EDUCATION AND TRAINING
PhD (Music Composition) Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney (2008). Thesis titled: Compositions Exploring Microtonal Structures and Interference Beats
Bachelor of Music Degree in Composition, (First Class Honours) - Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Honours thesis titled: Harry Partch’s Just Intonation.
Private study of electro-acoustic composition with Professor Denis Smalley at City University in London in 2005 for two months (Big Brother Scholarship).
Private Study of the microtonal tuning systems of Ervin Wilson with Kraig Grady, 2009.
.Voice science study as part of the N.E.O Voice Festival 2020 & 2021 (on Zoom)
8-week ‘Microtonality Crash Course’ with Canadian tuning specialist Jacob Adler 2021 (on Zoom).
AWARDS
2021 - APRA AMCOS Art Music Awards - Finalist for ‘Oracle Chamber’ in the Electroacoustic/Sound Art Work of the Year Category & Finalist for ‘Singing in Tune with Nature’ in the Choral Work of the Year Category &
2020 - APRA AMCOS Art Music Awards - Finalist for ‘Coronal Mass’ in the Electroacoustic/Sound Art Work of the Year Category.
2019 - Apra Professional Development Award, Art Music
2013 - Australia Council for the Arts, Creative Australia Fellowship.
COMPOSITION LECTURING & TUTORING
2023 - Keynote Speaker, Science and Music Symposium, University of Newcastle.
2023 - Tutor, Composing with Sound (UTS)
2023 - Unit Coordinator, Composition Workshop (Sydney University) and Computer Music Fundamentals (Sydney Conservatorium).
2022 Sessional teaching at University of Technology, Sydney. Max/MSP class teaching and Capstone project supervision.
2017 - 2022 Sessional composition tutor at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
2017 - 2023 Lecturer and course designer of MUSC2614 composition workshop subject at Sydney University.
2021 Sessional lecturer (online) University of New England (UNE, Armidale).
2018 - Mentor for Ensemble Offspring’s ‘Hatched Academy’ in Sydney.
PERFORMANCES OF COMPOSITIONS
2024 - 93% Human, Live vocal performance by Ensemble Sequenza 9.3 for the opening of the Exhibition: The Next Renaissance – Le Gôut de L’Invisble Goethe Institute, Paris.
2024 Improvisations in 7-Limit Tuning, Lumatone MIDI keyboard, flute and French horn. Performed at Sydney Microfest.
2024 Improvisations on Ancient Greek Scales, Lumatone MIDI keyboard, flute and viola. Performed as part of the CUT PASTE PLAY Festival of exploratory music at Church Street Studios, Camperdown, Sydney.
2023 Inside the Colour Spectrum, 8 wine glasses and electronics, Performed in four concerts in Lisbon, Portugal by percussionist Nuno Aroso.
2023 Voyager 1. Collaboration with Micheala Gleave and Warren Armstrong. SSAATTBB Choral work sonifies the stars as they rose and set over Cape Canaveral for the duration of time it took the Voyager 1 Space Probe to leave Earth. Sydney Observatory with Sydney Conservatorium of Music singers.
2022 Cosmic Time. Collaboration with Micheala Gleave (artist) and Louise Devenish (percussionist). Sydney Contemporary Art Fair, Carriageworks. Boom! International Percussion Festival, Seymour Centre, Sydney.
2022 Colour Chord Chart: Wine glasses, trombone and sine tones. Microfest 2022, Kogarah Arts Hall, Sydney.
2022 Wine Glass Solo with Sine Tones: Biennale of Sydney, Water Lesson. Talk on tuning wine glasses with natural dyes followed by a solo and group performance.
2021 - Vibration Meditation for Bass Recorder and fixed electronic music part. Commissioned and premiered by Alicia Crossley at the Sydney Opera House and Melbourne Recital Hall.
2021 - Passion Choral: SATB choral work in just intonation tuning. Performed online virtually by the N.E.O. Voice Festival Artists,
2021 - Cosmic Time: Percussion Quartet. Collaboration with artist Micheala Gleave and percussionist Louise Devenish. Premiered at the Tarrawarra Art Gallery, Melbourne.
2020 - Oracle Chamber : for bass flute, baritone saxophone and sine tones. Premiered at Phoenix Central in Sydney (live stream) by James and Lamorna Nightingale.
2020 - Vibraphone Theory 1 : for vibraphone and sine tones. Performed by Louise Devenish at Monash University.
2020 - Singing in Tune with Nature: SATB choir. Online You Tube premiere as a virtual choral piece performed by participants in the N.E.O. Voice Science festival.
2020 - ISO Colour Mixing: One hour livestream improv playing wine glasses that triggered microtonal electronic music and coloured light.
2019 - Barcelona Bells : Solo for carillon and sine tones. Premiered in July by Grace Chan in Barcelona at the Palau de la Generalitat carillon in the Gothic Quarter.
2019 - A Galaxy of Suns : Live sonification of start data for choir. Performed by the Oriana Choir at Bankfooot House in the Glass House Mountains as part of the HORIZON FESTIVAL
2018 - Orbital Resonances: Instrumental composition for flute, clarinet, piano, aluphone and performer triggered electronic music part. Commissioned and premiered by Ensemble Offspring at Glebe Town Hall as part of their ‘Hatched Academy’ concert.
2018 - Bowing Rainbows : Live performance for bowed electronic wine glasses, amplified violin, piano strings and coloured light. Backstage Music series curated by Lamorna Nightingale at Woodburn Collectives, Redfern, Sydney, NSW.
2018 - Loom Patterns: Solo for organetto and sine tones. Performed by Bree Van Reyk. Commissioned by and presented at the Art Gallery of NSW in the 'Music in This Stillness' concert as part of the 'Art After Hours' program, in association with the 'Lady and the Unicorn' tapestries on exhibit.
2017 - A Galaxy of Suns : live choir, electronic music, cello and coloured lighting. MELBOUNE FESTIVAL, Ian Potter Museum, Melbourne.
2016 - Vibraphone Theories : New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival (NYCEMF). Peformed by Travis Garrison.
2016 - A Galaxy of Suns : Live sonification of start data for choir. Performed by Gurt Lush choir in Bristol as part of the BRISTOL BIENNALE
2016 – A Galaxy of Suns : Live sonification of start data for choir. Performed by The Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra Chorus Choir for Dark MOFO in Hobart, Tasmania.
2016 – Air : Soprano, Harp & Flute. Commissioned and performed by Jane Sheldon for her ‘Symbioses’ concert series.
2015 – Lumina : Recorder duet with interactive coloured light. Performed by The Recorder Project, Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre, Sydney, VIVID FESTIVAL.
2013 - Node : Microtonal Flute solo using enharmonic fingerings. Commissioned and performed by Janet McKay for her PhD flute recital 'Significant Other' at the Judith Wright Centre, Queensland.
2013 – Aether : Percussion Trio for Microtonal Glass Harmonica. Performed by Amanda Cole, Bree Van Reyk (Synergy Percussion) and Joshua Hill (Synergy Percussion). Performed at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), Sydney.
2013 – Vibraphone Theories : Vibraphone and Sine Tones. Performed in New York by Sean Statser. ExhAust ensemble concert 'Sine and Syrinx' presented by Music at First, Brooklyn.
2012 – Intermetallic : performed by Synergy Percussion at the Casula Powerhouse as part of the AURORA FESTIVAL.
2011 – Hydra : Clarini duet on instruments made by Lindsay Pollack. Performed by Ensemble Offspring at the Sydney Opera House.
2010 – Polymetrica : Percussion Quartet with metric lights. Performed by Looking Glass Percussion Ensemble (John Dewhurst, Joshua Hill, Daryl Pratt and Mark Robinson) at the Australian Institute of Music.
2010 - Glisten : Electronic Music Composition Selected for inclusion for the 2010 International Computer Music Conference (ICMC).
2009 - Vibraphone Theories : Vibraphone and sequenced sine tone interference beats. Performed by Kroumata (leading European percussion ensemble) International Society of Contemporary Music (ISCM) Festival, 2009, Gothenburg, Sweden. This piece has been performed throughout Europe and recorded by Portuguese percussionist Nuno Aroso on his CD Technicolor [Aroso 001CD.SPA]
2009 - Tetrachrome : Microtonal Saxophone Quartet Performed at the Music Workshop by Nexas Quartet, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, 2009. Commissioned byNexas Quartet through the Australia Council for the Arts.
2009 - Choreosound 09: an artistic lab that focused on the process of composing contemporary dance and music and was designed to explore and develop the collaboration between choreographers and composers. Five choreographers and five composers, ten dancers and ten musicians within the field of contemporary dance and music participated. A Public Demo took place at Pustervik, Gothenburg, Sweden on October 1st. http://vimeo.com/groups/contemporarydance/videos/12480503
2009 - Sine Fields : Mixed ensembles and sequenced sine tone interference beats. Performed by the Sydney Conservatorium of Music’s ‘Modern Music Ensemble’. Conducted by Daryl Pratt.
2003 – Cirrus : Percussion trio for custom built Microtonal Glass Harmonica performed by Ensemble Offspring at the Paddington Uniting Church. (Student postgraduate composition).
EXHIBITIONS OF SOUND INSTALLATIONS AND ARTWORKS
2024 - 93% Human art/sound installation was exhibited in ISEA2024 (International Symposium on Electronic Art) in Brisbane.
2023 - Tones and Textures in Wool and Sound. Collaboration with textile artist Natalie Miller for Open Field Festival, Berry, NSW June 22-25.
2023 - Composer for Helen Pynor’s 93% Human art/sound installation installed at ZKM, Germany, March -September 2023. 8-channel surround sound choral sound track composed by Amanda Cole.
2023 - Terrella - Collaboration with Michaela Gleave and Warren Armstrong. Exhibited in “We Are Electric”, UQ Art Museum, 2023. Terrella is an Immersive sound installation that plays the Earth’s electromagnetic field in real time.Using live data from geomagnetic monitoring stations across the planet, the project sonifies the frequencies of the Earth, listening to its fluctuations and turning them into music. The work is a transdisciplinary collaboration with a composer, programmer, designer, and data technicians, involving scientific partners from Geoscience Australia, the South African Space Agency, the British Geological Society and INTERMAGNET, a global network of geomagnetic observatories.
2019 - Coronal Mass: An electrically-charged wave of sound surges through the gallery, transcribing the live patterns of the solar wind and the Aurora Australis. In collaboration with visual artist Michaela Gleave and programmer Warren Armstrong. Exhibited as part of DARK MOFO, Hobart, Long Gallery, Salamanca Arts Centre June 14-June 23.
2017 - A Galaxy of Suns: 6 speakers playing a live sonification of star data (tuned percussion samples). Linden Observatory, Blue Mountains NSW. Curated as part of the 'Altitude Now' series.
2014- Amanda worked with architect Lindsay Webb to create a site-specific sound installation in the Australia Square Building called We are Hear for the Expanded Architecture exhibition.
2010 Stereo Typed (group exhibition) at the Object Gallery Sydney. Collaboration between Amanda Cole (Sydney) and Ellen Lupton (New York). September 4 –14.
2010 – 59th Blake Art Prize, finalist with collaborative work Twitter Hymn Book, National art School Gallery, Sydney, September 3 – October 3.
2010 – Interactive Installation: Twitterphonicon by Warren Armstrong and Amanda Cole displayed in foyer of UTS for the New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME) conference.
2010 – Installation: Programmable Light Metronome exhibited in ‘Dorkbot: people doing strange things with electricity’ exhibition. Serial Space, Sydney.
2008 – Interactive Installation The Elastic Band by Amanda Cole, Jo Cuzzi and Patsy Lamana. Exhibited at Firstdraft Gallery, Sydney.
OTHER
2024 – Live electronics performed for Annie Hui-Hsin Hsieh’s piece Six Legs and an Amphibious State of Mind with Synergy Percussion, ACO Pier 2/3, Sydney.