Genevieve Lacey (born 1972) is an Australian musician and recorder virtuoso, working as a performer, creator, curator and cultural leader. The practice of listening is central to her works, which are created collaboratively with artists from around the world.[1] Lacey plays handmade recorders made by Joanne Saunders and Fred Morgan. In her collection, she also has instruments by David Coomber, Monika Musch, Michael Grinter, Paul Whinray and Herbert Paetzold.
Early life and education
Born in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, the third of four children of Ann and Roderic Lacey, Genevieve and her family moved to Australia in 1980.[2][3][4] They lived in Canberra for one year where all the Lacey children learnt music from Judith Clingan.[4] In 1981 the family moved to Ballarat, Victoria, where Lacey completed school, and studied recorder with Helen Fairhall and oboe with Joanne Saunders.[5][6] She moved to Melbourne to attend the University of Melbourne from 1991 to 1994, studying English Literature and Music (recorder with Ruth Wilkinson, oboe with Stephen Robinson).[7] She then moved to Basel, Switzerland, where she undertook postgraduate studies in medieval and renaissance music at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (1995–96).[8][9] Relocating to Denmark to attend the Carl Nielsen Academy of Music, Odense (1996–98), she received a Diploma in recorder performance in the class of Dan Laurin.[7][9] She returned to Australia in 1998, and completed a doctorate at the University of Melbourne (1999-2001).[10] She has since been based in Melbourne.
Lacey's creations combine her skills as a performer, composer and curator. Her works are experienced in a wide variety of contexts and often connect people and ideas. Recent collaborators include composer Erkki Veltheim, writer Alexis Wright, musician and language activist Lou Bennett, choreographers Gideon Obarzanek and Stephanie Lake,[13] and actor Katherine Tonkin. Lacey’s recent works include Breathing Space (2023),[14] a major permanent sound installation for the National Museum of Australia, and Consort of the Moon (2023), a performance piece created with Erkki Veltheim for Rising and Brisbane Festivals. Other collaborations include multidisciplinary works Soliloquy (2018) and one infinity (2018) that both explore the powerful combination of music and movement.[15][16] In Soliloquy, 40 untrained participants share the stage with a virtuoso musician and a professional dancer to radically re-invent the conventions of a solo recital.[17][18]one infinity is a cross-cultural collaboration between musicians, dancers and choreographers from China, Australia and the United Kingdom that takes inspiration from the ancient Chinese tale of Zhi Yin.[19][15] Lacey's creations also include Pleasure Garden (2016), a kineticsound installation designed for visitors to experience while wandering through an outdoor or indoor garden, or verdant places.[20] This collaboration is a fusion of music, field recordings and technology (including motion-tracking cameras), and combines 17th century melodies of Jacob van Eyck with contemporary electro-acoustic sound art.[21][20] Her film collaborations include animated documentary film Recorder Queen (2020), directed by Sophie Raymond,[22] an autobiographical journey of Lacey's creative life that explores the feelings of being a musician.[23][24]
Works
2023: Consort of the Moon, performance piece for Rising and Brisbane Festival, Major Festivals Initiative[25]
2023: Breathing Space, permanent sound installation, National Museum of Australia [26]
2010: Namatjira, theatre work and documentary film for Big hART[33]
2010: En Masse, live music-film installation
Artistic director–curator
Lacey is artistic director for Finding Our Voice,[34] was a member of the curatorial team for Rising 2019–20,[35] is the artistic advisor to UKARIA,[36] and was the chamber music curator of A Brief History of Time for the 2019 Adelaide International Arts Festival.[37] In 2018, she was the artist in residence for the Melbourne Recital Centre,[38] and the curator and artistic director for the Whoever You Are Come Forth celebrations for the centenary of St Mary's College, University of Melbourne. Other curatorial roles include the inaugural curator for UKARIA 24 in 2016,[39][40] creator, curator and presenter for Words and Music at Wheeler Centre in 2014,[11] and curating the live music program for the Art Music Awards, APRA-Australian Music Centre, 2013–2015. She was the artistic director for Musica Viva Australia's FutureMakers from 2015 to 2019,[41][42] Four Winds Festival from 2008 until 2012,[43][44] and the Melbourne Autumn Music Festival between 1999 and 2003.[45] She has provided support and guidance to emerging artists as a creative and entrepreneurial mentor, with positions including mentoring for the Freedman Fellowship Finalists 2019-2020[46] and the Australian National Academy of Music's Fellowship program between 2014 and 2016.[12]
McKinnon, C. (2020). Adelaide Festival 60 Years. Amsterdam University Press.
Lacey, Genevieve (2021). 'Life in Music', in Creative Research in Music: Informed Practice, Innovation and Transcendence (1st ed.). Routledge.
Awards and nominations
AIR Awards
The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector.
The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse live industry, celebrating the success of the Australian live scene. The awards commenced in 2016.
The Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards commenced in 1984 and recognise outstanding achievements in dance, drama, comedy, music, opera, circus and puppetry.
Year
Nominee / work
Award
Result
2018
Genevieve Lacey
Individual Award
awarded
Other awards
John Truscott Artists Award for Consort of the Moon, Rising, 2023[73]
Green Room for best composition and sound design for one infinity, with Max de Wardener, Wang Peng, Jim Atkins, 2019[74]
Estonian Music Best Classical Recording 2018 for Tüür Illuminatio[75]
^Hoffmann, W.L. (27 May 2002), "Piracy – Baroque Music Stolen for the Recorder. Genevieve Lacey (recorder) & Linda Kent (harpsichord & chamber organ). (ABC Classics 472 226)", The Canberra Times
