Welcome to the 2004 New Music Network concert series featuring some of Australia's premier contemporary music ensembles. The series presents music of extraordinary diversity comprising of wonderful musicians creating sound worlds to challenge, stimulate and delight.

FEATURING: The Song Company, Electra, Continuum Sax, Ensemble Offspring, The Seymour Group, Aark, austraLYSIS, Halcyon, Side On Café mini-series (SIMA)

The Song Company
in association with the City of Sydney and Music Theatre Sydney
and New Music Network present

14
14 STATIONS OF THE CROSS
14 COMPOSITIONS
14 ARTWORKS/INSTALLATIONS
14 IMPROVISATIONS

form the basis of Via Crucis, a fresh and Australian interpretation of the path taken by Christ from the trial to the burial. The journey through the 14 stations is shared by performers and audience members alike to the rumble of the great organ in Centennial Hall.

Composers:    Stephen Adams, Brenton Broadstock, Edward Cowie, Stephen Cronin, Mary Finsterer, Andrew Ford, Elliott Gyger, Moya Henderson, David Joseph, Elena Kats-Chernin, Raffaele Marcellino, Andrew Schultz, Caroline Szeto and Michael Whiticker

Visual Artists: Mark Titmarsh, Russell Way, Geoffrey Boccalatte, Adrienne Doig, Sheryl Ryan , Fiona Kemp , Peter Woodford-Smith, Kate Mackay, Michael Hutak, Dean Golja, Lucy Young, Kate Champion , John Hughes, Katia Molino and others

Performers: Jo Burton, alto; Clive Birch, bass; Richard Black, tenor; Mark Donnelly, baritone; Ruth Kilpatrick, soprano; Nicole Thomson, soprano; with Maxime Bibeau, double bass; David Drury, organ; Alison Eddington, percussion; Catherine McCorkill, clarinet

Directed by Roland Peelman and Neil Simpson

Sydney Town Hall
5pm and 8pm, Good Friday, 9 April 2004, performance time around 70 minutes
Full price $45 / Concession $40 / Under 26 $20 (+ $4.50 booking fee)
Bookings call 02 9351 7939

Please note this performance is not seated and moves around the auditorium
www.songcompany.com.au

Electra
Songs from the Psyche
Electra Inner Voice with guest artists present Songs from the Psyche, by resident composer/artistic director Romano Crivici. This quasi-cabaret style work gives voice to, and explores some of the issues associated with normality/insanity, sexuality and the conflict between the individual and collective consciousness - it is also very lyrical, richly harmonic and rhythmically exciting.

Music Workshop, Sydney Conservatorium of Music
8pm Saturday 29 May 2004
Full price $28 / Concession $20
Bookings tel 0412 093 063 / nmn@chilli.net.au

Continuum Sax
Continuum Sax collaborates in this concert with Newcastle based Didgeridoo master, Michael Davison. ICON, a work created by Continuum Sax and Mick Didge, explores the synergies between the saxophone and didgeridoo. The concert is divided into three sections, ‘Breathing in Circles’, ‘In Europe’ and ‘In Australia’. These sections serve to introduce the didgeridoo and the saxophone, the heritage of the saxophone in the European avant-garde and the current work of Continuum Sax in Australia. Other highlights are the Australian premiere of Franco Donatoni’s Rasch for saxophone quartet and improvisations by Margery Smith and Martin Kay.

Performers: Margery Smith, soprano sax; James Nightingale, alto sax; Martin Kay, tenor sax; Jarrod Whitbourn, baritone sax; with Special guest: Mick ‘Didge’ Davison, didgeridoo

Recital Hall West, Sydney Conservatorium of Music
7.30pm Saturday 12 June 2004
Full price $25 / Concession $15
Bookings tel 0412 093 063 / nmn@chilli.net.au

Ensemble Offspring
A composer profile - Bozidar Kos
- celebrating 70th years
Since migrating to Australia as a jazz musician from Slovenia, Bozidar Kos has established himself as one of Australia’s foremost musical craftsmen. Ensemble Offspring profiles this respected composer as he reaches his 70th birthday with a concert of chamber music written by him and by younger Australian composers with whom he has enjoyed a close working relationship. Highlights include the world premiere of Kos’ Fatamorgana specially commissioned for the occasion and the world premiere of Springtime by English composer Michael Finnissy.

Artists: Roland Peelman, conductor; Kathleen Gallagher, flute; Jason Noble, clarinet; Thomas Talmacs, violin; James Eccles, viola; Geoffrey Gartner, cello; Bree van Reyk, percussion and Katarina Kroslakova, piano

Music Workshop, Sydney Conservatorium of Music
6pm Sunday 4 July 2004
Full price $28 / Concession $20
Bookings tel 0412 093 063 / nmn@chilli.net.au

The Seymour Group
past/present/future…
In his first concert as Artistic Director, Marshall McGuire has looked through the extensive and astonishing performance history of The Seymour Group, and assembled a program that showcases the brilliance of the individual performers of the group, highlights some works that were commissioned or first performed by the group, and looks to the future with some premiere performances. There are also a number of notable anniversaries in the world of music this year…

The Seymour Group: Christine Draeger, flute; Margery Smith, clarinet; Alex D’Elia, violin; Adrian Wallis, cello; Denise Papaluca, piano; Alison Eddington & Timothy Constable, percussion.

Music Workshop, Sydney Conservatorium of Music
7.30pm Friday 23 July 2004
Full price $28 / Concession $20
Bookings tel 0412 093 063 / nmn@chilli.net.au

Aark
Different Bodies
Different Bodies is a new work piece of musical/instrumental theatre currently being developed by Aark in collaboration with composer Romano Crivici and librettist Nicole Forsyth. The work will be a concert performance in 11 parts and will last approximately 60 minutes. It takes as its inspiration various contemporary and historical literary sources dealing with Metamorphosis (Hughes/Ovid, Eliot, Kafka and Malouf). From the beautiful duet of Echo and Narcissus to the hauntingly bizarre torch song of a disturbed daughter Myrrha, Different Bodies plumbs the landscape of the imagination through sound and song.

Music Workshop, Sydney Conservatorium of Music
8pm Saturday 25 September 2004
Full price $28 / Concession $20
Bookings tel 0412 093 063 / nmn@chilli.net.au

austraLYSIS
Jazz and Sound in 5D
austraLYSIS will perform innovative computer interactive music that includes newly composed music, improvisation, multimedia and text. Jazz has always focused on rhythm, melody, harmony, and individual timbre. austraLYSIS offer additional dimensions in their work. The 5th dimension may be realtime image generation, coordinated with the sonic component. It may be spoken and manipulated text. Or the 5th dimension may be realtime sound spatialisation. austraLYSIS uses computers and mixers to generate a multilayered improvised and composed experience at the cutting edge of jazz. Networking, sound synthesis, instrumental virtuosity, dynamism and creativity are all at the core of this work. There will be several new works, and the word jazz is used in its broadest sense, though not irreverently.

Artists: Roger Dean, leader, keyboards, computers, double bass; Hazel Smith, writer/performer; Sandy Evans, saxophones; Phil Slater, trumpets, computers; Greg White, computers and sound projection

Recital Hall West, Sydney Conservatorium of Music
7.30pm Saturday 2 October 2004
Full price $28 / Concession $20
Bookings tel 0412 093 063 /nmn@chilli.net.au

Halcyon
DARK LOVE
Renowned for consistently compelling programs, Halcyon presents DARK LOVE — a selection of exotic large scale works for voice and chamber ensemble. At the centre is a major 2004 commission by Rosalind Page, based on the recently discovered ‘Sonnets of Dark Love’ by Spanish icon, Federico Garcia Lorca. Lorca Sonetos promises stirring lyrics beautifully set by one of Australia's most intriguing and luminary composers. From the flamboyant shapes of award-winning young Spanish composer Gabriel Erkoreka to the irresistible soundscapes of veteran George Crumb this program explores the eternal themes of life and love.

Artists: Matthew Wood, conductor; Alison Morgan, soprano; Jenny Duck-Chong, mezzo-soprano; Laura Chislett Jones, flutes; Diana Springford, clarinets; Sophie Cole, violin; Nicole Forsyth, viola; Deborah Coogan, cello; Michael Hooper banjo; Richard Gleeson percussion

Music Workshop, Sydney Conservatorium of Music
7.30pm Saturday 23 October 2004
Full price $35 / Concession $25, wine and supper included
Bookings: 0412 093 063 or halcyonmail@yahoo.com.au

Side On Café mini-series (SIMA)
- the next generation of musicians devoted to the performance of Australian new music
1. Streamforms
Kathleen Gallagher and Geoffrey Gartner are local heros when it comes to the presentation of innovative and challenging music. Returning briefly to Sydney from their current position at the elite contemporary-performance program in San Diego, this duo will present an eclectic program of work, exploring the immediate vitality of Reza Vali, the intimate intricacies of Kaija Saariaho, the angular lines of Jason Eckhardt, a world premiere by Australian Dominik Karski and works by locals Gerard Brophy and Nigel Butterley.
8pm Thursday 15 July 2004
2. Generator
James Nightingale, saxophone; Ros Jorgenson, trombone and Jeremy Barnett, percussion
A concert including works by Gerard Brophy, Ross Edwards and the world premiere of Paul Witney's Charm of Impossibilities. Alongside these works a number of virtuosic solos and duets will display a side of the saxophone, trombone and percussion, and indeed a whole style of music not often seen in a jazz club.
8pm Thursday 19 August 2004
3. Jim Denley & Clayton Thomas
The brilliant young bassist Clayton Thomas and the experienced improvising wind player Jim Denley have now been developing a close musical relationship for the last 2 years. This concert witnesses their return to Sydney after months in Europe and North America where they have performed as solo artists and as a team in festivals and concerts. Their jointly improvised music has great movement and energy, yet the atomic structure of the music cannot be analysed in traditional terms; melodies, textures, rhythms, meters and harmonies, these terms fall short because they ask the wrong questions. This is truly new music.
8pm Thursday 16 September 2004

Side-On Café, 83 Parramatta Road, Annandale
Full price $15 / Concession $10
Bookings essential for dinner reservations Ph: 02 9516 3077

Sixth Annual Peggy Glanville-Hicks Address
Venue and date to be advised
Each year we invite an outstanding advocate of Australian music to deliver an address which, in the spirit of the great Australian composer PGH, challenges the status quo and raises issues of importance in the world of today’s music.
see Transcript from 2003 PGH Address

For more information on the 2004 Series and Address:

New Music Network

President: Marshall McGuire
Vice President: Roland Peelman
Manager: Anna Cerneaz
Tel: 61 2 9362 5711 Fax: 61 2 9362 5834
PO Box A661 Sydney South NSW 1235 Australia 
contact NMN: nmn@chilli.net.au

ABN: 69 568 255 635

For further information about the New Music Network or to join the mailing list please contact Anna Cerneaz.

The New Music Network is assisted by the NSW Ministry for the Arts.