ABOUT
Music has been with me since the age of eight, and I’ve been on stage since the age of eleven. However, mine was not a world ofA classical music. I grew up in the world of contemporary music. A world of outrageously loud rock ‘n’ roll and even more outrageous antics, from both those on stage, and the audience!
I was fourteen before I knew classical music even existed. That was when a friend played me three pieces of music that changed my life completely. Cavatina by Stanley Myers, Asturias by Izaac Albeniz and the extraordinary Bouree in E minor by J.S. Bach. It was like a revelation, my eyes nearly fell out of my head, my whole brain and being leapt with joy. I simply had to learn how to play like that. While I continued to play rock ‘n’ roll all night, my days were spent playing the classical guitar, and learning how to read music. Eventually at 19, I was accepted into the Adelaide School of Music, a far, far cry from the 1980s rock scene!
Six months into my first year, however, the classical guitar took a back seat. Instead, I was introduced to something called, the Renaissance Lute. I had never even heard of a lute! It was so light, so beautiful, with such an extraordinary sound. I was immediately hooked. My life became all about early music and the lute. I played in duets, ensembles, with a broken consort, I accompanied singers – coloraturas and tenors – and was Concert Master for a madrigal group performing the works of John Dowland.
Unfortunately, as it often does, life got in the way of my studies, I moved to Sydney, and needed money and a regular pay cheque. So once again I dusted off the old guitar and stepped back into the world of modern music. I was performing, teaching, doing session work, recording, and producing, in all genres – pop, jazz, funk, rock, blues, Celtic, and country!
That was 15 years ago, and now finally, in my mid-fifties, I am back playing the instrument and the music that I love, that I resonate with completely – the Renaissance Lute. As it turns out, all my years in the contemporary world, did have its benefits. Learning so many different styles of music, means I now play with a contemporary mindset, with influences from rock, jazz, and the blues!
This of course goes against all the conventions of classical training. However, since the musicians and composers of the Early Music, Renaissance, and Baroque Eras, were an innovative bunch, making and breaking all the rules, I feel I’m in good company!