West Australian Landscape

The Australian guitar repertoire is heavily influenced by the natural world and a connection to place, with a substantial portion of all major guitar composers’ output drawing inspiration from the Australian landscape. Virtually all of the inspiration for that repertoire, however, comes from locations in the eastern states of the country.

Led by Dr Jonathan Fitzgerald of the UWA Conservatorium of Music, West Australian Landscapes was a commissioning project which resulted in the creation, world premiere performance, and commercial CD recording of four site-specific guitar quartets, each inspired by a location in WA. Each musical work was accompanied by a visual component (including drone footage, video, and still images) which made explicit the connection between sound and place and resulted in a unique and fully immersive concert experience. The works included innovative and unconventional performance techniques which helped to push the boundaries of both conventional music notation and the timbral possibilities of the classical guitar.

Funded by a grant from the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries, the project culminated in a sell-out CD launch concert on the Perth International Classical Guitar Festival. The performance was independently reviewed by rtrfm.com.au, which hailed the concert as “a stunning performance” which “…will no doubt put Perth on the radars of concert goers from all over the globe.” It received extensive media coverage, including feature articles in The West Australian, SeeSaw Magazine, X-Press Magazine, and radio interviews on ABC 720, 6PR, 89.7FM, 100.1 FM, and 92.1FM.

West Australian Landscapes was a “Feature Album” on ABC Classic, receiving national radio play. ABC presenter Ed Le Brocq described the album as “…absolutely gorgeous…beautiful music, superbly played, really well recorded… Huge thumbs up.” It was independently reviewed by X-Press Magazine, which hailed the disc as an “exquisite album”.