Fork in the Road
for piano
Composed for Po Goh
World premiere performance: 12 June 2025
Commissioned by the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) as part The ANAM Set 2025 and written for Po Goh, with its world premiere during ANAM’s 2025 recital season at the Abbotsford Convent, Melbourne.
This ANAM Set commission was generously supported by the Anthony and Sharon Lee Foundation
Program Note:
Leaving formal study can be daunting. We must make choices about what we do with our lives. Yet life will happen to us regardless, and frequently, one's fate is left to chance. This piece is unique in its structure: the performer encounters six different 'forks in the road' where they must flip a coin to determine which of the two paths they follow next. Each time this piece is performed, the audience will hear one of the sixty-four possible ways it may turn out. The ‘life moments' in this piece do not describe the life of the performer or composer, rather they reflect on common fateful experiences. Though there are somber moments throughout, overall the vibe of the work is lighthearted, almost game-like. Each road leads to opportunities to learn more about ourselves.
About the composer:
Louisa Trewartha leads a diverse career as a composer, trumpet player, and educator. As an orchestral trumpet player Louisa has performed with the Melbourne, Tasmanian and Sydney Symphony Orchestras, Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, and since 2009 has played in over 40 operas, ballets, and musicals with Orchestra Victoria. Louisa has been a Yamaha artist since 2022. After studying at ANAM in 2013, Louisa completed a Master of Arts in Scoring for Film and Visual Media in 2016 at Pulse College, Dublin and in 2017 participated in the Australian Composers School with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. She has since been commissioned to write larger ensemble works for groups such as Melbourne Chamber Orchestra and The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and chamber works for the Sydney and Canberra Symphony Orchestras. In 2022, Louisa had works performed by the President’s Own US Marine Band and The National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain, and in 2023 Louisa was commissioned as part of the ABC Classic and Jazz Composer Commissioning Fund, recording a new brass quintet. Louisa's solo works have been selected as test pieces for state and national band competitions, and are also on the VCE music performance repertoire list. www.louisatrewartha.com.au