Two of Australian music’s leading ladies, Claire Edwardes and Amy Dickson, on reviving their duo.

There are some instrumental combinations that have a virtually limitless supply of repertoire to choose from. For those staple ensembles of the chamber music canon (piano trios, string quartets, wind quintets, etc.) there’s no shortage of music to explore when devising a programme. But what’s to be done when the instrumental combination is of a less conventional variety? As saxophonist Amy Dickson and percussionist Claire Edwardes have shown with the selection for their upcoming collaboration, Life in a Day, the answer is to get creative.

As two of Australian music’s leading ladies, both artists have forged impressive careers specialising in instruments some might consider on the edge of mainstream classical music. Dickson’s international success, which includes winning a coveted Classical Brit Award for Breakthrough Artist of the Year in 2013 as well as securing two Grammy nominations, has made her the poster girl for classical saxophone, both in Australia and overseas. With one foot in a distinctly commercial territory and the other rooted in the world of contemporary music (and in particular Australian new music) Dickson has a reputation for playing repertoire from a...