Ensemble Offspring
Canberra International Music Festival
April 30, 2017 | 9:30am
Ensemble Offspring is back at the Canberra International Music Festival with three performances in some of the capital’s most iconic settings.
Watch Ensemble Offspring’s Blinky Bill Highlights video below
“…a memorable and highly successful event… Half the Sky deserves a place in the CIMF schedule each and every year”
Vincent Plush – Limelight Magazine
Details
Date & Time
BLINKY BILL
Sunday April 30th 2017, 9:30am National Library of Australia, Parkes ACT
Two fifty minute sessions at 9:30am and repeated at 11am
HALF THE SKY
Wednesday May 3rd 2017, 2:00-4:15pm National Library of Australia, Parkes ACT
135 minute site-specific event, including forum
HARVEST OF ENDURANCE
Thursday May 4th 2017, 6:30-7:50pm National Museum of Australia
Program
BLINKY BILL – THE KOALA REVOLUTION!
Dorothy Wall’s The Complete Adventures of Blinky Bill has not been out of print since its first publication in 1933. Mr Tim and Ensemble Offspring bring this children’s classic to life as a musical tale featuring an all-Australian score by Boyd, Edwards, Grainger, Pollard, Sculthorpe and Hindson. For little possums (and their koalas) aged 3-8.
HALF THE SKY – THE SOUND OF THE SEXUAL REVOLUTION
“Women hold up half the sky” refers to an ancient Chinese proverb made famous by Mao Zedong. Award-winning Ensemble Offspring crashes through the glass ceiling withan all-female composer event, featuring music by 2017’s Composer-in-Residence Chen Yi, Kaija Saariaho, Mary Finsterer and others.
THE HARVEST OF ENDURANCE
The Harvest of Endurance is a 50-metre scroll held by the NMA since 1992. Painted in the traditional gong bi style, its 18 panels depict survival and resourcefulness across two centuries of Chinese settlement in Australia. This occasion marks a unique opportunity to view the scroll and hear 18 compositions especially composed, with narration by William Yang. Featuring works by Australian composers Robert Davidson, Anne Boyd, Larry Sitsky, Kim Cunio, Carolyn Szeto and more.
Performers
Claire Edwardes (percussion)
Jason Noble (clarinet)
Zubin Kanga (piano)
Lamorna Nightingale (flute)
Blair Harris (cello)
Veronique Serret (violin)