The Substation/​ Artist/​Katie Yap/

Violist, curator and composer Katie Yap is an artist who brings people together. She uses her instrument’s role of collaborator to amplify the voices of her colleagues and audience with her own warm, authentic voice. Through deeply layered curation, she shares her music as a natural part of life, as a way to build connection in real time.

She is the 2022 Freedman Fellow, a 2023-4 Musica Viva Australia FutureMaker, a 2024-5 ANAM/Ian Potter Emerging Performer Fellow, and 2025-6 Van Diemen’s Band Fellow in curation. She plays with an array of chamber music groups, including Van Diemen’s Fiddles, baroque/synth duo Bronzewing, and the Gryphon Baryton Trio; and with Australia’s top orchestras, from Van Diemen’s Band to the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

IN DEVELOPMENT

Diaphanous delves into the inner world of the reluctant soloist - what it is to be alone on stage, and the process of finding kindred musical spirits. It began with an exploration of the little sounds that classical music rejects (shaking, creaking, in-between) and the question: could these be beautiful?

In a quietly subversive setting of a single on-stage violist and three spirit instruments, it invites the audience to journey with Katie in a search for community, connection, and acceptance.

DIAPHANOUS TEAM

Katie Yap: lead artist, baroque viola, vocals, composition

Tilman Robinson: sound design

Amelia Lever-Davidson: lighting design

Roslyn Oades: dramaturgy

Michaela Coventry (Sage Arts): producer

Leilehua Lanzilotti: composition

Donald Nicolson: composition, synths

Mindy Meng Wang: composition, guzheng

Laura Vaughan: composition, baryton

Phoebe Green: music consultant

Erin Sherlock, Sasha Kaiser, Uma Dingemans, Noemie Huttner-Koros, Hamish Upton, Meg Cohen, Jared Yapp: interns

Created as part of the Musica Viva Australia FutureMakers Program 2024, with support from The Berg Family Foundation, Creative Victoria, and the Ian Potter Foundation.