BETTY BEATH

Betty Beath began her training as a pianist at the age of three; by the time she was seventeen, she had twice been a finalist in the ABC Vocal and Instrumental Concerto competition and was awarded a University of Queensland scholarship to the Sydney Conservatorium. She studied there with pianist and composer, Frank Hutchens, who has remained an influence in her life as a musician.

Later, she lived for some time on the beautiful, tiny island of Abau. It was from this time in Papua and later New Guinea that her enduring interest was ignited in the new sounds and rhythms of non-western culture. This interest was strengthened and extended when in she was awarded, jointly with her husband, writer/illustrator, David Cox, a South East Asian Fellowship by the Australia Council which allowed them to travel and carry out research in Indonesia.

Betty has produced much work in orchestral, chamber and instrumental music, art song and music drama. Much of her composition has been performed, broadcast and recorded internationally and much of it reflects her interest in music and cultures of the world and also in world events. Her Lament for Kosovo, originally written for a mandolin ensemble, expresses feelings of deep sadness and anger as it reflects on the suffering of all people who are involved in deadly conflict. This work in an arrangement for string orchestra has been performed widely. In 2006 it opened the program in the Peace Concert, under the patronage of UNESCO in the Konzerthaus, Vienna. Merindu Bali, commissioned by Javanese pianist Ananda Sukarlan was dedicated to the victims of the act of terrorism in Bali and has had many international performances while her orchestral tone poem Asmaradana was programmed during the Music of Australia concert held during the Trade and Cultural Mission in Jakarta, Australia Today Indonesia 94. Towards the Psalms, is a song cycle for voice and instrumental ensemble and is the setting of passages from a novel Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels, which describes tragedies of Jewish life during World War II. It was commissioned by the Brisbane Writer’s Festival 2004, and was subsequently awarded The Pacific Opera Vocal Writing Prize (2008).

Though I travel far… I do not forget, for mandolin orchestra, could be considered a companion to another composition, also for mandolin orchestra, Mikri Thalassa. These works again reflect Betty’s interest in world cultures as well as her long association with the Brisbane district of West End and its large Greek community.

Her orchestral works have been performed by the Ruse Philharmonic Orchestra, Bulgaria; the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra, Czech Republic; The Queensland Symphony Orchestra; the Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra; the Queensland Conservatorium Orchestra; the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra; the Portland Symphony Orchestra; the Rhode Island Symphony Orchestra; the All State String Orchestra, Texas; the Trinity String Ensemble, Toronto, the Frauen-Kammerorchester von Osterreich, Vienna, the Camerata of St. John’s, and others.

Her work has been recorded and released on CD or cassette by Tall Poppies, Vienna Modern Masters, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia Music Centre, JADE, Grevillea Recordings and Wirripang. Her music is published in Australia by Wirripang, The Keys Press, Allans Publishing, The Australian Music Centre, in Austria by Vienna Masterworks, and in the USA by Wolfhead Music.

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