The third artist to be presenting new music works created during isolation at MOTH, on Friday 7 May as part of The Cocoon Project series, is the in-demand violinist and collaborator Xani.

Xani was employed full-time as a musical theatre session violinist, for the Melbourne season of the multi-award-winning production Come From Away, before COVID pressed pause on live performance.I wasn’t eligible for any of the government subsidies – JobKeeper or JobSeeker – so I had be creative about how I would make money,” she recalls. “I did a lot of live streaming – I streamed twice a week – and I put out an album.”

Of her chosen live streaming platform, Twitch, Xani enthuses, “There is quite a community there that go and check things out and they’re open to new things… I noticed a real surge in my audience through performing for people from all around the world.” Xani submitted a grant application “to look into how to release music that is created interactively”, which was successful! So she’ll be investigating the possibilities for releasing this material later on in the year.

“It was actually such a gift to be able to just work solely on my own music,” Xani reflects. “I know that in order to be mentally healthy I need to create. I wanted to reflect on this time, and great art comes from great adversity as well.”

At her upcoming MOTH show, Xani will premiere some of the standout songs she created in a more experiential way, with audience input, during her Twitch live streams.

 

Xani at Music on the Hill (MOTH) at Red Hill Pavilion on Friday 7 May. Tickets and more info HERE.

 

https://www.xanikolac.com   https://www.facebook.com/xanimusic   https://www.instagram.com/xani.k/