I've had a blast on tour with the delightful Eighth Blackbird. Many thanks to Musica Viva, the Hildegard Project, and Geoff Stearn for making it possible! From Perth beaches, Newcastle camels, Melbourne negronis, Brisbane Koalas, to hometown Sydney (+ rain). I'm a little sad I couldn't make it to Canberra or Adelaide!
Here are some words about Lobster Tales and Turtle Soup:
‘exploded off the page with a quirky energy that had the audience in raptures’
Rosalind Appleby, Writer, 21/2/2017
‘Swarms with detail, hot jazzy moments of furious fiddling, some astonishing virtuosic percussion, a cellist at the top of his game and calm, mellow tones from the flute as well as peeping piccolo, gave us a fascinating potpourri of sounds’
Neville Cohn, The West Australian, 24/2/2017
‘a work of riotous energy, eclectic rhythmic complexity and inventive instrumentation drawing on instrumental extremes of range and tone with good humour and vitality’
Peter McCallum, Sydney Morning Herald, 27/2/2017
‘Harrison’s work opens with a jazzy cacophony….The mood changes on a dime, with a sighing duet from violin and piano giving way to vigorous bass clarinet grooves and percussive flute rhythms accompanied by blue grassy pizzicato cello’
Angus McPherson, Limelight Magazine, 28/2/2017
‘Irrepressible, this was a piece of contemporary art music for god’s sake – that had a concert hall smiling throughout. Go and listen to Holly’s music! Better yet, commission her! She’s a great composer and can do public speaking well. She is a programmer’s dream! Do it, do it now!’
Ian Whitney, Composer, 3/3/2017
‘Dazzling riffs and solos are punctuated by fragments of text interjected by the musicians. The piece is driven by a powerful groove that has it’s apotheosis in an unlikely and spectacular bass clarinet and flute duo .’
Matthew Lorenzon, Partial Durations, 19/3/2017