Genevieve Lacey is an Australian musician andrecorder virtuoso, working as a performer, creator, curator, and cultural leader. Shey plays handmade recorders made by Joanne Saunders andFred Morgan. In her collection, she also has instruments by David Coomber, Monika Musch, Michael Grinter, Paul Whinray, and Herbert Paetzold.

Genevieve Lacey was born in the Highlands ofPapua New Guinea, the third of four children of Ann and Roderic Lacey. The family moved to Australia in 1980.^[1][2] They lived inCanberra for one year, where all the Lacey children learnt music fromJudith Clingan.^[2]

In 1981 the family moved toBallarat,Victoria, where Lacey completed school, and studiedrecorder with Helen Fairhall andoboe with Joanne Saunders.^[3][4]

She moved toMelbourne to attend theUniversity of Melbourne from 1991 to 1994, studying English Literature and Music (recorder with Ruth Wilkinson, oboe with Stephen Robinson).^[1] She then moved toBasel, Switzerland, where she undertook postgraduate studies inmedieval andrenaissance music at theSchola Cantorum Basiliensis (1995–96).^[5][6] Relocating toDenmark to attend theCarl Nielsen Academy of Music,Odense (1996–98), she received a Diploma in recorder performance in the class ofDan Laurin.^[1][6] She returned to Australia in 1998, and completed a doctorate at the University of Melbourne (1999-2001).^[7] She has since been based in Melbourne.

As a recorder virtuoso, Lacey has performed at the Lindau International Convention of Nobel Laureates, for QueenElizabeth II inWestminster Abbey, on a basketball court onThursday Island withAustralian indigenous ensembleThe Black Arm Band, as a concerto soloist in theRoyal Albert Hall forBBC Proms and at the opening night of theLondon Jazz Festival.^[8][9] She has appeared as a soloist with orchestras includingAustralian Chamber Orchestra,City of London Sinfonia,Kymi andTapiola SinfoniettaFinland,Concerto Copenhagen,English Concert,Academy of Ancient Music, St Petersburg Chamber Orchestra, Korean Symphony Orchestra,Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra,Australian Brandenburg Orchestra,Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, and theMelbourne,Adelaide,West Australian,Tasmanian andQueensland Symphony Orchestras.^[6] Lacey has performed chamber music with artists such asJames Crabb,Marshall McGuire, Jane Gower andLars Ulrik Mortensen,Paolo Pandolfo, Poul Høxbro,Paul Grabowsky,Neal Peres Da Costa andDaniel Yeadon,Karin Schaupp,Flinders Quartet andElision Ensemble, and has appeared at festivals including Sound Unbound (Barbican), Paris Festival d'Automne,Klangboden Wien, Seoul International Music Festival, and at Cheltenham, Huddersfield, Copenhagen Summer, Montalbane, theMaerzMusik festival (Berlin) and all the major Australian arts festivals.^[6]

Lacey has also made an extensive contribution to contemporary recorder repertoire, commissioning and premiering works by composers as wide-ranging as AustraliansLiza Lim,Elena Kats-Chernin,Brett Dean,Lou Bennett,Andrea Keller, Hollis Taylor,Paul Grabowsky,Ben Frost, as well asErkki-Sven Tuur (Estonia),John Surman (UK),Max de Wardener (UK),Jason Yarde (UK),Jan Bang (Norway),Christian Fennesz (Germany) andNico Muhly (USA).^[5]

Lacey's creations combine her skills as a performer, composer, and curator. Her works are experienced in a wide variety of contexts and often connect people and ideas. Recent collaborators include composer Erkki Veltheim, writer Alexis Wright, musician and language activistLou Bennett, choreographers Gideon Obarzanek and Stephanie Lake,^[10] and actor Katherine Tonkin. Lacey’s recent works includeBreathing Space (2023),^[11] a major permanent sound installation for the National Museum of Australia, andConsort of the Moon (2023), a performance piece created with Erkki Veltheim for Rising and Brisbane Festivals. Other collaborations include multidisciplinary worksSoliloquy (2018) andone infinity (2018) that both explore the powerful combination of music and movement.^[12][13] InSoliloquy, 40 untrained participants share the stage with a virtuoso musician and a professional dancer to radically re-invent the conventions of a solo recital.^[14][15]one infinity is across-cultural collaboration between musicians, dancers and choreographers fromChina,Australia and theUnited Kingdom that takes inspiration from the ancient Chinese tale of Zhi Yin.^[16][12] Lacey's creations also includePleasure Garden (2016), akineticsound installation designed for visitors to experience while wandering through an outdoor or indoor garden, or verdant places.^[17] This collaboration is a fusion of music, field recordings and technology (including motion-tracking cameras), and combines 17th century melodies ofJacob van Eyck with contemporaryelectro-acoustic sound art.^[18][17] Her film collaborations include animated documentary filmRecorder Queen (2020), directed by Sophie Raymond,^[19] an autobiographical journey of Lacey's creative life that explores the feelings of being a musician.^[20][21]

• 2023:Consort of the Moon, performance piece for Rising and Brisbane Festival, Major Festivals Initiative^[22]
• 2023:Breathing Space, permanent sound installation, National Museum of Australia^[23]
• 2018:Soliloquy, participatory music-dance ritual^[24]
• 2018:one infinity, cross-cultural music-dance performance^[25]
• 2016:Pleasure Garden, a kinetic sound installation experienced by 30,000+ people in Australia and Europe^[26][27]
• 2015:Acoustic Life of Sheds, a suite of new music, performed in sheds forBig hART^[28][29]
• 2015:Life in Music, radio series for ABC Radio
• 2014–2020:Recorder Queen, animated documentary film^[21]
• 2013:Conversations with Ghosts live concert and recording project with Australian singer-songwriterPaul Kelly
• 2010:Namatjira, theatre work and documentary film forBig hART^[30]
• 2010:En Masse, live music-film installation

Lacey is artistic director for Finding Our Voice,^[31] was a member of the curatorial team for Rising 2019–20,^[32] is the artistic advisor to UKARIA,^[33] and was the chamber music curator ofA Brief History of Time for the 2019Adelaide International Arts Festival.^[34] In 2018, she was the artist in residence for theMelbourne Recital Centre,^[35] and the curator and artistic director for theWhoever You Are Come Forth celebrations for the centenary ofSt Mary's College,University of Melbourne. Other curatorial roles include the inaugural curator for UKARIA 24 in 2016,^[36][37] creator, curator and presenter forWords and Music atWheeler Centre in 2014,^[8] and curating the live music program for theArt Music Awards, APRA-Australian Music Centre, 2013–2015. She was the artistic director forMusica Viva Australia's FutureMakers from 2015 to 2019,^[38][39] Four Winds Festival from 2008 until 2012,^[40][41] and the Melbourne Autumn Music Festival between 1999 and 2003.^[42] She has provided support and guidance to emerging artists as a creative and entrepreneurial mentor, with positions including mentoring for the Freedman Fellowship Finalists 2019-2020^[43] and the Australian National Academy of Music's Fellowship program between 2014 and 2016.^[9]

• McKinnon, C. (2020).Adelaide Festival 60 Years. Amsterdam University Press.
• Lacey, Genevieve (2021). 'Life in Music', inCreative Research in Music: Informed Practice, Innovation and Transcendence (1st ed.). Routledge.

The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally asAIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector.

TheARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres ofAustralian music.

TheAustralian Women in Music Awards is an annual event that celebrates outstanding women in theAustralian Music Industry who have made significant and lasting contributions in their chosen field. They commenced in 2018.

TheNational Live Music Awards (NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse live industry, celebrating the success of the Australian live scene. The awards commenced in 2016.

TheSidney Myer Performing Arts Awards commenced in 1984 and recognise outstanding achievements in dance, drama, comedy, music, opera, circus and puppetry.

• John Truscott Artists Award forConsort of the Moon, Rising, 2023^[70]
• Green Room for best composition and sound design forone infinity, with Max de Wardener, Wang Peng, Jim Atkins, 2019^[71]
• Estonian Music Best Classical Recording 2018 forTüür Illuminatio^[72]
• Fellowship,Australia Council for the Arts, Music Board 2012–2013^[73]
• Excellence in a Regional Area,Art Music AwardsAPRA-AMC – Four Winds Festival 2011^[74]
• Helpmann Award, best touring production –Namatjira 2012^[75]
• State Award for Excellence,Art Music AwardsAPRA-AMC –En Masse 2011^[76]
• Outstanding Musician, Melbourne Prize for Music 2007^[77]
• Best performance,Art Music AwardsAPRA-AMC – Ledger's Line Drawing 2006
• Churchill Fellowship 2006^[78]
• Music Council of Australia/Freedman Fellowship for Australian performer of superb achievement 2001^[79]
• Helen M. Schutt Scholarship, most highly ranked female research student 1999
• Most outstanding graduate,Carl Nielsen Academy of Music, Denmark 1998
• First place, Dean's Honours List, Faculty of Music,University of Melbourne, 1994
• Welsford Smithers Travelling Scholarship,University of Melbourne 1994
• Queen's Trust Award for outstanding young Australians 1994
• Catherine Grace McWilliam Prize for most outstanding graduate,University of Melbourne 1994

Chair, A New Approach Reference Group 2021—; Chair, Board of Directors,Australian Music Centre, 2016–2021; Director, A New Approach, 2021—; Advisory Council, A New Approach, 2018–; Director, Four Winds Festival Foundation Board, 2018–2020; Advisory Council, The New Approach (Myer, Fairfax, Keir Foundations),^[80] 2018; Board of Directors, The New Approach 2021 -; International Jury Member, Classical:NEXT, 2017;^[81] Advisory Panel, UKARIA, 2015–2017; Peer Assessment Panel,Australia Council for the Arts, 2015–2020; Board of Directors,Australian Music Centre, 2013–2015; Advisory Panel,Black Arm Band, 2011–2015; Judging Panel,City of Melbourne Arts Grants, 2011–2020; Advisory Committee,Australian Music Centre, 2010–2012; Judging Panel,Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award, 2008–2009; Board of Directors,Elision Ensemble, 2008–2015; Board of Directors,Astra Chamber Music Society, 2006–2012; Board of Directors,Australian Music Centre, 2006–2010; Judging Panel, Ian Potter Composer Fellowship Award, 2005–2007; Artistic Review Panel,Musica Viva Australia, 2004–2008; Honorary Fellow,University of Melbourne, 2002–2020.

• Official website
• Genevieve Lacey discography atMusicBrainz
• Genevieve Lacey tour dates atSongkick
• Genevieve Lacey discography atDiscogs

• Living people
• 21st-century Australian musicians
• Australian recorder players
• Australian expatriates in Switzerland
• Papua New Guinean emigrants to Australia
• Schola Cantorum Basiliensis alumni
• University of Melbourne alumni
• 20th-century Australian classical musicians
• 21st-century classical musicians
• 20th-century Australian women musicians
• 21st-century Australian women musicians
• ARIA Award winners
• 20th-century Australian flautists
• 21st-century flautists

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