9 October, 2025
Miranda Hill
- ‘writing us back in, one story at a time.’
Recently I had the privilege of interviewing and photographing the remarkable Miranda Hill — double bassist, music curator, producer, and the visionary behind Homophonic! — as part of my ongoing Midsumma Capturing Courage PRIDE portrait series.
To call Miranda a musician would be an understatement. She is one of those artists whose work reverberates far beyond the concert stage. She’s a connector, an agitator, a nurturer of stories. Through her curatorial work she’s dedicated years to creating space for others, placing the spotlight on unheard queer voices. She lovingly builds community through sound and story.
“It’s not about me,” she said. “I just created the show I wanted to see,” she says of Homophonic!, a concert series now in its 16th year. “One where there’s always a reason for the audience to care.”
Driven by this philosophy, Miranda curates bold, moving performances that bring together queer composers, new music, diverse communities and audiences who may have never felt welcomed into the concert hall before. Her projects are known for their emotional impact, and unapologetic queerness.
The Homophonic Respect Project — one of her more recent initiatives — sets the lived experiences of older LGBTQIA+ community members from regional Victoria to music, for voices and strings.
“If you are someone who’s in your 60s to 80s now living in regional Victoria as a queer or trans person and you’ve been doing that for decades — whether you think you’re impressive or not — you have a story, and that story deserves to be heard.”
Too often, queer histories were not simply overlooked but systematically erased, leaving whole generations without visible cultural anchors. Miranda believes that by setting these stories within the weight and gravitas of art music, they claim a space historically reserved for the rich and the elite. As Miranda puts it, “The cultural weight of art music [is] that only the important stories of the powerful got told in this form. Our stories were lived in silence for so long. But without them, I wouldn’t be able to casually reference my wife and Homophonic! couldn’t safely exist!”
The impact of this work is both personal and communal. By giving voice to stories long lived in silence, the Respect Project honours elders whose struggles paved the way for younger generations. For Miranda, this work isn’t about nostalgia but recognition. It’s also about building intergenerational bonds. Each time the music is performed, she notes, there’s the joy of revisiting with the people whose lives inspired it, strengthening friendships and deepening the sense of community. “We don’t get to honour our cultural elders in the same way because we’re not always related to them,” she reflects, “but their stories are our histories, and they deserve to be sung as loudly as possible.”
When I photographed Miranda, I wanted to capture not just her artistry, but the heartbeat behind it. We talked about her lifelong love for music and of the instruments she plays. One of these, a 1940s chamber bass, is affectionately named Blondie — small, unconventional, and full of character. Much like Miranda herself, Blondie demands intention, curiosity, and care — but offers something haunting and exquisite in return. “Blondie isn’t easy,” she told me with a laugh. “You’ve got to work with her. But she’s got soul.” That statement, more than any, felt like a metaphor for Miranda’s whole practice: intentional, complex, emotionally rich, and deeply human.
Whether she's improvising with ensembles, bringing baroque works to life or commissioning choral tributes to queer lives, Miranda is always holding space for others — through music, through memory, through joy.
Our photo shoot explored light and texture in a way that mirrors Miranda’s creative ethos: precise, layered, expressive, and always in conversation with the world around her. There’s a striking mix of raw concentration, physicality, and emotional depth in how she plays. I wanted to capture the intensity, honesty and quiet conviction that underscore all she is and does. These images are full of quiet, spirited generosity — layered with the textures of her music, the depth of her commitment to community, and the softness that comes from knowing your place in the world and using it to lift others up.
To be queer is often to be written out of history. Miranda Hill is writing us back in — one collaboration, one performance, one story at a time. - Karen Bryant
