COMPOSITIONS | vanessa

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The Imaginary Aviary

Devised by Vanessa Tomlinson (concept and lead composer)

Each performer creates their own birdsong and bird calls based on the following brief. Each performer is acknowledged as a co-composer in this work. This work was commissioned by *Bleach Festival for performances in the HOTA Gallery, August 2023. It was re-worked for performances in the bush at Easter at the Piano Mill 2024. This is an ongoing work, with more species being added all the time.

Download the score

Beacons

For Ocean, Electronics and Acoustic Instruments

By Lawrence English and Vanessa Tomlinson

Supported and premiered by Bleach Festival with support from Australia Council for the Arts. June 30th, 2022. North Burleigh Headland. For 6 or more trombones, 3 or more trumpets, 3 saxophones, 3 percussion. Read more here.

Curious Tig

For The Immersive Guitar

Curious Tig is an exploration of sonic possibilities inside the new instrument TIG, premiered as part of Curiocity Brisbane 2021. Performed by Karin Schaupp and the composer, this event was live-streamed as the finale of Curiocity, and provides insight into the acoustics and sonic potentials of this new instrument.

Watch the premiere here. Please note music starts at 11'26"

Percussion at Dusk

for solo tamtam

Percussion at Dusk is a new solo work for tamtam, presented as part of Lawrence English's Listening Etudes in the Brisbane Festival 2020. As an outdoor performance piece, the composition defined the listening space through making an invisible bubble - inside you could hear the piece, outside you could watch on an wonder what was happening. The work was performed at three Brisbane locations, each with exceptional vistas of the city. The score uses the changing colours of the sky at dusk, and the shape of the cityscape to move through the material.

Further information about the performance can be found here

Download score

Balance

For solo percussion

Balance is a glimpse into our world of co-dependence; human, animal, living, above and below the ground. From an ecological perspective each sound needs to find a way to be unique, to be heard. But things also need to be in balance - and here the performer is asked to balance to perform this work; the delicate rustle of beans with the left foot while conjuring an exquisite song from a cymbal with the hands; the scrumming of sandpaper in the feet and the infinite pitch variations of a stone tapping a metal bowl. Each act requiring physical effort, precision, balance and care.

Balance is a solo re-working of a percussion quartet Static, inspired by months of listening and living in the Australian outback. Balance also requires intense listening as the performer, alongside acceptance, independence, respect, patience and time. This piece was commissioned and composed for Rebecca Lloyd-Jones who can do impossible things. And she knows a thing or two about balance.

This work was premiered at University of California in 2020.

For information about the score, please contact the composer.

Cycles

for any number of performers playing different keyboard instruments

plus bass drum, bell, horn and shaker

premiered by Erik Griswold, Vanessa Tomlinson, Arabella Teniswood-Harvey, Michael Kieran Harvey 2019

Cycles consists of 4 independent rhythmic cycles with added punctuation from percussion - played by the keyboard players themselves.

For information about the score, please contact the composer.

Watch the premiere of this work here.

Heavy Stop

for any number of performers on any instrument

premiered by Clocked Out with Cat Hope, 2019

Heavy Stop belongs to a series of pieces that prioritise listening as the navigational tool through the composition. Starting with 5 doing words - in this case brushing, caressing, heavy stopping, interfering, and crying - the musicians build a language throughout rehearsals, and then freely explore the terrain in performance. There is no score to follow except for the sonic building blocks that the musicians have collaboratively constructed. I don't know what will happen. - V.T.

For information about the score, please contact the composer.

Watch the premiere of this work here.

The Oxbow Soundwalk

Site-specific constellation of individual compositions by other artists.

A mega composition of other compositions in the Australian bush

premiered at Easter at The Piano Mill 2019

View the videos together, turn them on and off to create your own experience.

Lucy and Bubbles

for all 16 pianos and pianists in the Piano Mill.

Premiered 2018.

Listen here

Static