Michael Sollis. Portrait © Keith Saunders.

Next week will be a memorial service for composer and musician Michael Sollis, who passed away in May this year after a long battle with cancer.

Micheal had a profound impact on my life and career as a mentorship became a collaborative friendship over 10 years. 

Richard Gill introduced me to Michael in 2016. I was just about to graduate from three years at the Australian National Academy of Music, and Richard had recently appointed Michael as the inaugural Artistic Director of Education at Musica Viva.

Michael was in the process of recruiting new shows for the program and was immediately supportive and enthusiastic about my idea to turn Tan Dun’s Water Concerto – featuring a solo percussionist playing water – into a touring education show for primary-aged children.

Michael guided clarinettist Luke Carbon, pianist Leigh Harrold and me as we created our show Water Water Everywhere, featuring a trio version of the Water Concerto. He championed our project, and the show went on to have more than 300 performances for more than 50,000 schoolchildren around Australia. This was just one of many shows that Michael helped to bring to life during this time, including projects with groups such as Dr. Stove Pipe, Arcadia Winds, East Winds and many more.

As we built Water Water Everywhere, Michael took on the role of dramaturg and helped us to truly interrogate the reasoning behind the decisions we made. It was my first experience of drilling deeply into the creative process, and I continue to be influenced by this model of creative development today.

Michael was passionate about the concept of teaching artists. He taught me the power of bringing the work that I do as a performer and creator into schools, to support the learning that children are doing alongside their more formal, curriculum-based education. He was a lifelong teaching artist himself and continued to teach his young students right up until weeks before he passed away.

In 2019, when COVID-19 suddenly shut down all possibility of travel, Michael led a push at Musica Viva to convert our touring shows into an online platform. This not only ensured that schoolchildren didn’t miss out on the programs their schools had booked, but also that the large number of musicians employed by Musica Viva would continue to earn an income during such an uncertain time. It was this sort of compassion and drive that made Michael stand out.

After the water show ran its four-year course, Michael supported flautist Aawa White and me to begin development on a new show celebrating the natural world and teaching children about the power of deep listening. Walking With the Wilderness premiered in 2022 and featured four newly commissioned Australian works, including one from Michael’s friend and Ngunnawul custodian Richie Allen.

We worked on some amazing projects together over the years, and I was always blown away by Michael’s creative drive and energy.

In 2018, Michael was commissioned by Elspeth and Graham Humphries to write a new work, Water(s) between us. He composed the piece for me and his wife, flautist Kiri Sollis. It was during this project that I had the chance to stay with Michael and his family in Canberra while we workshopped the piece.

Thea Rossen and Michael Sollis. Photo supplied

Later that year, Michael and I collaborated on the development of a solo, concert-length project, Milk Carton Confessions. The show premiered at the Extended Play Festival in 2019 with the support of festival director and longtime friend of Michael’s, Lyle Chan.

The multimedia performance asked audiences to interrogate their own consumption and recycling practices and featured recordings that Michael made himself of community members. The work went on to have many different iterations, including online in Victoria during COVID and as a large-scale community performance in WA with Tura in 2022.

Michael’s incredible wife Kiri is not only a stunning flautist and teaching artist but an amazing mother, whom I greatly admire. As I remember the many projects that Michael and I had the chance to work on, I am eternally grateful to Kiri who, when not a part of them herself, made it possible for us to work together.

I was only involved in a tiny fraction of the immense creative output that Michael achieved in his very short life. He battled cancer for four long years, but it did not slow down his determination to keep creating and connecting with audiences during that time.

In every project I have worked on with Michael, before and after his diagnosis, his ability to see to the core of the ideas and his creative energy have always inspired me. He taught me the power of being a teaching artist and the importance of strong collaborative relationships.

Michael was running at 110 percent right up to the end, working on his doctorate and co-directing the Canberra Folk Festival, as well as travelling to see family and friends. His legacy as a musician, composer and teaching artist will endure.

But what I will remember is the kind, creative soul whose endless energy made amazing things happen.

Thank you, Michael, for all you have given to the creative culture in Australia, and thank you, Kiri, and your sons Bryn and Lyle, for sharing him with us when he had so little time left in this world.

A memorial service will be held for Michael Sollis on Thursday 24 September (3.30pm) at Belconnen Arts Centre, Canberra. All are welcome.