Education

Writing

Frockification - or how Frock came to commission a work from Elena Kats-Chernin

Resonate Magazine, 8 november 2016

Frock is a tune-based, improvisational ensemble that grew out of the Victorian College of the Arts, under Brian Brown's watch, in the mid-1990s. Consisting of vibraphone, piano accordion/piano, electric guitar, bass and drums, the band has performed their own music at festivals and clubs throughout Europe, Asia and Australia since 1997. Read more

cool music for large ensembles

Resonate Magazine, 7 december 2014

Q: What is the difference between a fortissimo marking under a C4 played by a flute in Sibelius and a professional flautist?
A: About 5 dynamic markings.

Music students have become accustomed to hearing their ideas fed back to them by virtual instruments in notation software, complete with approximations of changes in articulation, mutes and bowing. While this can be an empowering learning tool, virtual instruments are in many cases quite different from their living, breathing, acoustic counterpart. Read more

insight: Jerusalem - the year that was

Resonate Magazine, 5 September 2013

Jerusalem: The Year That Was is a 50-minute suite for live performer (guitar, percussion and voice), pre-recorded string quartet and samples. It is also the last piece of music written for my PhD folio, and my personal response to a year spent living in Jerusalem (2009/10). The suite was performed in its entirety for the first time at the Limmud Conference in London, December 2012. Read more

ASQ National Composer Forum: Composer Blog - Adam Starr

Resonate Magazine, 29 july 2010

I had two pieces to choose from when initially deciding what to submit for the ASQ National Composer's Forum. One was a bright, accessible thing, well-suited to being used for an encore (the application material mentioned that this was a desirable quality), and the other was a maudlin, morose thing, perhaps best suited to scoring some kind of dark and horrible documentary, for instance one that shows the fatal effects of the recent oil spillage on marine life. Read more

ASQ National Composers' Forum: composer blog - Adam Starr, part 2

Resonate Magazine, 8 september 2010

From the moment I heard the Australian String Quartet's first run-through of my piece Agether, several things became immediately clear. Firstly, this is a wonderful ensemble, thoroughly worthy of their name and reputation. Secondly, they were extremely professional in the preparation they had done for all pieces. Read more

A Life of Luxury, Extravagance and Sudoku Puzzles

Resonate Magazine, 6 december 2007

With Symphony Australia’s 2007 Composer Development Program starting last week, resonate caught up with Adam Starr, one of this year’s participants, to find out why he applied for the program and what experience he’s had with writing orchestral music in the past. Read more

PhD Dissertation

“Issues of Indeterminacy, metric modulation and ‘interference’ in an individual compositional practice.” Read more

Teaching

Dr Adam Starr has taught in the Bachelor of Music Degree at Melbourne Polytechnic since 2012, lecturing in Composition, Composition for Media, Music Technology in Composition, Arranging, Performance, Career Strategies in the Music Industry, Ensemble and Guitar.

He teaches guitar and composition privately.