Backstage at Midsumma with Miranda Hill | Homophonic!
- Feb 4
- 2 min read
In today's Backstage at Midsumma, we are speaking to Miranda Hill, who is bringing the classical music extravaganza Homophonic! back to Theatre Works this Midsumma after a successful run last year.
Classical Music... but gayer! Homophonic! is back with even more new music by LGBTIQ+ composers! Bringing the disco ball to the concert hall and celebrating the amazing sound world of todays queer artists and storytellers. Performed by the Homophonic! string quintet and percussion, and the aethereal voices of The Consort of Melbourne, Homophonic! is a joyous and thoughtful exploration of queer lives, activism, the past we've survived and the future we will thrive in.
Q: Take us back to the start. When did this show first drop into your head? How did it get to where it is now?
Homophonic! started all the way back in 2011, when I started to realise that my two disparate professional lives at the time: as a orchestral double bassist and as a scene photographer for the gay street press didn't have to be kept so separate! The music I loved could be as outrageously gay and joyous and free as the nights I spent trawling Chapel St with a camera.
We sold out that first show and haven't looked back. Homophonic! has evolved, with a focus now on commissioning new works, and celebrating our shared history through music. Telling our stories in our own voices, and singing them out loud so we can never be forgotten or straight washed when we're super famous and someone else is writing our biography.
Q: What will people find in your show that they won't find anywhere else in Midsumma?
World class performances of chamber music, vocal consort singing from The Consort of Melbourne, and a double bass solo inspired by the lost gay clubs of Meangin/Brisbane.
Q: What will surprise audiences about this work?
Classical music gets a bad reputation as being.. well... dead rich straight white men... but it's truly a living and evolving art form that takes risks and tells stories, and everyone involved in Homophonic! really truly loves it. This music is our passion and our artform, and we can't wait to share these new works with you all.
Q: You're on a blind date. Nervously, you walk into the bar. Across the smoke and pool tables you see them - there they are. Your exact target audience member, personified. Can you describe them?
Very attractive, good listener, open to new ideas, ready to laugh, has a favourite living poet, can quote the love letters Tchaikovsky wrote to his male lovers. (Last one not essential).
Q: What has been the most memorable moment in the process so far?
Homophonic! is truly a joy and a privilege. The connections made across generations, art forms, with community groups and historians, to look out into an audience and see people cry with the joy of seeing themselves reflected in this artform that is made of pure emotion. I couldn't choose just one moment out of the past 16 years of Homophonic!, because every moment is precious!
Homophonic! has 3 performances over 6-7 February as a part of the Midsumma Festival.
I really enjoyed reading this Backstage at Midsumma piece about the creation of Homophonic! — it’s genuinely https://www.tintfit.com/ exciting! The interview with Miranda Hill gives you a backstage feel, like you’re standing alongside the artists and experiencing each part of the production with them. I loved reading about how they blend contemporary and classical music, share stories from queer composers, and even weave in humour and joy in their musical journey. What strikes me most is that Homophonic! isn’t just a concert — it’s a shared experience that celebrates creativity, diversity, and community history through music. This kind of project doesn’t just entertain — it creates a meaningful cultural event, and I feel like I would have loved to be there in the audience!