A recital during a pandemic?

A lot has happened since I last had a recital! If you're reading this post, I hope you're keeping well at this time. Here in Western Australia, we've been blessed to have no community transmission of COVID19, so restrictions are slowly lifting. Consequently, my mid-year recital was able to be populated by a small audience (of fellow students and staff).

The two works I performed were clutch (2020) by Azariah Felton and Black Dogs (2008) by Iain Grandage. Both contain hints and reminiscences of popular styles...which explains the poster...

clutch was, in fact, written for me by Azariah. As this is the first time I have worked closely with a composer to create a new work, I didn't quite know what to expect! In spite of the initial uncertainty and unfamiliarity with the process, the resulting work is one I really enjoy performing. The time signatures may look daunting, but I found that this driving and contrasting work sat well musically and technically by the time I had finished learning it. 
Black Dogs is a work I have been wanting to perform for a couple of years. Not only is it fascinating compositionally, the themes that inspired it - mental health and our thought lives - are deeply personal to me. The string quartet I worked with (comprising of Robyn Blann, Adrian Biemmi, Ariel Postmus, and Anneke van der Laan) rose to the occasion - they performed brilliantly! And they've certainly helped me to grow as a musician through their input and encouragement. 

This recital was such a pleasure to perform, and I hope that the next recital is open to the public! Videos and recordings of this recital should be going online shortly...so stay tuned...