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Connor D'Netto


Composer | Performer | Photographer | Artist

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Connor D'Netto


Composer | Performer | Photographer | Artist

Connor D'Netto is a composer of contemporary classical music, described as "the model contemporary Australian composer" by ABC Classic FM. His music draws together post-minimal, neoclassical and pop influences, combined with the delicate incorporation of electronic music elements and production technique. As a performer, Connor is one half of the cello+electronics duo WE ARE BREATHING, as well as also being a trained classical bass. Connor is a producer and concert organiser, focusing on creating immersive experiences of art music, best shown through the works of the series ARGO, of which he is the artistic director and co-founder, He is also a keen photographer, videographer and visual-artist, creating not only his own material but also for a number of other artists. Connor is a Brisbane City Council Lord Mayor’s Young and Emerging Artists Fellowship, and is a Tait Trust Scholar at the Royal College of Music, London, where he recently completed his Masters of Music,

Read my full bio here . . .

For all enquiries, commission requests, proposals for new events, collaborations and other projects . . .

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What's On


concerts + news + reviews + blogs

What's On


concerts + news + reviews + blogs

click to read the full story

Featured
Dots+Loops • Feedback
Sep 27
Newstead Brewing Co. Milton
Dots+Loops • Feedback
Newstead Brewing Co. Milton

A captivating multisensory experience, Dots+Loops: Feedback surrounds the cavernous abandoned office space above Newstead Brewing Co. Milton with old CRT television sets, immersing you in a unique retro-futuristic alternative reality.

immersive installation by Connor D’Netto

Newstead Brewing Co. Milton
Rosa Guitar Trio • Guitar Brisbane Concert Series
Sep 28
BrisWest Centre
Rosa Guitar Trio • Guitar Brisbane Concert Series
BrisWest Centre

Guitar Brisbane Concert Series presents the Rosa Guitar Trio; a dynamic chamber ensemble know for its energetic and joyful performances of diverse repertoire that spans centuries and genres.

Program includes two-tap by Connor D’Netto

BrisWest Centre
Dots+Loops Presents • Geburtstag + A Missing Moon
Oct 27
Bib'N'Brace Collective
Dots+Loops Presents • Geburtstag + A Missing Moon
Bib'N'Brace Collective

Dots+Loops presents the solo projects of Flora Wong and Kieran Welch in a double-bill feast of contemporary music for violin and viola at Bib'n'Brace Collective, an intimate creative space in Teneriffe.

Geburtstag features the premiere of Connor's second solo violin sonata
A Missing Moon features Connor’s too, the moon for viola an electronics

Bib'N'Brace Collective
 
Featured
Some post-AFCM lovin'
Some post-AFCM lovin'

Okay, so I didn’t manage to do my daily updates from Australian Festival of Chamber Music on Facebook as I had promised, but that’s mainly because I was having such an awesome time. Seriously. AMAZING.

Didn't manage to get to Townsville for the Festival? Never fear, ABC Classic recorded some of the concerts and they’re up online at the moment to listen to!

Some awesome reverse composition (ie. analysis) of Two-Tap draft 1
Some awesome reverse composition (ie. analysis) of Two-Tap draft 1

This is just some extra little fun stuff for those of you dedicated enough to actually read my blog posts…

A couple of years ago I was commissioned by Paint it Red to write a trio for three guitars for three of my best friends, Ben Ellerby, Libby Meyers and Joe Fallon, who together make up the Rosa Guitar Trio. The resulting work, Two-Tap, is probably one of my favourite pieces I’ve written, but IT’S A KILLER. It’s just so tight knit, with interwoven patterns hocketing about all over the place, shifts and metric-modulations abundant, and glittered with harmonics generously. The trio loved it, but needless to say the first draft needed a good bit of work before it was playable.

In the process of editing, Ben created THIS marvellous thing…

Photoshoot: Barbican Estate with Ray Roberts
Photoshoot: Barbican Estate with Ray Roberts

A couple of weeks back, I had the pleasure of sitting around and looking all moody for a photoshoot with Ray Roberts in the bizarre world that is the Barbican Estate, have a look . . .

Featured
IT'S RELEASE DAY • my first commercial release ever!!
IT'S RELEASE DAY • my first commercial release ever!!

Katie Noonan and the Australian String Quartet’s new album The Glad Tomorrow is OUT NOW featuring the searingly beautiful poetry of Oodgeroo Noonuccal. Check it out on the music service of your choosing, and of course, make sure you have a good listen to my track “Dawn Wail For The Dead” 

Geburtstag
Geburtstag

Flora Wong celebrates the tenth birthday of her Helge Grawert instrument by commissioning four new works for violin by Australian composers Connor D'Netto, MJ O'Neill, Chris Perren and Kezia Yap.

To find out more and make a tax-deductible donation via the Australian Cultural Fund to support the project, visit bit.ly/Geburtstag2019

The Glad Tomorrow
The Glad Tomorrow

Katie Noonan And Australian String Quartet Announce Album ‘The Glad Tomorrow’ released August 

‘The Glad Tomorrow’ National Tour, October - November 2019 
World premiere performance on Gadigal Country October 28 at The Sydney Opera House

 
Featured
What is Chamber Music? with Myf Warhurst
ABC, ABC RN, Australian Festival of Chamber Music
What is Chamber Music? with Myf Warhurst
ABC, ABC RN, Australian Festival of Chamber Music

From Mozart to ACDC, Chamber Music laid the foundations of contemporary rock and pop. Three of world’s brightest stars of classical music Connor D’Netto, David Griffiths and Rachael Clegg discuss the impact of chamber music on contemporary sounds with ABC RN host Myf Warhurst. The just some of the many outstanding musicians performing at this year’s Australian Festival of Chamber Music in Townsville. 

ABC, ABC RN, Australian Festival of Chamber Music
Ticking All the Boxes • Limelight Magazine Column
Limelight Magazine, Australian Festival of Chamber Music, String Quartet
Ticking All the Boxes • Limelight Magazine Column
Limelight Magazine, Australian Festival of Chamber Music, String Quartet

Premiering in Townsville, Connor D’Netto’s new string quartet is another step closer to completing a life-long musical bucket list. The Goldner String Quartet performs the world premiere of Connor D’Netto’s String Quartet No 3 at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music on July 29. Read all about the new work in Limelight Magazine July edition.

Limelight Magazine, Australian Festival of Chamber Music, String Quartet
Theory of Music • An interview with composer Connor D’Netto
Australian Festival of Chamber Music
Theory of Music • An interview with composer Connor D’Netto
Australian Festival of Chamber Music

“I really love the opportunity to collaborate with other composers. It’s not for everyone, it definitely takes a certain personality to be able to have two composers, creatures that are often left to build their own worlds working in solitude, to have them working in tandem. You need to be able to compromise, to be willing to challenge yourself constantly, to always be open to ideas other than your own even when you think you are right.”

Composer Connor D’Netto interviewed by Barry Mitchell

Australian Festival of Chamber Music
Featured
★★★★½ HOMELANDS @ Australian Festival of Chamber Music
Limelight Magazine, Australian Festival of Chamber Music
★★★★½ HOMELANDS @ Australian Festival of Chamber Music
Limelight Magazine, Australian Festival of Chamber Music

“lyrical viola lines soaring amidst almost pointillistic electronics, underscored by vast organ-like chords”

Reviewed by Angus McPherson for Limelight Magazine

Limelight Magazine, Australian Festival of Chamber Music
★★★★½ TRACES AND TRANSFORMATIONS @ Australian Festival of Chamber Music
Limelight Magazine, Australian Festival of Chamber Music
★★★★½ TRACES AND TRANSFORMATIONS @ Australian Festival of Chamber Music
Limelight Magazine, Australian Festival of Chamber Music

“Performed by Kathryn Stott and Timo-Veikko Valve, it consisted of groovy, upbeat rhythms, unconventional chords and, occasionally, completely lunatic key changes. D’Netto is a young genius working ‘at the peak of his talents’ as Christopher Lawrence put it. The two-movement work heavily relied on its placement of accents, and explored combinations of possible textures available in both instruments from plucking with running piano arpeggios to syncopated chords and motor rhythms with harmonics. This work of power and imagination was made even more exciting by Valve and Stott’s incredibly clean and focussed execution.”

Reviewed by Shirley Zhu for Limelight Magazine

Limelight Magazine, Australian Festival of Chamber Music
LIVE REVIEW // Lily goes to see We Are Breathing
we are breathing, CutCommon
LIVE REVIEW // Lily goes to see We Are Breathing
we are breathing, CutCommon

“this duo (we are breathing) displayed exactly what was promised; richness, tenderness, and virtuosity. Most exciting was the connection and communication between both performers – they seemed to react to each other in a way that was organic and spontaneous, unifying a disparate set of sounds”

Reviewed by Lily Bryant for Cut Common

we are breathing, CutCommon
 
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Projects + Collaborations


just some of the things I’ve been working on…

Projects + Collaborations


just some of the things I’ve been working on…

 
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In 2018, we are breathing took on their first tour in Australia, performing to audiences in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.

HIGHLIGHTS: we are breathing @ Extended Play

we are breathing

cello + electronics duo project thing
making music + feeling all the feels

we are breathing is the duo project of American cellist Ben Baker and Australian composer/performer Connor D’Netto.

Ben and Connor met in mid 2017 at Bang On A Can’s annual Summer Music Festival at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art where the two were both artists-in-residence. After, the pair sought to collaborate on a project bringing together their various musical backgrounds spanning classical, folk and electronic music, their love of diverse musical styles from minimalism, electronica, alt-rock and jazz, and their passion and drive to create and engage in art not confined by genre. The result is a duo creating raw, tender and emotional sounds straddling across musical worlds. With Ben on cello and Connor on synths and live electronics, their music fuses Connor’s unique compositional voice, Ben’s virtuosic playing, both as a contemporary classical musician and a folk musician and improviser, with live signal processing and electronics creating complexly layered soundworlds. More about we are breathing on facebook

 
 

argo

immersive art music

Connor is the artistic director, producer and co-founder of Argo, a contemporary classical music concert series and collective. Argo draws upon a background in classical music and contemporary influences to create new works, performances and experiences which bend the boundaries of genre and art form, and to challenge the norms of musical performance and staging with immersive art-music events.

More about Argo at our website and facebook

HIGHLIGHTS: argo 2017

 
 
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Listen+Look


+ watch + follow

Listen+Look


+ watch + follow

follow me:

 
Masters DONE ✅ Gonna miss spending all day with these loveable weirdos . #Summerball #fancy #polaroid #instant #rcmsu #photobooth #friends
London’s been looking really moody lately can summer please hurry up and get here now k thx
A few snaps from #nonplaceballet last week and the brilliant young dancers from @csbschool ✨✨ . . #connordnetto #matthewlomax . . #catscradlecollective #csbschool #royalcollegeofmusic #GreatExhibitionists
Last week was completely crazy. #nonplaceballet was the most incredible project, but it was a killer to get off the ground, with loads of sleepless nights, tech disasters, plans B through F being needed and failing, and yet, on the night it all ran so incredibly smoothly!!!!! I couldn’t have done it without al the amazing people involved in the project: @leannekingking Bim Malcomson @catscradlecollective @csbschool @antoniosadantas @rcmlondon and of course my partner in crime on this project @matthewlomax 💕 But the craziest does stop there, with loads more coming up on the horizon - very excited 😬 . In amongst the craziness of last week, I managed to take a short break to sit around a look all moody in some flowerbeds, a room full of spiky-bois, and other places around the truely bizarre and wonderful @barbicancentre estate. . - 📸: @rayroberts - 💇🏻‍♂️: Scissor Hands Soho - 👓: @oscarwylee - 👕: @uniqlo - 👟: @wearewado . #connordnetto #londonlife #mood
TOMORROW!!! Been in the venue all day rehearsing, sound-checking, projection mapping, and sorting out all the inevitable last minute potential disasters (there weren’t too many...) for tomorrow’s concert ✨ . Here’s the deets: 7pm Friday 26 April 2019 . . 📍Britten Theatre @rcmlondon . . 🎟 FREE (link in bio) . . 🎶💻: me & @matthewlomax . . 🎬🎥: also me & Matt . . 💃🏻🕺🏼: @leannekingking & Bim Malcomson & @csbschool . . 🎻🎹: @catscradlecollective @antoniosadantas @marenibosma @asier_m.b @lilygracehope @danieltancredi1 @alispiano @rich.ld . . . #nonplaceballet . . #connordnetto #matthewlomax . . #catscradlecollective #csbschool #royalcollegeofmusic #GreatExhibitionists
THIS IS ON FRIDAY!! So very stoked about this project. Also very stoked about this lil teaser film I done did make 😬 It should be something pretty special, bringing together music by @matthewlomax and I, played by the fab @catscradlecollective and with dance by @csbschool ✨✨✨ Tickets are FREE (link in bio) so get yours now! . #nonplaceballet . . #connordnetto #matthewlomax . . #catscradlecollective #csbschool @rcmlondon #GreatExhibitionists
Felt cute. Might delete later 💁🏻‍♂️ . #selfie #londonlife #summertime #freshcut #oscarwylee
What light through yonder window breaks my sleep... #iforgotaboutdaylightsavingstime #writersofinstagram #shakespearequotes #moodylighting #apartmentlife
Mum isn’t happy... I love it 🥰 Thanks @conzthomastattoo !! . #repost #australianflora #nativeflowers #waratah #fineline #tattoo
It’s 3am on New Year’s Day 2019, so I guess it’s time for a 2018 wrap-up! It’s been a crazy year... full of highs and a lot of lows, BUT it’s been worth it. Here’s some high/lowlights: . I moved to London! Well, I moved there in late 2017, but it’s been my first full year living overseas and it’s been a crazy ride 🇬🇧 . I spent 3 months making music with one of my best mates, travelling in the USA then touring our duo project @wearebreathingmusic around Australia. It was full on... so many amazing experiences and opportunities, but also a whole lot of stress and setbacks along the way. But we did it, and we’re so proud of what we achieved 😊 . On a less good note, I had a complete meltdown. I’d been waaaay overworking myself, stressed out, not taking care of my mental and physical health, and I let my anxiety take over. It took me a while, but with some help I made some changes, BIG changes, and reprioritised my life, putting taking care of myself first. I’m doing a lot better now, I’m fact I feel like I’m doing better than I have in a long while, and I’m so proud of myself for how far I’ve come 💪 . I’ve travelled A LOT. London, Paris, Lyon, Barcelona, New York, Boston, Portland, North Adams, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne – 26 flights in total. I’m so lucky to have these incredible opportunities 🌎 . Best of all, I’ve met so many amazing people. I’m blessed to have made incredible new friends, in the UK and in the USA, to have all beautiful friends back in Australia, and to have connected with people from around the world. You guys mean the absolute world to me 💕 . In 2018 I feel like I’ve learnt things about myself and really grown. At times it was tough, but I couldn’t be more proud of where I am now. Thank you so much to everyone that’s helped me along the way – those that have supported my studies and my new life in London, and of course especially to my friends and family 🖤 . As for 2019, I’m excited 😬 Happy New Years everyone. . #2018 #nye2019 . (here’s some of my fave pics of 2018)
Okay, so it’s been a while... Life got super crazy for a bit... Tour was amazing, but it was so much more incredibly draining than I had planned, and by the end of it I was completely mentally and physically exhausted. After it was over, I came to realise that I hadn’t been taking very good care of myself, that I’d hit a wall and that I really needed to make looking after me a priority. So, I’ve been taking some me time. A few weeks traveling, first in New York, then to Paris for a weekend with my family, then settling back into life in London, where I’ve been for the past couple of months. Since then I’ve been taking it easy – a little time away from social media, a little time away from composing, and a whole heap of binge watching Netflix – and it was definitely the right choice. Take care of yourselves (Here’s a photo of me being angsty with my morning coffee in a windowsill at College)
I don’t know why, but I’m just really feelin this sculpture. (Also I’m back at @bangonacan Summer Festival and I’m so happy #mocabang)