Jacob Lawler

While at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, I studied the one-keyed (Baroque) flute, as well as the six-keyed (Classical) flute—covering mainly 18th century repertory. This singular century may not sound like much, but in fact it is one of the most important if not the most—as it saw the full development of many musical forms like instrumental music and the operatic tradition all the while instruments, tastes and even history itself is changing around it. In my final year of my Bachelor of Music (Performance) I completed the additional Honours degree exploring the performance practice of ‘historical performance’. My thesis specifically delved into the nature of opera production performing ‘historical’ works and how companies should adapt contexts to social and literal contexts to ensure the relatability of the content (art/music) of the time (17th & 18th cent.). Outlining how oftentimes as performers, we are not changing with the times. Hence even in a historical performance setting you can always be adding contemporary flavours that make the art form more accessible. Continuing on from my thesis, I have come to believe the understanding that access to music outside of the western-classical music canon is of the utmost importance, as it creates (and hopefully curates) the idea that there is so much more music in the world than what is regularly performed on the mainstage. There are so many composers and styles, even in the historical performance sphere, that are yet to be discovered. I attempted to encapsulate that with programmatic material throughout my degree. This ranged from lesser known sonatas of Sammartini and Carl Phillip Emannuel Bach to lesser known styles like the folk music of Francesco Geminiani and John Gunn.