Hilary Kleinig

Hilary Kleinig is a multidisciplinary musician who works as a cellist, composer, curator, producer and educator. She is passionate about creating new work, collaborating with new artists and inspiring new audiences and producing work that is vital, current and courageous.

She is founder, Artistic Director of and cellist with Zephyr Quartet, a bold and adventurous string quartet, with whom she has curated and produced projects, collaborating together with a range of artists and companies working in various artistic fields. Zephyr Quartet commissions and performs new music by composers working in various musical spheres and performs with a diverse range of leading musicians. Recent collaborations include ‘The Beginning of Nature’ with Australian Dance Theatre and ‘The Aspirations of Daise Morrow’ with Brink Productions, both of which toured nationally and internationally in 2018.

As an independent artist she has worked as composer, sound designer, performer and musical director for dance and theatre companies including State Theatre Company, Brink Productions and Restless Dance Theatre and has been commissioned to compose for the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Adelaide Chamber Singers and the Adelaide Youth Orchestras.

Hilary has recently been awarded the Arts South Australia 2017 Fellowship for her independent research, development and composition project ‘The Lost Art of Listening’ and is creating a work for prepared piano and audience played smartphone choir which investigates how people experience and value music in an age of 24-hour connectedness and distraction.

Hilary works in live and recorded performance as a freelance musician for ensembles, orchestras, contemporary & jazz artists. She performs regularly on baroque/classical cello with period specialist chamber ensembles such as Ensemble Galante, Adelaide Baroque, Adelaide Chamber Singers and the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra. At the other end of the musical spectrum she also is a skilled improviser and plays amplified cello with various experimental and improvising ensembles.