Katherine Firth

Katherine Elizabeth Firth (born 24 February 1979) is a British-Australian poet and librettist. She is also a university lecturer, working at La Trobe University, Melbourne, and a research associate at Trinity College Theological School, Melbourne, the theological college of the Anglican Province of Victoria.

Katherine Elizabeth Firth
Born (1979-02-24) 24 February 1979
Western Australia
Occupationpoet, university lecturer
NationalityBritish-Australian
Genrepoetry, cantata, anthem
SpouseAndreas Loewe
Website
katherinefirth.net

Education

Firth was born in Western Australia and raised in Melbourne, the Northern Territory and Hong Kong, where she completed her schooling at King George V School. She read English literature at Newnham College, Cambridge, and completed a Master's degree in Music, History and Culture at Oxford Brookes University, where she also gained her doctorate for her thesis,The MacNeices and their Circles: Poets & Composers in Collaboration 1939-54.[1]

Career

Poet and librettist

Firth has created libretti for collaborations with award-winning Sydney composer Andrew Schultz, and Melbourne composers Michael Leighton Jones,[2] and Peter Campbell.[3] Her collaboration with Andrew Schultz, 'Southern Cantata', op. 102, was first performed on Advent Sunday 2017 at St John's Church Southbank, Victoria.[4] The work was first broadcast on 3MBS Radio in February 2018.[5]

Her collaboration with Michael Leighton Jones, 'Anthem for the Feast of any Healer' was first performed by the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge directed by Stephen Layton.[6] It was subsequently recorded by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation performed by the librettist and the Choir of Trinity College (University of Melbourne) under the direction of the composer.[7]

Two collaborations with Peter Campbell, 'Sunlight touches the roses' and 'In Advent heat' were written for and recorded by the Choir of Trinity College (University of Melbourne).

Firth has reflected on the poetry of Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Encounter program.[8]

Academic and educator

Firth has collaborated with her partner Andreas Loewe on key Lutheran compositions, creating English study translations of the German libretti of Bach's St John Passion,[9] and Martin Luther's iconic hymn "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott" ("A Mighty Fortress Is Our God").[10] Both contributed a joint reflection on the word setting and music of Bach to Ida Lichter's The Secret Magic of Music: Conversations with Musical Masters.[11]

A lecturer at La Trobe University, Firth has published widely in the field of poetry and music, including articles on modernist poets T. S. Eliot, Louis MacNeice and Ezra Pound, Australian and British women poets Judith Wright and Kathleen Raine, and composers such as Gerald Finzi.[1]

In 2013, she received the University of Melbourne's Norman Curry Award for her work in developing Thesis Boot Camp with educators Peta Freestone and Liam Connell.[12] Her academic skills work centres on fostering academic writing skills. Her How to fix academic writing trouble, with Inger Mewburn and Shaun Lehmann, is being published by Open University Press.[13]

References
  1. "Katherine Firth CV". Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  2. "Represented Artist: Michael Leighton Jones". Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  3. "Peter Campbell". Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  4. "Work: Andrew Schultz, Southern Cantata, op. 102". Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  5. "3MBS Reflections 4 February 2018". Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  6. "World Premiere for Musical Tribute to "unsung" Hero of Penicillin". Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  7. "Work: Michael Leighton Jones, Anthem for the Feast of Any Healer". Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  8. "ABC Encounter: Dr Katherine Firth". Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  9. "Johann Sebastian Bach's St John Passion (BWV 245): A Theological Commentary With a new Study Translation by Katherine Firth and a Preface by N. T. Wright". Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  10. "Project MUSE - Martin Luther's "Mighty Fortress"". Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  11. "Andreas Loewe and Katherine Firth on Bach". Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  12. "Norman Curry Award for Innovation and Excellence in Educational Programs". Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  13. "How to Fix your Academic Writing Trouble". Retrieved 18 June 2018.
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