"Speak" Percussion - Performances

29 Sep

2001

Federation Music Week

Melba Hall

Federation Music Week

27th-30th September 2001.

A festival of international contemporary music by members of the Asian Composers League, performed by Australia's premier musicians. There were more than 40 Australian premieres in 17 concerts and seminars over four days.

Speak Percussion performed works by Colin Bright & Clarence Mack.

01 Dec

2005

Raising the Rattle

Masonic Hall, Yarraville

A solo percussion project involving commissions and collaborations with Chris Dench, Anthony Pateras, David Young, Kate Neal and Dal Babare on five new solo percussion compositions.

These new works plus a performance of Oribotics (solo percussion work by David Young accompanied by robotic Origami flowers by Matt Gardner) and a new work, Lady Cosmic Dream, by Eugene Ughetti were premiered and recorded in a solo performance in the 2005 Big West Arts Festival.

Eugene Ughetti: Solo Percussion and Curator
Peter Neville: Guest Percussionist
Matthew Gardiner: Installation and Origami Assistant
Rosemary Joy: Miniature Percussion instruments.
Richard Vabre: Lighting Design
Michael Hewes: Sound Design

Post concert reception:
Acqua e Vino, 18a Anderson St. Yarraville

WHEN
Thu 1st & Fri 2nd of Dec, 2005

SPONSORS
Arts Victoria
The Australia Council for the Arts
Acqua e Vino
Sun Theatre
Davis Music Centre

02 Nov

2006

California Music

South Melbourne Town Hall 210 Bank Street, South Melbourne

Speak Percussion performs at the opening night of the New Music Machine festival.

Percussion pieces from solo to sextet from California. An exposition of the rich American history of percussion composition from the grandfather of percussion, John Cage to the pop legend Frank Zappa and finally home to Australian based talents Warren Burt and Erik Griswold.

PROGRAM
James Tenney: "Wake" for Charles Ives (in memory of James Tenney)
Frank Zappa (arr. B. Jones): G. Spot Tornado
John Cage/Lou Harrison: Double Music
Warren Burt: Beat Generation in the Californian Coastal Ranges
Erik Griswold: String's Attached

PERFORMERS
Peter Neville
Tim Phillips
Danny Richardson
Greg Sully
Vanessa Tomlinson
Eugene Ughetti

16 Apr

2007

Song of Imprisonment

Holy Rosary Church, 22 Gower St, Kensington

The Astra Choir in association with Speak Percussion, Mary Anderson and Delyth Stafford (harps), Kim Bastin and Joan Pollock (pianos) conducted by John McCaughey

Gesualdo’s Tenebrae settings for Holy Week, as graphic in expression as the canvasses of his contemporary Caravaggio, form one of the great and daring cycles of the choral repertoire. Their texts of abandonment, injustice, imprisonment and death lead on a path to two works in the mid-twentieth century, written in the shadow of oppression and war by Luigi Dallapiccola (in Italy) and Hanns Eisler (in exile from Germany).

Dallapiccola uses words from three famous historical prisoners to place choir, pianos and harps among a large array of percussive sound. The collaboration with Speak Percussion brings the programme into the present with contemporary percussion works by James Tenney and Fritz Hauser.

06 Jul

2007

Hutes Organ Project

Melbourne Town Hall

A performance on the Melbourne Town Hall Grand Organ, with music from the 1929 opening concert mixed with new compositions teasing out the history of the organ and ghosts of past civic events.

Works by Reubke & Saarhiaho, world premieres of works by Pertout & Neville, and improvisations for organ (Andrew Blackburn), percussion (Speak Percussion), flute (Jean Penny), electronics (David Corazza), Visuals (David Harley).

12 Aug

2007

Guggenheim Concert

NGV - Great Hall, 180 St. Kilda Rd, Melbourne

Running simultaneously with the National Gallery of Victoria’s Guggenheim Collection exhibition, Speak will present some of the percussive masterpieces influenced and created by the same NY artistic circles.

We are also delighted to be collaborating with the VCA percussion department on Varese’s timeless classic Ionisation. Other pieces by John Cage, Steve Reich, James Tenney, La Monte Young & George Brekt.

13 Aug

2007

Solo Percussion at La Mamma

The Carlton Courthouse Theatre 349 Drummond St, Carlton

MUSICA @ La Mamma
Eugene Ughetti – solo percussion with special guest performance artists The Rollergrooves.

This performance will present a series of conceptual percussion and performance art pieces developed by Eugene over the last 10 years. The Rollergrooves are not to be missed!!

13 Oct

2007

Propositions and Game Plans

FortyFive Downstairs, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne

Eugene Ughetti will perform John Cage's solo percussion piece ONE4 (1990) in-conjunction with the Propositions & Game Plans exhibition.

Propositions & Game Plans is an exhibition exploring the imagery of ephemeral art forms and the ‘process' of starting something new.
Featuring a selection of musical scores, movement instructions, notations and drawings by Australian and international composers, choreographers, visual artists and designers, Propositions & Game Plans presents the creative process as rarely experienced by anyone other than the artists and their collaborators.

ONE4 was commissioned by and dedicated to Fritz Hauser as part of a series of works he commissioned to evolve the musical language of the drum-set.

The ONE4 score will be on display in the Propositions and Game Plans exhibition for general viewing, the piece demands an approach based very much in deep-listening and a respect for the simplicity and beauty found throughout Cage's work.
Curated and Coordinated by Rachel Young and David Young
Based on a Suggestion by Kristy Edmunds

26 Oct

2007

MUSICIRCUS

BMW Edge, Federation Square, Melbourne

As part of the Melbourne International Arts Festival, Speak Percussion will be presenting John Cage's last piece for percussion FOUR4 (1991). A 72 minute percussion quartet which will be featured within the grand work musicircus, a large Festival conceptual-piece of Cage's which will last from sunset until sunrise (18:48-05:20) from Fri Oct 26 until Sat 27.

This event is FREE and will feature some of Melbourne's most exciting performers.
No official performance schedule will be published but Speak Percussion be beginning FOUR4 at 9:48pm

27 Nov

2007

Melbourne Percussion Music

The Incinerator Arts Complex 180 Holmes Road, Moonee Ponds

Experience an exciting performance of new and recent classic compositions by some of Melbourne’s strongest voices in percussion.

In celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the Melbourne Composers League and the long standing relationship with Speak Percussion.

Works by Warren Burt+, Stuart Greenbaum+, Simon Charles+, Ian Vitcheff*, James Rushford*, Andrian Pertout+, Brendan Colbert*, Mark Viggiani* and Scott McIntyre*.

*world premiere
+premiere of revised version

01 Dec

2007

Visual Music

Incinerator Arts Complex, 180 Holmes Road, Moonee Ponds

Legendary composer Erik Griswold’s contribution to percussion music is immense. Speak will be joined by Vanessa Tomlinson of Clocked Out Duo (Brisbane) and will be performing his most popular pieces and 2 new pieces developed especially for the 2007 Big West Festival. Visual music is a delightful display of the physical phenomena of percussion.

24 May

2008

Dream, Spill, Fear, Percussion

Judith Wright Centre, Brisbane

Music and kinetic sculpture merge in the percussion compositions of Erik Griswold. Brisbane's Clocked Out joins forces with Melbourne's Speak Percussion to present "Spill," "Strings Attached," "Fear" and other evocative music for prepared piano and percussion. "Through the intricately choreographed score of rolls and accents, the quivering ropes suggested gusts of wind or sound wave phenomena, in what became a percussion tour de force and kinetic sculpture all in one." - Josef Woodard, Los Angeles Times

16 Jun

2008

Pedro Carneiro & Speak Percussion

John Hopkins Room, Victorian College of the Arts

Internationally acclaimed percussion soloist Pedro Carneiro joins forces with Speak Percussion for a concert that combines rare gems with classic works.

Conlon Nancarrow: Player Piano Study No. 31 arranged Ughetti
Xylophone and 2 marimbas

J.S Bach: Chaconne from Partita Nr. 2 in D Minor BWV 1004
Pedro Carneiro solo

Brendan Colbert: PNEUMA
Vibraphone and marimba

Olivier Messiaen: 'Life' section from The Combat of the Death and Life, Les Corps Glorieux
Arranged for 2 marimbas and vibe

Iannis Xenakis: Psappha
Pedro Carneiro solo

Alejandro Vinao: Hommage to Nancarrow from
Estudios De Frontera Quintet
(Australian premiere)

13 Jul

2008

Fritz Hauser with Speak Percussion

Toff in Town, 2nd Floor Curtin House, 252 Swanston st, Melbourne

See Fritz in his only Melbourne appearance for 2008.

Fritz Hauser "...is simply one of the best drummers alive" New York Times.

He straddles both the improvised and notated music world's giving highly developed solo performances for drums and percussion worldwide. In this, his only Melbourne appearance for 2008, Fritz will bring his incredible attention to detail and utterly unique approach to the drum set. Having collaborated with many of the world's heavy weights including John Cage, Pauline Oliveros, Lauren Newton and with many legendary percussion groups including Nexus and Kroumata, his work is unmistakable and profound.

Speak Percussion will perform a number of ensemble pieces by Fritz including a work he dedicated to Speak in 2005 plus other must see classics by John Cage and David Lang which take the either the instrumentation or concept of the drum-set as their point of departure.

With the support of: Pro Helvetia , Switzerland.

28 Sep

2008

Choir & Percussion

Gasworks Theatre, Albert Park

The Astra Choir, soloists & keyboards. Conducted by John McCaughey, with Speak Percussion (Eugene Ughetti, director).

This concert forms an upbeat to the 100th birthday celebration of the composer Elliott Carter in December 2008. Music of Carter is set between works from the earlier generation of his American contemporaries and new works from younger Australian composers influenced by this heritage.

Elliott Carter
:TO MUSIC for chorus (1937), CANTO for timpani (1966). Johanna Beyer:
THREE CHORUSES (1937), MARCH FOR 30 PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS (1939). Stefan Wolpe:
TWO CHINESE EPITAPHS for chorus and percussion (1937).

Neil Kelly:
CHORUSES FROM DISSIDENT CONSONANCES (2007).

Andrew Byrne:
WHISPERS AND CRIES for voices, percussion and instruments (2008) (first performance)

07 Dec

2008

Carter 100 - Tintinnabulation Aus Premiere

Central Hall, Brunswick

The 100th birthday on December 11, 2008 of Elliott Carter - still alive and composing in his centenary year – is celebrated on the preceding weekend in this second of two concerts. Among many other exciting pieces, Speak Percussion will give the 2nd ever performance of Carter’s new percussion sextet Tintinnabulation. This is his first percussion ensemble piece and is written in his mature modernist language. This performance is in collaboration with Astra Chamber Music Society. One of Carter's most brilliant and challenging ensemble works, the Brass Quintet, provides a focal point among the vast context of music and poetry, in American and other traditions, from which Carter developed his compositional language. 7 pm, Sunday 7 December - Central Hall, 20-22 Brunswick St. Fitzroy. Tiks: Full $27, Conc $15, Stu $10. Bookings: ph. (03) 9326 5424 or astra@connexus.net.au

13 Dec

2008

Shakuhachi Chamber Music Comp

Melba Hall, University of Melbourne

Hear the three winning compositions from Derrik Jordan (USA), Doug Gibson (Australia) and Satoru IKEDA (Japan) performed by Australia’s leading Shakuhachi masters and instrumentalists, and take part in voting for the “Audience Prize”. Hear the shakuhachi of Andrew MacGregor and Anne Norman together with Kanishka Karunaratne classical guitar, Geoff Hughes electric guitar, Silo String Quartet with Speak Percussion. MELBA HALL The University of Melbourne
Saturday 13th December 2008
3.30pm. Tiks: $39 full, $35 senior or group, $30 concession Bookings: www.shakuhachichambermusic.net
or call (03) 9739 7340

18 Apr

2009

Pianissimo Percussion

Melbourne Recital Centre

An intimate performance of some of the quietest and most subtle percussion works written.

PROGRAM
Morton Feldman The King of Denmark (solo)
Brice Pauset De Prolatione (Australian Premiere) (solo)
Fritz Hauser Zeichnung (duo)
Evan Johnson Hyphen (solo)
James Rushford you imagined every encounter was real (World Premiere) (trio) (this work was made possible by support from the Australia Council for the Arts)

PERFORMERS
Eugene Ughetti, Peter Neville, Matthias Schack-Arnott.

NOTES
As direct response to Melbourne’s recent gift, the Melbourne Recital Centre, Speak Percussion are excited to be presenting this performance at the extreme of auditory experience. A series of poetic and extremely fragile works for Percussion will push the acoustic boundaries of the Salon through an unorthodox use of percussion. Feldman’s King of Denmark is now recognized as one of the seminal works of the percussion literature and juxtaposes perfectly beside the focused and highly complex language and instrumentation of the Johnson and Pauset. We are also delighted to be presenting the first performance of a new work by Melbourne composer James Rushford, his second for Speak, which promises to be at least as intricate and delicate as his first and features a large set of chromatic Angklung.

DETAILS
Saturday 18th of April, 6pm.

TICKETS
www.melbournerecital.com.au

30 May

2009

Catherine Schieve: Graphic Music

Frankston Arts Centre

DETAILS
Saturday the 30 May, 7:30pm (1 hour no interval)
Davey St, Frankston VIC

NOTES
Catherine’s large-scale graphic scores are both visual works of art and musically fascinating. As a visual artist and composer/performer Catherine Schieve has been investigating the deep congruence of sonic and visual expression for over 25 years.

This program will feature a series of 4 seminal works Catherine created in the 1980’s. The works are also large visual arts works created on canvas and were designed to be "read" and performed by musicians trained in specific ways (redefining the act of translating visual gestures to sound), often on homemade or adapted percussion instruments.

The performance environment will be set-up as an open installation environment where the percussionists traverse the space in front of Catherine’s strategically placed “graphic” scores. The audience will be free to move, listen and view the works at their discretion.

This performance is supported by the City of Melbourne and the Frankston Arts Centre.

PERFORMERS
Eugene Ughetti, Leah Scholes, Matthias Schack-Arnott, Catherine Schieve (Woollongong),
Warren Burt (Woollongong).

TICKETS www.artscentre.frankston.vic.gov.au

02 Jun

2009

Catherine Schieve: Graphic Music

Melbourne Recital Centre

DETAILS
Wednesday and Thursday 6 & 7 of June, 6pm (1 hour no interval)

NOTES
Catherine’s large-scale graphic scores are both visual works of art and musically fascinating. Inspired by the Grainger Free Music interior, this program will display a series of Catherines scores in the round with a gently moving live percussion performance.

As a visual artist and composer/performer Catherine Schieve has been investigating the deep congruence of sonic and visual expression for over 25 years.
This program will feature a series of 4 seminal works Catherine created in the 1980’s. The works are also large visual arts works created on canvas and were designed to be "read" and performed by musicians trained in specific ways (redefining the act of translating visual gestures to sound), often on homemade or adapted percussion instruments.

The performance environment will be set-up as an open installation environment where the percussionists traverse the space in front of Catherine’s strategically placed “graphic” scores. The audience will be free to move, listen and view the works at their discretion.

This project is also Speak Percussion’s response to the interior of the Salon Room, of which the 4 walls are covered by Percy Grainger’s graphic score “Free Music No. 3”. This performance furthers the highly significant but currently undervalued legacy of Australian graphic notation in music.

This performance is supported by the City of Melbourne and the Frankston Arts Centre.

PERFORMERS
Eugene Ughetti, Leah Scholes, Matthias Schack-Arnott, Catherine Schieve (Woollongong),
Warren Burt (Woollongong).

TICKETS www.melbournerecital.com.au

06 Jun

2009

American Masters

Melbourne Recital Centre

DETAILS
Saturday the 6th of June, 6pm (1 hour, no interval).

PROGRAM
John Cage Quartet for Tom-Toms
James Tenney Pika-don (Australian Premiere) w. electronics
Elliott Carter Tintinnabulation
Alvin Lucier Music for Snare Drum, Pure Wave Oscillator and One or More Reflective Surfaces (Australian Premiere),
Steve Reich Clapping Music.

PERFORMERS
Eugene Ughetti
Peter Neville
Matthias Schack-Arnott
Gary France (Canberra)
Greg Sully
Tim Phillips

NOTES
The depth and diversity of 20th Century American music composition is staggering and it’s contribution to the genre of the percussion ensemble is second to none. From the conceptual and political West coast schools to the modernist and minimalist works of the East coast. Experience in this single concert program master percussion works from all extremes of the American culture, including the 100 year old mater Elliott Carter's work "Tintinnabulation" from 2008.

TICKETS
http://www.melbournerecital.com.au

13 Jun

2009

Anthony Pateras: Percussion Portrait

Melbourne Recital Centre

DETAILS
Saturday 13th & Sunday 14th of June (1 hour, no interval).

NOTES After a long and successful relationship with Anthony Pateras, Speak Percussion and Clocked Out Productions present a portrait of his extensive body of works for percussion, including two new pieces commissioned especially for this concert.

This performance is supported by the City of Melbourne.

PERFORMERS
Eugene Ughetti
Peter Neville
Matthias Schack-Arnott
Nat Grant
Vanessa Tomlinson (Brisbane)
Nozomi Omote (Brisbane)

PROGRAM
Mutant Theatre III (solo) (world premiere) 16 mins (2008)
Transmutations (sextet) 20 mins (2002)
Hypnagogics (solo) 8 mins (2005)
Refractions (sextet) (world premiere) 20 mins (2008)

PROGRAM NOTES
Mutant Theatre Act III is the latest instalment in an ongoing collaboration between Pateras and Tomlinson (the first act premiered in 2001 at the Melbourne Museum). The performer is surrounded by a vast array of timbres, explored through short examinations of micro-sets contained within this. A bizarre quicksand results, maximalism drowning in minimalism, buoyed by rich orchestration and elastic tempo.

Transmutations for percussion sextet (2002)
Transmutations is a 5 movement monolith commissioned by Australian new music cornerstone Peter Neville in 2002. At times brutal and unrelenting, as well as spacious and poetic, the piece is a Xenakis-tinged exploration of layered timbral palettes generated from highly physical performance. Pateras originally conducted the VCA ensemble for his 2004 recording Mutant Theatre, released on the prestigious Tzadik imprint.

Hypnagogics for 25 microsounds, crotales and tape (2005)
Inspired by the 1960s works of Robert Ashley and Alvin Lucier, Hypnagogics was written as a brief study in psychoacoustics for Eugene Ughetti. The performer has 5 sets of incredibly tiny instruments, amplified and thus transformed into something completely alien. The crotales are tuned around the tape drone, creating variable beating frequencies in the space that intensify as the piece progresses.

Refractions for percussion sextet (2008)
Refractions incorporates some of the spatial ensemble techniques of Transmutations, but explores the amorphous sonic capabilities of percussion sextet more deeply. Written in one continuous movement, it is flavoured with some of Pateras’ more recent interests in music from Ethiopia and Burundi, combined with Helmut Lachenmann’s concept of acoustic musique concréte. A supersonic close to an unforgettable concert.

TICKETS
http://www.melbournerecital.com.au

29 Jul

2009

Anthony Pateras: Mutant Theatre

Queensland Conservatorium, Brisbane

Mutant Theatre & Inside Music

One of Australia's truly innovative composers, Anthony Pateras has created his own sound universe – maximalism drowning in minimalism, buoyed by rich orchestration and elastic tempo. “Anthony Pateras is emerging as one of the most vibrant and original figures in Australian new music …” - The Australian

Mutant Theatre is a retrospective concert focussing on Pateras’ works for percussion composed specifically for Vanessa Tomlinson (Clocked Out) and Eugene Ughetti (Speak Percussion). It features two new pieces commissioned with assistance from the Ian Potter Foundation especially for this concert.

PERFORMERS:
Vanessa Tomlinson, Eugene Ughetti, Peter Neville, Matthias Schack-Arnott, Leah Scholes, Nozomi Omote.

Program:
Mutant Theatre III (2008)
Ian Potter Commission
Transmutations (2002)
Hypnagogics (2005)
Refractions (2008) Ian Potter Commission

Inside Music. This intimate presentation by Anthony Pateras invites the audience to explore what happens ‘behind the scenes’ as performers prepare their work. The lecture-demonstration includes a performance and allows for audience questions.

Queensland Conservatorium, Brisbane
Mutant Theatre / Wed 29 July, 6.00pm

Mutant Theatre / At door $15

22 Sep

2009

Speak & Unspoken

Iwaki Auditorium, Southbank

Speak and Unspoken, an idea conceived by American pianist Donna Coleman, was inspired by a 2004 performance of Swiss composer-percussionist Fritz Hauser’s Double Exposition presented by renowned Speak Percussion in concert at Melbourne’s BMW Edge. She imagined an aurally and visually arresting experience in which the boundaries between piano and percussion, performers and instruments, performers and composers, improvisation and composition, sounds and sights are fluid and permeable, a performance in which piano and pianist swim in a sea of percussion instruments in virtuoso exploration of space, silence and stillness.

For the September 2009 world premiere, Speak Percussion members Eugene Ughetti, Peter Neville and Matthias Schack-Arnott will join Donna Coleman, Fritz Hauser and Boa Baumann for ten days of intensive contemplation and rehearsal directed and composed by Fritz Hauser in collaboration with all involved artists.

—program—

small talk
for percussion solo

Fritz Hauser
composer and percussionist

—intermission—

Speak and Unspoken
for pianist and three percussionists

Donna Coleman pianist
speak percussion
Eugene Ughetti percussion
Peter Neville percussion
Matthias Schack-Arnott percussion

Fritz Hauser artistic direction
Boa Baumann space and more

Two shows only!!

Tuesday evening the 22nd September 2009 at 7:00 and 9:00
Iwaki Auditorium ABC Southbank
Tickets $25/20 incl. GST

Bookings: www.speakpercussion.com/shop

or tickets available at the door

Speak and Unspoken is commissioned by Pro Helvetia Swiss Cultural Foundation

05 Nov

2009

György Ligeti: Síppal, dobbal nádihegedüvel

Australian National Academy of Music

We are delighted to be giving Melbourne's first performance of Ligeti's only work for percussion ensemble Síppal, dobbal nádihegedüvel for mezzo voice and percussion quartet. The work, translating literally as With Pipes, Drums, Fiddles was composed in 2000 and is a song cycle on poetry by Sándor Weöres.

Written towards the end of his life, it's language is in Ligeti's great colouristic and complex style incorporating folkloric Hungarian elements.

As part of ANAM's Haydn and Ligeti focus we will be joined by the wonderful musicians of the Australian National Academy of Music and other Melbourne based solists for a mixed Haydn Ligeti program.

Nov 5, 2009 - 7pm
Australian National Academy of Music
South Melbourne Town Hall, 210 Bank St. Sth Melbourne.

for more information and booking info please visit: www.anam.com.au

26 Nov

2009

It looks like you are doing something, but we can't imagine what you are doing

Phoenix Youth Centre

Speak Percussion and Aphids present

It looks like you are doing something, but we can't imagine what you are doing.

Eugene Ughetti solo percussion

In this world premiere for Big West, percussionist Eugene Ughetti performs a series of works that cross the boundaries of music and choreography, challenging us to rethink how we see, hear and move.

This virtuosic showcase features a dance work for percussionist by world renowned Texas-based choreographer Deborah Hay, as well as new works by Eugene Ughetti, Melbourne composers David Young and Alex Garsden, and Sydney choreographer Martin del Amo.

Duration: approx 60 minutes

Bookings: http://www.speakpercussion.com/shop.php?product=16
or tickets at the door
$15 full/$10 conc.

Dates: 8pm Thurs 26th Nov and 8pm Fri 27th Nov

Venue: Phoenix Youth Centre, 72 Buckley Street, Footscray

27 Nov

2009

It looks like you are doing something, but we can't imagine what you are doing

Phoenix Youth Centre

Speak Percussion and Aphids present

It looks like you are doing something, but we can't imagine what you are doing.

Eugene Ughetti solo percussion

In this world premiere for Big West, percussionist Eugene Ughetti performs a series of works that cross the boundaries of music and choreography, challenging us to rethink how we see, hear and move.

This virtuosic showcase features a dance work for percussionist by world renowned Texas-based choreographer Deborah Hay, as well as new works by Eugene Ughetti, Melbourne composers David Young and Alex Garsden, and Sydney choreographer Martin del Amo.

Duration: approx 60 minutes

Bookings: http://www.speakpercussion.com/shop.php?product=16
or tickets at the door
$15 full/$10 conc.

Dates: 8pm Thurs 26th Nov and 8pm Fri 27th Nov

Venue: Phoenix Youth Centre, 72 Buckley Street, Footscray

19 Mar

2010

Pasta Percussion

Raw Materials

Presented in the 2010 Melbourne Food & Wine Festival in collaboration with Raw Materials and chef Glenn Flood.

This event will see Speak’s first exploration of the nexus between food and sound through the experience of cooking and music performance.

Pasta and Percussion can be traced back to a common ancestor word ‘kwet-’ in the pre-historic language Proto-Indo-European.

Over millennia, ‘kwet-’ has evolved into words related to shaking, striking or sprinkling – all actions of cooking and performing with percussion. Such words include squash, discuss, paste and pastry and related words in Italian, Hindi, Persian and Greek.

The audience will progress through a five-course meal in which each dish is carefully coupled and conceptually intertwined with a percussion piece. The basic platform will be the relationship between pasta and percussion and the way in which the two senses correlate.

The performance will be presented in various parts of the Raw Materials warehouse space including The Studio which features a state-of-the-art kitchen and dining area fully equipped for cooking demonstrations and degustation.

The major work of the event takes pasta as both the food and sound source. It will be a compositional exploration of sprinkling, cracking and shaking pieces of raw pasta in combination with other culinary implements and sound generators. The pasta that is eaten will be exactly that that becomes the musical instrument. Orechiette, this distinctly Italian form of pasta translates literally as “little ears” and will contribute another connection between the experience of sound and taste.

Percussionists will be dressed in chefs attire, programs will function simultaneously as menus, ushers will also be waiters and the percussionists will interact sonically with live cooking.

Program
Percussion sound installation
John Cage Three 2
Javier Alvarez Temazcal
Iannis Xenakis Rebonds B
Fritz Hauser Zeichnung
Eugene Ughetti Lady Cosmic Dream

Menu/Program
* vegetarian and dietary restrictions available

Antipasti.
Prentice Ramato (200X)
Eugene Ughetti untitled soundscape (2010)

Orechiette. Insalata of charred asparagus, torn figs, 180 acres goats curd and 9-year-old balsamic.
Moondarra Semillion Savignon Blanc
John Cage THREE2 for percussion trio (19XX)

Shake and sprinkle. House-smoked salmon with Tuscan bread salad, lime and herb salt.
Moondarah Beurot Pinot Gris (200X)
Javier Alvarez Temazcal for solo maracas and tape (1984)

Sault. Spaghetti saltate finished with pangritata.
Hollys Garden Pinot Noir (200X).
Iannis Xenakis Rebonds B for multiple percussion (1989)

4th piatto. Radicchio & rocket with walnut dressing.
Water
Fritz Hauser Zeichnung for 4 cymbals (2002)

Tiramisu. Tiramisu with caffe Agust, crostoli
Pizzini vin Santo, King Valley (200X)
Eugene Ughetti Lady Cosmic Dream for percussion trio and 2 tapes (2005)

Performances
19th SOLD OUT! & 20th of March, 2009
7pm for a 7:30pm start

Venue
RAW MATERIALS
148 Cowper St
Footscray

BOOKINGS ESSENTIAL at www.speakpercussion/shop
click above on shop to link directly.
Table and group bookings welcome.

Tickets
$175 (includes 5 course meal, wine & performance)

Links
www.rawmaterials.com.au
www.melbournefoodandwine.com.au

Photograph
Martin Paten

20 Mar

2010

Pasta Percussion

Raw Materials

Presented in the 2010 Melbourne Food & Wine Festival in collaboration with Raw Materials and chef Glenn Flood.

This event will see Speak’s first exploration of the nexus between food and sound through the experience of cooking and music performance.

Pasta and Percussion can be traced back to a common ancestor word ‘kwet-’ in the pre-historic language Proto-Indo-European.

Over millennia, ‘kwet-’ has evolved into words related to shaking, striking or sprinkling – all actions of cooking and performing with percussion. Such words include squash, discuss, paste and pastry and related words in Italian, Hindi, Persian and Greek.

The audience will progress through a five-course meal in which each dish is carefully coupled and conceptually intertwined with a percussion piece. The basic platform will be the relationship between pasta and percussion and the way in which the two senses correlate.

The performance will be presented in various parts of the Raw Materials warehouse space including The Studio which features a state-of-the-art kitchen and dining area fully equipped for cooking demonstrations and degustation.

The major work of the event takes pasta as both the food and sound source. It will be a compositional exploration of sprinkling, cracking and shaking pieces of raw pasta in combination with other culinary implements and sound generators. The pasta that is eaten will be exactly that that becomes the musical instrument. Orechiette, this distinctly Italian form of pasta translates literally as “little ears” and will contribute another connection between the experience of sound and taste.

Percussionists will be dressed in chefs attire, programs will function simultaneously as menus, ushers will also be waiters and the percussionists will interact sonically with live cooking.

Program
Percussion sound installation
John Cage Three 2
Javier Alvarez Temazcal
Iannis Xenakis Rebonds B
Fritz Hauser Zeichnung
Eugene Ughetti Lady Cosmic Dream

Menu/Program
* vegetarian and dietary restrictions available

Antipasti.
Prentice Ramato (200X)
Eugene Ughetti untitled soundscape (2010)

Orechiette. Insalata of charred asparagus, torn figs, 180 acres goats curd and 9-year-old balsamic.
Moondarra Semillion Savignon Blanc
John Cage THREE2 for percussion trio (19XX)

Shake and sprinkle. House-smoked salmon with Tuscan bread salad, lime and herb salt.
Moondarah Beurot Pinot Gris (200X)
Javier Alvarez Temazcal for solo maracas and tape (1984)

Sault. Spaghetti saltate finished with pangritata.
Hollys Garden Pinot Noir (200X).
Iannis Xenakis Rebonds B for multiple percussion (1989)

4th piatto. Radicchio & rocket with walnut dressing.
Water
Fritz Hauser Zeichnung for 4 cymbals (2002)

Tiramisu. Tiramisu with caffe Agust, crostoli
Pizzini vin Santo, King Valley (200X)
Eugene Ughetti Lady Cosmic Dream for percussion trio and 2 tapes (2005)

Performances
19th SOLD OUT! & 20th of March, 2009
7pm for a 7:30pm start

Venue
RAW MATERIALS
148 Cowper St
Footscray

BOOKINGS ESSENTIAL at www.speakpercussion/shop
click above on shop to link directly.
Table and group bookings welcome.

Tickets
$175 (includes 5 course meal, wine & performance)

Links
www.rawmaterials.com.au
www.melbournefoodandwine.com.au

Photograph
Martin Paten

29 Mar

2010

Melbourne Uni Lunchtime Concert

Melba Hall, University of Melbourne - Parkville

Monday 29th of March, 1:10-2pm

Melba Hall
University of Melbourne
Royal Parade, Parkville

This program is taken from Speak's recent collaboration with chef Glenn Flood and Raw Materials, in a project presented in the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival.

It explores the deep correlations between Pasta and Percussion taking the root word in Proto-Indo-European "kwet" as it's point of departure.

Program
Antipasti sound installation
John Cage Three 2
Javier Alvarez Temazcal
Iannis Xenakis Rebonds B
Fritz Hauser Zeichnung
Eugene Ughetti Lady Cosmic Dream

18 May

2010

Breaking the Sound Barrier: American Percussion Music 1940-2009

Iwaki Auditorium

A fascinating program of works spanning 1940-2009 curated and conducted by American percussion guru Jan Williams.

Including special guests Synergy Percussion giving the Melbourne premiere of Steve Reich's latest percussion work Mallet Quartet and the VCAM percussion ensemble.

Full program below...

Program credo by curator and conductor Jan Williams:
When Paul Price, arguably the person most responsible for the creation of a repertoire for the percussion ensemble, recorded the LP “Breaking the Sound Barrier” with the American Percussion Society for Urania Records in the late 1950’s, there was certainly a paucity of serious works for percussion ensemble. Immediately after WW II, it was Paul who unearthed a large cache of pieces by Henry Cowell, John Cage and Lou Harrison dating from the late 1930‘s and early 1940‘s, and began programming them at the University of Illinois, where he was teaching at the time. The inclusion of Lou Harrison’s 1941 Canticle No. 3 and Edgard Varese’s Ionisation on this recording marks a milestone in the history of recorded percussion music.

The percussion repertoire has come a long way since this recording was released, as is shown by the diversity of works on this evening’s program. Tonight we will break the sound barrier anew. You will experience a panoramic view of American percussion music since 1940, including several early works by John Cage and Lou Harrison and culminating in a performance of Harrison’s massive Labrynth No. 3, a work which remained largely unheard until the mid-1990’s. Two of the composers represented, Steve Reich and David Lang, are recent recipients of the prestigious Pulitzer Prize in Music and have written many highly acclaimed, ground-breaking pieces for percussion.

All the pieces on this program do, in their own way, break barriers. But this has always been the nature of the percussion repertoire. The unlimited possibilities the world of percussion offers composers, and the dedication of percussionists to the study and performance of new works, virtually guarantees the creation of an amazingly diverse and rich repertoire. After tonight’s superbly played performances, I am sure you will see what I mean. Enjoy!

Jan Williams
April 2010

Breaking the Sound Barrier
American Percussion Music 1940-2009

PART 1

SPEAK PERCUSSION
David Lang: The So Called Laws Of nature Part II (2002)
Earle Brown: Folio II for Ann (1994)
James Tenney: Rune (1988)

PART 2

VCAM PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE
John Cage: Amores (1943)
Lou Harrison: Suite (1942)
Earle Brown: Folio II 1991
John Cage: She is Asleep (1943)
John Cage: Third Construction (1941)

PART 3

SYNERGY PERCUSSION
Steve Reich: Mallet Quartet (2009)
Earle Brown: Folio II 1980

VCAM PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE
Lou Harrison: Labrynth No. 3 (1940-41)
-Ode
-Passage Thru Dreams
-Seed
-Image in the Soil

Date
Tuesday the 18th of May
7:30pm

Venue
Iwaki Auditorium, ABC Centre
Souhtbank Blv, Southbank

Tickets
Full $25 Concession $15

Bookings
click on Shop above (www.speakpercussion.com/shop)
OR
at the door

12 Jun

2010

Vibraphone I

Montsalvat

This program is focused around perspectives of the Vibraphone, reflecting on it’s unique sonority and ancient origins presented within it's contemporary context.

Featuring new works written especially for this program by local legends Warren Burt and Mark Pollard. A work from Stockhausen's week-long Opera Licht (Freitag). The first-ever recorded Vibraphone work from the Vaudeville era, the infamous Aloha Oe, and a traditional Indonesian Gender Wayang piece harking back to the Vibraphone’s hypnotic Gamelan origins.

PROGRAM
Traditional Hawaiian, arranged by "Signor Frisco" - Aloha Oe

Mark Pollard - The Heavenly Muzak Machine (World premiere)

Karlheinz Stockhuasen - Vibra-Elufa

Dale Gorfinkel - solo for prepared vibraphone

Stuart Saunders Smith - Links no. 4 (Monk)

Traditional Balinese music - Rebong - Gender Wayang duo.

Warren Burt - new work (for 39 tuning forks tuned to just intonation) (World premiere)

Warren Burt - Beat Generation in the Californian Coastal Ranges for solo vibraphone and sine waves

DETAILS
Saturday 12th June, 2010
8pm
Montsalvat
7 Hillcrest Ave
Eltham

Percussionists
Eugene Ughetti
Matthias Schack-Arnott
Dale Gorfinkel
Jeremy Dullard
Timothy Phillips
Matthew Horsley

Tickets can be purchased online here: BUY NOW

photograph: Björn Perborg

22 Jun

2010

Exile

Online & Iwaki Auditorium

EXILE
after Euripides’ story of Iphigenia

Composed by Helen Gifford
Libretto by Richard Meredith
Director Margaret Cameron
Soprano Deborah Kayser
Media artist Champagne Valentine (Amsterdam)
Percussion Eugene Ughetti, Peter Neville, Matthias Schack-Arnott

We are delighted to be undertaking our first collaboration with Chamber Made Opera and continuing our relationship with Aphids in this fascinating new work.

Exile features a thrilling collaboration with Champagne Valentine, an outstanding media arts outfit based in Amsterdam. In 2008, Champagne Valentine designed and animated the showreel for Aphids Reel Music Festival presented at ACMI. We are very pleased to be working with this award-winning media arts and design studio who are working at the fore of virtual, digital, and mobile technologies.

Exile may well be the world’s first iPad opera.

Set on a desolate coastline, Helen Gifford’s exquisite chamber opera, Exile, explores the psychological state of Iphigenia as she reflects on her time as a high priestess of human sacrifices.

Co-produced by Aphids, Chamber Made Opera and Speak Percussion, Exile features acclaimed soprano Deborah Kayser with an ensemble of percussionists, clarinets, piccolo and mandolin. Exile will combine operatic performance with the extraordinarily textured and layered virtual gaming visuals by cult new media artists Champagne Valentine (Amsterdam).

Exile is a major production for 2010, and is the ultimate and dramatic combining of Greek tragedy, chamber opera, advanced digital media, new mobile technologies and contemporary music.

Exile will be recorded in front of a live studio audience for ABC Classic FM; filmed on location in remote, coastal Victoria; animated and digitally enhanced in Amsterdam; and launched online for download straight to your handheld device, iPad or computer.

LIVE STUDIO RECORDING
8pm Tuesday 22 June 2010
Iwaki Auditorium, ABC Southbank Centre, Melbourne
ADMISSION FREE

This project is supported through Aphids by the City of Melbourne, Arts Victoria and private donations (thank you!).

Art direction by Sweet Design with Aphids and Chamber Made Opera

Image: Daisy Noyes

09 Jul

2010

3MBS Chamber Music Feast CONCERT 1

Melba Hall

Grand Feast of Music, Wine and Food
part of the 3MBS Melbourne Chamber Music Feast
Hosted by Rita Erlich and Peter Burch

Speak will perform in a program including works performed by the Flinders Quartet, TinAlley String Quartet, Ensemble Liaison, Trio Anima Mundi, Silo String Quartet.

the program will remain secret until the night where each work is coupled with a glass of wine from either:

Delatite Winery, Yering Station, Cope Williams Winery, Hanging Rock Winery, Bacchus Hill Winery, Big Shed Wines.

The Grand Feast of Friendship, Music and Wine in 2008 was such a success, we have made it even better for our 2010 Chamber Feast. Again hosted by Rita Erlich and Peter Burch, not only will the audience receive 6 tastings of fantastic Victorian wine, each guest will have a small tasting box of food to go along with the wine and beautiful music. Rita proved herself to be a master of the art of matching music and wine. This is no random process but a synthesis of the senses guided by two much loved Melbourne identities. Starting at 6:30, you will still have time after the concert to enjoy a meal in the many restaurants on Lygon St.

VENUE
Melba Hall, The University of Melbourne
Gate 12, Royal Parade, Parkville

DATE
6:30pm Friday the 9th of July, 2010

BOOKINGS
All ticketing through M-TIX
(03) 9685 5111
www.m-tix.com.au

FESTIVAL LINK
http://www.3mbs.org.au/?q=node/559

10 Jul

2010

3MBS Chamber Music Feast CONCERT 3

Melba Hall

Saturday 10th of July at 7pm

Speak Percussion with violin soloist Rochelle Bryson (Trio Anima Mundi)
Lou Harrison Concerto for Violin with Percussion Orchestra
- plus -
8 cellists from Melbourne's chamber groups with Merlyn Quaife, soprano
Villa Lobos Bachianas Brasileiras No. 1 and No. 5

The octets in this concert are pieces loved by every cellist and lover of cellos. Joined by Merlyn Quaife these two pieces will be sure favourites with audiences so book early. Speak Percussion will bring a new element to the Chamber Feast with violinist Rochelle Bryson. Percussionists are a special breed of musician and their attention to detail while engaging audiences will be married with the exotic solo violin in this rarely heard masterpiece of the 20th Century.

VENUE
Melba Hall, The University of Melbourne
Gate 12, Royal Parade, Parkville

DATE
7pm Saturday the 10th of July, 2010

PERFORMERS
Rochelle Bryson (violin soloist)
Speak Percussion:
Eugene Ughetti, Peter Neville, Matthias Schack-Arnott, Leah Scholes & Steve Fitzgerald.

BOOKINGS
All ticketing through M-TIX
(03) 9685 5111
www.m-tix.com.au

FESTIVAL LINK
http://www.3mbs.org.au/?q=node/559

11 Jul

2010

3MBS Chamber Music Feast CONCERT 4

Melba Hall

Sunday the 11th of July at 2pm

Freshwater Trio with Speak Percussion perform
Shostakovich's Symphony No. 15 arranged for string trio and percussion

TinAlley String Quartet with Flinders Quartet
Mendelssohn Octet in e flat op. 20

Definitely a performance not to be missed! Shostakovich's fifteenth symphony is revealed in a new, intimate setting with piano trio and percussion not normally associated with chamber music. The octet in this afternoon's performance is the quintessential string players dream. Mendelssohn's Octet needs no introduction except to say that the performers are relishing the excuse to prepare it for you!

VENUE
Melba Hall, The University of Melbourne
Gate 12, Royal Parade, Parkville

DATE
6:30pm Friday the 9th of July, 2010

BOOKINGS
All ticketing through M-TIX
(03) 9685 5111
www.m-tix.com.au

FESTIVAL LINK
http://www.3mbs.org.au/?q=node/559

29 Jul

2010

Vibraphone II

Melbourne Recital Centre - Salon

This program is focused around perspectives of the Vibraphone, reflecting on it’s unique sonority and ancient origins presented within it's contemporary context.

Featuring new works written especially for this program by Victorian composers Brendan Colbert, Mark Pollard and Luke Paulding. Melbourne experimental vibraphone guru Dale Gorfinkel will present his genre busting prepared vibraphone improvisations, juxtaposed alongside some of the most distinctive works ever written for the instrument. A work from Stockhausen's week-long Opera Licht (Freitag) and an ultra-complex master-work by Richard Barrett. The first-ever recorded Vibraphone work from the Vaudeville era, the infamous Aloha Oe, and a traditional Indonesian Gender Wayang piece harking back to the Vibraphone’s hypnotic Gamelan origins.

Sitting in sonic dialogue with the vibraphone will be a number of octaves of tuning forks pitched in just intonation and, commissioned especially for this project, quarter-tone suspended Aluminum tubes.

PROGRAM
Traditional Hawaiian, arranged by "Signor Frisco" - Aloha Oe

Mark Pollard - The Heavenly Muzak Machine (World premiere)

Karlheinz Stockhuasen - Vibra Elufa

Dale Gorfinkel - solo for prepared vibraphone

Traditional Balinese music - Angkatan - Gender Wayang duo.

Richard Barrett - abglanzbeladen/auseinandergeschrieben

Warren Burt - Beat Generation in the Californian Coastal Ranges

Warren Burt - Vibraphone and Tuning Forks

DATE/TIME
6pm, Thursday 29th of July

LOCATION
Melbourne Recital Centre (Salon)
Cnr Southbank Blv & Sturt St
Southbank VIC

PERFORMERS
Eugene Ughetti, Peter Neville, Matthias Schack-Arnott, Timothy Phillips, Adrian Sherriff (Gender Wayang), Dale Gorfinkel (prepared Vibraphone)

BOOKINGS
www.melbournerecital.com.au
(03) 9699 3333

photograph: YATZEK

22 Aug

2010

Driftwood

Footscray Community Arts Centre

Speak Percussion presents a major new duo work, Driftwood, in which two 5-octave-marimbas deconstructed and strewn throughout a performance/installation space. The work recontextualises the marimba and explores it as a sonic, sculptural and historical artifact.

The marimba pulls apart into 10 major pieces of pressed metal, rubber and wood, which through the course of the 40 minute work will inhabit the space, re-forming into a myriad of physical and sonic structures. Hidden cavities of these mammoth instruments will be explored for the first time with the aide of live sound design and video/projections. As the marimbas expand and drift, the boundaries between instrument and performance space will blur.

Driftwood will trace the marimba's past, from its African origins to its contemporary form, while inviting the audience to imagine how the instrument might evolve in the next 100 years...

Date
22 August at 3pm
After interval: Daniel Buess (Switzerland) solo percussion.

Composition and performance: Eugene Ughetti & Matthias Schack-Arnott
Lighting design: Travis Hodgeson

The composition and performance of Driftwood is made possible through support from the Australia Council for the Arts' JUMP National Mentoring For Young and Emerging Artsists. JUMP is managed nationally by Youth Arts Queensland in collaboration with Carclew Youth Arts and Propel Youth Arts WA.

photograph: YATZEK