MARCH 2022 UPDATE

Hi all, it’s so nice to be back making music in person on a regular basis once again!

In speaking to people in Australia and overseas it’s clear we’ve all been through a hard time in the Arts but hopefully things are starting to progress. I’ve added a “new” piece to my SA collection, a piece called Against The Odds, commissioned by the Western Australian Massed Choir Festival in 2019 for 2020. It tells the story of Modesto Varischetti, a miner trapped for 9 days in a flooded mine in Bonnievale, W.A., and how he was rescued.

At the moment this is available just in the SA and Piano voicing but I’ll be reworking it for other forces. I have some very sad news- Dinny O’Brien, the man whose lyrics I set music to for works such as Balloons, Dreamwild, Rainbows, Frederick Frog, Things I Love the Most, Big Yellow Moon and Two Unicorns, died in December after regular ill health over the last few years. I never met him, which is a great regret I have. My wife and I were going to travel to outback Australia to meet him in 2021 but COVID-19 prevented us from doing this. I did have the good fortune to meet some of his friends in Adelaide this month and to find out more about this wonderfully creative lyricist.

 Good luck for the year ahead everyone!