Edgy and exciting, Metropolis galvanises music-making in Melbourne in May every year. What’s on offer for 2015? The organisers invite you to step out of the cinema and into the Melbourne Recital Centre as it and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra join forces to present the Metropolis New Music Festival, one of Australia’s most exciting explorations of new classical music.
In 2015, the Metropolis New Music Festival showcases music written for, and inspired by, the moving image, featuring Ben Walsh and the Orkestra of the Underground’s musical adaptation of Shaun Tan’s The Arrival, Tan Dun’s Crouching Tiger Concerto, Jonny Greenwood’s soundtrack to the Academy Award-winning 2010 film There Will Be Blood and works by Philip Glass, Nico Muhly, Steve Reich, Julia Wolfe and more. The Festival’s diverse program brings together a line-up of local and international artists to perform a stimulating and accessible program which proves that anyone can immerse themselves in this captivating genre, be transported by ground-breaking compositions and inspired by the new faces of modern classical music from the 20th century and beyond.
In Elisabeth Murdoch Hall:
Ben Walsh and the Orkestra of the Underground combine live scores with film and imagery to create captivating cross-cultural experiences in the concert hall. Following the success of Fearless Nadia as part of 2013’s Melbourne Festival, Ben Walsh and the Orkestra of the Underground return to Elisabeth Murdoch Hall with The Arrival (Wed 6 May) – an original live score accompaniment to celebrated Western Australian artist and author Shaun Tan’s renowned illustrated book of the same name. Walsh randomly discovered The Arrival in a bookshop where he fell in love with the work and immediately imagined the whole story brought to life through sound. For three years he dreamt of bringing this masterpiece of visual storytelling to life. Watch the video and listen to the live score here.
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) welcomes British conductor Andre de Ridder, cellist Oliver Coates and violinist Sophie Rowell to the stage for three exhilarating programs of contemporary classical music for the moving image. The first MSO program, Nostalghia (Sat 9 May), showcases Toru Takemitsu’s meditative tribute to the last film by Russian cinematic giant Andrei Tarkovsky and works by Schoenberg, Muhly and Bjarnason. The second concert, The Light (Wed 13 May) features Philip Glass’ first full score for symphony orchestra, Tan Dun’s ‘Crouching Tiger Concerto’, and the brawny punk energy and sonic images of Julia Wolfe’s multi-media collaboration with filmmaker Bill Morrison. Closing the Festival, There Will Be Blood (Sat 16 May) promises an evening of ominous works including the Australian Premiere of Jonny Greenwood’s There Will Be Blood suite from the Academy Award-winning film directed by Paul Thomas Anderson starring Daniel Day Lewis.
In the Salon:
A line-up of innovative local artists, ensembles and music-makers including Speak Percussion, Melbourne Piano Trio, Syzygy Ensemble, Forest Collective, Zubin Kanga, Lisa Moore and Ensemble Offspring perform in the intimate surrounds of Melbourne Recital Centre’s Salon, a space inspired by Australian composer, arranger and pianist Percy Grainger. Grainger believed that writing music should not be confined by the five-line musical stave, and it was this belief that influenced him to write his music on graph paper. The graphic score of Grainger’s avant garde composition Free Music No.2 lines the tessellated plywood wall of the Salon – a truly inspiring space to experience the Metropolis New Music Festival program.
Event Information
Metropolis New Music Festival
Music written for, and inspired by, the moving image | 4– 16 May 2015
Melbourne Recital Centre | Tickets from $38
Presented by Melbourne Recital Centre and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
Packages: Purchase a Melbourne Symphony Orchestra package and save. (Standard $132 | $108 Concession)
Membership: Purchase two or more Metropolis New Music Festival concerts and automatically become a Metropolis Member to gain access to discounted additional tickets, exclusive food and beverage offers and more.
For more information and to book tickets, visit melbournerecital.com.au/metropolis
Information supplied to Classic Melbourne by the Melbourne Recital Centre
