As I sit here and ruminate over those who have contributed to this thesis I am taken by the scope of involvement by others.
I consider those who have contributed through commissioning, performing and also the listeners to my music. Their individual contributions are noted in the synopsis of each work, as and where appropriate. I will draw attention to just a few of the commissioners to give focus to the commitment that has been given by individuals and organisations.
Matthew George is a dear friend who gave of his time and substance to visit Brisbane and premiere My Sister's Tears, the major case study in this thesis. He has been a consistent commissioner of work from me and my latest work is part of his St Thomas commissioning project, and also part of this doctoral folio, the Concertino for Wind Orchestra.
Gavin Staines has commissioned three works from me in the period of this candidature and I am most thankful for his faith in my skills to produce works to meet the needs of his various ensembles and projects.
There are also those who contribute at another level – the publishers, editors, analysts and so forth, who take my music, consider and review it and, at times, make it available to musicians around the world through print publication or recording. I refer you to the synopses again and to the links to publishers' web sites. There you will find my works and the works of many other fine composers. I thank them for their consideration in allowing the works they have published to be utilised in this submission.
My thanks go also to those who have taken the time to edit and review my works and to place them before the conductors who have then often gone on to perform them and to teach with them in educational situations. I feel honoured to have had a number of my works selected for inclusion in prestigious publications, both books and journals.
Of course, I would be remiss to not reflect on those who have intersected with this project in a more scholarly manner – my supervisors, colleagues who have reviewed and made comment on the exegesis and my students also. My students have pushed me to make my research real without knowing the challenge they had placed in front of me. Each day I stand in front of them or engage in conversation with them a sense of the reason to do this research comes to mind.
Stephen Cronin was part of my supervisory team in the early period of the candidature and I am thankful to him for his candour and confidence in me.
Brydie Bartleet came on board to give focus to the investigation into autoethnography and she has pushed me and prodded me in all ways to be rigorous and focused and to believe in what I am doing. She has shown me what trust and faith in a supervisor is and her warm smile is matched by her generosity of spirit.
My principal supervisor, Stephen Emmerson, is a fine man and has been consistently supportive and wonderfully gracious at all times. I have no doubt there were many times when he may have thought I would walk away from this project but he has nurtured me and cared for my soul and not just my mind. That I didn't drop this project is as much to do with him as anyone else.
Both Stephen and Brydie gave of themselves in a professional and personal way which has become my benchmark for what supervision should be. Their humanity is also an example I would hope to follow.
Then I must remember my precious colleagues who have walked with me through this whole process – the team at Open Conservatorium. They have shouldered extra load at times as I have worked to complete major components of this endeavour.
Along with them stand friends far and wide who have exhorted me to press on and encouraged my investigation and my composing as well. They are all looking forward to my completion of this research, almost as much as my family are.
Naturally, that leads to those closest to me – my wonderful family. Without the love of family, my wife, my beautiful children and my gorgeous grandchildren, and the safety and security "coming home" I doubt this research would have been completed to the level it has; maybe not at all. My darling wife Julie is my best friend and my counsellor. She has helped by reading and accepting my rebuttals of her opinions on grammar, meaning and scope. Her seeming stubbornness has been revealed as determination to help me succeed and her arms have been open to me as I wept at the loss that is the focus of the major case study and as I stood exhausted after hours on end lost in the research.
I must acknowledge my sister, Heather too. She stands at the centre of this study. I love her so very much.
Finally I come to faith; my secure and abiding Christian faith. I have no doubt that Christ's presence in my life provides the creativity that is evident in this submission and that those I nominate above are blessings from Him and many ways. Without the peace that passes all understanding I could not write music as I do today. For that I am eternally thankful.