Ali Fyffe.
Saxophones.
Image by Gem Scerri.
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I think it just grew out of the experimenting I did as a kid (that all kids do) but it became more deliberate and mature at some point. I do remember when I started to create improvisation sketches - as a saxophone player I was always expected to play jazz but I'm hopeless at it, but I wanted badly to be able to improvise. Then I had a light bulb moment where I tried improvising in a style I actually enjoyed playing, which is more contemporary/experimental. In 2016 I thought, well, let's design an improv and try it in a gig, and I never looked back.
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It's so hard to say. Working with Diimpa and performing outdoors mid-pandemic will always be a highlight - the performance was a breath of fresh air figuratively and literally. I also enjoyed Nikki Edgar's Skin Deep - it was only my second Forest gig and was mostly improvised, and switching from notated music to graphic scores within the same ensemble made me so excited to be a part of this group.
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I also write fiction. I've got a few books I'm working on. They got a lot more attention with all the recent lockdowns; writing is a very lockdown-friendly activity!
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It's so hard to compare different mediums! My favourite sculpture is Sam Jinks' The Messenger. My favourite music album is a tie between Taylor Swift's folklore and the self-titled Hamlet Gonashvili album.
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Lately I've been singing show tunes and trad jazz because my baby likes it. Pre-baby I loved playing Scelsi's Tre Pezzi and humming along to the washing machine.
Ali Fyffe was born in Naarm, Australia and completed her undergraduate studies in notated music at the Victorian College of the Arts. She has since pursued studies at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Boulogne-Billancourt in France.
As a keen collaborator and traveller, Ali has worked in numerous ensembles and with a range of artists in many countries. As a member of the KHASM Saxophone Quartet, she toured Australia and performed with saxophonists in five states, as well as in the UK. In the Quanta Quartet, she toured France and Australia and also performed in Italy and Malaysia. Both quartets received prizes and places in competitions in Australia and overseas. As a member of halfsound, Ali and co-artistic director Matt Hinchliffe toured South-East Asia extensively supported by Creative Victoria, and also performed in Australia, Taiwan and India.
Ali lived nomadically in Asia for some years exploring her own voice as an experimental improviser and collaborated extensively with local artists. Highlights include a residency with thanks to Green Papaya Arts Projects and Asialink Arts, and participation in the WSK Festival of the Recently Possible in the Philippines. Described as “Unpopular Music”, “like a film score” and “weird”, Ali’s free improvisations explore unconventional use of the saxophone to create surreal acoustic soundscapes.
Ali has now settled in Naarm but continues to collaborate, explore, shore, and foster links between artists.
Ali Fyffe has played the saxophone with us since 2018.
In that time we have heard Ali in a number of amazing projects.