I am really thrilled to be working with Michael Sollis on his Southern Skies project. Michael is commissioning short digital works that respond to and accompany the Griffyn Ensemble’s Southern Sky.
Southern Sky is a captivating suite of 17 short pieces of music that reflect the constellations seen in the southern sky. Each piece is dramatically different in style and feel. The pieces were written by Estonian composer Urmas Sisask when he visited astronomical sites and First Nation communities in Australia over 20 years ago. In 2012 it was arranged for the Griffyn Ensemble by artistic director Michael Sollis, premiered in the burnt-out ruins of Mt Stromlo Observatory, a place where Urmas visited.
I will be responding to ‘Puppis’, a piece of stark celestial beauty, with a hand-drawn animation based on my experience of sleeping under the stars in the Northern Territory in winter 2021.
Look forward to sharing the result later in the year.
