Australian Art Song Resource: Our First Paper is Out
We are thrilled to announce that the first paper on the Australian Art Song Resource (AASR) is now published in Australian Voice. We sing and we write — and as singers and performers who have always explored the composer behind the song, this project has grown from our shared experience and enthusiasm.
Work on the AASR began in 2021, sparked by the encouragement of teachers keen to find more Australian repertoire for their students. Over the past few years, we have surveyed teachers, analysed data, and researched more than 70 songs. This paper is the first major public insight into that work and includes the full list of surveyed songs. It is, in every sense, just the tip of the iceberg.
It is wonderful to see this research in print, particularly after presenting at previous ANATS (Australian National Association of Teachers of Singing) conferences in Adelaide and Melbourne. The paper has well and truly whetted our appetite for more writing, and we hope it is the first of many offerings on this crucial topic.
There is much more to come. Plans are underway for recordings of some of the lesser-known repertoire, featuring Nicole Thomson, Jenny Duck-Chong and Jo Allan via Flametree. We have just launched the AASR website, including a fully searchable database, and look forward to announcing further developments very soon.
A warm thank you to everyone who responded to our surveys or contributed in other ways — this project is very much a collaborative effort, and your support means everything. To stay up to date with our work, feel free to send us a message or drop us an email (flametreetrio@gmail.com) to join the mailing list and receive news directly.