Prelude is a national network of long-term residencies for Australian composers, housed in historic buildings and providing time and space for the creation of new work.
The residency is part of a program run by the Peggy Glanville-Hicks Composers House Trust, offering year-long residencies to allow composers to focus on their craft while residing in heritage-listed homes in Perth and Sydney.
The Perth resident occupies beautiful Gallop House in Dalkeith, which is managed by the National Trust of Western Australia.
Prelude supports Australian composers with the time and space to create new work by providing accommodation and a stipend to assist with living expenses. It is based on the sentiment expressed by Peggy Glanville-Hicks in 1958 that, “It is apparent that leisure and silence are absolute prerequisites for composers if they are to engage fully the many forms of awareness involved in creative activity.”
The 2023 resident is Jae Laffer, an award-winning songwriter, producer and musician with an impressive catalogue of releases with The Panics and as a solo artist.
Previous Prelude residents at Gallop House include award winning pianist Dr Yitzhak Yedid, performer/composer Rachael Dease and jazz musician/composer Chris McNulty.
The residencies are open to composers of music of any genre and at any stage of their career. The successful applicants are provided with sole occupancy of the houses.
Applications for the 2023 round closed on 8 August 2022. Visit the Prelude Music Program webpage for more information.
Gallop House in Dalkeith is a two-storey Victorian-style home built in 1877, nestled on the Swan River in Perth.
Built on the banks of the Swan River (Derbarl Yerrigan) in an area known to the Whadjuk Noongars as Nanulgarup, the area was originally known as Dalkeith Farm. Adam Armstrong and his family took up the land in 1831 and established a five acre garden growing grapes, figs and a variety of vegetables as well as fencing 35 acres, probably for livestock. It was later leased than bought by James Gallop who built the current house and extended the range of crops which he sold from a jetty at the base of the steps, now reclaimed land.
Over time the place has been saved from destruction firstly by the government and later by the Royal Western Australian Historical Society. Leslie and Bill Anderson lived there through the 1960 and 70s doing much to restore the house and opening it to the public.
The National Trust took over Gallop House in 2009 and, with the generous support of the Feilman Foundation, has been able to conserve and redevelop the house and adjacent land for use for the composer in residence program.
