This is a 1989 recording, where several Australian film composers were asked to write a piece of music within the instrumental boundaries of piano, percussion and synthesizers. Whether the music was programmatic or not was left up to the composers. Each composer was responsible for 'music-producing' their own composition.

Simon Walker contributed two contrasting pieces, "Binary" (for 4 pianos, 4 percussionists and 4 synthesizers) and "Deep Space".

Mark Isaacs' "Laitsun" has jazz-Latin American overtones.

"Wired" by Philip Powers features three pianos, two percussionists and four synthesizers. It is a 12-tone piece, closely following the Schoenberg rules of a twelve-tone sequence, with and without repeated notes, which can be introduced horizontally and vertically, repeating the 12-tone pattern from start to finish, backwards, forwards and inverted. The notes can appear vertically at any point in the piano spectrum.

"Friends and Acquaintances" features two pianos, percussion and synthesizers, and is minimalist in nature. Aaron Copland was a particular inspiration for Guy Gross in the writing of this work.

The fifth film composer represented is Chris Neal. "Ghosts" is the most programmatic piece of the 6 compositions on the album, inspired by the idea of unexplained phenomena in everyday life. The main theme is derived from a score by the composer, commissioned for a production of Ibsen's play "Ghosts".

BIOGRAPHY - PHILIP POWERS
Philip Powers was born in 1963 in Sydney, Australia. He graduated from University of New South Wales in 1983 with a double degree majoring in English and Drama. During this period he wrote a dozen songs for the play “The Chapel Perilous” by Dorothy Hewitt and was musical director for the run of the show at the NIDA theatre in Randwick. As a result of this he was invited to write his first film score for a graduating student of the UNSW film and television course in 1981, Nick Parsons.

In 1982 he was hired to research music for a Film Australia documentary called The Migrant Experience, directed by Karl McPhee and Ben Lewin. In 1983, several orchestral pieces were performed by the NSW Conservatorium of Music Orchestra, and then, having completed his University Degree, he was hired by Film Australia as Acting Director of Music.

Following this, some five years later, having produced music recording sessions and overseen the musical requirements for over 200 Film Australia documentaries as well as writing music for a dozen films, he began producing film scores for release on compact disc for an American label and then his own label, oneMone. It started with the American label and then he and Simon Walker conceived of a specialist Australian Film Music label, which Philip then created with James McCarthy: 1M1 Records. Dedicated to releasing Australian filmscores, he produced a number of important soundtracks for release on compact disc. He also began his research into the development of Australian film music and the history of music in Australian film.

Amongst the films he worked on in this period were 'Cane Toads', 'Bingo, Bridesmaids and Braces' and 'After Hours'.

In 1990 he took on a role, with an emphasis and a concentration on Australian recordings, with the Australia Council. He was in charge of applications for a number of different areas, specialising in funding for the recording and release of Australian-based material on compact disc. As a result of this, funding for Australian music recordings increased ten times, resulting in the initiation of Tall Poppies and the support of Move Records, Scratch Records, and dozens of independent labels.

Over the next few years Powers produced cds for 1M1 Records and recorded interviews with many composers, and wrote numerous articles on Australian film music.

Between 1988 and 2007 Powers produced 35 cds for 1M1 Records, before being approached by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, to work as the recording Manager for the Sydney Symphony on their own label, Sydney Symphony Live.

Between 2008 and 2012 he co-produced two dozen recording sessions for the orchestra and Executive Produced almost 30 cds featuring the Sydney Symphony.

Other notable releases include contemporary classical music of Elision and Simon Walker, Guy Gross, Mark Isaacs and featured his own work, "Wired" in Music for Pianos, Percussion and Synthesizers CD booklet notes.

The Australian Recording Industry Association nominated Powers and the 1M1 label for four ARIA awards: Bloodmoon, Wendy Cracked a Walnut, beDevil and the highly regarded Christ Church St. Laurence CD 'Victoria'.

Philip Powers currently resides in Sydney, Australia, with his wife and daughter.

- copyright 2008, updated 2012