dr Jonathan Paget, Dr Melissa Fitzgerald, Dr Duncan Gardiner, Professor Allan Neave, and Matthew McAllister, and composition with Dr Ailie Roberston. She holds a Masters in Music Performance from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and a Bachelor of Music with First Class Honours from Edith Cowan University.
Abbey performs on both nylon string (classical) and electric guitars, fueled by her love of contemporary music and championing the guitar in unique chamber contexts. In 2020 Abbey undertook honours research into contemporary classical guitar works by Australian women composers, culminating in a recital of four works. Abbey has since performed selections of these works at concerts globally and in various international competitions. In 2023, Abbey was selected as Ensemble Offspring’s Hatched Associate Artist, which involved her commissioning a new work from Christine Pan (Infused with Silent Voices) and performing with them as a featured artist. This year Abbey had the immense privilege of attending the Bang on a Can Summer Festival as a performance fellow, premiering and performing contemporary works at the culminating LOUD weekend.
Her compositions draw inspiration from western art music and popular genres, incorporating live performance across multiple instruments, voice, and music technologies. She particularly specialises in composition and live performance with looping pedals. Highlights of her composing career include writing music for multiple developments of Enneagon Movement’s Ignorance Was Bliss (which was subsequently toured around Western Australia), participating in the first development of Stratified Knowing with Bethany Reece in 2020 (supported by Regional Arts Australia), and composing two chamber works for Red Note Ensemble's Noisy Nights series (flourish and flow for flute, viola, marimba; running joke for flute, bassoon, guitar).
Abbey is currently based in Glasgow, where she continues to investigate and create unusual music and find people willing to explore it with her.
Abbey is an Aussie guitarist, composer, and teacher. Her artistic practice is people-centred: collaborating with composers to create new music, working alongside other instruments in chamber settings, writing music for and performing alongside dancers, and programming works by living composers.
She has studied guitar with Dr Jonathan Paget, Dr Melissa Fitzgerald, Dr Duncan Gardiner, Professor Allan Neave, and Matthew McAllister, and composition with Dr Ailie Roberston. She holds a Masters in Music Performance from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and a Bachelor of Music with First Class Honours from Edith Cowan University.
Abbey performs on both nylon string (classical) and electric guitars, fueled by her love of contemporary music and championing the guitar in unique chamber contexts. In 2020 Abbey undertook honours research into contemporary classical guitar works by Australian women composers, culminating in a recital of four works. Abbey has since performed selections of these works at concerts globally and in various international competitions. In 2023, Abbey was selected as Ensemble Offspring’s Hatched Associate Artist, which involved her commissioning a new work from Christine Pan (Infused with Silent Voices) and performing with them as a featured artist. This year Abbey had the immense privilege of attending the Bang on a Can Summer Festival as a performance fellow, premiering and performing contemporary works at the culminating LOUD weekend.
Her compositions draw inspiration from western art music and popular genres, incorporating live performance across multiple instruments, voice, and music technologies. She particularly specialises in composition and live performance with looping pedals. Highlights of her composing career include writing music for multiple developments of Enneagon Movement’s Ignorance Was Bliss (which was subsequently toured around Western Australia), participating in the first development of Stratified Knowing with Bethany Reece in 2020 (supported by Regional Arts Australia), and composing two chamber works for Red Note Ensemble's Noisy Nights series (flourish and flow for flute, viola, marimba; running joke for flute, bassoon, guitar).
Abbey is currently based in Glasgow, where she continues to investigate and create unusual music and find people willing to explore it with her.
