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As biographical details, list of works, performances and awards can be accessed through the Australian Music Centre, The New Groves Dictionary of Women Composers (1994), The Oxford Companion to Australian Music .....I thought it may be more relevant to look at those influences which have shaped my work.
Gender is an obvious influence. I am the eldest of five girls brought up in a household of women.. (.my father away for years during World War 2). The lovely landscapes of the Queensland bush, where I spent my childhood also influenced me as did the orchard cultivated by my grandparents on the banks of the Burrum River; the perfumes and beauty of wild bush flowers and the many, many hours in which there was time to explore, without limits, an imaginative world, one which was absolutely satisfying and ever changing. As my piano lessons began before I was three, music was always part of that childhood. It seems to me now that my life in music was predetermined; I could read music before I could read words.
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n my early twenties, I lived for nine months on the small island of Abau, half-way between Port Moresby and Samarai, where, for much of the time I was the lone European woman; I had the chance to accompany my husband on patrols he made for the then Australian Administration of Papua New Guinea. Later, posted to Kavieng, New Ireland, I developed a strong and enduring interest in non-western culture.
This was strengthened and extended when, in 1974, I was awarded, jointly with writer/illustrator, David Cox (whom I married in 1976) a South East Asian Fellowship by the Australia Council. We have both been strongly influenced by our journeys and researches in Bali and Java, they have extended now over many years and we continue to draw on those experiences as major influences.
I am fortunate to have had opportunities to promote and perform the music of women composers and also of Australian composers in general. As a member of the Executive Board of the International League of Women Composers I was keen to develop a platform for performance and broadcast of their music and presented programs on FM radio. As Head of Music at St. Margaret's Girls' School I was able to put together annual Festivals of Australian Music; running over several days, they featured newly commissioned works by Australian composers. Now as Adviser in Music to the National Council of Women of Queensland I promote the performance of Australian music.
In one way or another the influences I have mentioned have been important but so too are the rich experiences of life and the associations with those who encouraged, stimulated thought, offered a wider vision and gave opportunities for growth. These have nurtured, given sustenance and the ability to believe that a life in music is truly a vocation.
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