I trained as a jazz saxophonist at ANU and WAAPA. Although I loved jazz standards, I was always interested in composing music for ensembles and leaning more towards improvised music. I moved to Copenhagen to do my Masters at the Rytmisk Musikkonservatorium (Rhythmic Music Conservatory).

Calum Builder playing his (Re)constructed Pipe Organ. Photo © Örn Ingi Unnsteinsson

Towards the end of the Masters, the Coronavirus happened. Then I was offered an artistic research position at the conservatorium, and due to the pandemic, we decided to stay put.

My wife is from New Zealand, and we have two kids now. I definitely miss Australia, but family life is pretty good in Copenhagen. It’s a small city – only one million people – so everything is closer together, and things exist in a different context. Working as an artist and musician, there is perhaps more support.

During the pandemic, I was writing a piece for the Crush String Collective for myself on saxophone and Svend Hvidtfelt Nielsen, who is an organist and composer. He plays the organ at a church, which is a five-minute walk from my home. Because...