Big Music

Beat is given a chance to shine when she is appointed dean of Turalong Music School, but her role is not what it seems.

Fine-tuning this institution is like playing a cracked violin with broken strings. She’s determined to revive the school’s reputation despite gender bias, staff conflict, fraud, betrayal, a famous composer’s ghost and a predatory university. 

Beat loves the wild mashes of sound: trumpets, electric guitars, flutes and saxophones which blaze all day and night - indeed the book has its own soundtrack - but she’s barely able to keep the school together, let alone her home life on her beloved hobby farm. Keen to unify her squabbling colleagues from opposite musical traditions, she puts a fresh spin on programming to show audiences something new: a combined Beethoven and rock festival.

Music or politics? What will be her magnum opus?

Big Music has received critical acclaim and awards including:

• Finalist - Next Generation Indie Book Awards 2025
• 5-star rating from Reader Views 2025
• Best Fiction Book Award Winner-2025 Golden Able Book Awards 2025
• Distinguished Favourite - Independent Press Award 2026
• Silver Award Winner for General Fiction/Novel - Reader Views, Reviewers Choice Awards 2025