Media Release
Friday 20 August 2021
Announcing the latest musicians and composers to take part in UKARIA residency
The Australia Council is pleased to announce the latest recipients of residencies offered in partnership with the UKARIA Cultural Centre in the Adelaide Hills, SA.
Composer Fiona Hill heads to UKARIA later this year, joined by collaborators including director/choreographer Sue Healey (Australia Council Award for Dance 2021), and Churchill Fellow and internationally renowned dancer/choreographer Christopher Hill. They will use the residency to work on a site-specific short film.
“The film will draw on our response to being in and resonating with a specific place, in this instance the grounds and buildings of UKARIA. We will also collaborate with the acclaimed Seraphim Trio, workshopping and recording the score for the film during the residency,” Fiona Hill said.
Composer Paul Castles will use the residency to develop a new work of immersive music-driven multisensory theatre being created for Light Adelaide. 
He will be joined by an interdisciplinary team of collaborators including pianist and creative producer Nicole Brady, sound designer and engineer Bob Scott, several musicians, writer Victoria Saxton, experiential designer Meg Wilson, chef Brendan Wessels, technical director Ryan Grobbins, and director of photography Alex Smith.
“We'll be exploring and recording music, capturing 360 audio and visuals from the surrounding South Australian landscapes, and preparing an initial workshop presentation to be shared at UKARIA.” Paul Castles said.
Residents will spend 10 days at the prestigious UKARIA Cultural Centre at Mt Barker, with exclusive access to facilities including a state-of-the-art recital centre, and adjacent accommodation in the picturesque Adelaide Hills.
UKARIA CEO Alison Beare congratulated the latest recipients.
“As we wrestle with the devastating impact of COVID-19, and the loss of live performance, supporting creativity, and encouraging artists to find new pathways into the future is imperative at this time.”
Australia Council Head of Music Kirsty Rivers thanked UKARIA for continuing to provide an ideal setting for Australian artistic teams to collaborate.
“We are delighted to again partner with UKARIA to offer this unique residency for Australian musicians and composers. The residency enables groups of artists to collaborate and develop new work, and we look forward to seeing the results of these collaborations.”
The residency recipients will have exclusive access to UKARIA, including the state-of-the-art auditorium and Twin Peaks accommodation facilities adjacent to the Mount Barker Summit, as well as financial support to assist with the development of their new works.
The residency program between the Australia Council and UKARIA is proudly supported by Ulrike Klein AO.
Media contact:  

Brianna Roberts, Media Manager 
Australia Council for the Arts 
Phone: (02) 9215 9030   
Mobile: 0498 123 541 
Email: b.roberts@creative.gov.au

More information - 2021 UKARIA Residents
Paul Castles
Paul is a composer of multi-disciplinary and collaborative works that have wandered across the worlds of theatre, dance, opera, and digital art. His music has been developed, performed, and produced in Asia, Australia, Europe, North Africa, and the United States. Recent productions include Theatre Royal Bath, Basin Dance Collective, and 7 Daughters of Eve.
Paul is from Sydney, Australia. He is a proud graduate of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and the Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program of the Tisch School of the Arts. He is also an alumnus of Yaddo, Sundance Institute Theatre Lab, Center for Ballet and the Arts Resident Fellowship, New Dramatists Composer-Librettist Studio, Old Vic Lab, Public Theatre's Public Studio, New Opera Ventures, and the Cybec 21st Century Young Composers Program.
Fiona Hill
Fiona Hill is a composer specialising in electroacoustics and immersive sound. Drawing on contemporary classical and electronic art music styles, Fiona’s work often explores the dichotomy of the natural and industrial worlds to create a “powerful emotional impact” (The Advertiser). 
Through works such as the acclaimed electroacoustic composition Imago, contemporary dance film Circumstance 2020 and a range of works for orchestra, ensemble and experimental performance, Fiona’s music seeks to find a common language amongst the opposing yet magnetic elements within sound, style and subject matter.
Fiona is a beneficiary of an APRA AGSC Women in Screen Music mentorship (2019), APRA AMCOS Art Music Fund (2018), Ensemble Offspring’s Noisy Women Commission (2017) and winner of BEST SCORE at the Seoul International Short Film Festival (2021). 
Currently Fiona is undertaking a PhD at Sydney Conservatorium of Music with an Australian Government Research Training Program scholarship as part of the Composing Women program.