Listen to Fanfare ‘Inspire’ Commissioned by SSO

I’m delighted to share with you my Sydney Symphony Orchestra fanfare Inspire, commissioned as part of the 50 Fanfares Project. Conducted during this recording session by the amazing Jessica Cottis and performed by the incredible brass of SSO.

To ‘inspire’ means to breathe in. This piece is about the glint of hope for the natural world that we witnessed in 2020. The resilient response of nature to a brief moment of human pause should inspire us. This fanfare uses breath through brass instruments to attest to and archive this moment, and so continue to inspire.

This work was made possible through the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s 50 Fanfares Project and was commissioned by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, supported by Rosemary Swift, in memory of Leon Garry OAM. 


Yamaha Artist

I recently accepted an offer of becoming a Yamaha Artist. An exciting opportunity for me to move across to Yamaha instruments. Shout out to the folks there and at Ozwinds for helping me find the right instruments. Check out my Artist page here.

Reopening of the SOH concert hall with SSO

What a big week it has been performing five concerts of Barton’s Of The Earth and Mahler 2 with Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Though I have performed at SOH a handful of times over the last decade, this was my first performance with SSO, and how fortunate to be there for the reopening of the Sydney Opera House concert hall. Read more about the renovations here, and about the concert here.

Young Mannheim Symphonists: National Winter Academy

The Australian Romantic and Classical Orchestra’s youth orchestra Young Mannheim Symphonists met last week for the 2022 National Winter Academy, held in Sydney. I had a wonderful week tutoring trumpet, and learned a lot too about other period instruments. I gave a presentation on the history of trumpet and found a wonderful video that explains the crossover from natural trumpets to valved, and how cornets first made their way in to orchestral music.

Concert Review: Fire Line Suite

An incredible review of Duo Eclettico’s recent concert ‘From the Forest’ by Julie McErlain.

Excerpt about Trewartha’s Fire Line Suite: “High single notes on the piano introduced spaced bare intervals, calm and airy in the stillness of a hot summer’s night. Against a red and gold lit background, Kenealy’s glorious radiant and incandescent tone set the warmth of the scene, with controlled non-pitched breathing effects complementing the composer’s landscape. Drive and energy developed as the piano built more urgent tremolos under a broad strong 5-time melody, as the Duo skilfully built rising and falling momentum in colourful sound waves. Agitation, fear and scampering rhythmic steps cleverly portrayed the flight of living creatures from fire and weather, as carefully spaced imitative bush cries were sorrowfully heard. More piercing high saxophone trills and downward glissandos above thunderous low clusters on the piano increased our feeling of tragedy in Heat. In a slow and gentle tonal and harmonic conclusion, clear rhythmic steps symbolised forward moving life and hope, with a fine sonic dimension added as Kenealy turned his instrument around, across and into the grand piano’s strings, producing surreal and unique echoes and resonant overtones. Magical. New tonalities, new life. A super piece, at times illustrative but musically powerful and spiritually connecting.”