Three Conversations by Kyla Matsuura-Miller, the world of classical music as a person of colour in Australia

Three Conversations is violinist Kyla Matsuura-Miller’s program of new commissions for violin and electronics by three Australian composers reflecting on the experience of growing up in the world of classical music in Australia as a person of colour.

Violinist Kyla Matsuura-Miller

Three Conversations, Play On’s October highlight of classical music at the Abbotsford Convent, features compositions by Sia Ahmad, Aaron Wyatt and Kitty Xiao.

In a conversation with NITV, Radio Kyla Matsuura-Miller explained the making of the program.

She said that growing up playing classical music in Australia, she rarely came across music by composers who looked like her.

When she won one of Australia’s top music prizes in 2021 – the Freedman Fellowship – she decided to use the prize money to commission three Australian composers of colour to write new music for her to perform.