Project Overview
"Finding Home" is a commissioning and recording project led by guitar duo Ziggy and Miles (us). We are collaborating with two young Australian composers, Elizabeth Younan and Michael Grebla, to create two substantial multi-movement works for classical guitar duo. These compositions will be recorded and released through ABC Classics.
As artists, one of our core missions is to serve as ambassadors for Australian music internationally, and especially in the US. Having recently won the Young Concert Artists (YCA) competition, we now have management that organizes our US concerts, providing us a platform to share music that matters deeply to us. We've used this opportunity to amplify Australian composers' voices by presenting US premieres of works by Phillip Houghton, Ken Murray, Richard Charlton, and Nigel Westlake.
Artistic Vision
While promoting existing Australian music is important, we're equally committed to fostering the future of Australian composition through works that showcase nuanced, personal stories central to the Australian experience. During our time in the US, we've observed how major works function as powerful statements representing composers, performers, and a country's musical identity.
These two commissioned works represent our most significant statement to date about the music and narratives we wish to support. Michael and Elizabeth have chosen themes that are both culturally relevant and personally resonant: the complexities of motherhood and immigration—both central to the Australian experience. With recent policy changes in the US, conversations around women's and immigrants' rights have taken on new urgency, and we hope these works will unite audiences through music's connective power.
About the works:
Elizabeth Younan's Work
Elizabeth is creating a chamber music song cycle (approximately 20 minutes) for guitar duo and mezzo-soprano—a groundbreaking format, as our research indicates no published works exist for this specific combination. In Elizabeth's words:
"I've decided to focus on 'finding identity' and the various aspects of identity—all-consuming, fractured, complex—that accompany motherhood and its societal pressures and expectations. Setting poems written by women across centuries, this will also culminate in a piece setting a text from my mother, who lost her own mother at a young age whilst pregnant with me."
Learn More: https://www.ziggyandmiles.com