Artists

Meta Cohen is a composer, sound designer and dramaturg with work spanning music, theatre and interdisciplinary art.

Their work has been commissioned and performed across Australia, the UK and the US, and has been described as ‘meteoric’ (ClassikON); ‘fiendishly virtuosic’ (Classic Melbourne) and ‘a captivating odyssey beyond the ordinary’ (What’s On Sydney). Meta’s music features on album releases from the ABC, Chandos (UK) and independent labels. Meta was recently included on Limelight Australia’s ’25 in 25’ list. Meta often prioritises LGBTQIA+ work where possible. Their queer song cycle a love is a love is a love, commissioned by ABC Classic, was released in June 2023 and features on the ABC’s Women of Note, Volume 6 album. Other notable works include Caedo, which was awarded in the Leonardo Da Vinci International Composition Competition in Florence and Swerve, which was a finalist in the 2023 Art Music Awards. See more at https://www.metacohen.com

In Residence at Bundanon

Meta will work with mezzo-soprano Jessica Aszodi, director/dramaturg Alyson Campbell, librettist Evan Bryson and pianist Coady Green on ‘Kiss My Sword’, a new opera about 17th Century queer icon Julie d’Aubigny: a bisexual, cross-dressing, sword-fighting Parisian opera star. The opera explores Julie’s audacious life and the contradictions of her legend, asking what it means to live a life defiant of the structures around us; how to tell a story that has no single truth; and why these queer histories still call to us in our current time.