Katy Abbott : Represented Artist
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Random Audio Sample: Autumn song : flute & piano by Katy Abbott, from the CD Eat chocolate and cry |
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Photo: Melbourne Headshot Company
Artist website: http://www.katyabbott.com
Katy Abbott (b. 1971) is a widely performed and published composer whose work has been performed both in Australia and overseas by various leading ensembles, including Halcyon, The Song Company and several major symphony orchestras. Her music has been featured at various Australian International Festivals and the International Alliance of Women in Music (IAWM) conference in Beijing as well as in Europe, China, USA, Canada and New Zealand.
Abbott creates music that can be described as contemporary classical, drawing from diverse influences. She has a talent for highlighting the musical and poignant moments in daily human life that might otherwise seem mundane. Her latest compositions have also been exploring the concept of home and a sense of place.
Her impressive body of work includes orchestra, chamber and vocal pieces. Highlights include the symphony Souls of Fire (2004), released in 2008 as a recording by the Kiev Philharmonic Orchestra, and The Peasant Prince for narrator and orchestra for the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, premiered with great success in May 2009.
Abbott has won several awards and most recently was a finalist in the Ian Potter Composing Commissions (Emerging) 2009. She has spent time as composer in residence with Orchestras Australia, SYO and University of Tasmania.
Upcoming pieces include MultiSonics; a piece for solo bassoon and a companion piece for Making Angels for Syzygy Ensemble. A CD of Abbott's chamber music is due for release at the end of 2010.
Abbott studied composition with Brenton Broadstock and Linda Kouvaras at the University of Melbourne, completed her master's degree in 2002 and her PhD in 2007. Her PhD thesis is a guide for composers in writing for the voice, in which subject Abbott has a particular interest.
Katy Abbott lives in Melbourne with her husband and three sons, and holds an artist space at the beautiful Abbotsford Convent. As well as freelance composition, she teaches postgraduate composition at University of Melbourne.
Rebecca Christensen — current to February 2010
Awards & Prizes
| Year | Award | Placing | Awarded for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Albert H Maggs Composition Award | Special Mention | |
| 2001 | Dorian le Gallienne Composition Award | Finalist |
Selected Commissions
| Work | Commission Details | |
|---|---|---|
| The peasant prince (full orchestra with narrator) (2009) | Commissioned by Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. | |
| Jumeirah Jane : concert band (2008) | Commissioned by Reed Music. | |
| Ocean cathedral : for SSA voices, string orchestra and two percussion. (2006) | Commissioned for Newcastle Grammar School Senior Choir and string orchestra, as part of a residency in 2005. | |
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Fast ride in a suave machine : for orchestra (2006) | This work was commissioned by Orchestras Australia as part of a composer attachment in 2005/06. It was supported with the assistance of the Australia Council Music Board in a new initiative titled ‘Composer_Connecting_Community’. |
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Aspects of dreaming : for SATB choir (2006) | Commissioned for Australian Voices. |
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Sing out! : SATB choir (2005) | Commissioned by Australian Society for Music Education (ASME), for the ASME National Conference, Melbourne, 2005 |
Analysis & Media
- Review: The Song Company Trans-Tasman Waves i February 2005