Australian composer Lachlan Skipworth and his wife Akiko Miyazawa, who is a violinist with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, have been running a series of online concerts under the name of Cygnus Arioso – a chamber collective that they have established in Perth. They have focused on working with artists who have ties to Perth, especially the younger generation who they feel are losing so much because of the coronavirus pandemic.

At the end of June, Cygnus Arioso presented its first post-lockdown, live concert at the North Perth Town Hall, featuring a program of music by Bach, Haydn, Dvořák and Borodin. They have more live events programmed, and will begin releasing recordings through a record label established under the Cygnus Arioso name in the coming months. Lachlan Skipworth wrote this column for Limelight about how the COVID-19 lockdown gave he and Miyazawa the opportunity to develop their ideas for Cygnus Arioso.


Akiko Miyazawa and Lachlan Skipworth, the founders of Cygnus Arioso. Photograph supplied

The onset of the COVID-19 lockdown gave us the space, but more importantly the urgency, to question how and where we should direct our artistic energies. As the carnage continues...