After Julia is a collection of eight works commissioned from Australian women and non-binary composers, who were asked to respond musically to Julia Gillard’s tenure as the first female Australian Prime Minster (2010—2013), a period which saw her subjected to gender discrimination within politics but also from the wider Australian society.
For artistic director of Decibel, Cat Hope, witnessing Gillard’s experience encouraged her to look into gender discrimination in her own world, Australian new music practice, and After Julia is the beginning of a response. The program was first premiered at the ABC Ultimo Centre, Sydney, Australia in November 2014, with Gillard in attendance.
“Utterly Masterful”
The Music Trust, Loudmouth, 2023
Buy After Julia as CD on Tall Poppies or digital on Bandcamp or stream on Spotify.
Guest Artists
Vocals on Arrows: Helen Grimley, Charlotte Crowe, Ines Paxton, Eloise Martin-Jones, Clare Grant, Andrée Greenwell.
Recording, Engineering, and Acknowledgements
Recorded by both Stuart James and Hadyn Buxton (live and telematically) between Soundfield Studio, Perth, and Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music and Performance, Melbourne University’s Digital Hub, Melbourne, during the COVID-19 lockdowns.
Arrows vocal recordings engineered by Ryan Miller and Tim Carr at One Flight Up, Petersham, NSW.
Mixed by Stuart James at Soundfield Studio.
Decibel would acknowledge the support of Julia Gillard, Random House, Stephen Adams, Tura New Music, Metro Arts and the Perth Institute for Contemporary Arts.
This project was supported by the Australia Council for the Arts and the WA Dept Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries.