October 11th, 2023Esoteric Jessica to play the Daylesford
Boundary-flipping performer Jessica Lindsay Smith plays The Daylesford Hotel, live, next Saturday evening, October 21.
Based in regional Victoria on Dja Dja Wurrung land, Jessica (pictured above) is a local composer who creates music that crosses generic boundaries.
This talented musician’s interests traverse intricately written chamber music to largely improvised jazz, and film music to installation soundscapes. The common thread is a quest to create novel colour palettes and an intrigue for curious textures.
Last year, Jessica’s opera, supported by the Arts Council of Australia, was performed at the Brunswick Mechanics Institute and Tempo Rubato. Esoteric is an experimental opera in one act that draws together visual art, choreography, contemporary art music, and improvisation.
Currently, Jessica is participating in Ensemble Offspring’s Hatched Composer Intensive, being mentored by the ensemble and composing a piece to be premiered at The Neilson, Sydney in November. Jessica has worked with ensembles within local and international contexts to create music with a focus on vivid colours and unusual sounds.
Jessica holds a Bachelor of Music from Monash University and a Bachelor of Music (Honours) from the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music studying under Miriama Young, Mary Finsterer, and Thomas Reiner, amongst others.
Last year Jessica was mentored by Aviva Endean as part of the Australian Art Orchestra Mentorship Program. In 2018 Jessica was commissioned to write for Ensemble Goldentree as part of their International Women’s Day Concert. In 2017 she completed the Tilde New Music and Sound Art Academy under the instruction of Liza Lim and Chris Dench.
In 2016 Jessica was awarded an IgniteLab grant through the University of Melbourne to create a curated concert of works that crossed the classical and jazz streams with celebrated pianists Luke Howard and Nat Bartsch.
Later in 2016 she was commissioned by the Ian Potter Museum of Art as part of their ‘Architectonics’ concert. In the same year Jessica curated and had her work performed at ‘Composure: Chroma Collective’, a concert at Arts Centre Melbourne supported by The Channel.
Next Saturday evening’s gig is free and happens from 6pm in The Daylesford’s front bar.
