This Valentine’s Day, Emily Granger will premiere a new Harp Concerto with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, written for her by her husband, composer Tristan Coelho.
10 years ago, Granger travelled from Chicago in the US for a project organised by an Australian recorder player.
On her very first day in Australia, she met Coelho, who was commissioned to write music for harp and recorder for the project.
The pair have been together since just after the project finished.
They hiked 500 kilometres together and lived in a tent for four weeks, and navigated long-distance, before Granger moved to Australia about a year into their relationship.
She worked as a freelance performer in Sydney before becoming the Queensland Symphony Orchestra’s Principal Harpist.
Coelho is a composer and music educator, now based in Brisbane with Granger.
Creativity is a central part of their lives, sometimes together and sometimes separately.
They share some insights into what it’s like being in a creative partnership.
On the right timing
Granger: “I was at a crossroads in my life… wondering ‘what else is there and is this really all that my life is going to be?'”
“This opportunity came up to come to Australia and New Zealand. [Tristan] just happened to come into my life, I think at the perfect time. And we were both open to something new.”
Coelho: “I think it was just a perfect moment in time.”
On moving overseas for love
Granger was a founding member of the Chicago Harp Quartet before moving to Australia. (Supplied: Keith Saunders.)
Coelho: “The conversation came down to ‘are we going to live here in America or are we going to live in Australia?'”Â
“At that point I had a secure job… there was some stability to that. And [Emily] thought [she] was after a new adventure, so [she] decided to move out and the rest is history.”
Granger: “[I] sold all of my furniture…and brought over two suitcases and a harp.”
Coelho: “I had to go to customs to get the harp. I remember I had to de-box the harp with a single stanley knife.
“That’s where I realised the next chapter of my life would involve moving harps quite a lot. That’s been part of my side hustle.”
Granger: “You love moving harps. It’s your favourite thing to do.”
On marrying a harpist
Coelho: “I had never written so much for harp until meeting Emily.”
“When you have an amazing instrumentalist as your partner, I hear her practise, I’m hearing the idiosyncrasies of the technique and the nature of the instrument…I became quite obsessed with just exploring that.”
“[Emily is an inspiration] in terms of her personality and zest for life, but also her process of practise.”
On marrying a composer
Granger: “I have so much more respect, reverence, around the art form. I don’t think that I ever gave it much thought before being with a composer how much time goes into it.”
“So much care goes into it and, at least with Tristan’s process, it is pretty all consuming. When he’s writing a piece, he becomes this vessel that the music is just coming out of.”
On learning to collaborate
Coelho and Granger often work on projects together. (The Piano Mill: Jocelyn Wolfe)
Coelho: “This process didn’t come overnight. I’ve made mistakes. Emily’s been practising things early on and I’ll be intervening and trying to give feedback. And she’s not in the mood for that.”
“[She’d say] ‘can you please leave me alone while I try to learn the notes?'”
Granger: “The trust maybe comes from giving each other our space to do our things.”
“Then when the door opens, let’s work on this together. Let’s brainstorm.”
On being in relationship with another musician
Coelho: “What we do requires a lot of individual alone time. So [you need] patience, but also communication.”
Granger: “Your intense periods are not always going to line up…let that go and give each other space.”
“But we also understand more now that we take care of each other in those times.”
Coelho and Granger are conscious about supporting each other through their creative endeavours. (Sydney Opera House: Irena Pernickova )
On their latest collaboration
Granger: “This has been kind of the culmination of our 10-year relationship.”
“I knew that Tristan would write something really epic and super groovy…something that would be really special.”
“We started working on this together three years ago, so it’s taken a long time to get this off the ground.”
It’s finally happening on Valentine’s Day, which is adorable.
Coelho: “One part of our relationship early on that was very important was that we both love going out in nature and hiking…The piece taps into our shared love diverse of natural landscapes, some in America, some here.”
“Each movement is inspired by a particular imagined landscape and the way each piece unfolds is like we’re going off on a nature trail.”
Emily Granger and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Umberto Clerici perform the world premiere of Tristan Coelho’s Harp Concerto on 14 February at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music.
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