Hopkins, Sarah
Hopkins, Sarah
- Graham Hair
- , and Greta Mary Hair
(b Lower Hutt, New Zealand, Aug 13, 1958). Australian composer and cellist of New Zealand origin. She emigrated to Australia with her family in 1964 and she studied at the Victorian College of the Arts (graduation 1979). As a composer-performer, she often uses the cello in combination with vocal sounds, handbells and ‘whirly’ instruments (plastic tubes of various lengths and diameters which play harmonic overtones when spiralled overhead). Her cello playing often employs extended techniques in combination with the vocalization of harmonic overtones. Her ensemble music essentially consists of an extension of this composer-performer persona, often involving aspects of music, poetry, theatre, dance, film meditation, performance art, free and structured improvisation, and collective and community composition.
Works
w whirly instrument(s)
Cello Timbre, amp vc, 1976, rev. 1978 |
Seasons II, amp vc, tape delay, 1978 |
Cellovoice, vc + v, 1982 |
Greeting Whirlies, 2 tuned w, 1983 |
Sunrise/Sunset, 6 tuned w, 1983 |
Deep Whirly Duo, 2 tuned deep w, 1984 |
Interweave, 6 tuned deep w, 1984 |
Aura Swirl, tuned handbells (14 players), 1986 |
Bougainvillea Bells, tuned w (15 players), handbells, cathedral bells, 1986 |
Cello Chi, vc + v, 1986 |
Eclipse, tuned w, handbells (14 players), 1986 |
Flight of the Wild Goose, vc, 1987 |
Ring, 2 tuned w, 1987 |
Circle Bell Mantra, 16 handbells, 1989 |
Heart Songs, ens incl. vv, w, wind chimes, handbells (17 players), 1989 |
Songs of the Wind, 1 deep w, 1989 |
Soul Song, 6vv, chorus, opt. drone inst, 1989 |
Spiral Bells, 12 handbells, 1989 |
Transformation, 6 handbells, 1989 |
Celestial Song, ens incl. vv, w, wind chimes, 1990 |
Spirit of Gaia, vv, w, chime bars |
Bibliography
- J. Jenkins: ‘Sarah Hopkins’, 22 Contemporary Australian Composers (Melbourne, 1988), 75–83
- S. Fuller and N. LeFanu: Reclaiming the Muse, CMR, xi (1994)