I can play piano (and keyboard), guitar, violin, recorder, tin whistle and percussion (including drum kit) at varying levels of competence.
I have been very impressed with the performances of Jambezi, a Berlin band with a repertoire that stretches from reggae and rock to jazz.
I have sung with MUCS, PUCS, MonUCS, and was most recently with ROCS as accompanist and tenor. Two of the members of ROCS invited me to sing with Mosaic for a few months just before I left Australia in 2003. For those interested in things choral, I wrote an article for the magazines SCUM and Dischord about stereotypes in choirs.
I once heard a very interesting lecture about the mathematics of the agraffe clamp. For those of you who are not aware of its use in the Stuart piano, you may wish to go to the official site. Having heard a recording, I can attest to the fact that the sound has much more of a sustained singing quality to it, with the second and third harmonics sounding a lot more clearly. There are sound samples available at this site.
I have written a number of pieces, and have recorded some of them onto
CD. If you would like a copy of my CD,
let me know.
You can hear three of the tracks in RealAudio format
here.
Below is a list of almost all of my compositions. If you want to download multitrack MIDI files, click on the title. Sheet music is available via the link in the appropriate column.
| Title | Instrumentation | Sheet music | Date completed | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Lord is my shepherd | Mezzo-soprano, piano | Yes | May 1996 | Psalm 23 |
| He who has ears | Mezzo-soprano, piano | Yes | Nov 1996 | Easter song |
| Two as one | Mezzo-soprano, baritone, piano | Yes | Jul 1997 | Written for Kerryn and Rik who were about to be married. |
| The eternal song | Baritone, piano | No | Feb 1998 | |
| Motion | Violin, viola, 'cello, piano | Yes | Mar 1998 | About halfway through, each of the four instruments has a four-bar improvised cadenza (while the other instruments play a simple backing accompaniment) which has not been included, for obvious reasons. |
| Hanging | Baritone, piano | Yes | Apr 1998 | |
| Away | Baritone, piano | Yes | Apr 1998 | |
| Tired | Spoken voice, piano | Yes | May 1998 | Only superficially atonal. |
| Her chocolate cake | Bass, piano | Yes | May 1998 | |
| Be still | Bass, piano | Yes | Jun 1998 | |
| Her dream | Bass, piano | Yes | Jun 1998 | |
| Reason to live | Baritone, piano | No | Jul 1998 | |
| Goodbye | Bass, piano | Yes | Sep 1998 | Any bass singing this must have a very good low range. |
| Deep in my heart | Flute or clarinet, piano | Yes | Sep 1998 | Originally written for two voices and piano, this was rewritten for solo instrument and piano. |
| My friend | Bass, piano | Yes | Oct 1998 | |
| Lullaby | Mezzo-soprano, piano | Yes | Dec 1998 | |
| The tree | Double bass | No | Mar 1999 | Very slow and unchanging, this piece was inspired by one of Ricky's pictures. |
| Perpetual motion | Mezzo-soprano, contralto, bass | Yes | Mar 1999 | The atonal melody continually resurfaces in each voice part. |
| Song for Kat | Bass, piano | Yes | Jun 1999 | |
| A touch | Mezzo-soprano, piano | Yes | Jul 1999 | |
| San Diego suite: | Flute | Feb 2000 | Movements 1 and 2 were inspired by Kuumba Mbuka, playing on some steps in La Jolla, San Diego, California. | |
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| My inspiration | Bass, piano | Yes | Mar 2000 | |
| The way things were | Mezzo-soprano, jazz instruments, piano | Yes | May 2000 | Jazz piece, with lyrics by Sarah Chan. |
| Where are all the good men? | Tenor, piano
(to be rewritten for tenor voice, lead guitar, backing guitar, keyboard and drums) |
Yes | Aug 2000 | |
| The dragon | Baritone, piano | Yes | Nov 2001 | |
| Lost | Contralto, piano | No | Nov 2001 | This piece was improvised around a melody and a lyric line by Hespa. |
| Life | Baritone, piano | No | Apr 2002 | Lyrics by Dyaminda. |
| How it was | Baritone, piano | No | Sep 2002 | |
| Alone | Mixed voices | No | May 2003 | A three-part round. |
| The Emperor's palace | Piano | Yes | May 2003 | This piece was written for a Grade 3 piano student. The theme is based on the Buddhist chant "Om Mani Padme Hum", and the harmonies around fourths and fifths. |
| Green Eggs and Ham | Soprano, contralto, bass | Yes | Jun 2003 | This is written in the style of a 60's advertisement, and has some barbershop qualities. |
| The self-fulfilling question | Voice, piano | No | Dec 2003 | Another of my ironic songs, to highlight the insanity of having a crush on someone. |
| Irish blessing | SATB, a capella | No | Apr 2004 | An arrangement of a famous Irish blessing, written especially for a special ROCS concert featuring only original works by young Melbourne composers. |
| So nimm denn meine Hände | Mezzo-soprano, piano | No | Aug 2004 | This was written for Jan's wedding, with lyrics written by Ellen, based on lyrics from a German hymn of the same name. |
| Ja, ich will euch tragen | Mezzo-soprano, piano | No | Aug 2005 | This was written for the wedding of Paul and Anja. The lyrics were originally a poem by Jochen Klepper and the music was written by Ellen and me. |
| Leslie | MATB and piano | No | Aug 2005 | This ballad was written for ROCS to sing and designed specifically to have no soprano part since they had very few sopranos. |
| KBCV chant | Multiple voices and body percussion | No | Sep 2005 | Based on the name of the choir (Kleine Berliner Chorversuchung), it was written as a chant that they could use while they enter the room and arrange themselves on stage. |
| An innocent man | Solo voice plus ATB backing | No | Mar 2006 | This is a short Easter song, written originally for my church choir in Berlin. |
| Sing to the Lord | MMB plus improvised piano backing | Yes | Aug 2008 | This was written for Angelika's going away service. |
| O Gott, du bist mein Gott | M plus piano | Yes | Nov 2009 | An interpretation of Psalm 63, based on melodies heard just before falling asleep. |
| Wie lieb sind mir deine Wohnungen, Herr Zebaoth | M plus piano | Yes | Dec 2010 | A setting of Psalm 84. |
| Senseless | Four parts plus accompaniment | Yes | Apr 2011 | Written for the first ROCS concert of 2012. |
| I lift up my eyes to the mountains | Voices plus piano accordion | Yes | Apr 2011 | A setting of Psalm 121. |
Here are links to two of my previous music teachers:
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