K A T Y A B B O T T

Katy Abbott (b. 1971) is a widely performed and published composer whose work has been performed in both Australia and overseas by various leading ensembles, including Halcyon, The Song Company, Syzygy Ensemble, Craig Hultgren (US), Collision Theory and several major symphony orchestras. Her music has also featured at popular Australian International Festivals and the International Alliance of Women in Music (IAWM) conference in Beijing as well as performances in Europe, China, USA, Canada and New Zealand.

Abbott creates music that can be described as contemporary classical, drawing from diverse influences. She has a talent for highlighting the musical and poignant moments in daily human life that might otherwise seem mundane. Her latest compositions have also been exploring the concept of home and a sense of place (The Empty Quarter (2008), This Is My Home (2009)).

Her impressive body of work includes orchestra, chamber and vocal pieces. Highlights include the symphony Souls of Fire (2004), released in 2008 as a recording by the Kiev Philharmonic Orchestra, and The Peasant Prince for narrator and orchestra for the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra which premiered with great success in May 2009. Significant recent compositions include song-cycle No Ordinary Traveler for Halcyon (2006) and MultiSonics (2010) for Australian bassoonist, Mark Gaydon.

Abbott studied composition with Brenton Broadstock and Linda Kouvaras at the University of Melbourne, completed her Masters in 2002 and her PhD in 2007. Her PhD thesis is a guide for composers in writing for the voice, in which subject Abbott has a particular interest.

Abbott has won several awards and most recently was a finalist in the Ian Potter Composing Commissions (Emerging) 2009. She has spent time as Composer-in-Residence with Orchestras Australia, SYO and University of Tasmania amongst others. Her music is published by ReedMusic, Promethean Editions (NZ), The Australian Music Centre and Morton Music.

Recent pieces include Music for Demons, a companion piece for Making Angels for Syzygy Ensemble and MultiSonics; a piece for solo bassoon. Sunburnt Aftertones: The Chamber Music of Katy Abbott is released on Move Records with a second CD, this time of vocal and choral music, in its planning stages.

2011 will an exciting year. Abbott is travelling to Banff Centre for the Arts to sketch out a concerto for bassoon and orchestra, writing a new work for Sydney soprano Dr. Rowena Cowley as part of the SCM/Ars Musica Australis 101 Project.

Katy Abbott lives in Melbourne with her husband and three sons, and holds an artist space at beautiful Abbotsford Convent. As well as freelance composition, she teaches post-graduate composition as an Honorary Fellow at University of Melbourne.

© Rebecca Christensen. 2010