Genevieve Lacey

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.

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.

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.

They lived in Canberra for one year where all the Lacey children learnt music from Judith Clingan.

In 1981 the family moved to Ballarat, Victoria, where Lacey completed school, and studied recorder with Helen Fairhall and oboe with Joanne Saunders.

The Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards commenced in 1984 and recognise outstanding achievements in dance, drama, comedy, music, opera, circus and puppetry.

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).

She then moved to Basel, Switzerland, where she undertook postgraduate studies in medieval and renaissance music at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (1995–96).

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.

She returned to Australia in 1998, and completed a doctorate at the University of Melbourne (1999-2001).

She has since been based in Melbourne.

As a recorder virtuoso, Lacey has performed at the Lindau International Convention of Nobel Laureates, for Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Abbey, on a basketball court on Thursday Island with Australian indigenous ensemble The Black Arm Band, as a concerto soloist in the Royal Albert Hall for BBC Proms and at the opening night of the London Jazz Festival.

She has appeared as a soloist with orchestras including Australian Chamber Orchestra, City of London Sinfonia, Kymi and Tapiola Sinfonietta Finland, Concerto Copenhagen, English Concert, Academy of Ancient Music, St Petersburg Chamber Orchestra, Korean Symphony Orchestra, Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, and the Melbourne, Adelaide, West Australian, Tasmanian and Queensland Symphony Orchestras.

Lacey has performed chamber music with artists such as James Crabb, Marshall McGuire, Jane Gower and Lars Ulrik Mortensen, Paolo Pandolfo, Poul Høxbro, Paul Grabowsky, Neal Peres Da Costa and Daniel Yeadon, Karin Schaupp, Flinders Quartet and Elision Ensemble, and has appeared at festivals including Sound Unbound (Barbican), Paris Festival d'Automne, Klangboden Wien, Seoul International Music Festival, and at Cheltenham, Huddersfield, Copenhagen Summer, Montalbane, the MaerzMusik festival (Berlin) and all the major Australian arts festivals.

Lacey has also made an extensive contribution to contemporary recorder repertoire, commissioning and premiering works by composers as wide-ranging as Australians Liza Lim, Elena Kats-Chernin, Brett Dean, Lou Bennett, Andrea Keller, Hollis Taylor, Paul Grabowsky, Ben Frost, as well as Erkki-Sven Tuur (Estonia), John Surman (UK), Max de Wardener (UK), Jason Yarde (UK), Jan Bang (Norway), Christian Fennesz (Germany) and Nico Muhly (USA).

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, and actor Katherine Tonkin.

Lacey’s recent works include Breathing Space (2023), 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.

She was the artistic director for Musica Viva Australia's FutureMakers from 2015 to 2019, Four Winds Festival from 2008 until 2012, and the Melbourne Autumn Music Festival between 1999 and 2003.

Lacey's creations also include Pleasure Garden (2016), a kinetic sound installation designed for visitors to experience while wandering through an outdoor or indoor garden, or verdant places.

Other curatorial roles include the inaugural curator for UKARIA 24 in 2016, creator, curator and presenter for Words and Music at Wheeler Centre in 2014, and curating the live music program for the Art Music Awards, APRA-Australian Music Centre, 2013–2015.

The awards commenced in 2016.

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.

Other collaborations include multidisciplinary works Soliloquy (2018) and one infinity (2018) that both explore the powerful combination of music and movement.

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.

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.

In 2018, she was the artist in residence for the Melbourne Recital Centre, 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.

They commenced in 2018.

The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse live industry, celebrating the success of the Australian live scene.

Lacey is artistic director for Finding Our Voice, was a member of the curatorial team for Rising 2019–20, is the artistic advisor to UKARIA, and was the chamber music curator of A Brief History of Time for the 2019 Adelaide International Arts Festival.

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 and the Australian National Academy of Music's Fellowship program between 2014 and 2016.

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.

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The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music.

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The Australian Women in Music Awards is an annual event that celebrates outstanding women in the Australian Music Industry who have made significant and lasting contributions in their chosen field.

Her film collaborations include animated documentary film Recorder Queen (2020), directed by Sophie Raymond, an autobiographical journey of Lacey's creative life that explores the feelings of being a musician.