Throughout human history solar eclipses have been viewed as omens of pending disaster. Inspired by the 2023 total solar eclipse in Exmouth Western Australia, celebrated contemporary artist Andrew Nicholls has conceived a suite of visual art works speculating about the disaster that this particular eclipse may have been foretelling, to be showcased at Holmes à Court @ No. 10 throughout February.
Witness the world premiere of a musical work commissioned by the artist from acclaimed contemporary classical ensembles Ad Lib Collective and Wind Up Bird. Mimicking the timing of the Exmouth eclipse, audiences will experience a sense of the drama and beauty of this extraordinary solar event, with its frenetic build-up of energy, and the uncanny awe of the ‘moment of totality’. Part sonic performance experience and part-magickal ritual, Portent (a ritual) represents a unique collaboration of creative disciplines spanning the visual and performing arts.
Feb 4th 2024 - 5.30pm and 8.00pm
Presented by Ad Lib Collective, Conditions of Growth is a performance work that blends exquisite chamber music with projected generative animations and bespoke lighting design in a 50 minute experience led by listening.
Lead Artists
Percussionist/Composer: Thea Rossen
Media Artist: Sohan Ariel Hayes
Pianist: Alex Raineri
Lighting Design: Alex Spartalis, GSD
Videography: Andrew Clarke, Edify Media
Arts Hub Review - Available here
Supported by Minderoo Foundation
credit: Andrew Clarke (Edify Media)
Wind-Up Bird is a new collaboration between composers/synth-artists Josiah Padmanabham from Grievous Bodily Calm and Gazey, and award-winning Australian composer, James Ledger. Their music is a melting pot of jazz, classical and contemporary influences all blended into psychedelic electronic textures.
On October 7, the Ad Lib Collective will be launching Wind-Up Bird at the Holmes à Court Gallery @ No. 10.
An ephemeral art commission honouring the community that laboured for 85 years at the Australian Fine China Factory site over the production of porcelain artefacts.
Artwork screens: Anne Neil.
Media artwork: Sohan Ariel Hayes
Composition and Live performance: Ad Lib Collective, Thea Rossen and Jared Yapp with guests Ashley Smith (clarinet), Sacha McCulloch (cello).
Ad Lib Collective have collaborated with local musicians and artists to create a once-off performance that will debut at the Latrobe Regional Gallery, celebrating the ethereal exhibition Scent. This performance will feature vocal harmonies performed by members of the Latrobe Valley Community Choir, and a specially composed score by Ad Lib Collective.
Sunday, March 20
2 - 3pm
Latrobe Regional Gallery, Morwell.
Image: Installation view of Scent 2022. Image courtesy of Latrobe Regional Gallery
Exhibition information:
An ethereal exhibition featuring over 100 perfume bottles in the Latrobe Regional Gallery Ingrid McGaughey Glass Collection.
This unique collection is on show in its entirety for the first time.
Perfume bottles give visual form to scents and are an important prop in the theatre of adornment. To celebrate and pre-announce the scent artists have designed and made perfume bottles since the 15th Century BC.
Both visually and sonically stunning, The Water Concerto by Tan Dun is an atmospheric evocation of the sounds of rural China, where the composer grew up. From the gentle rhythms of women washing laundry in the river to the excited splashes of children playing in the water, this is a piece that immerses audiences in the sounds of distant shores.
The soloist manipulates water through the use of instruments which have been specifically designed for this piece, and are accompanied by a small chamber ensemble of strings, clarinet and piano. Moments of the performance also respond to the surrounding Perth Festival exhibition, Strangers on the Shore, which explores the encounters between indigenous populations and European and Asian shipwreck survivors on the West Coast of Australia.
Performed and designed by Thea Rossen and Jared Yapp of the Ad Lib Collective in collaboration with the Holmes à Court Gallery, this performance is otherworldly, dramatic and captivating.
Performers:
Thea Rossen - Soloist, percussion
Ashley Smith - Clarinet
Jet Kye-Chong - Percussion
Liam Wooding - Piano
Sasha McCulloch - Cello
LIbby Browning - Double Bass
Photo credit: Andrew J Clarke
Play On Records is proud to present Flashed Glass, a new record from electronic duo Sleep D and mixed chamber ensemble Ad Lib Collective. Culminating from a two-year project borne out of a live collaboration in a Melbourne underground carpark, the LP marries the euphoria of the concert hall and the club, presenting a rich sonic universe for the listener to discover.
Having first been introduced at rehearsals for Play On’s 6th series in late 2018, the two groups hit it off, opting to perform a semi-improvised set together, rather than two separate sets as originally planned. They soon realised their pairing could unlock sounds they wouldn’t have otherwise found on their own, and their idea for further collaboration was born.
Because Flashed Glass didn’t use formal notation in the creation process, this resulted in charts and maps to plot out each track. This influenced the artists’ sonic interpretations of vast open spaces, dystopian landscapes and expansive journeys. What’s culminated is a record that combines spacious, repetitive, ambient electronica with the gentle, lilting woodwinds, strings and acoustic percussion of modern classical.
In March 2020, the two groups recorded at Head Gap studios in Preston — layering sounds, building melodies, and striking out what didn’t work — until the COVID-19 pandemic cut things short, twice, due to Melbourne’s dual lockdowns. This resulted in an accidental hybrid work, finishing as a mix of live professional recordings, and DIY home-recorded samples, with the latter including crushed plastic and pulverised sea shells.
This marks the first release of Play On Records, a Melbourne-based label exploring the intersection of acoustic and electronic music. This release is available on vinyl and digital download.
https://playonrecords.bandcamp.com/album/flashed-glass
In a first for Play On, the Ad Lib Collective and Ben Opie, join forces with Melbourne dance music royalty Sleep D for a world premiere live improvised collaboration.
To begin, Ad Lib and Opie present a program for mixed ensemble specially curated to take advantage of the unique concrete resonance and long natural reverb of the underground car park. Featuring works by Andy Akiho and the breathtaking ‘Ming Qi’ by beloved Melbourne composer Liza Lim, the program is unified by the haunting and fragile ‘Postludes’ for bowed vibraphone by contemporary American composer Elliot Cole.
Following this program, Sleep D join the group on stage for a 15-minute live improvised collaboration before taking over and going on a deep electronic journey, performing a 1.5hr dance set using sounds and ideas developed in and departed from the collaboration.
Recently workshopped on a residency at the Banff Centre in Canada, the program features a collaboration with the Penny Quartet in a brand new work for soprano, strings and percussion and is framed by an ice installation that permeates the performance.
Tickets and more information available here
Elliot Cole’s Postludes for four players on one vibraphone frame the program presented by the Ad Lib Collective and guest artist oboist Ben Opie.
With a re-imagined version of Appelbaum’s Aphasia for gesture, ancient plainchant, and the pulsating grooves of Andy Akiho and Jan Menu, the audience will be moved and surprised by this fresh, dynamic program.
Melbourne Recital Centre - June 13th 6pm 2018
Drip drop! Drip drop! What kind of music can you make with water? What sort of sounds does ice make?
Join artists Thea Rossen and Jesse Deane to discover a sensory experience that encourages you to play among the drips and drops, and help inform an immersive, sensory experience for children which will premiere at ArtPlay in January 2018.
Arctic Sound Experience (5 - 12y/o)
This project is part of ArtPlay's New Ideas Lab program, where artists are supported to create new work with children and families.
Presented by the Melbourne Recital Centre and the Tomorrow Today Foundation, The Ad Lib Collective designed and facilitated workshops at Benalla College as part of the Hands On Learning Program in Term 3 2017.
Hamish Upton and Thea Rossen from the Ad Lib Collective collaborated with Castlemaine State Festival and students at the Castlemaine Secondary College to present the opening of the 2017 Festival.
In february 2017 Thea and Jared from the Collective attended a residency course at the Banff Centre in Alberta Canada
