Melbourne composer and producer Jeanette Little writes music that exists at the intersection between contemporary classical and electronic music – a fertile nexus rich with possibilities.
Join us for the premiere of Jeanette’s latest work, ‘Madonna’, a Play On commission. Oscillating between natural sounds sourced through field recordings and artificial tones produced by an arsenal of synthesizers, the work uses repetition and electronic manipulation to create an extended meditation on the reverberations of the church bell.
The piece will be premiered alongside an eclectic program of works handpicked by the composer herself. As the presenter of classical/experimental show Slime on cult-online radio station NTS, Jeanette has a refined taste for everything from the cerebral to the sublime. The program she has selected spans the sonic fury of Greek composer and architect Iannis Xenakis, to exquisite dreamlike solo piano works by Aleksandr Scriabin.
To bring this exacting program to life we’ve enlisted two of the most accomplished musicians in the business – virtuosic pianist Peter de Jager and multi-award winning percussive artist Matthias Schack-Arnott.
Olivier Messiaen // I & XVII from Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus
James Tenney // Having Never Written a Note for Percussion
Iannis Xenakis // Herma
Alexander Scriabin // 4 Morceaux ops. 51 (nos.1 & 2)
Matthias Schack-Arnott // Neon Carillon (world premiere)
Jeanette Little // composer and curator
Matthias Schack-Arnott // Percussion
Peter de Jager // Piano
A Colourful Storm is a record label based in Melbourne and Berlin specialising in the strange, the bleak, the avant garde and the unique. Run by Moopie, since its inception in 2016 it has released indie-pop gems, unearthed holy grails and pushed soundsystem deconstructions.
Recognised as one of Australia’s most progressive acts, Moopie is at the forefront of a new wave of DJs emerging out of Australia. He has taken his sound to Berlin Atonal and Dommune, released mixes for Jealous God and Blackest Ever Black and cemented his place in electronic music mythology with inimitable sets at Inner Varnika.
Indonesian-born Bayu’s reputation for eclectic, wide-ranging DJ sets draws from keen observation of alternative culture in his formative years. A member of Tambora Radio, Bhang Records and a resident at Bandung’s infamous Push/Pull parties, he invited guests from around the world to play part in music rebellion.
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Play On alumni the Affinity Collective are celebrated for taking listeners deep into the classical chamber music experience through their revelatory and absorbing musical interpretations. For this performance, the group present a beguiling program of music from the nineteenth century to the noughties. Beginning with Argentinian composer Osvaldo Golijov’s haunting and beautiful Tenebrae (‘Darkness’) a work with a pulsating, vibrating, aerial texture, the program concludes with Australian composer Christopher Willcock’s vibrant Feux (‘Fires’).
At the centre of the program sits a classic of the string quartet repertoire, Felix Mendelssohn’s shimmering, joyful, String Quartet No. 2, completed in 1827 when the composer was just 18 years old. Written shortly after the death of Beethoven the work is often understood as a response to the great master’s late string quartets, which had left a strong impression on the young Mendelssohn spiritually, intellectually and technically.
Osvaldo Golijov // Tenebrae (2002)
Felix Mendelssohn // String Quartet no.2 (1827)
Christopher Willcock // Feux (2001)
Nicholas Waters // Violin
Ioana Tache // Violin
William Clarke // Viola
Mee Na Lojewski // Cello
With an unwavering commitment to digging deep and unearthing the deeper side of house music, Tim Heaney’s impeccable sets navigate diverse genres and generations. Often pivoting towards the counter-culture, Tim’s agnostic approach to track-selection creates dance-floor elation.
DJing for more than a decade, Tim has taken his inimitable sound to warehouse parties, intimate club gigs, and festival stages around Australia, Japan and Europe. Recent Australian highlights include Strawberry Fields, Pitch Music and Arts and Inner Varnika Festival.
Tim heads up the respected Melbourne music and arts collective, citipower, which has played host to a stellar line-up of international acts including Mike Huckaby, Giegling, Smallville, Damiano von Erckert, Lawrence and Steven Tang. Going beyond the usual club-fare, the collective also profiles local underground photographers providing a fresh perspective on the magic of the Melbourne music scene.
”He’s one of the great virtuosos … The possibilities are extraordinary … He radiates.” – Sir Simon Rattle, Artistic Director Berliner Philharmoniker
For the closing night of Series Five we welcome an icon of Australian music to the Play On stage: Legendary didgeridoo player, William Barton. With a musical practice that blends the oldest living culture in the world with Europe’s rich classical music tradition, William has expanded the horizons of the didgeridoo and the culture and landscape that it represents.
Equally at home performing in his hometown near Mt Isa in Queensland as he is playing in the most revered concert halls in Europe, Barton has performed with some of the world’s leading classical ensembles including the London and Berlin Philharmonic Orchestras.
With his prodigious musicality and the quiet conviction of his Kalkadunga heritage, Barton is celebrated as a performer, composer and improviser. For this special performance he appears alongside four formidable string players to present a selection of his own works for string quartet and didgeridoo.
William Barton // Birdsong at Dusk
William Barton // Petrichor
William Barton // Light of Everlasting
William Barton // Square Circles
William Barton // Didjeridoo
Veronique Serret // Violin
Kyla Kypi Matsuura-Miller // Violin
Beth Condon // Viola
Blair Harris // Cello
A key member of Melbourne’s electronic music scene, Merve’s DJ sets traverse house, acid, tribal, techno and disco with leftfield oddities sprinkled throughout. Driven by a keen preoccupation for breaking down the barriers between audience and performer, Merve explores the boundaries of the spaces she inhabits through her sets, blurring the dichotomy between light and dark.
Delivering her idiosyncratic sound to countless clubs, parties and festival stages, Merve has held down peak time slots everywhere from Strawberry Fields to the legendary Golden Plains Festival. She has performed alongside esteemed acts Objekt, The Black Madonna, Honey Dijon, Barbara Tucker, Motor City Drum Ensemble, Jane Fitz and Virginia.
In each of her sets, Merve has a unique ability to scramble the axis, connecting dancers to a wider vibration, a harder jack, a higher groove. This performance will be no exception. Get ready to be taken to a deeper realm.
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