Composer & Education Workshops

Composition workshop presentations created by composers Nardi Simpson and Damian Barbeler for Australian Composition Day 2021.

Workshop 1: Nardi Simpson – Of Stars and Birds (2020)
Workshop 2: Damian Barbeler – Visiting Eucalyptus (2018)

by Nardi Simpson
Created for the 2021 Australian Composition Day, hosted by Santa Sabina College. This education kit explores Nardi Simpson’s piece Of Stars and Birds (2020), beginning with the traditional Yuwaalaraay story of the creation of the Southern Cross constellation, and describing Nardi’s process for composing birdsong.

by Claire Edwardes & Anna Kamaralli
The Bilby’s Bluegum Melodies kit was created by Ensemble Offspring as an introduction for young audiences to ‘living’ Australian chamber music. Activities in the kit were designed with pre-school and Stage 1 primary school students in mind, but can also be adapted for older children and music students. All the music performed in Bilby’s Bluegum Melodies is by Australian composers.

by James Humberstone
James Humberstone’s chamber work Cycles and Circles was commissioned by Ensemble Offspring for premiere on their regional Music to Infinity Tour in 2012. The education kit was co-commissioned by the Campbelltown City Council as part of the premiere. Drawing on his own studies of experimental music, James Humberstone created a new work with aleatoric elements and an associated education kit with loads of ideas for students.

By Tristan Coelho & Holly Harrison
The MLC AMD 2020 kit features listening guides and composition activities that explore the two set works by female Australian composers Nicole Murphy and Holly Harrison, igniting students’ musical imaginations. Nicole’s new duo for clarinet and percussion, ‘Dissembled’ was commissioned by MLC in partnership with Ensemble Offspring. Holly Harrison’s ‘Vibe Rant’ (also commissioned by Ensemble Offspring) is the second work in the package. Included are a Composition Toolkit, Performances, Analysis and specific compositional feedback.

by Bree van Reyk & students of Sydney Conservatorium of Music
This website resources comprises recordings, interviews, analysis and a small database of compositional activities created by music education students at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music under advisor James Humberstone focusing on the composition Light for the First Time by Bree van Reyk. This quintet was written for Ensemble Offspring and performances by the group feature heavily in this website resource.

by Philip Cooney
Dance with Nature – the chamber music of Ross Edwards is a kit by Philip Cooney which was designed for secondary and tertiary music students. Activities have been prepared for seven short works by Ross Edwards and the kit contains easy-to-use question and activity sections, musical examples, classroom arrangements of music, an interview with the composer, and a CD from the Penrith performance by Ensemble Offspring.

by Damien Ricketson and James Humberstone
An education resource for senior secondary and tertiary music students comprising listening, performing, composing and analytical activities. Part 1 focuses on the concept of open-form composition through the analysis of Same Steps by Damien Ricketson, introducing students to many new musical devices such as unconventional notation and microtones. Part 2 investigates the works of the four student finalists from the 2007 Sibelius Composer Competition.

A catalogue of compositions by First Nations Composers which have either been commissioned by Ensemble Offspring, featured in our concerts, and/or produced for our First Nations Composer Program. Inaugurated in 2017, the program aims to address the disparity in opportunities afforded to Australia’s First Nations musicians and artists with, in the words of Christopher Sainsbury, a ‘gentle correction’ to past approaches.