Sydney Chamber Opera and Carriageworks, in association with Resonant Bodies (USA), today announced the full program for the first Sydney iteration of Resonant Bodies, an international festival of new vocal music founded in New York in 2013 by American singer Lucy Dhegrae.
This exclusive Australian event presents six dynamic vocalists across two nights on 31 August and 1 September. Swedish-Ethiopian composer-improviser Sofia Jernberg, Indonesian vocalist Rully Shabara, New York soprano Ariadne Greif, and Australian vocalists Mitchell Riley, Deborah Kayser and Sonya Holowell are invited to curate and perform in their own 45-minute sets, with no restrictions on repertoire, format, or style. Sydney-based theatre director and lighting designer Alexander Berlage is the visual director for the Festival, with sound design by composer and technologist Benjamin Carey. Now in its sixth year Resonant Bodies has made a significant contribution to contemporary new music. ‘An immersion in experimental vocal music, this Festival is as artist-focused as a festival gets’ – New York Times.
Local Resonant Bodies co-directors Jessica Aszodi and Jane Sheldon performed in the NYC Festival and describe Resonant Bodies as a festival that is also a community: ‘Co-directing the Australian iteration of the festival has given us the chance to make links across far-flung geographies, connecting artists from different backgrounds who might otherwise rarely come into contact, but who share common philosophies. We all use our voices to push boundaries. Resonant Bodies’ two-day program will leave audiences stunned by what the human voice can do.’
The collaborators and musical content of Resonant Bodies programs are chosen, and often devised, by the featured singers themselves. At Carriageworks a mix of local and international vocalists will present work, each with highly contrasting influences and sonic palettes. Highlights of the program include the ritualistic, punk inflected work of Indonesia’s Rully Shabara, and the premiere of a new monodrama with piano and electronics by Le Coq trained, Sydney-born tenor Mitchell Riley.