Miranda Hill

Miranda Hill is a double bassist, producer and improvisor based in Melbourne, Australia.

Miranda studied at the Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne; The University of Michigan, USA, and the Hartt School of Music, Connecticut, USA. Miranda has performed with: Orchestra Victoria, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Opera Australia national tour, BOLT ensemble, Evergreen Ensemble, 6 degrees ensemble, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Chamber Orchestra and others.

In her spare time, Miranda directs 3 Shades Black, an experimental new music ensemble, who have performed in Melbourne, Auckland, Beijing, and have recently been part of a national education program about graphic scores. Miranda is also founder of the Flying Tapirs with Leah Scholes, a performance theatre baking troupe that has created delicious havoc at Melbourne Fringe, Festival of Slow Music, and the Perth World Fringe; can regularly be found late night in dirty bars with Nat Grant as Octave Pussy;  then takes to the streets as MD and  band leader of Riff Raff Radical Marching Band; and keeps a photo diary of hotel rooms at Why Won’t the Windows Open?

Riff Raff taking to the streets!

Moving Scores is one of Miranda’s ongoing projects. She has commissioned film artists and composers to make short films to be read as graphic scores. Some examples can be seen below. Moving Scores has been performed at the Melbourne Fringe Festival (2011, 2013) the Auckland Fringe Festival (2013)  Mao’s Live House, Beijing (2012) and the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Federation Square, Melbourne. (2014) Every performance is different, and every ensemble interprets the scores independently. It’s also fabulous fun.

A short video of Miranda explaining the Moving Scores project, as part of a Musica Viva education project at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image.

Another ongoing concert series is “Homophonic!” which features new music by GLBTIQ+ composers, and features new music by local, living composers alongside more established works. Homophonic has been a part of the Midsumma festival for the last 6 years, and is a proudly presented by the famous and fabulous La Mama Theatre.

Miranda’s main inspiration is to make new and experimental music accessible to anyone, so that everyone can appreciate how awesome it is. Her interests tend towards the experimental and fun, and the new set of challenges that arise when you mix artistic genres with a sense of humour and levity.

Please see below for some examples of Miranda’s chamber music, graphic scores, and sound sculptures.

Live recording of “FanYiShan” A cross media graphic score written in collaboration with Frog Wing and MuYunBai while in residence at LiJiang Studio, Yunnan, China.

Performed by Belinda Woods, Karen Heath-Mann, and Miranda Hill.

Playlist of music recorded while in residence at LiJiang Studio.

“Rainstillation” found materials installation, Lijiang Studio.

“We the trees” music by Jen Torrence, Soundtrack by Miranda Hill. Performed at the Lesser Heat Festival, Lijiang Studio.

Improvisation with Nat Grant and Stevie Richards, “Chain Reactions” Conduit Arts, Fitzroy. 2014

Beneath, by Naima Fine. Violin, Ruby Paskas; Oboe, Josh de Graff; Bassoon, Oscar Garrido de la Rosa; Bass Clarinet, Edward Ferris; Double Bass, Miranda Hill.

Aileron, film score by Stephanie Kabanyana, performance by 3 Shades Black.

Miss Carmichaels View, film score by Alison Bennett, performance by 3 Shades Black.

I miss science, film score by Naima Fine, performance by 3 Shades Black.