Quotes

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The Owl and the Pussycat (2018)

"Alongside the cleverly constructed script was Lisa’s beautiful score, toeing the line between opera and modern musical theatre. The music...a clever mix of diatonic, modal, and atonal soundscapes. This was a clever way to introduce to the audience members all kinds of unfamiliar sounds and scales without overwhelming or alienating them." - Alison Paris, Cut Common Magazine

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Flute Concerto (2017)

“The work weaves gracefully throughout pitch clusters, hinting only slightly at passing tonalities. It is inexplicable how Lisa has the ability to make those clusters sound familiar and pleasurable, whilst her triads sound abstract and atonal.” - Jonathan Henderson, Limelight Magazine

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When We Speak (2016)

“…Lisa Cheney brought us the voice of a woman, indeed, one of the greatest living woman composers. Cheney’s When We Speak combines live and prerecorded cello with a manipulated recording of an interview with Kaija Saariaho. While Saariaho’s voice is usually manipulated for its sonic value, moments of Saariaho’s reflections on gender politics in the music industry are clear. Cheney’s resonant electronics part is an atmosphere of unfathomable spaciousness. Clouds of voice fragments swirl around the space along with clouds of her solo cello composition Sept Papillons. In the middle of this environment the cellist Gemma Tomlinson struggles to be heard, playing strings of extended techniques with her characteristic commitment and control. At times the live cello becomes one with the prerecorded track or has a fleeting solo moment. This piece could be heard as a solo woman struggling to be heard in the male-dominated music scene, except all of the samples are of women and the piece is composed by a woman. It could also be heard as a woman engaging or even struggling with the history of women composers and the weight of Saariaho’s legacy. The piece ends with one solution, in Saariaho’s voice: “Create something personal because that’s the only thing that counts.” - Matthew Lorenzon, Partial Durations 

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No Distant Place (2015)

"Lisa Cheney’s No Distant Place elongates melodic slivers with plaintive intensity in the first movement, shifting between melancholic stillness and frenzied mourning, while the second scampers, dawdles and flits across trills, jostling interactions and outbursts."

- Eamonn Kelly, The Australian

 

 

No Distant Place (2015)

"Then came No Distant Place by Lisa Cheney, which inspired by a poem by Derek Bourne-Jones...Two movements of expressive power played superbly by Plexus left us all in awe of the composer’s ability to provide an emotive impression of ‘immeasurable eternity’ through an affecting surge of discordant emotional energy." - The Culture Concept Circle

 

 

Arcane [minature] (2014)

"The variegated sound world of recent Melbourne resident Lisa Cheney's Arcane was fantastic and frightening in its detail and colour."

- Andrew Aronowicz, Resonate Magazine

 

 

The Pool and the Star (2013)

"A short timbral introduction with bowed cymbals quickly gives way to an intensely thematic piece. Keening melodies dance in the woodwind and on the harp before some excellent, bold brass writing tells of the intensity of the pool’s desire." - Matthew Lorenzon, Partial Durations 

 

 

Turbulence (2012)

"This work borrowed from the essence of 20th Century music and remains fresh even as we take a more lyrical turn." - Canberra Jazz Blog

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Fade Not (2009)

“...the sweetest swoon, enchanting...the most unexpected, non-conformist work" - Australian Stage





Fade Not (2009)

"...an innate sense of clarity and harmony." - Canberra Times

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Lullaby (2006)   

 "Lisa Cheney's Lullaby - which won the Intermediate Vocal Composition category - displayed her considerable creative musical ability, highlighting an instinctive and emotional insight for one so young."  - Lyn Carr, Artistic Director of the Keys National Festival

 

 

Recent Media 

 

Cut Common Magazine: Behind the Conversation with Lisa Cheney 18/09/17

 

Limelight Magazine: Lisa Cheney’s new concerto: a first for flautist and composer 21/07/17

 

Cut Common Magazine: Jonathan Henderson: “I wish to keep my curiosity for music alive” 21/07/17

 

APRA AMCOS: 2017 Art Music Fund Recipients announded 27/04/17

 

The Conversation: Making Waves - The Sound of silence: why aren't Australia's female composers being heard? 31/5/16

 

Cut Common Magazine: Living the label of a 'female composer' 7/04/16

 

Rehearsal Magazine: Macedon Music Spotlight: Lisa Cheney 2016

 

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