Australian pianist and composer Sophie Hutchings’ love affair with the piano began in a rather concealed manner. As a child she would secret herself away with only the family piano for company – quietly developing her ruminative, dreamy style which would later become her trademark. Although initially reserved about her music and the notion of live performance, it wasn’t until releasing her debut album Becalmed that Sophie was nudged into the public arena.
She picked up her first ARIA Award, the most prestigious music award in Australia, in 2024. Twice nominated for the Australian Music Prize, she also won The National Live Music Awards’ top five live instrumentalists of the year. Hutchings has received glowing praise from critics such as MOJO, The Guardian, Clash and Wonderland, and has released eight highly acclaimed albums. including ‘Echoes in the Valley’ reaching the impressive milestone of becoming the #1 classical album in the UK in 2021. Sophie Hutchings continues her impressive career.
‘become the sky’ is the new album from ARIA award-winning pianist and composer Sophie Hutchings. The result is her ninth solo album, become the sky: a collection of meditative, piano-led songs recorded in one take. Where 2023’s richly layered, robust album ‘A World Outside’ saw Hutchings set out on a transformative road trip into the vast Outback, exploring Australia at its wildest most elemental, ‘become the sky’ is a rumination on change, travel, and returning home, a profound contrast to its predecessor. “In essence,” Hutchings says, “it’s about rediscovering the comfort of home while carrying the echoes of our journeys within.”
Written as winter rolled into spring, the album captures change in slow motion. For Hutchings, the shifting seasons bring up feelings of deep nostalgia, with the present moment becoming a portal into the past. They offer an opportunity to reflect on how our past experiences form who we become over time. “I wanted to tap into the echoes of those past experiences,” Hutchings says, “while finding comfort in the places that make me feel at home.” The arrangements on ‘become the sky’ are spare, and delicate — but grounded. For Hutchings, home is the sea — that first dip, catching the scent of the ocean. But home is her piano, too. ‘become the sky’ was recorded at the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s studios, located on Sydney Harbour. What began as a two-day recording session to get an EP down quickly unspooled into something more. With her bare feet on the pedals, and gazing out to the harbour waters, Sophie recorded each track in single, straight takes — an impressive technical feat, and one based in trusting the process and a desire to capture each moment in its truest form. The room has a distinct presence in these recordings: vast and echoic. But with microphones placed over Hutchings’ shoulders, and close to the felt of the piano, there’s a tangible sense of intimacy too. The resulting tracks were then layered with piano overdubs and synths. Hutchings brought in her long-time friend Ben Fletcher to add atmospheric, pedal-treated guitar lines — bathing the listener in an immersive wash of sound.
Over the span of her impressive career, Hutchings has quietly established herself among the top tier of the world’s contemporary classical musicians, having built up a growing fan following and sales of over 200,000 album equivalent units. She won her first ARIA Award, the most prestigious music award in Australia, in 2024 for A World Outside. This followed two nominations for the Australian Music Prize, in 2020 and 2021, and being named in the 2019 National Live Music Awards’ top five live instrumentalists of the year. In 2021, Echoes in the Valley, her seventh full-length release, topped the UK’s classical album charts. Hutchings’ music has taken her around the world, touring internationally through Japan and Europe, as well as her native Australia.
Sought after as a composer and pianist, Sophie has been involved with a number of films (most recently Baby Teeth and True Spirit), toured internationally through Japan and Europe, and opened for artists such as Ólafur Arnalds, Hauschka, Federico Albanese and Lambert.
“an intimate, contemplative quality; sometimes melancholic, often with an exhilarating beauty“—The Guardian
“calm in a maddening world“—CLASH
“As a composer and pianist, Sophie Hutchings excels beyond many of her contemporaries. Refined in her approach and expressive in her musical choices, the creative force has become a staple of Australian music, with critical praise coming thick and fast.“—Wonderland
“stirring, vigorous, grandly melodic“—MOJO
“Sophie Hutchings doesn’t just play the piano, she flows with the notes“—A Closer Listen