Gillian Wills | Updates

Lyrical Landscapes: Seeing Music, Hearing Art

Gillian Wills — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 21:37:31 -0400

Full text can be found at https://limelightmagazine.com.au/features/lyrical-landscapes-seeing-music-hearing-art

Red Herrings for Breakfast by Annabet Ousbach - Review by Gillian Wills

Gillian Wills — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 21:36:39 -0400

Full text can be found at https://www.academia.edu/46754608/Red_Herrings_For_Breakfast_Annabet_Ousbach

Piano Mill Easter 2021

Gillian Wills — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 21:36:11 -0400

Full text can be found at https://www.academia.edu/46753743/Piano_Mill_Easter_2021

A New Name for the Colour Blue - Book Review by Gillian Wills

Gillian Wills — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 21:35:51 -0400

Full text can be found at https://www.academia.edu/43930456/Book_Review_A_new_name_for_the_colour_blue

Gillian Wills collected articles on Arts Hub

Gillian Wills — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 21:35:11 -0400

Gillian Wills' collected articles can be perused at Arts Hub.

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Gillian Wills contributions to ABR

Gillian Wills — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 21:34:18 -0400

Full text can be found at https://www.australianbookreview.com.au/abr-online/archive/2018/october-2018-no-405/author/2391-gillianwills

Gillian Wills reviews 'A Coveted Possession: The rise and fall of the piano in Australia' by Michael Atherton

Gillian Wills — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 21:32:56 -0400

Full text can be found at https://www.australianbookreview.com.au/abr-online/archive/2018/october-2018-no-405/230-october-2018-no-405/5138-gillian-wills-reviews-a-coveted-possession-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-piano-in-australia-by-michael-atherton

Festival of Outback Opera - Australian Book Review

Gillian Wills — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 21:31:06 -0400

Full text can be found at https://www.australianbookreview.com.au/arts-update/101-arts-update/12603-festival-of-outback-opera-2024-opera-queensland-goes-to-longreach-by-gillian-wills

It's Time to Listen Really Listen to our Orchestra - InQueensland

Gillian Wills — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 21:30:42 -0400

Full text can be found at https://www.inqld.com.au/arts-culture/arts/inreview-commentary/2024/03/13/queensland-its-time-to-listen-really-listen-to-our-orchestra

It's gold, gold, gold for Australia in Townsville - Inreview

Gillian Wills — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 21:30:22 -0400

Full text can be found at https://www.inqld.com.au/arts-culture/music/2024/07/30/its-gold-gold-gold-for-australia-in-townsville

String Sensations - Australian Stage Online

Gillian Wills — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 21:29:43 -0400

What makes a great soloist? Maybe an interpretative imagination, strong communication, technical brilliance harnessed to expressive purpose, the ability to work with a conductor and the confidence to slice through the orchestra as a soloist yet also know when to drop back. Then there’s an authoritative presence and an almost magical capacity to reel in the audience.

Read the whole article below.

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Australian Festival of Chamber Music Days 1 & 2 - Limelight

Gillian Wills — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 21:28:49 -0400

Full text can be found at https://limelight-arts.com.au/?s=gillian+wills

The Countertenor - Bach's Holy Spirit (Bach Akademie Australia)

Gillian Wills — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 07:40:50 -0400

Spine-tingling singing from Reginald Mobley in the cathedral acoustic of St Stephen's.

Cathedral of St Stephen, Brisbane

by Gillian Wills on 12 April, 2025

Bach Akademie Australia, based in Sydney and led by the celebrated violinist Madeleine Easton, is in a celebratory mood. For the first time the ensemble is spreading its wings with a national tour, which features Reginald Mobley the Grammy-nominated American countertenor as guest soloist.

A great choice, too, as the singer has a deep affinity with Baroque music and with J.S. Bach’s music in particular. His authentic interpretation of Bach’s vocal pieces in this stylish and rewarding concert amounted to a masterclass in musical story-telling. His voice has a luxurious sheen and emotive power which Mobley exploits to the full. It doesn’t matter what the narrative is, he maximises opportunities for expressive colour realised through a deluxe tone and impressive diction.

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Voxalis Opera 2025

Gillian Wills — Mon, 31 Mar 2025 23:40:01 -0400

A rare art: Voxalis and friends breathe new life into opera and song

This year Voxalis Opera aims to brings rarely performed works to life in an intriguing collaborative program with a talented list of artists.

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Back Under Southern Skies

Gillian Wills — Wed, 27 Nov 2024 18:59:35 -0500

Full text can be found at https://www.indailyqld.com.au/inreview/music/2024/11/21/back-under-southern-skies-schaupp-and-noonan

Opera Australia's Production of The Ring Cycle at QPAC

Gillian Wills — Thu, 17 Oct 2024 21:17:00 -0400

A long article about Opera Australia's magnificent Ring Cycle at QPAC December 2023 was published in Opera Now the Spring Edition in early 2024.

Available in print only.

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Dr Donna Coleman to present the annual Sadie Hawkins Day concert

Gillian Wills — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

When: Sunday, 1 March 4pm

Where: Classic Southside, the jazz club situated on Level 1 of the Classic Cinema in Elsternwick

Book tickets for Dr Donna Coleman, annual Sadie Hawkins Day concert here.

Dr Donna Coleman presents the annual Sadie Hawkins Day concert as her birthday gift to her friends and anyone interested in an afternoon of music ranging from Bach to Ives, World Premiere performances of brand-new works and free improvisations with members of her band, Quintessence, Eugene Ball, trumpet and Christopher Hale, bass.

The program is devoted to music by Donna’s friends Kevin March (the World Premiere of Epigrams), composer of ephemerally esoteric and succinctly crafted works that have been premiered on Sadie Hawkins Day for several years; Cuban / American composer Aurelio de la Vega, whose one hundredth birthday is being celebrated in concerts around the world in 2026; and her “enhanced” version of Daniel Perlongo’s Jazz-inflected and Jazz-inspired First Set, in which she will be joined by Eugene and Christopher.

Perlongo was Donna’s theory and composition teacher at university, and he honoured her by composing several works for her, including a Concerto for Piano and Orchestra that she recorded with the Radio Orchestra of Bratislava. You can hear her recording of this marvelous piece (and its companion, Shortcut from Bratislava) along with one of her performances of Suite (composed for her) and Serenade (a piece she introduced to Australian audiences in 2013) at the American Composers’ Alliance website.

The music of American composers Charles Ives and George Antheil mingle with that of Johann Sebastian Bach, introduced by an improvised musical conversation between Donna and Christopher.

Seating is extremely limited (capacity of the venue is 65 including the performers) so book early! Doors and bar open from 3:30, and there is additional bar area in the main lobby of the cinema.

Sadie Hawkins Day is the invention of American cartoonist Al Capp, who created the syndicated comic strip series L’il Abner in 1934 featuring characters living in a rural community called Dogpatch. In the years when the 29th February occurred, the town organised a race in which the men were given a few seconds head start and any woman who caught up with and “tagged” a man could claim him as husband.

L’il Abner was the hunky main male character in the series, pursued romantically and in the race by the voluptuous Daisy Mae. She finally caught up with him in 1952, and they were married until the series ended in 1977.

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New single from Pauline Maudy and Paddy McHugh: a collaboration for Valentine’s Day

Gillian Wills — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Check out this new collaborative single by Pauline Maudy and Paddy McHugh - You’re the One. Out on Valentine’s Day through Troubadour Presents, You’re the One is a celebration of everyday intimacy: love not as spectacle, but as something lived.

The release is accompanied by a film clip that is a joyful ode to love in all its beautifully imperfect, real‑world glory. The video features real couples (including many well-loved Brisbane folk) sharing a candid kiss on camera. The result is a genuine, heartfelt celebration of connection in its many forms, reminding us that love is messy, fun, tender and endlessly worth celebrating.

Check out the film clip here or listen to the single on your favourite platform.

Read my full article about Pauline Maudy for Australian Arts Review here.

Would you like to get my monthly updates in your inbox? Sign up for my newsletter here, and get the first chapters of my book, Big Music.

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Interview with Kathleen O’Reilly Johnson, author of Johno, coming soon from Hawkeye Publishing

Gillian Wills — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Hawkeye Publishing, a trade publisher based in Queensland, is adventurous about the books it selects for publication. You can check out the range here.

Unlike the big five publishers and their imprints, the CEO Carolyn Martinez decides whether she likes the story, not whether it is a popular trope, and then is 100% committed. Her choices are risky, as in the case of my own novel Big Music which is set in an arts college, and yet, Martinez evidently makes good choices as Hawkeye authors win many prizes for fiction, memoir, youth fiction and children’s literature.

Most significantly, Troy Henderson whose new crime novel won Brisbane author Troy Henderson won the 2025 The Australian Fiction Prize for his unpublished crime thriller, River City. The award, presented by The Australian and HarperCollins, included $20,000 in prize money and a $15,000 advance for the novel which is to be published in 2026.

I’m pleased Troy has agreed to review Elvis and Me; how a world-weary musician and a broken racehorse rescued each other, Hawkeye Publishing, which will be released on the 1 August.

2026 is the year of the horse.

Here's an interview with Kathleen O’Reilly Johnston, another horse lover, and the author of Johno which is due for release by Hawkeye Publishing on 9th September 2026.

How do you balance your writing with mentoring youth at risk and providing care for the aged?

Basically, my life is a shemozzle. But I limit work to 25 hours per week. Both my working roles involve shift work which I love. During deadline periods I apply for leave. During the 2 x year period that I wrote Johno, I set aside 25 - 40 hours per week for writing.

What inspired you to write Johno?

It was part inspiration and part massive compulsion, mainly because Johno’s story is epic. I have known him for most of my life. We have three children together and for a time, we were married.

Who is your target reader for Johno?

Adults. Parents. Teachers. Anyone with an interest in Australian history, psychology, social work or those working in NGOs. Johno will strike a chord with adults healing from childhood trauma.

Why do you think readers will enjoy your book?

Johno is a story with heart. Ultimately, it's a story of resilience and the power of the human spirit.

I hope it makes readers cry, laugh and heal. There are some scenes of terrible cruelty. This is juxtaposed with scenes of incredible kindness allowing readers to tune into positive and heartwarming aspects of human nature.

Can you briefly describe the story?

In the aftermath of the Second World War a seven-year-old boy is deported from Scotland to Australia without his mother's knowledge. As an adult Norman, aka Johno slowly unravels the lies he was told in childhood and joins others in a fight for justice.

A story told from the point of view of one person that shines a light on a bigger picture.

How hard was it to find a publisher?

I spent months submitting to various publishers and also agents. So, thank you, Hawkeye Publishing. I’m still pinching myself.

Sounds like your life is a busy one. How do you relax and enjoy down time?

I ride my horse (more slowly these days) along the river and in the bush around my home.

What advice do you give would be writers?

Keep reading and keep writing and share your writing with friends. Friends and those in reading groups give amazing insights and feedback.

Are you working on another book?

Yes, ‘Babanginy’ – A story for adults young and old. Babanginy is a fairy tale set in the Australian bush.

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Review of Cats by Andrew Lloyd-Webber, presented by Lyric Theatre, QPAC

Gillian Wills — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Photo credits: Daniel Boud

Cats can get bad press because of their unfortunate tendency to prey on indigenous birds and animals. Nevertheless, they are interwoven into human culture. Ancient Egyptians worshipped them, and felines have plenty of famous champions including Ernest Hemingway, Mark Twain, Audrey Hepburn, Taylor Swift and the celebrated genius poet T.S.Eliot. He wrote Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats a collection of light rhymes written for his godchildren in the 1930s which was the inspiration behind Andrew Lloyd Webber’s rock musical Cats.

I was lucky enough to see the latest production at the Lyric Theatre, QPAC. It’s always fun when the actors wander among the audience and stream down the theatre’s aisles to access the stage. It just never gets old.

There was a big cast and a nine-strong orchestra which made me pleased to see so many deserving artists gainfully employed. I was reviewing the show which always makes me overthink and I wondered whether Cats should be called a dancical rather than a musical because the choreography drives the dramatic arc and produces energy and spectacular routines to explore the range of cat characters. The music and dance numbers would have taken many hours of rehearsal, huge reserves of energy and technique gained over many years of training to perfect, and there was I sitting in judgement of it. It’s easy to take immensely talented souls like the triple-threat cast of Cats for granted.

You can read my full review of Cats at Lyric Theatre, QPAC, here.

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