Lyle Chan - an AIDS activist's thoughts on music, history, and creativity

Lyle Chan in the early 90s.
Photo: Pattarapa Tsunpruck.
Reproduced from the National
AIDS Bulletin

Today, Lyle Chan is an acclaimed composer whose works have been commissioned and performed by major artists including soprano Taryn Fiebig, pianist Simon Tedeschi, Sydney Philharmonia Choir and the even former Foreign Minister Bob Carr.

But in the early nineties Lyle was a core member of ACT UP and other AIDS organisations. He and fellow activists couriered AIDS treatments from the US that were unavailable in Australia, fiercely lobbying the Australian government to approve experimental treatments more quickly.

Lyle's composition, String Quartet: An AIDS Activist's Memoir, was sketched in the crisis years 1991-1996, but only completed 20 years later.

In the lead up to several performances of the complete work, associated with the AIDS 2014 conference, Lyle spoke to Jill Sergeant, AFAO Project Officer, about the memoir, activism, and the value of music.