10 April 2025
Midshipman Alex Agnew can pinpoint the moment she fell in love with music – a violin performance in a cathedral that blew her away.
“I loved the feeling of the music so much, I immediately wanted to be a part of it,” Midshipman Agnew said.
She started playing violin but found a new passion in classical guitar, an instrument that has stayed with her ever since.
Alongside playing bass drum for the ADF Academy Pipes and Drums and performing in theatre productions, the musically minded Midshipman Agnew dedicates her spare time to conquering guitar compositions.
“I really like working through the complexities of the music, having to work up to the correct speed, put my fingers in the right spot, and that's why I've kept at it,” she said.
“Just having the song nailed at the end is such an amazing sense of accomplishment.”
For Midshipman Agnew, music is more than notes and technique – it’s storytelling.
Each piece she plays comes alive with its own imagined narrative, shaped by the way melodies make her feel.
“I'm playing it and at the same time I'm picturing what the music is like. One song sounds like little ducks going down to a stream. Another sounds like a little pirate friendship,” she said.
“I don’t know what that means, but that’s the vibe I get from it.”
As Midshipman Agnew learns a piece, the story evolves. Early on, it’s all about hitting the right notes, but once the music becomes second nature, the story unfolds.
'Just having the song nailed at the end is such an amazing sense of accomplishment.'
As part of a New Year’s resolution to perform more, she took to the stage at the 2025 Defending the Arts Festival, playing four classical guitar pieces.
“I haven’t had much solo performance experience, so I was really looking forward to changing the nerves from scared to excitement,” Midshipman Agnew said.
Music also gives her a way to escape from the demands of military life.
“I get this space away from everything, away from real life. I'm completely focused on how to pick this apart,” she said.
While she doesn’t know where her career in Navy will take her, Midshipman Agnew knows it will be a long one, with her guitar accompanying her the whole way.
“I'm hoping to be one of those salty captains in their room, and everyone can hear me playing over the PA,” she said.
The festival was held March 10-14 and consisted of an exhibition, workshops and finished with a performance night.
The exhibit featured 39 pieces of visual art from 20 ADF artists and included paintings, sculptures, writing and interactive art.
Artists participated in workshops covering painting, writing and music, and tours of the National Gallery of Australia and the Australian War Memorial, to inspire and expand their understanding.
The week ended with a performance night at ADF Academy, the perfect way to finish, according to festival director and curator Major Anne-Maree Hunt.
“The performance was a mixture of vocalists, dance, poetry and musical instruments. It had a nice representation of all of them,” Major Hunt said.
The theme of this year’s festival was storytelling.
“Each of those artists that stood on stage put themselves out there, made themselves vulnerable and represented their stories using that theme of storytelling,” she said.
The exhibits also featured Major Hunt’s children’s book Mateship, which she wrote and illustrated last year for the Army Storytelling Competition.
'A lot of the time we're siloed and work in isolation. There's not a lot of creative licence to chat with your peers and get feedback.'
It is about the different phases of mateship over the years, with instances out of every major conflict from World War 1 through to the modern day.
Major Hunt said the aim of the festival was not only to display art produced by ADF personnel, but as a way for artists to connect. It was likened to the major annual ADF Sport carnival for the ADF Creative Arts Association.
“A lot of the time we're siloed and work in isolation. There's not a lot of creative licence to chat with your peers and get feedback,” she said.
“This one week means we can get together and talk about each other's art, pat each other on the back and congratulate people for what they've achieved over the year.”
ADF Creative Arts Association president Brigadier Isaac Seidl was full of praise for the artists.
“These are but two of the many stories told during the week of Defending the Arts,” Brigadier Seidl said.
“Creativity is capability. Sometimes performing as a leader requires you to lead the performance. That is exactly what we’ve seen this week from some outstanding artists.”
If you are interested in exploring your creative side, contact ADF.creative@defence.gov.au to join the association.
