Lockdown chats with Xina Hawkins.

For this week’s trip down memory lane in the forest, we go international! I speak with Xina Hawkins, star viola player now living and working in Berlin. Xina played with Forest Collective in 2013, primarily as a member of flute, viola, and harp trio Petrichore, which was our ensemble in residence that year.

Tell us about your involvement with Forest Collective, how long have you been involved, and how it all started?

My involvement with Petrichor came about via the legendary and lovely harpist Jess Fotinos, with whom I formed the flute-viola-harp trio Petrichor at ANAM in 2012, along with the beautiful flautist Rowan Hamwood. I understand Jess had been involved with Forest for a long time, and in her typically generous fashion, she introduced us to another legend - Mr. Evan Lawson! Memories from my two years in Melbourne are a little bit blurred, and unfortunately, I am not sure if we did something in 2012 already, but in 2013 we had the honour of being Ensemble in Residence with Forest, performing as a trio and in larger (and smaller!) groups.

Can you name your highlights from working with Forest Collective?

I enjoyed many things about working with Forest Collective - it was really enriching getting to know musicians and spaces in Melbourne, since I had moved there to study at ANAM, and didn't know the city very deeply. I think Forest seemed to me to embody the artistic spirit for which Melbourne is famous, and I think that's a testament to Evan's exceptional vision and character, and his way of engaging specific people to be involved in each project. My highlight was the overall delight of meeting and hearing so many interesting, creative and friendly musicians who were following their inspiration. I likewise drew a lot of inspiration from the experiences I had with Forest, and I think Melbourne is lucky that you're still there, going from strength to strength and making vibrations with that independent, creative spirit!

What's been keeping you occupied over the lockdowns during the past 18 months?

I have had an interesting experience of Covid restrictions, having spent time in Germany (where I live at the moment) and Australia since March 2020. I had just finished an arts residency in the countryside not far from Berlin when Covid hit and was actually quite relieved to have an imposed break where I didn't have deadlines or a conflict between professional work and my desire to keep developing my playing. I relished having the chance to practice and enjoy my home; I took two months of German classes online to clarify some questions I'd had for years since I did the first courses, and I practiced the Saint-Saëns bassoon sonata (!!!), which I had wanted to arrange for viola for a long time (I even recorded it just for fun...).

2020 Summer came, things in Germany opened up, I played in a lot of projects for a few months, culminating in a solo recital for contemporary music in October, then the second set of restrictions came into force, along with the [dark] winter. After some months I decided to return to Australia, ended up staying 6 months, mostly with no restrictions, including a joyful one-month tour with the Alma Moodie Quartet, and then Delta hit Australia, so I stayed longer at home with my parents and my dog, time for which I am so grateful. Now I am back in Germany where there is a lot happening - it's almost surreal. I am conscious that so many people went through terrible things during Covid; I think I can say that all in all I have had a very fortunate experience of the pandemic, which reflects an immense amount of luck and privilege, of course.

What's on the musical horizon for you at the moment?

I'm lucky to say I have a lot of things to look forward to, although I feel conscious of the possibility of jinxing them by mentioning them here, in this time of no guarantees... perhaps for now I will say that if all comes to pass, I have some wonderful and big projects coming up in 2022, with musicians I deeply admire and just love as people.

I wish Forest all the best for everything YOU have coming up, and I hope that everything can go ahead!

Images by Dovile Sermokas.