The world premiere of a new work inspired by the flocking of birds.
Salina Fisher Photo: Hagen Hopkins
Salina Fisher is a young New Zealand composer and violinist whose work explores the musical traditions of Japan and New Zealand, with experiments in timbre and colour.
Of this new work she writes:
"In [design collective] Studio Drift’s interactive light installation 'Flylight', many delicate glass tubes light up in unpredictable swarm-like patterns. These patterns are based on the flock behaviour of birds, and are responsive to the viewer’s movement. While birds can symbolise individual freedom, in a murmuration they find safety in numbers, sensing each other’s direction and moving collectively. In 'Murmuring Light', I explore this delicate balance between the individual and the group. Through various musical parameters, the distinction between ‘individual’ and ‘group’ is heightened and blurred, in a continuous shift of light."
In May 2019, Fisher graduated from the Manhattan School of Music with a Master of Music in Composition and this work was her thesis. It won the Carl Kanter Award in Orchestral Composition.
Starling murmuration, Shell Bay, Studland Photo: Tanya Hart CC2.0
Recorded by RNZ in Auckland Town Hall, 14 November 2019
Producer: Tim Dodd; Engineer: Adrian Hollay
