Site Copyright © 2001-2005
Small Black Box
Artists
Christine McCombe
Christine initially studied composition at the University of Melbourne and the Victorian College of Arts where her composition teachers included Peter Tahourdin, Barry Connyngham and Mark Pollard. In 1997 she was awarded several scholarships and awards which enabled her to move to the UK to complete an MMus at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama where she studied with James MacMillan and a PhD in composition at the University of Edinburgh. She has recently taken up a post as lecturer at the Queensland University of Technology.
Many of Christine's compositions have been performed by leading ensembles and soloists in both Australia and the Europe. She was commissioned by The Australia Ensemble to compose a new work, Night Alchemy which was premiered in September 2001 in Sydney and recorded and broadcast by the ABC. The piece was one of two works chosen to represent Australia at the 2002 International Rostrum of Composers in Paris. Her piano trio Anregung, a commission from Musica Viva Australia, was premiered by the Vienna Piano Trio during their Australian tour in 2000 and performed again by the trio at the Vienna MusikVerein in January 2001. She has also had works performed by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, The Composers' Ensemble, the Australian Chamber Orchestra and soloists from the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Several of her compositions have been recorded and released on CDs featuring leading Australian performers including Michael Kieran Harvey, Ian Holtham, Ken Murray and Jeannie Marsh.
Christine's work is increasingly influenced by the potential offered by electroacoustic composition and collaboration with artists working in other media. A major focus in many of her works is the way in which music is experienced in time and space and this is often reflected in an active engagement with the performance space or a specific site. In general, her aim is to create music which engages the listener on many different levels and seeks to find alternative ways of experiencing music outside of a traditional concert-going setting.