WELCOME
Maintaining a diverse practice in music performance and visual arts Elisabeth Kelvin energetically and enthusiastically paints what she hears and plays what she sees. Her journey is wholly interdisciplinary as she creates multiple artistic paths as a clarinet and saxophone teacher, performer, composer, and visual artist.
From a family of musicians and artists, Elisabeth Kelvin seamlessly blends the visual and aural in her captivating creative practice. With a dual-talent honed at a young age – graduating first in both music and art at senior high school – her fascination with the interplay between disciplines shines through in her work.
ART
MUSIC
MULTIDISCIPLINARY PERFORMANCE
DEFINING MOMENTS AND LIFE-CHANGING STORIES.
From a family of musicians and artists, Elisabeth was the first to learn wind instruments and to create non-representational artworks. Playing music in the living room and painting plein air were as much a part of family life as bushwalking and surfing. A Sydney-based recorder teacher/performer, Bernard Tola, was the first to inspire Elisabeth to actually practice. From a suggested therapy to relieve childhood-asthma, to an avid student recorder performer and concert-goer, she was encouraged to set her sights on larger instruments. Her grandfather and cellist gave Elisabeth the first wooden clarinet. She cried with joy. Her clarinet lessons, with Sue Thomas, Gabor Reeves OM, Margery Smith, Prof. Elsa Ludwig-Verdehr (to name a few) filled with more joy than angst, propelled her deeper into the realm of extended clarinet techniques and instruments. The acquisition of a bass clarinet and saxophones was a logical step to in a contemporary direction.
At just eight years old, Elisabeth’s talent for charcoal and shading was so impressive that it caught the attention of her second-grade art teacher, who wholeheartedly believed in her potential. So much so, that the teacher invited Elisabeth to showcase her artwork in a sixth-grade student exhibition and encouraged her with these empowering words: “You are an artist. Never forget that.” With the active support of her uncles, aunts, and friends, along with her Viennese grandmother who was a skilled pianist and artist herself, Elisabeth’s creative pursuits flourished. Her grandmother even gifted her a professional set of acrylic paints, further solidifying her commitment to her art.
As a proud student of her great-grandmother, who was a professional pianist, Elisabeth can trace her roots in music to the very roots of classical composition. In fact, she can be considered “a pupil, of a pupil, of a pupil, of a pupil of Beethoven.” Similarly, her expertise in drawing was honed under the tutelage of her uncle and grandfather, making her a true heir to the legacy of renowned Australian artist, Lloyd Rees. With such strong ties to both music and art, it’s no surprise that Elisabeth has been able to forge a powerful connection between these two timeless forms of expression.
Elisabeth currently shares her expertise and passion through Teaching Language Through Music, Art, and Movement to children of all ages as well as presenting Workshops and Discovery Sessions to individuals and private groups. These are ideal for brightening lives, boosting moral, and bringing culture into daily activities. After all, we are, at our best, creative creatures.
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© 2024 Elisabeth Kelvin
Elisabeth Kelvin 