Melbourne officially has a contender in the title for Australia’s cultural capital it seems, if the likes of Sydney-based Ensemble Offspring, under the charge of Claire Edwardes, has anything to do with it.
The independent musicians’ soloist movement is known for its participation in the Sydney Festival and other, independently charged cultural activities, one of which was Lone Hemispheres that took over track 8 at Carriageworks, Sydney as a standalone, one-night-only production.
A program of seminal works inspired by revolutionary architect, mathematician and composer Iannis Xenakis, alongside newly commissioned solo compositions by Berlin-based Australian Cathy Milliken, and Sydney composers Elizabeth Younan and Michael Smetanin, the whole production by is a testament to the cultural underbelly of Sydney and the vast space of it that’s missing the likes of this, that independently-produced music can address.
In Edwardes’ program, the performers explored a range of musical works. This included the moment of vocal utterance in a violin piece called Crie written by Cathy Milliken and played by Véronique Serret, Claire Edwardes (percussion) performed Electors of Middlemarch by Elizabeth Younan and Zubin Kanga on the piano belted out Four Angels by Michael Smetanin.
Performed alongside three works by Iannis Xenakis, the contemporary pieces worked perfectly well and really let the skill of local composers shine. As Edwardes said, the music of Iannis Xenakis is unashamedly bold, and it’s hard not to notice. It’s no surprise that the music showcased by the locals matched that of Xenakis who approached music with mathematical precision, architectural finesse and electronic refinement that gave his music a certain edge over others’.
