Gunnedah and Quirindi will get a chance to hear a musical piece composed by local Keely Murphy on September 15 and 16.
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The university student wrote a work titled The Home Stretch for the Twilight Musical Dialogues regional tour, which will see flutist Sally Walker and pianist Gabriella Pusner perform concerts in both towns. Narrabri girl and Calrossy Anglican School student Zali Kiss will also perform at the Gunnedah concert.
Ms Murphy is studying composition as part of a Bachelor of Music through the University of Newcastle and said she wrote The Home Stretch in her bedroom.
“I really miss Gunnedah [and] I was just in my room, composing, thinking about home,” she said.
“A lot of my music fuses the classical and jazz genres together, so in The Home Stretch you’ll find a lot of the time I’m using jazz harmony and putting it in a classical setting in the sense.
“Flute and piano as a combination are very much used in the classical style of music.”
Ms Murphy said flutist Sally Walker was the course coordinator for professional practice in her bachelor degree and had asked her if she would like to compose a piece for the tour when she found out that Keely was from Gunnedah.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity. I’ve never had a piece of mine played in a professional concert setting before,” she said.
“I was pretty excited when I wrote it because I knew Gunnedah was going to hear my music.”
Ms Murphy said she was also looking forward to going on the tour.
“I’m there for the experience as well,” she said.
“I’ve never done something like this before. I’m not sure what to expect.”
The 19-year-old said she wound up doing composition full-time in her course because of a twist of events.
“In my first year I did violin but I broke my hand at the start of the year so I started to take on composition full-time and I’ve actually decided that I really enjoy composition so I wanted to stay with it,” she said.
“It is sort of like a mini career. It would be cool if I could go down the composing pathway but I still have my eyes very much set on music teaching.”
The Quirindi concert will be held on September 15 from 3-4pm at St Alban’s Anglican Church. For tickets, visit www.trybooking.com or phone 0423 223 603 .
In Gunnedah on September 16, a student workshop will be held from 11am-1pm at the Gunnedah Conservatorium. To book, visit www.trybooking.com/419377
A concert will follow at The Civic from 3-4pm. For tickets, visit www.trybooking.com/419365 or phone 6742 3998.
