Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Event Details

Inner Voices presents the Australian premiere performance of The Heart of the Matter, a new multi-media work composed by Romano Crivici for narrator, vocalist and 13 musicians, (string quartet, saxophone, clarinets, didjeridu, piano, bass and percussion x 4). The two performances on the 9th and 10th April 2011 will be held in the Music Workshop at the recently heritage listed Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and are made possible by the generous support of the Australia Council for the Arts and the Powerhouse Museum. Each of the work’s 9 movements gives voice to an individual item from a specially selected set of iconic objects from the Powerhouse Museum, in combination with texts subtly narrated and sung by blind performance artist Catherine Mahoney. In this way The Heart of the Matter also reaches the blind and sight impaired community. The music itself ranges from powerful didjeridu based rhythmic grooves and massed drumming, through to ambient, gentle string lines and soaring improvisations on the saxophone. The performers explore these objects, through sound and in the broader human contexts in which they appear: in time, deep space, travel, creation, compassion, earth and land, and, one could simply say, in the ‘heart of the matter’. The Heart of the Matter was written with various performers specifically in mind, and whilst most of it is composed, important elements are provided by improvisational masters such as Craig Walters (soprano and tenor saxophones), Margery Smith (bass clarinet), Mark Atkins (didjeridu), Philip South and Jess Ciampa (percussion), Daryl Pratt (vibes) and Alex Henery (acoustic and electric basses) and Romano Crivici, as he directs from the keyboard. A double CD album of Heart of The Matter will be released in early April, and will be available for purchase at the performances. 10 years in development, The Heart of the Matter was born from the first ever collaboration between the Powerhouse Museum and composer Romano Crivici. This concept now comes to fruition in the premiere live performances of the 9 movements, each of which are inspired by unique objects and works of art from the Powerhouse Museum’s collections, exploring through sound and song themes as diverse as time, space, travel, creation, earth and land, and of course, in the end, life! Performed by narrator and singer Catherine Mahoney, with a ‘chamber orchestra’ of 13 brilliant classical and jazz musicians conducted by Romano Crivici.

Image: “Primary Totems” by John Dahlsen. Powerhouse Museum, Sydney.

Further information for this event is available online at the event's website or by phone on (02) 9559 3161 or by email to romano@crivici.com

Featured Australian Works

Featured artists

• Performer Romano Crivici