My Heart performance notes 2026
Forest Collective presents
My Heart
As part of Midsumma Festival
Thursday 22 January 7:30pm
Melbourne Recital Centre
Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country
Danaë Killian
piano and spoken voice
Jane Noonan
costume
Program
Danaë Killian My Prussian Blue Heart for pianist, tarot cards, and piano (2017, rev. 2024) movement one
Arnold Schoenberg Drei Klavierstücke, Op. 11 (1909)
Howard Dillon Möbius for solo piano (2012)
Christine McCombe Asphyxed (1991)
Danaë Killian My Prussian Blue Heart movement two
Amelia Barden The Seventh Centre (1992)
Colin McKellar Birth Music (2006)
Gregers Brinch Two Minds, Op. 73 (2004)
Evan J Lawson Sikinnis III (2015)
Danaë Killian My Prussian Blue Heart movement three
Followed by the launch of Danaë Killian’s latest album My Heart (Move Records, 2026)
Forest Collective acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we live, meet, create, and perform this performance, Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country. We pay our respects to their Elders, past and present, and extend our respects to all Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders, past and present. We recognise and respect their cultural heritage, beliefs, and relationship with the land. We recognise Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first inhabitants of this nation.
Danaë Killian
Dr Danaë Killian is an Australian pianist whose poetry-infused performances are known for their intense originality and expressive interpretive power. Her repertoire stretches across the complete solo piano music of the Expressionist Second Viennese School, major polyphonic works by JS Bach, and a wealth of Australian compositions. A passionate champion of modern art music, Danaë Killian typically performs dozens of contemporary compositions each year, from both Australia and abroad, many of which are premieres.
Previously playing throughout Europe, China, the USA, Australia and New Zealand, Danaë has chosen to unfold her practice close to home in Naarm/Melbourne while addressing the challenges of chronic illness and concomitant disability. At home, where she is celebrated as “one of [Naarm-]Melbourne’s piano treasures” (ClassikON), Danaë is a core artist with Forest Collective, a transdisciplinary new music+ band under the artistic direction of Evan J Lawson. Danaë also frequently performs freelance as both soloist and collaborator, and from 2014 to 2023, Danaë was an Honorary Fellow in the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music at The University of Melbourne.
My Heart (Move Records, 2026)
My Heart is a striking album by Naarm/Melbourne-based expressionist pianist Danaë Killian, weaving solo piano with spoken word, poetic improvisation, and tarot.
Inspired by German-Jewish Expressionist poet Else Lasker-Schüler’s 1911 novel Mein Herz, the album blurs boundaries between pianist and piano, poet and composer. Across its unfolding musical landscape, sound, text, and intuition coexist, creating an intensely personal listening experience.
The majority of composers featured on My Heart are based in Naarm/Melbourne, reflecting the album’s deep connection to a local contemporary music community, with the only exceptions being Danish composer Gregers Brinch and Arnold Schoenberg. My Heart is presented as an immersive journey, designed to be experienced from beginning to end as a cohesive whole, while acknowledging the creative contributions of all the composers featured.
