Keen to unify her squabbling colleagues from opposite musical traditions, Beat puts a fresh spin on programming to show audiences something new: a combined Beethoven and rock festival.

Beat is given a chance to shine when she is appointed dean of Turalong Music School, but her role is not what it seems. Fine tuning this institution is like playing a cracked violin with broken strings. Shes determined to revive the schools reputation despite gender bias, staff conflict, fraud, betrayal, a famous composers ghost and a predatory university. Beat loves the wild mashes of sound: trumpets, electric guitars, flutes and saxophones which blaze all day and night - indeed the book has its own soundtrack - but shes barely able to keep the school together, let alone her home life on her beloved hobby farm. Keen to unify her squabbling colleagues from opposite musical traditions, she puts a fresh spin on programming to show audiences something new: a combined Beethoven and rock festival. Music or politics? What will be her magnum opus?  * Big Music has been awarded finalist for the Next Generation New Indie Book Awards for a debut novel.

Details

ISBN13: 9781923105287
Format: Paperback / softback
Number of Pages: 307
Edition:
Publication Date: 18 Sep 2024
Publisher: Hawkeye Publishing Pty Ltd
Publication City, Country: Australia
Dimensions (cm): 23.4(H)x15.6(L)x2(W)
Weight (gm):

Author Biography

Gillian Wills is a graduate from the Royal Academy of Music and an author and arts writer who publishes with Inreview, ABR, Australian Stage Online and Limelight, Griffith Review and The Australian. Her memoir Elvis and Me: how a world-weary musician and a broken racehorse rescued each other, Finch Pty was released in 2016 in Australia, America, Canada, the UK and NZ. Prior to relocating to Queensland from Victoria, Gillian was Dean of Music at the Victorian College of Arts.

Reviews

'A musical masterpiece by a master wordsmith - sensitive, insightful and moving.' Karin Schaupp, Internationally-acclaimed classical guitarist

'Funny and beguiling. In Big Music, Wills reveals the egos, passions and deep humanity behind the teaching of classical music. The character of Beat is a triumph.' Kristina Olsson, Author

'Pulses with experience of the music world, fired by an intriguing imagination.' Piers Lane, Classical Pianist

'Insight and intrigue behind the concert curtain. A riveting read.' Laura Boon, Editor and Author