In his new work to be premiered by the SSO, the ‘singer/songwriter who grew up’ plumbs ancient soul caves where art awaits.

There are a lot of conceptual strains and thoughts running through Were/Oblivion. Much of it stems from contemplating the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s adventurous mindset in programming a collection of really exciting composers who I personally admire: Liza Lim, Erkki Veltheim, Đuro Živković and Brett Dean, who will also be conducting the works.

One element of my work that sets me apart from my compositional contemporaries is the meditation on family — on my daughters Astrid and Scarlet and on my partner Charlotte. The avant-garde has often struggled with articulating family life — an absence that highlights the inherent self-centeredness of many celebrated artists. The selfishness of many people in the arts world has always been a disappointment to me: I was taught from an early age to value kind humanism above all else. And it simply isn’t true that you have to be a hard-nosed bastard to make great art.

James HullickJames Hullick

For Were/Oblivion, I therefore sought to share with audiences a work that might invite them in as friends in...