'Swerve', commissioned by Homophonic!, is a new work for voices and strings inspired by conversations with long term Goulburn Valley Pride Shepparton volunteer Jenni George. This piece was commissioned as part of Homophonic's RESPECT project, which matches queer composers with queer elders in regional areas in order to write our missing LGBTQIA+ histories down and sing them out loud. With text by poet Leona Cohen, as well as verbatim interviews and additional text by the composer, 'Swerve' takes inspiration from Jenni's life as a driver of all manner of vehicles, and the conversations and revelations we have on the road. 'Swerve' has been featured on the ABC news - read more:  https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-05/queer-history-homophonic-outintheopen-festival-lgbtqia/101616970

This recording was taken at the second performance of 'Swerve': Geelong Rainbow Festival, 8th April 2022
Performers: The Consort of Melbourne and Homophonic!

Swerve, for vocal ensemble and string quintet (2022)

(i)dentity was commissioned by Divisi Chamber Singers as part of their inaugural Compose Queer program. Meta was one of four composers selected to work on a commissioned piece for Divisi and Sally Whitwell in 2020.

About the work: 

I’m Meta. You can call me Meta or M. You can call me she/her or they/them. You can call me Austrian or Australian. You can call me a composer, or a dramaturg, or something in between.
I’m not very often just one thing – I’m not sure many of us are. So I wrote this piece as a way of unpacking my own queer hybridity. And for me there is no better writer to choose for this than Gertrude Stein, a modernist writing in the 30s who exploded everything. For this, I have chosen a text that is another hybrid thing – somewhere in between a poem and a play.
(i)dentity explores some of my questions about rigid identities and labels, and above all, the language we use to talk about other people. On the one hand, defining identity is very important strategically for us as queer people for civil rights, and a sense of self, in a world that rendered us invisible for a long time (and still punishes a failure to conform). But on the other hand, I wanted to explore my own resistance to rigid categories that simplify the complexities of my particular queerness.
(i)dentity questions the set of assumptions we bring into any interaction, as soon as someone walks into a room. The piece acknowledges the seriousness and difficulty of (not) knowing who you are, but also, ultimately, the joy and playfulness in subverting expectations and thinking about the vast spectrum of identities that might be available to us.​​​​​​​

Further info: https://metacohen.com/iidentity

(i)dentity, for vocal ensemble and piano (2021)

'Life-shards' is a series of musical vignettes based on Andrew Bovell’s play 'When the Rain Stops Falling'. The pieces are intended as short ‘glimpses’ into places or situations, exploring distinct (yet linked) sonic worlds. Life-shards has an unmistakeable soundscape focus, with emphasis being placed, in general, upon slow movement, sonic ‘immersion’ and the development of material. 
Certain parts of the work were originally composed to accompany a performance of 'When the Rain Stops Falling'.

Life-shards is comprised of four vignettes:
1.	Relentless rain, relentless lives 
2.	Campfire at the edge of the world
3.	Serenity and Impact 
4.	Snow Atop Uluru 

2. Campfire At The Edge Of The World

'Meteora' was commissioned for the Sydney Chamber Choir's 50th Anniversary concert.
This live recording was broadcast on ABC Classic as part of the Lunchtime concert program, 6th August 2025. 

Composer: Meta Cohen
Text: Leona Cohen
Performers: Sydney Chamber Choir, cond. Sam Allchurch
Recorded at City Recital Hall, Angel Place, Sydney on 5 July 2025 by ABC Classic. Producer, Virginia Read. Sound engineer, Richard Hundy.

Meteora, for vocal ensemble (2025)

metacohen.com/delphi-songs

Soprano: Claire Burrell-McDonald
Piano: Josephine Gibson
Harp: Rowan Phemister

The first two movements of 'Delphi Songs'. Movement I uses the poem 'Maid Quiet' by W.B.Yeats and Movement II uses two prophecies spoken by the Oracle of Delphi (pre-Apolline period and 480 BC). 

Delphi Songs was premiered at the Music Workshop, Sydney Conservatorium of Music. A collection of musical and theatrical episodes, the piece came about after stumbling upon the last recorded words of the last Oracle of Delphi. 
I was struck by the self-awareness in the words - in an image of absolute decline, the Oracle clearly foresaw its own ending. In the ancient world, Plutarch called the Oracles obsolete, and today’s scientists regularly speculate whether the Pythia (priestesses) were intoxicated by gas formations in the rocks. Both ancient and modern perspectives recognise this sense of the sacred becoming mortal.
Delphi Songs is an anthology of four episodes, each exploring this through different perspectives. It uses texts from 480 BC to 2015.

I commissioned the fabulous 1nfiltratrix for the cover art - please check out their work! (1nfiltratrix.tumblr.com)

I. The Departure and II. Two Prophecies

https://metacohen.com/delphi-songs

Soprano: Claire Burrell-McDonald
Piano: Josephine Gibson
Harp: Rowan Phemister

Movement III of 'Delphi Songs'. This movement uses a gorgeous poem written specifically for the song cycle by S. J. Bryson. Set to the most modern of all the texts, it is the darkest point in the piece and makes full use of the prepared piano. 

Delphi Songs was premiered at the Music Workshop, Sydney Conservatorium of Music. A collection of musical and theatrical episodes, the piece came about after stumbling upon the last recorded words of the last Oracle of Delphi. 
I was struck by the self-awareness in the words - in an image of absolute decline, the Oracle clearly foresaw its own ending. In the ancient world, Plutarch called the Oracles obsolete, and today’s scientists regularly speculate whether the Pythia (priestesses) were intoxicated by gas formations in the rocks. Both ancient and modern perspectives recognise this sense of the sacred becoming mortal.
Delphi Songs is an anthology of four episodes, each exploring this through different perspectives. It uses texts from 480 BC to 2015.

I commissioned the fabulous 1nfiltratrix for the cover art - please check out their work! (1nfiltratrix.tumblr.com)

III. Holy Places Falling

https://metacohen.com/delphi-songs

Delphi Songs was premiered at the Music Workshop, Sydney Conservatorium of Music. A collection of musical and theatrical episodes, the piece came about after stumbling upon the last recorded words of the last Oracle of Delphi. 
I was struck by the self-awareness in the words - in an image of absolute decline, the Oracle clearly foresaw its own ending. In the ancient world, Plutarch called the Oracles obsolete, and today’s scientists regularly speculate whether the Pythia (priestesses) were intoxicated by gas formations in the rocks. Both ancient and modern perspectives recognise this sense of the sacred becoming mortal.
Delphi Songs is an anthology of four episodes, each exploring this through different perspectives. It uses texts from 480 BC to 2015.

I commissioned the fabulous 1nfiltratrix for the cover art - please check out their work! (1nfiltratrix.tumblr.com)

IV. It is Finished

https://metacohen.com/the-sunless-sea

'The Sunless Sea' was commissioned by the Sydney Children's Choir in 2013 as part of the Composer-in-Residence Program. It was premiered at the Powerhouse Museum. 
--
COMPOSER / Meta Cohen
TEXT / Samuel Taylor Coleridge
PERFORMERS (premiere) / Sydney Children's Choir cond. Lyn Williams, Sally Whitwell
PERFORMERS (recording) / Josephine Gibson, Grace Leonard, Marjorie Butcher, Adele Kozak, Eleanor Kozak, Gab Studdy, Jerome Studdy, Cecilija Rubenis, Meta Cohen
RECORDING, MIXING AND MASTERING / Julius Drakos, Jordan Leonard

The Sunless Sea, for treble choir and piano (2013)

https://metacohen.com/white

White was commissioned by Sherryl Ryan for the 2016 Culture at Work launch. Set to a text written by the commissioner, it explores the natural world and our examination of it.
Dreamscapes | Particles moving | Water falling
--
COMPOSER / Meta Cohen
TEXT / Sherryl Ryan
PERFORMER / Josephine Gibson

White, for soprano, piano and optional electronics (2016)

Just a little one for some joy in these difficult times.

Fairy music for long nights

https://metacohen.com/sim-shalom

Commissioned by Mosaic Voices, London. 

Sim Shalom was premiered by Mosaic Voices (cond. Michael Etherton) at the New West End Synagogue, London (16th February 2020). It was the first work by a non-male composer ever to be performed in an Orthodox Synagogue in the UK.

Sim Shalom will be published as part of Mosaic Voices' Blue Book Project. Supported by Arts Council England, the Blue Book Project is about developing Jewish choral repertoire and bringing it to a much wider public. Further information about this here: https://www.mosaicvoices.co.uk/blue-book-project.html

'Meta Cohen’s “Sim Shalom”, [...] sung by the male voices only, has beautiful introspective passages that were sung with great sensitivity by the singers.' (Len Power, CityNews)

COMPOSER / Meta Cohen
PERFORMERS / Mosaic Voices, London (Karl Gietzmann, Miles D'Cruz, Benjamin Till, Dickon Gough), cond. Michael Etherton (musical dir.: Michael Etherton)
Recorded at Sonica Studios, London
Mixed by Sam Featherstone

Sim Shalom, for TTBB vocal ensemble (2020)

https://metacohen.com 
Stream my new ABC Classic album here: https://snd.click/aloveisalove?pid=mEVBuHYQZggL 

(they/she)
Composer, sound designer and dramaturg, working across music, theatre and interdisciplinary art. 

I am especially passionate about bringing queer, interdisciplinary and sound-driven work to the stage, and welcome any collaborations in these areas. For collaborations, commissions and score enquiries, please contact me here: https://metacohen.com/contact

Find me at the Australian Music Centre here: https://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au/artist/cohen-meta

Popular tracks by Meta Cohen