About The Offcast
In Ensemble Offspring’s brand new podcast, The Offcast: Conversations with musical mavericks, Artistic Director and percussion powerhouse Claire Edwardes chats to musical mavericks and pioneers from close to home and across the globe. Often perceived as the outcasts in the world of classical music, each guest has brought much needed change and diversity to our musical landscape. In these punchy and upbeat interviews Claire finds out what makes her guests tick, asking them about their roots, inspiration to do things differently and innovative plans for the future.
The premiere season of The Offcast features eight honest and enlightening discussions with Claire’s impressive lineup of innovative musical guests: Jane Sheldon, Julian Day, Nardi Simpson, Kyla Matsuura-Miller, Catherine Haridy, Eliza Shephard, Daniella Strasfogel and Jodie Blackshaw. Listeners get to be a fly on the wall as these revered trailblazers break down their careers and the entire art music industry.
“Ensemble Offspring’s core mission is to educate broadly and develop Australian music into the future, introducing innovative music of today to listeners of all ages, so who better to host this new podcast than Claire Edwardes, exuberant percussionist and champion of new music.” – Richard Letts, Loudmouth
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Release Schedule
Season 1 of The Offcast launches on Tuesday 3 May 2022, with 2x episodes released weekly.
Available on all podcast platforms.
Host
Claire Edwardes OAM
Internationally acclaimed percussion soloist and chamber musician, Claire Edwardes has been described by the press as a ‘sorceress of percussion’. After winning the coveted Symphony Australia Young Performers Award in 1999, she relocated to The Netherlands and was the recipient of many international awards and prizes over seven years. Claire was the 2005 MCA/Freedman Fellow and she is the only Australian to win three APRA Art Music Awards for Excellence by an Individual for her contribution to Australian Music.
Season 1 Guests
Jodie Blackshaw, S1E1
Jodie grew up in the south-east of rural Australia and formed a very personal relationship with music early in life. Today, she continues to seek creative experiences for students so they, too, may enjoy the personal relationship she discovered in her formative years. In addition to composing and presenting music education workshops, Blackshaw is passionate about fostering equality in concert programs, including schools.
On The Offcast, Blackshaw writes, “Often snubbed by music circles being a wind band composer, it was incredibly refreshing to speak in a respectful manner with Claire about the impact of wind band programs on future musicians and the DEI movement that is currently influencing repertoire selections around the world.”
Nardi Simpson, S1E2
Nardi Simpson’s early music training at the Eora Centre in Redfern saw her begin a career as a musician, songwriter and performer with vocal duo Stiff Gins. She started composing for the Ngarra-Burria: First Nations Composers program, most recently creating -barra for Sydney Festival 2021. Her 2020 debut novel Song of the Crocodile was received with great acclaim.
Jane Sheldon, S1E3
As both soprano and composer, Jane Sheldon creates and performs exploratory chamber music, and has established an international reputation for highly specialised contemporary opera and art music for voice. She has worked extensively with composers to create new works for voice. Described as “riveting” (New York Times), Jane’s compositions focus on the body in altered or transformative states.
Daniella Strasfogel, S1E4
Through her years of development as an artist, Daniella has consistently sought to deepen her understanding of her body as a vessel for interpretation, through the instrument and the voice as well as through physicality of movement and gesture. She is a founding member of the Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop Berlin and was artistic director of the ensemble from 2010-2015.
On The Offcast, Strasfogel writes, “I really enjoyed exchanging ideas about the similarities and differences between the artistic and funding worlds that Claire and I live and work in! To see how the new music hustle works over there as opposed to over here is really eye-opening.”
Julian Day, S1E5
Julian Day treats sound as a powerful socio-political agent. Since 2007 they have co-facilitated Super Critical Mass, a radically inclusive orchestra project in which temporary communities of untrained participants develop sonic actions in civic spaces, drawing on aspects of emergence and game theory.
On The Offcast, Day writes, “It’s so rare to have super rich and deep conversations about where new music sits in the contemporary context. As one of Australia’s leading new music curators and performers, Claire is the ideal person to lead and guide these kinds of chats. I’m thrilled and honoured to be one of her guests in this exciting new series.”
Eliza Shephard, S1E6
Eliza Shephard is a vibrant performer and fervent contemporary musician in Melbourne. She is a specialist on the Glissando Headjoint, and a highly sought-after chamber musician. She is a semi-finalist for the ABC Young Performers Award and a finalist of the Freedman Fellowship 2021. Eliza is passionate about amplifying the voices of female musicians and composers, as showcased through her recording project ‘March of the Women’.
Catherine Haridy, S1E7
Cath manages and has been A&R for some of Australia’s most successful artists. Prior to being CEO at the Australian Music Centre, she has actively advocated for managers and their artists as the Executive Director of the Association of Artist Managers (AAM), as well as being a former Board Member and Chairperson. She is currently a Board member of Music Victoria, and a past Board member of Support Act and the Community Broadcasting Foundation, as well as an APRA Ambassador and AMP Award Patron.
Kyla Matsuura-Miller, S1E8
Since graduating from the ANAM in 2018, violinist Kyla Matsuura-Miller has more than established her place at the table in the Australian cultural scene. Kyla is the 2021 Freedman Classical Fellowship recipient and has won awards including the Homophonic Pride Prize. She is currently collaborating with Inventi Ensemble and in Duo Piaggio with pianist Adam McMillan. Kyla currently plays on a fine violin made by Giovanni Pistucci, circa 1910-1920 which has been generously loaned by a private syndicate.
Credits
The Offcast is hosted by Claire Edwardes OAM and produced and edited by Ben Robinson for Ensemble Offspring.