Presented by Speak Percussion & SIAL Sound Studios in association with Melbourne Festival
8pm Wednesday 16 October 2013
8pm & 10pm Thursday 17 October 2013
Deakin Edge, Federation Square
$25 / $20 Tickets here
The Black of the Star (Le Noir de L’Etoile) is the epic percussion masterwork of French avant-garde composer Gérard Grisey. The piece bases its rhythms on the cosmic pulses of neutron stars, as they wheel in space like great cosmic lighthouses, transmitting regular bursts of light toward Earth.
Six percussionists positioned around the audience are joined, through the magic of the CSIRO’s Parkes telescope, by new recordings of the pulsars on which Grisey based the work, bringing the composer’s vision to magnificent, trembling life. Hypnotic, enthralling and humbling, join Speak Percussion on a voyage to the stars with this sonic odyssey through time and space.
Performers Eugene Ughetti (Artistic Director), Matthias Schack-Arnott (Artistic Associate), John Arcaro, Louise Devenish, Leah Scholes & Paul Tanner
Sound Diffusion Lawrence Harvey (Director, SIAL Sound Studios) & Jeffrey Hannam
Pulsar Recording George Hobbs (Research Scientist, CSIRO Astronomy & Space Science)
Lighting Design Travis Hodgson