Resonate Magazine | Australian Music Centre

Rachel is a composer and violinist whose practice explores embodied connections with aqueous environments. Currently completing a PhD in composition at the University of Tasmania, her research investigates how sustained environmental engagement generates compositional knowledge, focusing on 3 years of daily cold-water swimming at Kingston Beach.

Recent commissions include "Submergence|y" (2024) for Melbourne Symphony, composed through the Cybec 21st Century Australian Composers' Program and premiered in 2025, and "Diurnality" (2024), a work for 3 violins and electroacoustic track was included in the Apologue Isle installation at Contemporary Art Tasmania and premiered at Ten Days on the Island festival (2025), alongside other original compositions. Earlier works include "Table Cape Soundwalk" (2023) and "Southern Ecophony" (2020), commissioned by Liquid Architecture/Next Wave Festival and subsequently exhibited at McClelland Gallery, Melbourne.

Rachel is co-founder of Submergency, an interdisciplinary collective with marine scientist Emily Sheppard and Trawlwoolway artist Dr Mandy Quadrio, exploring oceanic environments through collaborative arts-science practice.

Rachel's compositional methodology centres on translating sustained environmental attention into innovative notation systems. Through daily swimming practice, she has developed visual scores that map the physical sensations, temporal qualities, and acoustic properties of water immersion, creating a body of work that documents embodied ecological knowledge through sound.

About her new work, Rachel says:

"Lutruwita's coastal waters are a vital aspect of life on our island. Our identity is shaped by and dependent on the water around us. ""Emergence"" will take these waters as inspiration, inviting audiences to connect with & reflect upon the vital and precious world beneath.

Water is a throughline of my creative practice, and this work builds on my connection with ocean environments. For the past 3 years I have connected with our coastal waters through daily deep water swimming at Kingston Beach. A 5-7 minute work for 4 string instruments and electronics, ""Emergence"" explores 4 stages of water immersion: entry, submersion, suspension and emergence.

Each instrument enters gradually, beginning with solo violin and building to full quartet. Each stage creates distinct sonic territory: entry's gasping constriction, submersion's muffled pressure, suspension's weightless dilation, emergence's transformation. The quartet's palette ranges from whispered harmonics to visceral attacks, mirroring the full spectrum of cold-water immersion. An electronic track of underwater hydrophone recordings from Kingston Beach provides the acoustic environment of Lutruwita's southern waters."

"Emergence" will be premiered by by Van Diemen's Fiddles (VDF) during a regional tour of Lutruwita in May 2027. The work will be scored for VDF but also be adaptable for other instrumentations. VDF is a quartet of Lutruwita-based fiddlers combining contemporary, Baroque and klezmer styles. The instrumentation incorporates various violins using steel and gut strings, eel erhu, viola, and singing instrumentalists, overlaid with hydrophone recordings - providing the necessary diversity of sound and techniques to embody the water elements. The tour will visit St Helens, Scottsdale, Munatrik/Stanley, Franklin and Nipaluna/Hobart.

Backed by an anonymous supporter, the Composing lutruwita round of the MOMENTUM Commissions aims to address the underrepresentation of Tasmanian composers in Australian music. Composing lutruwita called for new works that responded to an aspect of life in Tasmania. In the previous round of Composing lutruwita, the commission was awarded to Julius Schwing, who created a new work entitled "Crumbles:Fluted" for guitar and trumpet. This round attracted a competitive pool of 19 entries from Tasmanian creators, many of which represented composer-performers, improvisors, and unique projects inviting use of electronic components.

The Australian Music Centre's MOMENTUM Commissions connects Australian creators with the support of private philanthropists. Recent recipients have included: Christine Pan, Aaron Wyatt, Connor D'Netto, Maria Grenfell, Reuben Lewis, and Helen Svoboda.