EDIT (15/03/21): SEE CURRENT OFFSPRING FOR ALL INFO HERE
Our Artistic Director chats with CutCommon about Offspring for All, digital concerts and the future of Australian music. Check out the full interview here, and read on below to learn more about the series!
Offspring for All is Ensemble Offspring’s new digital series, bringing a handful of our highlight concerts each year to hungry ears from around Australia and the world. This ongoing initiative will stream live and pre-recorded concerts to YouTube which will then be available on-demand on our website.
The digital series launches on September 24 with Rhythms of Change, a solo percussion set by our Artistic Director Claire Edwardes, featuring six new works by Australian women composers. This premiere stream is FREE, and tickets to future streams will be $20. On October 8, Ensemble Offspring joins forces with acclaimed harpist Emily Granger to unearth masterpieces from the depths of living musical imagination in Blue Silence. Both performances were pre-recorded in Golden Retriever Studios before Sydney’s hard lockdown.
At Ensemble Offspring we believe in the importance of connecting with our audiences, even when we can’t physically be together. For the first time, Offspring for All allows us to reach everyone, including people in extended lockdowns, those living remotely or regionally, and people who are physically impaired. This ongoing initiative will stream live and pre- recorded concerts to YouTube which will then be available on-demand on our website. We are dedicated to bringing the very best of living Australian music to those who have a thirst for innovative sound and art. Offspring for All accompanies Ensemble Offspring’s broad range of concerts, workshops and development programs which nurture and showcase the very best of Australian performing artists, creators and composers. Supported by Creative Partnerships Australia through Plus1 and our generous Ensemble Offspring Creation Fund donors.
Rhythms of Change – September 24 @ 8:00pm
Rhythms of Change is a pre-recorded, concert-length performance by internationally acclaimed Australian percussionist and Artistic Director of Ensemble Offspring, Claire Edwardes. This livestream features a unique collection of new works for solo mallet percussion instruments (marimba and vibraphone) by six female Australian composers. These works were written with intermediate percussionists in mind, and are part of Claire’s latest commissioning project, Rhythms of Change (funded by the Australia Council for the Arts). Claire says, “Righting the current gender sway towards male composers in solo percussion repertoire (especially solo Australian percussion repertoire) is integral to making broader long term change in classical music programming – especially for an instrument such as percussion which is so new!”
Claire Edwardes was described recently as ‘the wonder woman of percussion’ (Seesaw Magazine) and has built a career out of innovative collaborations, working with many of Australia and the world’s leading and emerging composers to expand the percussion repertoire. As the Australian Keychange Ambassador, Claire is a committed advocate of gender equity in classical music and this project is an extension of Ensemble Offspring’s 2017 programming of only female composers for an entire season.
“I am very grateful for your project and feel that the gender balance among composers for percussion is the most important challenge we face currently – I feel the need for greater equity more than ever right now. Thank you for your efforts Claire!” – Steve Schick, American percussionist extraordinaire
Blue Silence – October 8 @ 8:00pm
Ensemble Offspring join forces with acclaimed harpist Emily Granger to unearth masterpieces from the depths of living musical imagination. Originally conceived as a live concert for the Seymour Centre’s Seymour Nights series, the complete performance of Blue Silence has since been recorded to present via livestream in order to stay connected with audiences during Sydney’s extended lockdown.
Granger’s harp will feature in a solo penned by her partner and local legend Tristan Coelho, complemented by rousing chamber works from Nathan Daughtrey (USA), Caleb Burhans (USA), Gunnar Andreas Kristinsson (Iceland), and a timely trio arrangement of the reflective Blue Silence by Australian treasure Elena Kats-Chernin. To top it all off, you’ll be captivated by a brand new duet for bass clarinet and marimba by Gerard Brophy inspired by Turkey’s eastern coastal city of Van, titled Just outside Van…