 Launching the 2008 New Music Network Concert Series |
New music is where creative musicians strive to express their ideas and feelings through media that encourage innovation and pose new challenges at every step. The pursuit of an aural ideal, the embrace of new technologies, the thrill of exploring a new combination of sounds or personalities, and the need to express a personal ethos are all motivating factors that encourage the creation of something new in music. This concert series reflects the wealth and diversity of new music, presenting Australia’s leading exponents of contemporary art music performance. Improvisation with the bush, the possibilities of intermedia and acousmatic computer works, a portrait of Elliott Carter, Cécile Broché’s electric violin from Brussels, song cycles from England and Australia, and five exciting mini series concert are among some of the experiences presented in this years’ series. The New Music Network Concert Series gives adventurous and inquisitive audiences the opportunity to connect and engage with the best of new music. We look forward to seeing you in 2008! James Nightingale NMN President |
23 November PRESENTED BY SANDY EVANS, 1 December |
| SYNERGY PERCUSSION presents Space and Time FEATURING FRITZ HAUSER Synergy Percussion’s Michael Askill, Timothy Constable and Bree van Reyk continue their explorations with some of the world’s most ancient instruments including gongs from China and singing bowls from the Himalayas. For centuries, these instruments have been used in spiritual and shamanic practices throughout Asia. Bob Scott, one of Australia’s leading sound designers, will use the latest in music software technology to create live transformations of these sounds into liquid landscapes evoking space and time. Synergy will be joined by one of Europe’s leading drummers and sound artists, Fritz Hauser. ‘Hauser is simply one of the best drummers alive.’ The New York Times IN THE dark and cavernous space of one of the auditoriums in the transformed railway workshops at CarriageWorks were four tables, widely separated in each quarter of the performance area, at which the Swiss percussionist Fritz Hauser and three members of Synergy ... read the review Date: 8pm Friday 27 & Saturday 28 June 2008 Where: Bay 20, CarriageWorks, 245 Wilson St, Eveleigh |
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KAMMER ENSEMBLE Performers: Claire Edwardes percussion, Lisa Osmialowski flute,
John Lewis clarinet, Scott Taggart violin, Danny Yeadon cello, Alan Hicks piano, Paul Stanhope conductor |
| CONTINUUM SAX Meet Electric Violin @ Sydney GUEST ARTIST CECILE BROCHE Continuum Sax meets electric violinist Cécile Broché from Brussels, Belgium, in a concert that profiles her work for Australian audiences. She graduated at the Conservatory of Liège and Brussels, where she got a First Prize for violin and for chamber music. She subsequently participated in classes with people such as Philip Hirshorn, Arnould Massart, Garrett List, Malcolm Goldstein, Barre Philips. Cécile Broché’s territory spans jazz, experimental and rock genres. Continuum Sax’s Margery Smith first met Broché at the Music OMI International Musicians Residency in upstate New York USA in 2006. There is a strong artistic collaboration developed, which will be continued here in Australia. Broché will perform Margery Smith’s Inferno for electric violin and sax quartet in collaboration with Continuum Sax for their New Music Network concert performance. For her Australian visit Broché will also be artist in residence at the University of Newcastle in late August. Performers: Cécile Broché, Margery Smith, James Nightingale, Martin Kay, Jarrod Whitbourn. Date: 5pm Sunday 24 August 2008 Where: MUSIC WORKSHOP, Sydney Conservatorium of Music Price: $30 Full / $20 Concession & Under 30 Bookings: (02) 8256 2222 or tickets available at the door Click here to book your tickets online. |
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| DAVID CHESWORTH ENSEMBLE Performing the music of David Chesworth and others, the David Chesworth Ensemble has forged its own musical path winning over audiences around the world with its unique, evocative music. The eight piece David Chesworth Ensemble creates a vast soundscape of orchestral, exotic instruments and electronics in a feast of striking, scraping, blowing, shaking, pushing, pulling and plucking. ‘It’s an odd combination. The trombone blares, pianos rumble and the vibraphone plinks. Rousing themes are accompanied by a grumbling undertow or abruptly abandoned, while the piano bumbles like a bee at a windowpane. The net effect is strangely euphonious’. The Wire, UK From his early experimental beginnings with seminal post-punk outfit Essendon Airport, David Chesworth has become one of Australia’s key composers and sound artists. His music has been performed and exhibited extensively in Australia and internationally. Major festivals include Ars Electronica, Festival D’Automne de Paris, Edinburgh Festival, Melbourne and Adelaide Festivals, Sydney Biennale, BAM Next Wave Festival, and Bang on a Can Marathon, New York. Performers: David Chesworth electronics, Andrea Keeble violin, Helen Mountfort cello, John McAll piano, Simon Myers trombone, Peter Neville percussion, Eugene Ughetti percussion, Jeremy Alsop bass Date:5pm Sunday 14 September 2008 Where: RECITAL HALL EAST, Sydney Conservatorium of Music Price: $30 Full / $20 Concession & Under 30 Bookings: (02) 8256 2222 or tickets available at the door Click here to book your tickets online. |
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HALCYON presents B3 Bryars Benjamin Butterley Gavin Bryars Adnan Songbook 1996 George Benjamin Upon Silence 1990/91 Nigel Butterley Orphei Mysteria (World Premiere) 2008 This program of substantial chamber works from England and Australia features three outstanding composers, Gavin Bryars, George Benjamin and Australia’s Nigel Butterley, all of whom have turned to poetry for their inspiration. Provocative and original, British composer Gavin Bryars began his career as a jazz bassist and a pioneer of free improvisation. The song cycle, Adnan Songbook, is a collaboration with Lebanese American poet Etel Adnan, and is representative of Bryars wide-ranging literary interests. In stark contrast, British composer George Benjamin’s work Upon Silence sets a late poem of WB Yeats, Long-legged Fly, which portrays three momentous figures from history absorbed in quiet contemplation. Esteemed Australian composer Nigel Butterley has a longstanding affinity with such poets as Kathleen Raine, Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson and has selected the poems of Melbourne poet Patricia Excell for a new song cycle composed for Halcyon, Orphei Mysteria. Date:8pm Friday 17 October 2008 Where: VERBRUGGHEN HALL, Sydney Conservatorium of Music Price: $30 Full / $20 Concession & Under 30 Bookings: (02) 8256 2222 or tickets available at the door Click here to book your tickets online. |
| Machine for Making Sense presents West Head Project 3 For the third year the West Head Project will perform at the large flat tessolated rock on top of West Head in the Ku-ring-gai National Park, Elvina Track. This is such a natural site for meeting and playing that people have probably been doing so for thousands of years, West Head Project continues that tradition. This group project continues an interest in searching for and enjoying performance spaces and acoustics outside of buildings. In making a genuine new Australian music, the context and time/spaces where the music is created are crucial. The West Head Project aims to create a music appropriate to this specific time/space and hence West Head Project brings together some of Sydney’s finest improvisers for a spontaneous and site-specific event. These players have been working together for over 6 years in the Splinter Orchestra and in various combinations associated with the NOW now Festival. In that environment they have developed a unique methodology for large group improvisation. Over the last few years their interests and skills have developed for these outdoor events. Performers: Jim Denley wind instruments, Peter Farrar alto sax, Monika Brooks piano accordian, Robbie Avenaim percussion, Matt Earle guitar, electronics, Rory Brown double bass, Joe Derrick trumpet Date: 4pm Sunday 26 October 2008 Where: WEST HEAD, Ku-ring-gai National Park, Elvina Track Suggested Donation: $30 Full / $20 Concession & Under 30 Bookings: Places are limited! Phone Philippa @ NMN on 0411 606 077 |
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SYDNEY CHAMBER CHOIR presents DANCE | CHANT WITH GUESTS MATCH PERCUSSION, CONDUCTED BY PAUL STANHOPE From ancient music to the sounds of today, you’ll be caught up in the spell of this concert inspired by the transcendent rhythms of dance and chant, and featuring guest artists Match Percussion. The driving energy of Steve Reich, the irrepressible joy of Ross Edwards, the mystical passion of Hildegard of Bingen – this is music on fire! Date:7.30pm Saturday 8 November 2008 Where: VERBRUGGHEN HALL, Sydney Conservatorium of Music Price: $45 Full / $30 Concession & Under 30 Bookings: www.sydneychamberchoir.org or 1300 661 738 |
| austraLYSIS presentsSonic Textuality This is a program around real-time interactive word manipulation in displayed, spoken and sonified text, together with speech sound and sung sound as electroacoustic source for musical transformation. Sonification is a counterpart to visualisation, in which data (or musical ideas) are represented in sound rather than visual image. Sound generally changes and is perceived faster, and here we will use sonification in a novel approach to word transformation, but of course for artistic rather than informational purposes. New works and new software created by austraLYSIS. Performers/Creators: Roger Dean, Sandy Evans, Phil Slater, Hazel Smith, Greg White, David Worrall. Date: 8pm Saturday 6 December 2008 Where: RECITAL HALL EAST, Sydney Conservatorium of Music Price: $30 Full / $20 Concession & Under 30 Bookings: (02) 8256 2222 or tickets available at the door Click here to book your tickets online. |
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ENSEMBLE OFFSPRING presents TO THE MAX To the Max brings together six disparate works at opposite ends of the decibel spectrum. The whispered clarinet tones of Helmut Lachenmann’s Dal Niente (Out of Nothing), Morton Feldman’s King of Denmark, and the Beauty Boxes by Rosemary Joy (Aphids), each present a uniquely microscopic and barely perceivable world of sound. In contrast, Andriessen’s Workers Union, a symphonic movement for any group of loud sounding instruments, a world premiere from Michael Smetanin, the composer who broke occupational health and safety standards with his Black Snow, and the overwhelming volume of Phil Niblock’s droning instruments promise to overload the senses. Artistic Director: Damien Ricketson Assistance Artistic Director: Claire Edwardes Performers: Diana Springford clarinet, Veronique Serret violin, Geoffrey Morris guitar, Claire Edwardes percussion, Bree van Reyk accordion Date: 7pm Wednesday 10 December 2008 Where: CARRIAGEWORKS, Wilson Street, Eveleigh Price: $35 Full / $20 Concession & Under 30 Bookings: www.carriageworks.com.au or Ticketmaster 1300 723 038 |
| NEW MUSIC Mini Series |
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1. SQUALL The Sound Lounge hosted the wonderful sounds of Stephen Morley's Squall on Wednesday 2 July. A memorable concert with recently composed works by Stephen and other members of the group. The dynamics of these compositions and spontaneous free improvisations showed influences of jazz with contemporary elements. If you missed the concert you can hear Radio National's Music Show interview with Andrew Ford. Stephen Morley (French horn/composition) formed Squall in 2005. This ensemble, comprising some of Sydney’s finest improvisors, has previously performed mainly original works, as well as pieces by composers such as Dave Holland and Tom Varner. In this performance the group will be presenting a collection of works emanating from the fertile ground that lies between pre-composed and improvised music. Comprising pieces for the full sextet, as well as smaller gatherings from within the ensemble, these original compositions will drawn upon a range of influences, from contemporary classical elements to spontaneous free improvisation. Read the Review by John Clare for SIMA... Date: 8pm Wednesday 2 July 2008 Where: THE SOUND LOUNGE, Seymour Centre |
| 2. ALEX MASSO ENSEMBLE These five musicians aged 17-25 hail from Bowral, Wollongong, Nowra and the Blue Mountains respectively. Most come from a jazz background but have a fascination with improvised music and exploration of their instruments in a variety of genres, and collectively have performed with The Splinter Orchestra, Wadada Leo Smith, Ubercube, OJCS, Trio Apoplectic and the West Head Project among others. For this particular performance they will work in duos within a single extended structure, exposing different facets of their musical personalities with each combination. Performers: Alex Masso percussion, Finn Ryan percussion, Jono Lake piano, Sam Dobson double bass, Monika Brooks piano/accordion/electronics Date: 8pm Wednesday 27 August 2008 Where: SOUND LOUNGE, Seymour Centre Price: $20 Full / $12 Concession & Under 30 Bookings: (02) 9351 7940 or tickets available at the door Click here to book your tickets online |
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3. SynC SynC is Michael Atherton (ancient and contemporary acoustic instruments) and Garth Paine (electronics). Focusing on the interface between acoustic and electronic music, SynC is an experimental ensemble for acoustic instruments and live electronics. This composition/performance collaboration seeks to contextualise ancient and modern musical languages within a single form. It does so by utilising ancient and contemporary acoustic musical instruments (eg. oud, hurdy-gurdy, gongs, marimba, and percussion) as the sonic foundation for complex live electronic processes, which generate a vast array of timbral environments, responsive to the acoustic input, but simultaneously independent. Wacom Drawing Table and Wii controllers as multidimensional control surface and sensors are used in live performance, allowing the duo to discard the constraints on the laptop. Date: 6.30pm Saturday 27 September 2008 Where: RECITAL HALL EAST, Sydney Conservatorium of Music Price: $20 Full / $12 Concession & Under 30 Bookings: (02) 8256 2222 or tickets available at the door Click here to book your tickets online. |
| 4. A SHUFFLE OF SONGS F AGNOSS UE HFOSF Performers: Jessica Aszodi soprano, Roland Peelman piano A badge of musical devotion you can wear on your belt, or your lapel, or your sleeve – as they say in iPod-land. Or the illusion of a Japanese high school romance a la Rin Tsuchimi. Or a damn hot recital by young Melbourne chanteuse Jessica Aszodi. Including new work by Smetanin and Dahm. Including the rarely heard vocal exploits of the legendary Kurtág. Including two composers who met their maker early: Claude Vivier and Jani Christou. All of it will be shuffled right there and then. Date: 6pm Monday 6 October 2008 Where: RECITAL HALL EAST, Sydney Conservatorium of Music Price: $20 Full / $12 Concession & Under 30 Bookings: (02) 8256 2222 or tickets available at the door Click here to book your tickets online. |
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5. JAMES CUDDEFORD/NATSUKO YOSHIMOTO: VIOLIN DUO Internationally acclaimed violinists James Cuddeford and Natsuko Yoshimoto pair three recent duos by Australian composers with three major works by European masters. This exciting program includes two important world premieres. A challenging new work written for the duo by Mary Finsterer is preceded by the world premiere of the violin version of Harrison Birtwistle’s Duets for Storab. A selection of miniatures by James’ teacher Gyorgy Kurtag is balanced by the beautiful and haunting sound world of Luigi Nono’s last composition- the half hour long Hay que caminar sognando- where the two violins are placed in varying spatial configurations around the audience. Date: Date: 5pm Sunday 23 November 2008 Where: RECITAL HALL EAST, Sydney Conservatorium of Music Price: $20 Full / $12 Concession & Under 30 Bookings: (02) 8256 2222 or tickets available at the door Click here to book your tickets online. |
| 10th Annual Peggy Glanville-Hicks Address presented by Sandy Evans Each year we invite an outstanding advocate of Australian music to deliver an address which, in the spirit of the great Australian Composer Peggy Glanville-Hicks, challenges the stats quo and raises issues of importance in the world of today’s music. Sandy Evans is an internationally renowned saxophonist and composer with a passion for improvisation and new music. Much of Sandy’s work combines her background as a jazz musician with new ideas from other areas of music. She leads the Sandy Evans Trio, and co-leads GEST8 and Clarion Fracture Zone. She performs with Ten Part Invention, austraLYSIS, The Australian Art Orchestra, The catholics, Kim Sanders and Friends, SNAP, Waratah and MARA!. Sandy has a growing interest in Indian classical music, inspired by tours to India with a group from the Australian Art Orchestra led by Adrian Sherriff, collaborating with South Indian drum maestro Guru Karaikudi Mani. Sandy has won many awards including the Inaugural Bell Award For Australian Jazz Musician of The Year 2003, a Young Australian Creative Fellowship, APRA Award for Jazz Composition of the Year, 2 Mo Awards and three ARIA Awards. Sandy has written music for dance, theatre and film. Major works include Testimony about the life and music of Charlie Parker with poetry by the Pulitzer prize winning American poet Yusef Komunyakaa and her most recent work, The Beatitudes, for Children’s Choir, and a 25 piece ensemble of young musicians. Sandy is a dedicated teacher and is the director of SIMA’s Jazz Improvisation Workshops For Young Women. Date: 6pm Monday 1 December 2008 Where: THE MINT, 10 Macquarie Street, Sydney Bookings: (02) 8239 2211 Enquiries: Philippa Horn @ NMN 0411 606 077 or nmn@newmusicnetwork.com.au Free event, bookings essential. |
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Please contact the New Music Network for more info on the 2008 Series and Address:
President:
James Nightingale
Vice
President:
David Young
Vice
Secretary: Jenny Duck-Chong
Manager:
Philippa Horn
Tel: 0411 606 077 email: nmn@newmusicnetwork.com.au
PO Box A661 Sydney South NSW 1235 Australia
ABN: 69 568 255 635For further information about
the New Music Network or to join the mailing list please contact Philippa Horn
Archive: 2007 Series
Archive: 2006 Series
Archive: 2005 Series
Archive: 2004 Series
ABN: 69 568 255 635
The 2008 New Music Network Concert Series has received financial assistance from Arts NSW and the Australia Council for the Arts.
