Composer, arranger and saxophonist Rafael Karlen has been awarded the 2018 Peggy Glanville-Hicks Composer-In-Residence.

Rafael Karlen. Photograph © David Collins

The residency allows an Australian composer to live for a year in a three-bedroom terrace in Sydney’s Paddington area, which was bequeathed by renowned Australian composer Peggy Glanville-Hicks, so that they can immerse themselves in their practice. The winner is selected from a competitive annual application process. Previous winners include Barney McAll, Cat Hope and Jon Rose.

Karlen said he was extremely grateful for the opportunity, which would allow him to focus purely on music. “During my time in the house, I intend to digest, consider, and explore music, uninterrupted by the noise of day to day life. This will allow for new ideas to feed into my original work,” he said.

“Living in this stimulating space is conducive to pursuing my musical practice with a higher level of intensity and examining aspects of my professional identity. I hope to develop a more honest and sincere approach to structuring my creative projects.”

Whilst in residence Karlen plans to work on a range of acoustic projects that cross jazz and classical music as well as traditional...