The role of piano music, and the piano manufacturing industry in Australia's cultural history. This project aims to re-examine Australia's cultural heritage through a study of the history of the piano. The study will research the Australian piano manufacturing industry; the piano roll recording industry and a significant group of pianist composers.
Rediscovering Australia's Musical Achievements: Creating Critical Editions of Significant Scores. Many Australian music manuscripts languish in archives and collections unperformed, unrecorded, and little known. The project aims to create critical editions of selected manuscripts, consolidating and making available work I have already done. Scholarly editing of manuscript scores is not copy editing, but a highly skilled process requiring extensive knowledge of musical styles and an informed abil ....Rediscovering Australia's Musical Achievements: Creating Critical Editions of Significant Scores. Many Australian music manuscripts languish in archives and collections unperformed, unrecorded, and little known. The project aims to create critical editions of selected manuscripts, consolidating and making available work I have already done. Scholarly editing of manuscript scores is not copy editing, but a highly skilled process requiring extensive knowledge of musical styles and an informed ability to interpret composer's intentions. The need is urgent. Many manuscripts are in a serious state of deterioration. It is through the dissemination of our music in printed form that performers, scholars, and educators - nationally and internationally - can give it deserving attention.Read moreRead less
Sounds of Empire: Popular Politics and Music in the Nineteenth Century. This research will critically locate Australia within a global system of cultural transmission and showcase a significant innovation in methodology through an interdisciplinary approach. This will provide an opportunity to bring to light Australia's role in the transmission of popular politics and culture to a broader international audience. It will make a direct and immediate contribution to Australian studies by examining ....Sounds of Empire: Popular Politics and Music in the Nineteenth Century. This research will critically locate Australia within a global system of cultural transmission and showcase a significant innovation in methodology through an interdisciplinary approach. This will provide an opportunity to bring to light Australia's role in the transmission of popular politics and culture to a broader international audience. It will make a direct and immediate contribution to Australian studies by examining in depth the transmission, adaption and encounter of musics in the making of the nation. Many of the ideas that shape our modern democracy were brought informally in speeches and songs. A better understanding of the ways and means of their transmission brings us to a deeper appreciation of Australia's past and present.Read moreRead less
Yolngu Music: Anthropological and Indigenous Perspectives. The study of Yolngu music has involved some of Australia's most eminent anthropologists and ethnomusicologists, who have gone on to lead the development of their respective disciplines in this country. The history of this research is also very important to Yolngu people themselves, who have a deep intellectual interest in the music of their forebears and a profound desire to recover their cultural resources, which were recorded over the ....Yolngu Music: Anthropological and Indigenous Perspectives. The study of Yolngu music has involved some of Australia's most eminent anthropologists and ethnomusicologists, who have gone on to lead the development of their respective disciplines in this country. The history of this research is also very important to Yolngu people themselves, who have a deep intellectual interest in the music of their forebears and a profound desire to recover their cultural resources, which were recorded over the last 75 years. This project is a critical historical investigation of Yolngu music, from the inter-related perspectives of the musicians who produced it and the scholars who studied it.Read moreRead less
'Wizards in Oz': The impact and legacy of Colonel de Basil's Ballets Russes on Australian cultural life and artistic practice. The project heralds a nationally significant co-operation between Australian cultural and tertiary institutions to research the content, impact and legacy of Australian tours 1936-40 by the acclaimed Ballets Russes. Australians were overwhelmed by the company's high-modernist aesthetic, and inspired by the collaborative ideals celebrated in its balletic, theatrical and m ....'Wizards in Oz': The impact and legacy of Colonel de Basil's Ballets Russes on Australian cultural life and artistic practice. The project heralds a nationally significant co-operation between Australian cultural and tertiary institutions to research the content, impact and legacy of Australian tours 1936-40 by the acclaimed Ballets Russes. Australians were overwhelmed by the company's high-modernist aesthetic, and inspired by the collaborative ideals celebrated in its balletic, theatrical and musical masterpieces. Research will generate a range of scholarly publications, physical and virtual exhibitions, and select performances by the Australian Ballet. The project utilises an innovative interactive research methodology to establish a vital nexus between scholarly research, digital archival management and dissemination strategies, and artistic practice.Read moreRead less