Kristin Rule was born in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1976. Shortly after her birth, her family returned to Australia, their country of origin. She grew up in Melbourne and began playing the Cello at age twelve and later took up the Saxophone at age fourteen. She cites her early music influences as Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Jacqueline Du Pre, Debussy, Stravinsky and Rostropovich.
Kristin completed her Bachelor of Music Majoring in Composition, at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) in 2000. In the first year of her study, 1997, she received the Peers Coetmore Scholarship for Cellists, which enabled her to fund a trip to St Petersburg, Russia, for the World Cello Conference where she met one of her greatest influences, the Cellist Maestro, Mstislav Rostropovich. Kristin later went on to win the VCA’s Quip Quip Composition Commission in 1999.
Whilst at the VCA, Kristin studied Cello under Nelson Cooke and Composition under David Joseph and Mark Pollard. In 1997, she composed a piece, ‘Rain’, for solo cello, which was selected by the VCA, for performance at the Port Fairy Spring Music Festival in 1999. It was recorded and later broadcast on ABC Classic FM’s ‘New Music Australia’ program in 2001.
During her studies, Kristin also composed music for several Short Films, one of which, also entitled ‘Rain’, produced by Australian Short Film Director, Melanie Brunt, won the Best Short Film at the ‘In The Bin’ Short Film Festival, Queensland.
The final year of Kristin’s degree was completed during a nine-month stay in Paris, France, where she studied Composition under the World renown, Contemporary Classical Composer, Eugene Kurtz.
In 2002 Kristin went to Canberra to further her compositional studies under the highly regarded Australian Composers, Larry Sitsky and Jim Cotter.
In that year, her Father Peter Rule was diagnosed with Leukemia and tragically died at the young age of 55. His passing left a chasm in Kristin’s life that, at 25 years of age, would prove, understandably, extremely difficult to overcome. After abandoning her studies, she moved to a Natural Bush setting in Dunach, Central Victoria in search of answers.
It led to the creation of her first album in 2006, ‘Be Not Afraid’, a collection of her own Compositions, dedicated to the memory of her late Father.
The release of the album, in combination with the radical idea of delivering Contemporary World Music to the People via a motorcycle and trailer with its own Solar Power System, led to Kristin being awarded a prestigious ‘Australia Council for The Arts’ Grant in mid 2007. A 20 week Tour of Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia followed, performing an average of 6 concerts a week in Metropolitan and Regional Communities and Schools. During the Tour, tracks from ‘Be Not Afraid’ received air-play on 3MBS, ABC Radio National, ABC 774 Melbourne during a live Studio interview with Derek Guille, ABC 774 Ballarat, ABC Mt Gambier live with Stan Thomson, Triple R and various other community radio stations across Australia.
The album sold out during 2009, and Kristin immediately commenced work on a new CD. In early 2010, Regional Arts Victoria through the Maryborough ‘Take-Part’ Group Commissioned Kristin to compose a 15minute New Work for the Central Goldfields Concert Band and Acapella Gold Community Choir entitled, 'Dance me till the End of Time'. The project, aimed at bringing community musicians together for a totally new musical experience, proved both rewarding and challenging for musicians and audiences alike.
In early 2010, Kristin began finalizing work on her latest recording, ‘The Knife That Cut’s A Tear’, which was released to high acclaim on the 31st of May, drawing this response from Jethro Woodward, one of Australia’s rapidly rising Theatrical Music Composers;
"Downloaded your record from I-tunes yesterday, and I can't stop listening to it. It sounds absolutely amazing, and completely mesmerizing. The work is totally engaging, beautiful and interesting. I love it. Great work."
Kristin has a radically unique approach to her Music. Combining a ‘Loop Station and Electronic Effects’ with Traditional Cello to build her songs layer by layer during live performance, is a feat that frequently has her audiences mesmerized. The result is a powerfully emotive and deeply moving experience.
This radical approach doesn’t end there. In line with her Environmental beliefs, Kristin has moved from a motorcycle to a bicycle, carrying her Cello and equipment from performance to performance on the back of a specially made Cargo Bicycle.
Source : theunconventionalcellist.com
