Program notes

Holly Harrison (b. 1988) is an Australian composer from western Sydney. Her work is inspired by the nonsense literature of Lewis Carroll and often shows whimsical humor by embracing juxtapositions between distant musical styles. She has held the post of composer-in-residence at the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and has been composer-in-residence for the Australian National Young Composer Project since 2023.

Her work Slipstream (2020) takes inspiration from its namesake - the current of air trailing behind a moving vehicle. The piece is divided into five shorter movements, each one a different current fighting to overtake the next. Small interludes of airy and floating song melodies break and punctuate the energy. As in many of her other works, Slipstream joyfully weaves blues, folk music, sea shanties, swing, hot jazz, and ballads together into an utterly unique world of music.

Photos by Caroline Bittencourt