Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Ecstatic Dances - Soundstream and OzAsia Festival by Aleksandr Tsiboulski

Six performers from Soundstream Contemporary Music Ensemble gave a mesmerising performance of Australian works in front of some one hundred people at the Dunstan Playhouse as part of Adelaide's OzAsia Festival. Apart from the top-class playing, this event, masterminded by pianist Gabriella Smart, was also a fine example of how intelligent programming and presentation can keep the listener engaged through a program of introspective contemporary works.

Collins & Woodward at the MRC by Mark Viggiani

Internationally prominent Australian virtuosi Roger Woodward (piano) and Geoffrey Collins (flute) gave the opening performance in the Melbourne Recital Centre’s intimate Salon. The title 'First Performances' was perhaps a misnomer, as none of these works were premieres but came across as personal favourites of the performers. All were presented with a typically high level of assured musicianship and warmth.

Some Musical and Sociological Aspects of Australian Experimental Music by Warren Burt

Experimental music has played a huge role in shaping the history of Australian new music. Warren Burt’s comprehensive overview of Australian experimental music from 1963 to 1993 provides enormous insight into the aesthetics, problems and political climate of this time...

Following the Least-Trodden Paths by James Humberstone

'You remember playing [La Monte Young’s] String Trio in the Round House in May 1969? Someone who was there in the audience tells me that while we were playing two rats came out from under the stage and sat listening to us.' So Cornelius Cardew wrote to David Ahern, 2 years later. The (in)famous English experimentalist kept in close touch with the young Australian upstart of a composer over the next few years as, in his words: ‘Good rumours have reached me’.