Percussionist Claire Edwardes presents a unique collection of new works for solo mallet percussion instruments (marimba and vibraphone) by female Australian composers. These works were written with intermediate percussionists in mind, and are part of Claire’s latest commissioning project Rhythms of Change (funded by the Australia Council for the Arts).

Claire says, “Righting the current gender sway towards male composers in solo percussion repertoire (especially solo Australian percussion repertoire) is integral to making broader long term change in classical music programming – especially for an instrument such as percussion which is so new!”

Claire Edwardes was described recently as ‘the wonder woman of percussion’ (Seesaw Magazine) and has built a career out of innovative collaborations, working with many of Australia and the world’s leading and emerging composers to expand the percussion repertoire. As the Australian Keychange Ambassador, Claire is a committed advocate of gender equity in classical music and this project is an extension of Ensemble Offspring’s 2017 programming of only female composers for an entire season.

“I am very grateful for your project and feel that the gender balance among composers for percussion is the most important challenge we face currently – I feel the need for greater equity more than ever right now. Thank you for your efforts Claire!” – Steve Schick, American percussionist extraordinaire