Damien Ricketson
Damien Ricketson composes contemporary classical music of unusual timbres, microtonal colour and physical gesture. His works stretch from layered solo percussion to hybrid, open-form pieces that filter existing music through distorting lenses.
Hol-Spannen-Luiden moves across wood, skin and metal with a clear, searching structure; Time Alone for percussion and electronics shifts and shimmers through echoes and overtones. Much of the writing is gesture-led and open to performer collaboration, from invented instruments and just intonation to multimedia theatre such as The Secret Noise. An early spectral bent sits beside later corporeal scores that treat physical action on instruments as material, sometimes quoting and warping older music. He co-founded Ensemble Offspring, a Sydney group devoted to new work.
Compositions by Damien Ricketson appear on
Coil: Australian Music for Solo Percussion
Claire Edwardes had already marked the Australian contemporary music scene after the ABC Young Performer of the Year award in 1999 and the Freedman Fellowship in 2005. Back from European study and performance, she was active in new-music ensembles and building a solo career.