2020 Wrap Up
IMAGES: 1. fake red carpet moment with security at my place. 2. Playing Messiaen at Guy Fleming’s home in Newcastle, NSW, in early December. 3. Advertisement for Swedish online collaborations. 4. Screen shot of Ars Electronica collaboration rehearsal. 5. Video still of Delay Taints Film. 6. Art Zoyd Arts Market Flyer. 7. UnTV flyer. 8. Flyer for (cancelled) Arts Bruits premiere of ‘Black Vulture’ 9. The New Virtuosity Manifesto. 10. Performing for Mas/MissTery.
2020 was a strange year for everyone.
Yet it saw a range of different activity for Cat. After spending the first 6 months of the year in the role of Head of School at the music school of Monash University. The rest of the year was spent with a focus on publications, academic presentations and creative projects: You can see the range of projects in 2020 listed here.
Highlights were the 20 x 2 minute pieces commissioned by Decibel, in which Cat played a variety of instruments. You can enjoy all of the 2 Minutes From Home pieces here. Three new works were composed: Low Tide, for the Low Tone Orchestra on UnTV, Nomadic Subjects for Ars Electronica, and The Rupture Exists, premiered in Sweden. A range of revisions and drafts have also been completed, and the early development of a possible work for the Melbourne Festival has began. A work of Cat’s was featured in the AudioSphere sound art retrospective in Spain. A solo bass noise video ‘Mas/MsTery’ made in conjunction with Karl Ockelford was premiered in France as part of the ArtZoyd Christmas Market.
Writing made up a large part of the 2nd half of 2020: with book chapters and academic papers being proposed, written and published. This included the co-authoring and publications of The New Virtuosity Manifesto with Louise Devenish, an article in Limelight Magazine, as well as several publications on the death of Ennio Morricone. Cat is also part of an Australia Research Council Grant into Gender Diversity in Australian Jazz and Improvisation, and an International European Research Council grant on Digital Notation.
Cats work was recognised with a Vice Chancellor’s award at the end of this year, and an APRA AMC Art Music Award in the middle.