Exit Ceremonies Program

VERBRUGGHEN HALL SYDNEY CONSERVATORIUM OF MUSIC 23 JANUARY 70MINS NO INTERVAL

EXIT CEREMONIES THE AUSTRALIAN ART ORCHESTRA AND ENSEMBLE OFFSPRING

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AUSTRALIA

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WORLD PREMIERE

EXIT CEREMONIES

THE AUSTRALIAN ART ORCHESTRA AND ENSEMBLE OFFSPRING AUSTRALIA | WORLD PREMIERE VERBRUGGHEN HALL SYDNEY CONSERVATORIUM OF MUSIC 23 JANUARY

ARTISTIC DIRECTORS

WORKS

Peter Knight (AAO), Claire Edwardes (Ensemble Offspring)

Simon James Phillips – FLAW (2015) for pipe organ and ensemble (WP) In FLAW, Simon James Phillips transfigures our sense of linear time using a mix of acoustic and electronic instruments. Drawing inspiration from society’s ever increasing technological contributions to the world and their resulting multi-layered impacts, Phillips works with subtle timbral and structural development to build complex, slowly turning textural layers that hypnotise and fascinate.

COMPOSERS Austin Buckett, Simon James Phillips

PERFORMERS

Organ Simon James Phillips Organ Austin Buckett Trumpet/electronics Peter Knight Voice Sonya Holowell Turntables Martin Ng Percussion Claire Edwardes Drum Kit/Revox B77 Tape Machine Joe Talia Violin Erkki Veltheim Violin Anna McMichael Cello Mary Rapp Bass Sam Pankhurst

SOUND/SIGNAL PROCESSING Myles Mumford

LIGHTING DESIGN Paul Lim

PRODUCERS Renee Dudfield/Insite Arts & Janine Marshman/Ensemble Offspring

THANK YOU Australia Council for the Arts, Arts NSW, Creative Victoria, City of Melbourne, Noisy Egg Creation Fund

Austin Buckett – AISLES (2015) for pipe organ and ensemble (WP) AISLES is a work for pipe organ, turntables, strings, trumpet, vocals, and two percussionists that draws on a wide range of inspirations from minimalism to hip-hop and which creates a truly immersive experience for the audience. AISLES features a slowly evolving approach and sets up looped conversations between the organ, turntables, percussion and strings over which the ethereal voice of Sonya Holowell and the trumpet of Peter Knight float like kites in the ether. ensembleoffspring.com aao.com.au

ABOUT The Australian Art Orchestra was founded by Paul Grabowsky in 1994 and is one of Australia’s leading contemporary ensembles. Now led by daring composer/trumpeter/sound artist Peter Knight, its work constantly seeks to stretch genres and break down the barriers separating disciplines, forms and cultures. It explores the interstices between the avant-garde and the traditional, between art and popular music, between electronic and acoustic approaches, and creates music that traverses the continuum between improvised and notated forms.

Led by Artistic Director Claire Edwardes, Ensemble Offspring embraces a broad and adventurous repertoire from seminal chamber works of the past 50 years, to free improvisation and the creation of striking interdisciplinary productions.

The Ensemble has premiered more than 100 new works and presents an annual program of over 30 concerts a year. In 2015, the year of the group’s 20th birthday, Ensemble Offspring featured at the Shanghai New Music Week, the Canberra International Music Festival, Vivid Festival and Metropolis New Music Festival with collaborators including Sydney Chamber Opera, Aventa Ensemble (Canada) and Ironwood.

Austin Buckett is an Australian composer and artist working in mediums that explore ideas focused on the perception of sound, its repetition and the environments of its presentation.

He has been a featured artist at many festivals and is also a member of the experimental rock band Golden Blonde.

Simon James Phillips trained as a classical pianist in Australia and Sweden but now works primarily as an experimental improvising pianist and composer in Berlin. He is influenced by electronic music, and is particularly interested in trying to replicate the mechanical and repetitive sounds that surround us. His latest release Blage 3 has received much critical praise.