Music, She Wrote, Concert 2: Rubiks plays with time and tech

Music, She Wrote, Concert 2: Rubiks Collective

March 30, 2023, ALPHA60, Melbourne

Is there a group more at home in Katie Yap’s ‘Music, She Wrote’ festival than contemporary music dynamo Rubiks Collective? Having championed women composers since their inception in 2015, Rubiks are renowned for their bold and innovative programs. The second concert instalment of Katie Yap’s celebration of women in music proved no exception, and featured the superb musicianship of Kaylie Melville (co-artistic director and percussion), Gemma Kneale (cello), Jacob Abela (keyboards), and Sean Marantelli (guest flute) in a brilliantly eclectic set.

Tucked away up a staircase off of Flinders Lane, the venue itself was truly a hidden treasure.

The vaulted ceilings and sandstone walls of fashion label ALPHA60’s concept store Chapter House provided a gorgeous setting for the intimate stage setup and ALPHA60 also supplied Rubiks with their performance attire. The ensemble were a striking image decked out in velvet amongst an intriguing setup of instruments, sound equipment, and assorted household items.

Rubiks opened with Anna Clyne’s Fits + Starts for solo cello and backing track. A fitting introduction for a concert which challenged the definition of ‘instrument’ and explored the relationship between performer, time, and technology. Kneale was impressively versatile against a shifting accompaniment of remixed cello viola and harpsichord, switching between soaring lyricism and ferocious Bartok pizzicato with ease. 

Samantha Wolf’s Want Not saw discarded household items reimagined as musical instruments. Wolf was Rubiks’ 2017 Pythia Prize recipient, out of which she composed Want Not as a critique of modern day waste culture. The work presented a fascinating contrast between the organic and the organised: on one hand, the sounds were as raw in their production as can be – a sponge scuffed along a table, fingers tapping a cello, breathing into bottles –  yet the earpiece worn by each performer was a constant reminder of the mathematical precision and incredible structure in which they operated. It was both aurally and visually engaging. At one point, the performers huddled around a toy piano with a kalimba and a couple of music boxes, creating a tinkling chorus of miniature sounds with theatrical earnestness. It was a real triumph and testament to Rubiks’ stagecraft that they could present a highly abstract and challenging work to such captivated attention. 

Jacob Abela was an explosion of energy in East Broadway, hunched over the toy piano in the living image of Schroeder – if Schroeder had a heavy metal phase and a wardrobe upgrade. The toy piano copped a beating, with Abela thumping out relentless patterns and forearm slams to the beats of a tinny boombox. 

Moments of respite and meditation were enjoyed in some of the more minimalistic works.

Melville and Abela performed a particularly hypnotic duet by Molly Joyce, while the whole quartet explored looping effects and layering in the swirling, searching soundscape of Beacon. Gemma Peacocke’s Sky Fields was the most expansive in terms of form and musical development, and it was here that Rubiks really showed off their ensemble prowess with some moments of great synergy. 

Throughout the concert it was clear how much Rubiks Collective value storytelling. Oftentimes there was a strong personal connection between the composers and the ensemble, or a fascinating genesis or narrative to accompany the works. Melville’s spoken introductions were a great enhancement to the highly conceptual works, and helped to strengthen with the audience a feeling of being collectively involved at the forefront of contemporary music-making.

Spaces dedicated to showcasing and promoting the artistic pioneers of our time are so important, and we hope Katie Yap’s festival remains a fixture in the annual performance calendar. Rubiks Collective thoroughly succeeded in inspiring fresh enthusiasm about the possibilities in contemporary music, and their mesmerising performance on Thursday night only further cemented ‘Music, She Wrote’ as an asset to Australia’s chamber music scene.

Guest Reviewer: Lily Begg

Photography: Darren James

Lily Begg is a Melbourne-based pianist and writer. Equally at home as a soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician, she has performed and recorded with the University of Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Youth Orchestra, been a répétiteur for the Australian Contemporary Opera Company and the Berlin Opera Academy, and recently won the 2022 Melbourne Conservatorium Chamber Music Competition with her piano quintet, ‘Spell’. As a writer, Lily has been published by organisations such as the Australian Youth Orchestra and the Australian National Academy of Music, and is a twice-alumna of the Australian Youth Orchestra’s music journalism program ‘Words About Music’. Lily has a Bachelor of Music (performance) from The University of Melbourne, where she is currently completing her Honours year.