Featured Composer: Adrian Hollay

Adrian's work encompasses a rich variety of music across diverse genres. Over the past decade he has written music for drama, documentary and animated films, as well as for advertising and a computer game.

He works regularly for New Zealand's foremost theatre company, the Auckland Theatre Company, most recently designing sound and composing music for The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, Other Desert Cities by Jon Robin Baitz and Howard Brenton's Anne Boleyn.

Adrian is also an accomplished and award-winning music producer and sound engineer. His recordings have been released on music labels Naxos and Atoll, as well as being broadcast on public radio stations in Australia, New Zealand, the USA and across Europe.

Adrian Hollay's piece, Desert Cities, was premiered in PLEXUS: Heliosonic on 27 October 2014 at the Lithuanian Club Theatre, North Melbourne.

Desert Cities (2014)

The composer writes: “Desert Cities is inspired by the theatre play Other Desert Cities by Jon Robin Baitz. The piece musically explores the cultural background of cities in the desert, both in the Middle East and the USA, more specifically Baghdad and Palm Springs. I don't seek to make a political statement, but simply reflect on the vast differences between the two societies who built those cities. There's plenty of food for thought, I hope my piece will prompt discussion.”