Claire Edwardes is percussionist with Ensemble Offspring. They do a range of innovative concerts – like having different experiences in each room of a house and team leaders toured the audience around.
Their upcoming On Loop balances wonderful musicians performing in a laid back style so you can enjoy the night.
Turntablist, Martin Ng is a heart surgeon by day at RPA and takes on a few special musical projects each year.
According to wikipedia:
Some turntablist DJs use turntable techniques like beat mixing/matching, scratching, and beat juggling.
Some turntablists seek to have themselves recognized as traditional musicians capable of interacting and improvising with other performers.
As Claire explained, Martin Ng is more like the latter. He…[list type=’arrow’]
- is part of the ensemble rather than running things
- doesn’t have notes like the other musicians but does have a structure to follow
- comes from an improvisation background rather than a DJ nightclub one
As someone who is quite familiar with the former description of a turntablist, I’m looking forward to being able to compare them.
James Crabb, an accordion virtuoso, newly back in Sydney after living in Europe for years, will also be performing. The accordion is very linked to certain cultures and so he has commissioned several new works to increase the repertoire available to him. Something Claire also does.
The composers with works being premiered will be there as part of the rehearsal process and at the concert.
The Ensemble Offspring season isn’t fixed to one venue like many other groups. Although, they now mostly have their concerts at Sydney Opera House Utzon Room & Carriageworks.
For musicians in Sydney, there isn’t the range of venues available, like in Melbourne. Each venue has space and acoustics complexities that need to be considered when programming. As audience members we’re often not aware of this. While Sydney-siders like their traditions, we need to step outside of them, so we can look at and appreciate the story behind a concert – why it is there, how those musicians got together, why they’re playing those works… It is these elements that add to the experience of the concert as a whole.
Ensemble Offspring are also performing for Sydney Festival in January at Carriageworks | Ligeti Morphed is a World Premiere with Oren Ambarchi and Martin Ng – find out:
What happens when you tackle the vast textures of Ligeti’s masterwork Atmospheres with strings, percussion, electric guitar and turntables?
We’re looking forward to On Loop and hope to see you there!