Evan Lawson

Biography

Evan Lawson (b.1989) is one of Australia’s leading emerging artists, working at the forefront of contemporary culture as composer, curator and conductor.

Hailed by Alexandra Mathew in Limelight Magazine that “his conducting was superb, rhythmic, precise, and expressive…his whole stance was like that of a dance,” Evan graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts (University of Melbourne) in 2010 with a Bachelor of Music Performance (composition) under the tutelage of Johanna Selleck. In 2015, he completed a Masters of Music Research (conducting) at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music under Benjamin Northey with the assistance of an Australian Postgraduate Award.

He has studied internationally with David Aronson (Wiener Staatsoper) and Matthias Pintscher. Evan has held the position of Artistic Director of Forest Collective since its inception in 2009 and was the composer-in-residence at Billilla Mansion in 2015.

Evan completed developing artist programs with the Malthouse Theatre under the mentorship of David Chisholm in 2014 and with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in 2011.

As a composer, Alexander O’Sullivan of Partial Durations has said “Lawson’s music is, bar to bar beautiful.” Performances of his music, both nationally and internationally include Ensemble Lux (Cite Internationale Universitaire de Paris, France), Tonkunstler Orchestra (Graenegg Festival, Austria), Cochlea Duo (SoundSCAPE New Music Festival, Italy), Edges Duo (University of Oregon, USA), Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Metropolitan Sinfonietta, Forest Collective (Melbourne Recital Centre, Metropolis New Music Festival), Victorian Youth Symphony Orchestra (highlighted in two seasons), Australian Children’s Choir, Syzygy Ensemble, VCA Symphony Orchestra and the Chamber Strings of Melbourne.

Composer website:http://www.evanjlawson.com

Featured Works

Sirens, for string quartet.

Sirens evokes the atmospheric tales of seductive Sirens luring sailors to the rocks to meet their deaths, and uses such techniques as the cellist bowing on the tailpiece to create the haunting stillness of the open ocean.

Featured in Mythical Waves (April 2018)

The Nephelai, for string orchestra and harp.

This work is based on the demi-gods of Greek mythology associated with rain, wind and storms. The work is a development from a smaller work for strings, harp and 3 soprano voices, which in turn was a development of fragments first written in 2011.

Featured in Circumnavigating Waves (July 2019).