Alice Giles
Alice Giles draws a vast spectrum of colour and attack from the harp, from Salzedo's solo fireworks to Berio's Sequenza II and the intimate chamber worlds of Boyd, Kats-Chernin and flute-and-harp repertoire.
In solo programmes she brings clarity, beauty of tone and unabashed virtuosity to Salzedo's Ballade, Scintillation, Poetical Studies and dances, music that treats the harp as a powerful concert instrument rather than sweet backdrop. The same command serves Britten's dark-tinged Suite, Hindemith's Sonata, works written for her such as Eberhard's Especially..., and Berio's Sequenza II, which he preferred in her hands. Chamber recordings find her in long partnership with flute across Shankar, Takemitsu, Brumby and Piazzolla; plucking a cornucopia of colours through Anne Boyd's Asian-inflected scores; and on blue harp for Kats-Chernin's Chamber of Horrors, an electro-acoustic study of resonance and close intimacy. As artistic director of the Seven Harp Ensemble she shapes a rare septet sound, from Salzedo's Bolmimerie to Australian commissions built around the idea of seven.
Alice Giles is featured on the following titles
Especially... 7 Pieces for Harp
Alice Giles is unquestionably Australia’s finest harpist. First Prize at the 8th Israel International Harp Contest at twenty-one launched a solo career that has taken her around the world, with many works written expressly for her.
Credit: Liner Notes
Salzedo: Works for Solo Harp
Alice Giles is one of Australia’s finest musicians, and this disc gathers some of Salzedo’s seminal works for solo harp. Her beauty of tone and unabashed virtuosity bring clarity and vigour to the music.
Enchanted Dreams... Exotic Dances
Geoffrey Collins and Alice Giles have played together since their school days. Their partnership works at an international level, and this carefully chosen programme shows their complete accord while avoiding the clichés often tied to flute and harp.
Performing as Seven Harp Ensemble
More about Seven Harp Ensemble
Bolmimerie: SHE
SHE is the only harp septet in the world, and this is its first recording.
Alice Giles also appears on
Chamber of Horrors
Tall Poppies presents chamber music by Elena Kats-Chernin, one of Australia’s most loved composers, in works written for the musicians who play them here.
Icarus
The Icarus myth has long drawn Andrew Ford, and this disc gathers the works it inspired. The Kowmung Music Festival Players appear alongside Terra Australis, recorded at the Aspen Festival.
Crossing a Bridge of Dreams
This CD gathers some of Anne Boyd's most enduring works, mostly from the 1980s. Many pieces reflect her passion for Asian music, heard especially in the flute writing. Premiere performers return for the recording, among them John Harding on viola in My Name Is Tian.
An Australian Collection
Nineteen tracks drawn from the Tall Poppies catalogue, chosen to show the range and depth of Australian composition and performance across the label’s first decade.
