Trumpet and Piano
Winter Persephone (2021) 3:32
This piece responds to the Greek myth about Persephone. Zeus, who ruled the Heavens, Poseidon, who ruled the Seas, and Hades who ruled the Underworld and the souls of the Dead were the Titan brothers. Zeus and Demeter’s daughter was Persephone. Hades conspired with Zeus to abduct Persephone and take her to the Underworld. Demeter was grief-stricken, and caused many years of famine on earth. This prompted Zeus and Hades to allow Persephone to return to her mother. Before she returned, Persephone was by offered a single pomegranate seed by Hades. Eating this condemned her to return to the Underworld each year in winter. The leaves and blossoms that burst forth each spring, show that Persephone is returning to the Earth to be with her mother Demeter.
Composed for Tristram Williams and Michael Kieran Harvey
Deep in Summer (2016) 2:45
What I love about the trumpet is its warm and sensuous tone, its spirited character and its way of really connecting with human emotions, especially happiness. I hope that some of these qualities made their way into Deep in Summer that was composed for Sydney trumpeter Paul Goodchild. The music is about questing and a search for love.
Trumpet Solo
Heat for Hattie (2018) 4:30
The trumpet is an arresting and extraverted instrument that has traditionally brought people together in celebrations, and in times of crisis.. As a child, I only heard it played live by Salvation Army groups that played on corner of our suburban street at Christmas. In this work, I considered the warmth of the instrument and its social contexts. I wanted to explore human relating through the trumpet’s warmth, and its and positivity as a part of Australian music. Heat for Hattie was composed for Hattie Channon, who has courageously sought to enlarge the small number of Australian solos for trumpet.