Amanda Handel

Amanda is an active composer, pianist and teacher based in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. Drawing on a wide range of influences, her compositions are diverse and eclectic in style. She has composed numerous pieces for piano, a number of chamber works for various combinations including string orchestra, as well as solo works for woodwind instruments and classical guitar.
Her music has been described as “hauntingly beautiful, creative, cohesive and compositionally advanced”, “engaging and evocative, seductive with a Spanish tinge, and a lot of grit”.
Amanda has released two piano-based CDs: Ghosts & Angels and Gardens of Stone, collaborating with an electronic artist and a didjeridu player respectively. Both albums received excellent SMH reviews and extensive ABC radio airplay. She has also written many works on commission from various performers, arts organisations and for festivals and recordings.
Amanda’s musical life began with learning classical piano and yet her knowledge and experience now extends to include a variety of genres. Her long engagement with flamenco dance has infiltrated her compositional work, and for many years she led Canto Latino Quartet as vocalist, performing a repertoire of Argentinean tango and Latin music styles.
Amanda is a well-established piano teacher with thriving practices in Katoomba and the Penrith Conservatorium. She has lectured in harmony, analysis and composition at the University of Western Sydney, where she also graduated with a Masters’ degree in 2004 with a thesis titled Music of Balance: Circles and Squares.
More recently Amanda has added new dimensions of expertise to her musical profile having become a certified practitioner of BodyMinded (Alexander Technique, and more recently she attained her Diploma in Hypnotherapy and Neuro-Linguistic-Programming. This intriguing new knowledge base, is being utilised in her composition process, performances and in her teaching studio.
Currently Amanda is adapting these powerful tools and techniques to provide trainings and workshops for musicians and teachers. Her vision incorporates writing a book (for publication with Wirripang Pty Ltd), on how to source the hidden magic of the unconscious mind in music.

Please visit www.amandahandel.com