Acknowledgement of Country

Overview

Australian vocalist Amber Evans performs Who Are You?, a poem by British artist and writer Zsuzsanna Ardó, set to music by American composer Hayes Biggs. The Menzies Australia Institute at King’s College London hosts an online world premiere of the multi-track recording of this contemporary choral work. This is followed by an online panel discussion with the writer, the vocalist and the composer who explain the back story of their collaboration and their work at distance in the UK and Australia. They also reflect on the creative process of the work and its meditation on the nature of identity and how we think and speak about it. The recording will be accessible on the Institute’s website during the Season of Culture.

Zsuzsanna Ardó, poem and visual art
Amber Evans, performance and film edit
Hayes Biggs, music
Brian Daurelle, sound edit
King’s College London, Menzies Institute, Host organisation for premier online event

About the Artists

Zsuzsanna Ardó is human by inclination, curious, creative, humorous by nature — and an award-winning visual artist and writer by profession. Published work include play, poetry, articles, books and photography. Voting member of the BAFTA Awards for several years. Creates work across boundaries of genres, mediums, languages, countries, music, image. Her art is in public and private collections, and exhibited in mainstream and alternative venues internationally. Her poetry and libretti are set to music and performed internationally. www.ardo.org

Amber Evans is an Australian vocalist, conductor and composer. She regularly performs as an early music soloist, chamber ensemble vocalist, and contemporary opera/vocal specialist. Winner of the inaugural US Dwight and Ursula Mamlok Advancement Award for the interpretation of contemporary music, she is committed to the vital artistic collaboration with composers to contribute to the musical canon of today. An exponent of the capabilities of the “extra-normal” voice, Ms. Evans has premiered over fifty specialised vocal works, engaging audiences with ever-changing insights into the paramount role of the voice in the evolution of art-making. Amber is the newly appointed inaugural lecturer for aural studies at the Young Conservatorium. https://amberevansmusic.com

Hayes Biggs holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in composition from Columbia University. Biggs has been a fellow in composition at the Composers Conference and Chamber Music Center at Wellesley, at the Tanglewood Music Center, at Yaddo, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, the Millay Colony for the Arts and at the MacDowell Colony. Among his honors are a Fromm Foundation Commission (1995), a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship (1998), and an Aaron Copland Award (2001) of 2002. Since 1992 he has been on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music. His first solo CD was released on Navona Records in October of 2018. https://hayesbiggs.com