IN CONVERSATION WITH MARCEL HOWELL

We are pleased to introduce Marcel Howell, who we have commissioned to compose a special world premiere piece of music for our upcoming concert À Deux.

Marcel is the fourth West Australian composer that a2. orchestra has commissioned. We are excited to have commissioned him to compose a special piece for our upcoming concert À Deux, that spotlights our Founders Josh Spirek and Aiden Labuschagne as soloists, for a duet recital.

Marcel is currently studying a Bachelor of Music at WAAPA, and has won the Royal Overseas League prize for a composition he wrote that was performed by the WAAPA Symphony Orchestra. He was also recently selected to take part in the WA Symphony Orchestra Composition Project, and is an active oboist having performed with ensembles such as Fremantle Chamber Orchestra, George Ellis Orchestra, WA Youth Orchestras, and West Coast Philharmonic Orchestra. We were also glad to have him perform in our 2025 NSA Christmas Concert.

When asked to describe what his composition for a2. orchestra is about, Marcel said, “the composition will likely be interpreted in a variety of ways by different people, which is great. For me, I wrote this piece with the intention of reflecting the journeys and identities of Aiden and Josh as musicians”.

Something that has come from the meetings that Marcel has had with the performers, is that Josh and Aiden have a real passion for music. Marcel commented, “passion is essential to being an artist, and I want to explore where passion and a love of music can lead you”.

Marcel also shared that this composition is particularly unique, as he has a connection to the performers. “Aiden and Josh are both incredible players, and I've seen them perform for years at this point. I never thought I'd get the chance to write something for them. Not only this, but seeing as oboe and double bass are both criminally underrated instruments, it’s also a great opportunity to show others what these instruments can really do”.

On the topic of this piece being unique, Marcel spoke about where his composition sits within the program for the rest of the concert. “The other works in the program span over 300 years of Western musical history, and I'm honoured to have my music performed alongside works by several notable composers. I have a feeling that my work will be quite a contrast compared to the rest of the program, as I'm influenced not just by these composers, but artists of many eras and cultures. With this in mind, I intend for my piece to pay its respects to tradition, but not feel restrained by it”.

Speaking of traditions, we were keen to learn more about the process that Marcel uses to compose new works. In today’s digital age, it is common for composers to rely on music notation software, however Marcel has moved away from this, and prefers to begin his compositions by sitting at the piano and writing his music by hand. “My current composition process includes sitting down at a piano, and improvising chords, melodies, or any sort of idea, lots of thinking, and eventually writing things down on manuscript, even though it might not look pretty”.

He does eventually input his music into notation software, but he commented on how he finds beginning a piece through writing by hand, although being a slower process, means that he composes higher quality music.

When asked about what the audience should listen out for in his composition, Marcel responded, “I believe that listeners have the freedom to interpret art however they want. With that being said, I do hope that the audience keeps an open mind when listening to my work. There will be moments that are ugly or strange, but that is an intentional choice. Since diving deeper into composition, something I’ve come to understand is that I will never be able to please everybody. Each individual is unique, which is arguably one of the best things in our society, which begs the question: why should I be anybody else but my true, authentic self? I reflect this in the music that I write. I write music not for an audience, but for the sake of writing music. It is a vehicle that I use to express myself and the things that I care about”.

Marcel is in a unique position for composing this piece, being an oboe player himself. However, when speaking to him about the unusual combination of instruments for this composition, Marcel said, “I can’t say that I've ever heard of a piece of music that's written for oboe, double bass, and piano. With this unorthodox combination, I'm very excited to experiment with new blends and ideas, and see what type of music comes out the other end”.

We are excited to be presenting this world premiere piece at our upcoming concert À Deux. Tickets are selling fast, so be sure to book your tickets now to see this wonderful composition being performed!

Marcel Howell performing with a2. orchestra during their 2025 Christmas concert on oboe & cor aglais