This qualitative inquiry explores the content, processes, and social functions of personal meanings of specific pieces of music. The inquiry analyses the personal meanings adhering to 390 pieces of music selected by 79 adults aged between 30 and 78 years. An innovative aspect of the inquiry is that its data sample was not collected by the researcher but drawn from an archive of radio interviews conducted by a previous interviewer. Analysis and interpretation of these data was guided by the systematic methods of constructivist, grounded theory methodology. The inquiry reveals that the content of personal meanings of specific pieces of music aligns with meanings described in previous research. However, probing beneath the surface of such descriptions, this inquiry reveals a number of distinguishing characteristics of personal meanings. Firstly, personal meanings adhere to specific pieces of music. In this case, the sounds of a piece of music, its sonic materiality, matter. Secondly, personal meanings are not fixed but are dynamic, cumulative admixtures of multiple meanings. Thirdly, personal meanings adhere to pieces of music via a number of pathways which integrate aesthetic responses to the music, acquired knowledge about the music or its performance, and biographical associations into the ongoing story of informants' lives. Fourthly, personal meanings constitute social action simultaneously engaged in the reflexive project of self and ongoing reproduction of expectations and assumptions about the role of music in social life. The inquiry suggests that previously collected qualitative data can provide trustworthy samples for later research. It also highlights the need for scholars of music to reconsider the potential of subjective meanings as sites for investigating the human experience of music.

UNESAP and the Let's Hang It! exhibition is a school-based art project that began over ten years ago (by Dr Frances Alter at UNE). The key goal of the art event is to raise the profile, status and interest in the visual arts in regional and rural schools throughout New South Wales. Each year approximately 600 artworks are submitted to UNESAP from students aged 5 to 18 years of age) studying in regional and rural schools throughout NSW. Approximately 10% (60 works) are selected for the exhibition event at NERAM. These works are curated under the direction of Dr Frances Alter but selection of works for the exhibition involves a panel of experts recruited from both NERAM and UNE. Winning works in the UNESAP prize are acquired by UNE and added to the UNESAP art collection. This is managed by the UNE art curator Ms. Michelle Arens and the UNE Art Advisory Committee. Dr Alter is also a member of this committee.

UNESAP and the Let's Hang It! exhibition is a school-based art project that began over ten years ago (by Dr Frances Alter at UNE). The key goal of the art event is to raise the profile, status and interest in the visual arts in regional and rural schools throughout New South Wales. Each year approximately 600 artworks are submitted to UNESAP from students aged 5 to 18 years of age) studying in regional and rural schools throughout NSW. Approximately 10% (60 works) are selected for the exhibition event at NERAM. These works are curated under the direction of Dr Frances Alter but selection of works for the exhibition involves a panel of experts recruited from both NERAM and UNE. Winning works in the UNESAP prize are acquired by UNE and added to the UNESAP art collection. This is managed by the UNE art curator Ms. Michelle Arens and the UNE Art Advisory Committee. Dr Alter is also a member of this committee.

The exhibition featured landscape paintings created by Dr Frances Alter. The majority of these works were oil paintings on canvas, linen and paper. The paintings captured the artist's emotional response to the New England landscape where she lives and works.

This research brings attention to the ‘obsolescence of periodization’ (Hoptman, 2014, p. 13), a phrase applied to some contemporary painters who do not consider themselves restricted to a painting style or period. Rather, these artists acknowledge influences from a variety of periods. Research produced for this study acknowledges the influence on my practice of seemingly diverse fields of painting and performative art: The Sublime, Expressionism, and Relationality.

The research is focused on affect and sensory-emotive transference, originating from my encounters with land. Affect is synaesthetic, implying a participation of the senses in each other (Massumi, 1995, p. 96). Embodiment of sensory-emotive content is examined in the well-researched fields of Sublime painting and Expressionist painting. I also question whether my research focus, emphasising human reciprocity with land, extends to the ‘contested critical terrain of relational art’ (Watson, 2015, p. 151).

Process, in this study, became a record of dialogue between the activity of land and the activity of painting, whereby ‘feelings were seen to emerge out of sensory immersion’ (Kirk, 2014, p. 120). It consequently became less important to have finished works and more important to have active readings of the dialogue formed with the land through art practice. While including painting and drawing, process expanded my practice to also include digital video, sculpture, installation and performance drawing, in a broad range of art activities termed relationscapes.

UNESAP and the Let's Hang It! exhibition is a school-based art project that began over ten years ago (by Dr Frances Alter at UNE). The key goal of the art event is to raise the profile, status and interest in the visual arts in regional and rural schools throughout New South Wales. Each year approximately 600 artworks are submitted to UNESAP from students aged 5 to 18 years of age) studying in regional and rural schools throughout NSW. Approximately 10% (60 works) are selected for the exhibition event at NERAM. These works are curated under the direction of Dr Frances Alter but selection of works for the exhibition involves a panel of experts recruited from both NERAM and UNE. Winning works in the UNESAP prize are acquired by UNE and added to the UNESAP art collection. This is managed by the UNE art curator Ms. Michelle Arens and the UNE Art Advisory Committee. Dr Alter is also a member of this committee.

UNESAP and the Let's Hang It! exhibition is a school-based art project that began over ten years ago (by Dr Frances Alter at UNE). The key goal of the art event is to raise the profile, status and interest in the visual arts in regional and rural schools throughout New South Wales. Each year approximately 600 artworks are submitted to UNESAP from students aged 5 to 18 years of age) studying in regional and rural schools throughout NSW. Approximately 10% (60 works) are selected for the exhibition event at NERAM. These works are curated under the direction of Dr Frances Alter but selection of works for the exhibition involves a panel of experts recruited from both NERAM and UNE. Winning works in the UNESAP prize are acquired by UNE and added to the UNESAP art collection. This is managed by the UNE art curator Ms. Michelle Arens and the UNE Art Advisory Committee. Dr Alter is also a member of this committee.

This thesis investigates and answers questions surrounding the professional identity of small ensemble musicians, the interpersonal relationships of the members that work within chamber music groups, and the organisational approaches to maintaining an ensemble in today's cultural environment. Specifically, this research addresses the following questions: in the current cultural environment, how is a sustainable ensemble created and how do the qualities and characteristics of musicians support the development of an ensemble? How do the interpersonal relationships between ensemble members affect the working and sustainability of the group? And, what organisational aspects must be taken into consideration as far as communication, commitment, shared values and goals? By taking the individual musician's perspective on ensemble performance and organisation within non-traditional or unconventional ensembles, this thesis aims to answer these questions through discussion provided by professional musicians working in the field. Through this process, the research highlights the opportunities and approaches available to training or practising musicians, and the skills needed for a successful career. As different genres of classical chamber music ensembles have emerged during the 21st century, the aims and output of these ensembles have developed in new and unconventional directions. This has inevitably had consequences for the professional identities of ensemble members and the musical and non-musical processes applied to their musical groups. The literature surrounding chamber music ensemble performance and processes has focused mainly on traditional ensembles, primarily the string quartet, piano trio, woodwind quintet, and vocal ensembles. These have served as examples towards investigating the cognitive, psychological and communication methods of small, high-performing teams. By focussing on non-traditional ensembles; those that have mixed instrumentation, varied members, and perform early, contemporary or new music, this research investigation explores commonalities and differences in interpersonal dynamics of non-traditional or new genres of ensembles. This contributes further understanding of ensemble processes, adding to the information provided by more traditional ensembles discussed in existing scholarly research.

UNESAP and the Let's Hang It! exhibition is a school-based art project that began over ten years ago (by Dr Frances Alter at UNE). The key goal of the art event is to raise the profile, status and interest in the visual arts in regional and rural schools throughout New South Wales. Each year approximately 600 artworks are submitted to UNESAP from students aged 5 to 18 years of age) studying in regional and rural schools throughout NSW. Approximately 10% (60 works) are selected for the exhibition event at NERAM. These works are curated under the direction of Dr Frances Alter but selection of works for the exhibition involves a panel of experts recruited from both NERAM and UNE. Winning works in the UNESAP prize are acquired by UNE and added to the UNESAP art collection. This is managed by the UNE art curator Ms. Michelle Arens and the UNE Art Advisory Committee. Dr Alter is also a member of this committee.

UNESAP and the Let's Hang It! exhibition is a school-based art project that began over ten years ago (by Dr Frances Alter at UNE). The key goal of the art event is to raise the profile, status and interest in the visual arts in regional and rural schools throughout New South Wales. Each year approximately 600 artworks are submitted to UNESAP from students aged 5 to 18 years of age) studying in regional and rural schools throughout NSW. Approximately 10% (60 works) are selected for the exhibition event at NERAM. These works are curated under the direction of Dr Frances Alter but selection of works for the exhibition involves a panel of experts recruited from both NERAM and UNE. Winning works in the UNESAP prize are acquired by UNE and added to the UNESAP art collection. This is managed by the UNE art curator Ms. Michelle Arens and the UNE Art Advisory Committee. Dr Alter is also a member of this committee.