Promoting the wider public awareness of the benefits of neurodivergent experience through classical music, I make beautiful music with special people to create experiences of colourful harmony for audiences of all ages.

I’m especially interested in amplifying the continuing history of South Australia’s creative women, encouraging music education for children, and encouraging more people to experience flow state.

I’ve spent my whole life trying to recapture and share synesthesia’s unique flow.

Imagine vibrant, billowing waves, wisps of smoke, silk, liquid, and oil. Shiny, sheer walls stretch and grow to a pinpoint peak, where achieving balance—even for a second—brings an unmatched exhilaration. Like looking into the abyss.

Now, picture a brilliant sunset, complete with soul-stirring music—then, in an instant, the view switches to a staggering… green?

It’s quite the experience! Uninterrupted flow is an effortless, speeding race, like Star Trek’s starry ‘warp drive’. In short, synesthesia is fun.

Fellow synesthete, Billie Eilish, recently described how she was driven to stand among speeding cars to shoot her music video, giving it an authentic immediacy. Imagine the rush!

So many synesthetes try to share their flow experience for the same reason I do—it’s a joy everyone deserves to know and can- whether or not they also see flowing colour. I’d love for all people to enjoy the authentic, memorable, and emotional experience of being in flow:

“This is what we mean by Optimal Experience … what the sailor feels… when the wind whips through her hair….sails, hull, wind and sea humming a harmony that vibrates in the sailor’s veins. Optimal experience is something we make happen… a violinist mastering an intricate musical passage… an ecstatic state to such a point that you feel as though you almost don’t exist… (the music) just flows out by itself….”  

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, FLOW

When a performance is in flow, for me synesthesia arises, and best work ensues. Everyone can be in flow and it;’s such fun. So very soon I will share my new course with my methods of how to get there, using classical music… But right now, it’s unusual to discuss synesthesia in public. Especially among children, it inspires some young bullies to rear their heads and label someone ‘weird’.

Thankfully, artists such as Prince Gyasi are speaking out—and inspired me to do the same. It’s why I created primary school program Colours of Home with Musica Viva in Schools. Normalising differences by sharing these experiences with others is vital.

“My many years of work with Celia have made me realise she always has exciting ideas: Linking to all the senses is incredibly important at keeping people’s mental health alive… What comes across from everything that Celia does, is the sense that music can give us metal and physical energy too. I think we could be linking to something of great importance, health-wise…” 

Dame Judith Weir, DBE, FRSE, Master of the Kings Music

Highs and lows

This condition can be tiring, leading to overwhelming experiences and extreme emotions. 

A synesthetic brain is often linked with states such as Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), autism, and sensory overload. Living with ADD, synesthesia, the highs stand out above all else- joy and creativity are the superpowers of neurodivergence which leads to innovative art. Van Gogh, Messiaen, Lorde, Duke Ellington, and ‘visionary’ recording artist Pharell Williams all had/have chromesthesia, the linking of sound and colour. Composers; include Scriabin and Miriam Hyde. To see for yourself, have a look at Melissa Santamaria’s vibrant digital artworks—she encapsulates the experience perfectly. 

Arc en Ciel: Multisensory melodies

With these trusted musical companions, I really don’t know what to expect: Every note is a delightful new surprise. Using highly trained musicians employing their brains to create the music live, this is less a ‘concert’ and more a prescription: a universal flow experience to quieten our overloaded brains and be together in harmony, in nature, with all senses involved.

The clarity, harmony, and active flow of intimate settings are unmatched. This is why I began Artaria, my label, and why I am now introducing this improvisation in nature. 

I want to share the extraordinary nature of synesthesia with others, so I seek people and places that inspire the experience. The Bicentennial Conservatory at Adelaide Botanic Gardens and colourful glass art of Dale Chihuly is an incredible combination!! 

Within a tiny artistic company, each line and gesture needs space to react to each other in real time and create new harmonic flow. With four brilliant and different musicians, this diverse musical collaboration is very special and unique.

When was the last time you truly took a break? No screens, no distractions—just space to think, breathe, and soak in nature around you? Science shows that time spent immersed in nature and art isn’t just relaxing—it boosts clarity, reduces stress, and sparks creativity. Join us for an hour’s musical mediation: Feb 5, Feb 19, 730pm Bicentennial Conservatory, Adelaide Botanic Gardens.

“I found that dance, music, and literature is how I made sense of the world… it pushed me to think of things bigger than life’s daily routines… to think beyond…”  Mikhail Baryshnikov