Abstract

Abstract: Robert Davidson has been creating music collaboratively with artists of diverse genre backgrounds for well over a decade. He reflects on what processes are effective or otherwise, and explores how creativity takes place in ways that foster growth and genuine exchange, drawing on experiences with The Brodsky Quartet, Katie Noonan, The Kranksy Sisters, Trichotomy and his ensemble Topology.

Bio:Robert Davidson is currently a lecturer in Composition at the University of Queensland. Davidson studied composition with Terry Riley in California and New York, and completed a PhD in composition at the University of Queensland. He studied Sopanam music in Kerala, India with Kavalam Srikumar. He was a bassist in the Australian Opera, Sydney Symphony, and Queensland Symphony orchestras before working as a freelance computer programmer. Davidson formed Topology in 1996, and has established the ensemble as a key arts organisation, in residence at the Brisbane Powerhouse, and collaborating widely with leading artists including Geoffrey Rush, Terry Riley, The Brodsky Quartet, Katie Noonan and The Kransky Sisters. His compositions are regularly commissioned, performed, recorded and broadcast around the world.