Lisa Illean
Lisa Illean is a composer of acoustic and acousmatic music, based in London. Her music has been described as “exquisitely quiet shadows shaded with microtunings” (The Sydney Morning Herald) and “a compelling exercise in stillness and quietude” (The Australian). Works span pieces written for orchestra to those commissioned for new, prepared or adapted instruments, and sound works conceived for unique spaces. This has led to her working with BBC, Sydney and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras, The Philharmonia and London Philharmonic Orchestra, and presenting music around the globe, including at Festival Présences (Paris), Taiwan International Festival of Arts, BBC Proms, Unerhörte Musik (Berlin), Angelica Festival (Bologna), Extended Play (Sydney), Metropolis New Music Festival (Melbourne) and November Music (Amsterdam), in venues ranging from Elbphilharmonie (Hamburg) to Carriageworks‘ industrial bays in Sydney and London’s Café Oto.
Many compositions arise out of working with non-tempered tuning systems, playing close attention to sonority, subtly unfolding harmonic forms, auditory phenomena and perspective. In recent years she has oriented her practice as a composer towards making long-form pieces with both performed and pre-recorded material, in close development with one or two others. This process incorporates unadorned, ‘everyday’ instruments—often simply-made zithers; exploring visual analogies and tactile ways of sketching. She has made a number of pieces for voice, including for Juliet Fraser and Sarah Connolly. In 2018 she was awarded Instrumental Work of the Year at the Australian Art Music Awards.
Lisa Illean is a composer of acoustic and acousmatic music, based in London. Her music has been described as “exquisitely quiet shadows shaded with microtunings” (The Sydney Morning Herald) and “a compelling exercise in stillness and quietude” (The Australian). Works span pieces written for orchestra to those commissioned for new, prepared or adapted instruments, and sound works conceived for unique spaces. This has led to her working with BBC, Sydney and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras, The Philharmonia and London Philharmonic Orchestra, and presenting music around the globe, including at Festival Présences (Paris), Taiwan International Festival of Arts, BBC Proms, Unerhörte Musik (Berlin), Angelica Festival (Bologna), Extended Play (Sydney), Metropolis New Music Festival (Melbourne) and November Music (Amsterdam), in venues ranging from Elbphilharmonie (Hamburg) to Carriageworks‘ industrial bays in Sydney and London’s Café Oto.
Many compositions arise out of working with non-tempered tuning systems, playing close attention to sonority, subtly unfolding harmonic forms, auditory phenomena and perspective. In recent years she has oriented her practice as a composer towards making long-form pieces with both performed and pre-recorded material, in close development with one or two others. This process incorporates unadorned, ‘everyday’ instruments—often simply-made zithers; exploring visual analogies and tactile ways of sketching. She has made a number of pieces for voice, including for Juliet Fraser and Sarah Connolly. In 2018 she was awarded Instrumental Work of the Year at the Australian Art Music Awards.
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