I honestly never thought of composing a violin concerto, a genre with too many giants looking over your shoulder. And least of all in a Shitsome Lockdown in Germany. Writing Loop Guts together with Hannah Solveij was a glorious trippy trek . . . We smooshed violining with sampling, loops, electronic effects, singing and incanted nonsense syllables, all in a psychedelic supernova of our favourite musical genres from all eras.

Loop Guts
Composer Gordon Hamilton with violinst and co-composer Hannah Solveij. Photo © Susanne Diesner

Since September 2020 I’ve been trapped in the COVID travel tumult, and will have been stranded in Germany for nine months (perhaps even longer, who knows). My next chance to return home to Brisbane is 8 June.

Germany is enduring the longest absence of live music since probably the Neolithic Revolution. The professional orchestras can still produce content and I’ve been very active in this scene as a composer and conductor, so I’m in a fairly good situation compared to, say, a freelance contrabassoonist.

I met the German violinist Hannah Solveij on Instagram. A mutual friend forwarded me one of her musical stunts and a subsequent stalk revealed she is a...