Earlier this year, Thirroul resident Adrian Whitehall said his career as a classical musician/graduate of Sydney Conservatorium was "smashed, crushed and frozen by COVID", along with two of his graduate colleagues' careers.

Before the pandemic, Whitehall had been working as a casual with The Sydney Symphony Orchestra since last August.

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"My degree and the degrees of (fellow musicians) Claudia Jelic and Jess Scott were all successfully completed in late 2019," he said.

"Our graduations at Sydney Uni were cancelled in March. We received our four years' of hard work/degrees in our letterboxes, and our gigs and jobs were lost along with many other disappointments."

Sydneysider Scott, 22, was accepted into the Royal Academy of Music in London, but had to put those plans on hold for a year.

"I've had to ask for a deferral, and in asking for that there's no guarantee that I may actually be able to study next year," she said.

"It's been a difficult journey these past few months."

Whitehall, who has been working on his Master of Music during the pandemic, said together they "have refused to give up on our dreams of being professional classical musicians".

Therefore, Whitehall, 23, applied for a grant from Create NSW, the NSW Government's arts policy and funding body, for a commission to write a composition.

He was successful, and wrote a work called Why.

It features the trio of Scott on flute, Jelic on clarinet and Whitehall on double bass.

Whitehall said the composition is about the numbers of people choosing to seek solace in the natural surroundings of Thirroul, especially during lockdown.

"I observed this from my back door at the base of the escarpment in Thirroul," he said.

"During the COVID-19 shutdown, these numbers increased; different backgrounds, all ages and all quietly seeking an enclosed back street entrance into the escarpment.

"Some people seemed happy, others seemed distant and preoccupied even stressed and thoughtful in appearance.

"The piece reflects this time in history and is the reflection for my work."

Whitehall said the musicians had already recorded their parts for the piece via Zoom during lockdown, which is still being edited.

This weekend, they will do a studio recording at his home, followed by a live recording in a secluded outdoor space with social distancing in place.

He said the three versions of the new work were being recorded to capture the best performance.

"It's quite special that we're recording in nature," Scott said.

"I've found with the pandemic, putting our plans completely on hold, I've felt more connected to the natural world around me, perhaps because it provides that certainty that everything else can't at present."

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