DIVINE DARKNESS
An international cast of the hottest composers working today, Ensemble Offspring in full force, and soprano Jane Sheldon come together for a divinely dark program that transcends the rituals of the concert hall. A turbulent sonic dreamworld frames the works of David T. Little and Lisa Illean, while video by Peachey & Mosig creates an all encompassing musical experience for eyes and ears.
DETAILS
Thursday 3 July 6:30pm, The Neilson ACO On The PierPRE CONCERT TALK 5:45PMFriday 4 July 6:30pm, The Street Theatre, CANBERRA
PROGRAM
ANNA THORVALDSDOTTIR Entropic Arrows (2020)
JANE SHELDON Come, dark sigh* (2024)
DAVID T. LITTLE Ghostlight (2015)
DANIELA TERRANOVA Rainbow Dust in the Sky (2018)
LISA ILLEAN Cantor (after Willa Cather) (2017)
* World premiere
Pre Concert Talk Host
Stephen Adams
PERFORMERS
Jack Symonds (conductor)
Jane Sheldon (soprano)
Claire Edwardes (Artistic Director, percussion)
Lamorna Nightingale (flutes)
Jason Noble (clarinet)
Véronique Serret (violin)
Alexandra Osborne (violin)
Henry Justo (viola)
Blair Harris (cello)
Benjamin Ward (double bass)
Ronan Apcar (piano - 2025 Hatched Emerging Artist)
Ben Carey (sound)
Peachey & Mosig (video)
DESCRIPTION
Ensemble Offspring transcends the rituals of the concert hall in a drama-infused program that’s as much for the eyes as it is for the ears.
At the heart of the concert, David T. Little’s Ghostlight plays on the superstitions and mysteries of the theatre in a spellbinding musical journey – equal parts introspection and turbulent drama. A transcendent new work for voice and quartet by Jane Sheldon takes the Buddhist concept of vihava tanha (the desire for non-existence) as its starting point. Transformation underpins Entropic Arrows by Icelandic powerhouse Anna Thorvaldsdottir, as fragile and delicate musical ideas are passed from one musician to another – no turning back. And Daniela Terranova’s Rainbow Dust in the Sky offers ghostly echoes and fragments from “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” in an elusive lullaby. Jane Sheldon returns to the stage for Lisa Illean’s ethereal and romantic Cantor (after Willa Cather) haunting the boundaries between day and night. Wrapping the music in visions of light, an immersive video by Peachey & Mosig will make this divinely dark sonic dreamworld all encompassing.
“Ghostlight travels from the quiet of dusk through an often fierce, turbulent night to an introspective dawn”
“Lisa Illean’s calm soprano part explores the quiet certainties of the inner world against a background of loneliness and delicate beauty.”
“Sheldon transitions from passages that recall the ethereal vocalise of Mieczysław Weinberg… to the screaming of Yoko Ono…It’s thrilling stuff”
“leaving behind a sense of iridescence as though a new awareness has been born”
“David T. Little is “one of the most imaginative young composers on the music-theatre scene…not a post-classical composer but a classical composer with a surprisingly broad range.”
“Caught in a web of suspended animation, Illean’s music draws in the listener…”
“A concert that must be seen. Hearing it is not enough…a blast and a half of colour, fun and musical ingenuity.”
