What a month we’ve had! Our gratitude goes out to all those Sydneysiders who joined us to celebrate the end of this wet summer with iconic favourites alongside new work from Australia’s best composers.
Our first two ‘Avant Gardens’ shows were a hit: sold-out double concerts for Ave in Lamorna and Jim’s magic garden, and Crie at Jason and Veronique’s serene yoga studio in Bondi. If you missed out, don’t despair – a handful of tickets are still available for the two remaining concerts Avant Gardens 3: Trussed and 4: Naturale.
Thanks also to those who joined us at Sunset Piazza to celebrate Steve Reich’s 85th birthday and the 50th birthday of ‘Drumming’. Claire and the team of guest percussionists and pianists (including Ben Kopp our new pianist) had so much fun – we can’t wait to do it again! If you haven’t already, check out Claire chatting with Andrew Ford about Reich’s work on The Music Show.
And lastly, some exciting news (particularly for those who attended ‘Ave’) – our recording of Of Stars and Birds by Nardi Simpson (2021 EO First Nations Composer in Residence) can now be enjoyed on all good streaming services. This is a gorgeous trio written for Claire, Jason and Lamorna inspired by Nardi’s Yuwaalaraay heritage. She says “I quickly realised Yuwaalaraay knowledge, connection and relationship to birds equalled the complexity and detail of advanced musical theory, compositional practice and creative conception. So I worked hard to imbue this piece with the things I know well, cultural concepts and knowledge, enabling a transformation away from a commissioned composition and into an extension of my own lived and practiced cultural experience.”