Released on the Van Diemen’s Band in-house record label VDB, violist Katie Yap presents an intriguing recital of new music. Each work here is based on a Judith Wright bird poem, and each began life as a semi-improvised co-composition with other musicians – the sort of collaboration that we see usually in the rock world, but less so in the classical, with the press release also noting juxtapositions of “old/new; city/bush; Chinese/Australian; and folk/classical”.

Black Cockatoos kicks off with Donald Nicolson’s gentle rising harpsichord arpeggios as Yap’s viola floats across it, with occasional commentary from burbling electronics. Over the course of 12 minutes, the work ebbs and flows, kicking into some Tangerine Dream-esque flavours. Also, it’s not every day you get to hear an electric viola, so that’s cool!

Night Herons sees Yap joined not only by Emily Sheppard’s violin but also by both women’s voices in a gentle folkloric meditation, while Migrant Swift opens with a bang from Mindy Meng Wang’s guzheng. Here I wasn’t totally convinced by the long, long middle...