Written for and alongside Van Angelo Rosales' short film Wabi Sabi exploring impermanence and imperfection in the everyday.

Wabi Sabi (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

This work was performed by Shurui Lang, Theresa Xiao and George Teasdell, and written about the connectivity of performance anxiety. Written for piano, mandolin and pipa, the work asks the performers to use their own pulse as a metronome for the work, and to navigate through the work with their own pulse.

pulse

Recorded by the Sydney Conservatorium of Music Orchestra.

Sonation - Recording

Performed by Freya Schack-Arnott and Reomi Mito. 

This work was heavily inspired by the harmonies and motivic development of the impressionist period. Throughout the work, I wanted there to be a conversation between the cello and piano with the musical material, merely moving without any sort of weight, seamlessly between the two. Ultimately, the work ends on a sense of familiarity, with the ending returning to the same harmonic material as the opening.

Nocturne

Performed by Jane Bishop, Jason Noble and Reomi Mito

Inspired by a singular motif heard in the first bar, this work is based on ideas surrounding palindromes as mimicked by the title itself: Do Geese See God. Written in a ternery-like structure, the work as a whole additionally acts as a palindrome itself, not simply just the main motif.

Do Geese See God

Performed by Julian Smiles 

This work was written around the concept of limited intervals- implementing three interval of a major sixth, minor second and perfect fifth. This composition was loosely inspired by impressionist composers such as Maurice Ravel in the sense that I wanted to explore how colour and atmosphere could be created on a solo instrument.

Passionfruit Seeds

Written originally for recorder quartet, provided MIDI file is for saxophone quartet. 

There was no sole composition that heavily inspired the work, but more a vivid image of an imploding mango, and what it would actually look like. The first and second sections, I imagined to be appreciating the sweetness and richness of the natural world: in this case, the mango, as well as the mystery around this particular fruit. I aim to achieve this through the trills, as well as the main motif in its truest form, being a sweet and mellifluous melody, yet coupled with slight dissonances. As the piece develops, I wanted to explore techniques such as polyrhythms and hemiolas, as I imagined for the mango to implode in this instance, and to visualise an entire room covered in mango.

Imploding Mango

Performed by Nicholas Russoniello.

The main inspiration for this work stemmed from the accumulative hours spent over Zoom and FaceTime this year, and being out of sync with another person. The main idea is lopped in the opening, and the composition continues from here, developing from this idea as almost detaching yet sinuous from the original work. Ultimately, it comes together relatively at the end, as if the "connection" has returned to the original source.

Glitch For Baritone Saxophone

Performed by Lucy Blomfield, Bahar Hakimjavadi and Michelle Stafurik

The main inspiration for this composition stemmed from a moment I experienced of believing I knew what was happening in the world. Yet, I ultimately realised that I had convinced myself of my knowledge and this was terrifying. Being an Australian-Lebanese composer, I found myself in this position during the Beirut Explosion on August 5th, 2020. With the constant political uncertainty, as well as the global pandemic, and now the aftermath of the explosion, my country of heritage has suffered immensely this year and living in Australia has placed many restrictions of what my family and I could do to help others. To many, this date would seem essentially insignificant being another day locked up in quarantine, but for myself, it changed my perception of the world- although we may be living a life that is in comfort, we must never forget the constant suffering in the world. Those that have been lost, and those that continue to live within this organised mess of the world, it is this collective experience of loss that ties humanity together. This work unpacks feeling extremely helpless, moments of anger, confusion and despair, but ultimately finding solace within this world of continual unrest- all valid emotions to be feeling during this devastating year.

5.8.20

Australian-Lebanese Composer and Performer. BMus(Composition) student

Katia Geha

Popular tracks