This week, in a break from our regular programming, we welcome three composers from the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music to a special episode of The Talent.
Back in the chair after a two-week secondment, Kyla Matsuura-Miller will be joined by 2023 Season mentor – composer and conductor Evan J Lawson as we hear from Max Kielly, Hayden Taylor, and Ben Caverson. The episode will feature works from these three including a live performance by Talent alumni – pianist Justice Karol, and discussions about being an emerging composer in contemporary Australia.
Keep reading to learn more about Max, Hayden, and Ben.
Max Kielly
Max Kielly is a Melbourne-based composer and pianist, currently studying a Bachelor of Music in composition, at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. He has studied composition with Professor Robert Constable AM and Dr Jane McKellar, also performing as a pianist with musicians such as Stephen McIntyre, and with members of Opera Australia. His style of composition has strong connections to Jazz, and it is often contemplative, reflecting things that are liminal and indefinite.
Hayden Taylor
In 2024, Hayden is completing a student composer residency at the Percy Grainger Museum (supported by IgniteLAB). Other groups that have performed his work include the Melbourne Conservatorium Saxophone Ensemble, MYRIAD (Melbourne Conservatorium Percussion Ensemble), Melbourne Youth Orchestra, and the Grainger Wind Symphony.
Hayden explores how his interests in advanced mathematics, spirituality, and history can be applied to music and enjoys dreaming, thinking, and theorising about the relationships between these fields. He seeks to create new and unique soundscapes that reflect personal emotions, working with players to create rewarding performance experiences for performer and listener alike.
Hayden’s piece “Oblation” will be performed live by pianist Justice Karol.
Ben Caverson
Ben Caverson moved from Perth to Melbourne to study Classical Composition at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music.
He got a guitar at the age of 10 after having a stroke and taught himself to play, and his love for music blossomed. Ben’s obsession with Debussy led him to teach himself piano and started studying classical composition at WAAPA, which fueled his ambition to land at MCM. He says he failed his first audition due to non-conformity, though the feedback was encouraging and he made it the second time.
Musically, Ben strives for a balance between being accessible and challenging for the listener. Some favourite composers: Claude Debussy, Felix Mendelssohn, Gustav Holst, Richard Strauss, Steve Reich, Max Richter, Leos Janacek and Australian Andrew Schultz.