Harpist Emily Granger opens the Melbourne concert launching her new album, A Thing of Beauty by inviting the audience to pause and be still; to eschew the pressures and complexity of the outside world and appreciate simple, unaffected beauty. To this end, Granger commissions, selects and arranges music “that speaks directly to the heart”.

The launch concert features world premieres of three commissioned works. In total, Granger performs works by 11 contemporary Australian women, several of which she arranged herself.

Emily’s Suite by Alice Chance is one of the premiered works. The spellbinding opening to Full of Wonder on the harp’s highest strings ensures – and rewards – the audience’s stillness. In the next two movements, Ballad and Chorale, Chance exploits the distinctive tones of the lower registers. By the end, it feels as if Emily’s Suite has introduced both the beautiful instrument and the performer.

Emily Granger. Photo supplied

Anne Cawrse’s Come to me, based on the poem Echo by Christina Rosetti, is another specially commissioned work. Granger recites the poem before she plays, setting the scene for Cawrse’s soulful, reflective interpretation of...