Decibel: 2 Minutes From Home

Part cinema, part experimental music extravaganza, Decibel performs twenty two-minute works composed in the year 2020. The big twist? Each work is written in a radically different visual language for Decibel to decipher. Follow along in real time with stunning projections of the animated musical scores, as the ensemble transforms colours, shapes, lines and objects into music. There’s Aaron Wyatt’s Glisten that turns jewellery box treasures into an equally shimmering soundscape; Thembi Soddell’s Let Go of Control which sounds and looks like a gritty adventure into the unknown; Marina Rosenfeld’s self-referential and resolutely non-conformist A martial exercise in togetherness; J.G. Thirwell’s Angel of Retribution in which a minefield of colourful shapes and symbols explodes across the senses; and so much more. Open your ears, your eyes and your mind, in a concert like no other by acclaimed genre-disruptors Decibel.

The full list of composers contributing to this project is: Louise Devenish, Daniel Thorpe, Lionel Marchetti, Gail Priest, Erik Griswold, Lindsay Vickery, Dominic Flynn, Marina Rosenfeld, Cat Hope, Jon Rose, Bergrún Snæbjörnsdóttir, Stuart James, Thembi Soddell, Aaron Wyatt, Pedro Alvarez, J.G. Thirlwell, Amanda Stewart, Tristen Parr, Cathy Milliken, Haruka Hirayama and Karl Ockelford.

This concert is part of the 2021-22 UK / Australia Season, and is part of Decibel's first UK tour. The UK / Australia Season is a major new cultural exchange celebrating the diverse and innovative artist communities and cultural sectors of each nation. A collaboration between the British Council and the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, The Season spans theatre, film, visual arts, dance, design, architecture, music, literature, higher education and public engagement across 2021 and 2022.

Free to attend: please reserve a place via the "Register Now" button above.

Commissions supported by the Australia Council

Performers:

• Cat Hope: Artistic Director, flutes, bass, electronics
• Lindsay Vickery: reeds, programming, electronics
• Stuart James: piano, programming, electronics and sound design
• Louise Devenish: percussion
• Aaron Wyatt: viola, violin, iOS programming
• Tristen Parr: cello, production management

Guest Artist: Kerry Yong: piano and electronics

About Decibel

While rooted in western art music tradition, Decibel aims to remove stylistic boundaries in its commissioning and performance approaches, opening opportunities to a broader range of contributors. The ensemble has collaborated with composers including Eliane Radigue, Carol Robertson, Werner Dafeldecker, Agostino Di Scipio, Alvin Curran, David Toop, Marina Rosenfeld and Lionel Marchetti, as well as iconic Australian composers. Decibel has toured and recorded monograph concerts dedicated to Roger Smalley, Alvin Lucier, Giacinto Scelsi and John Cage, whose eight ‘Variations’ were compiled into a single performance and digital score reader application.

Awarded the APRA|AMC Award for Excellence in Experimental Music in 2014 and 2011, Decibel has released recordings on labels such as Pogus (US), Hat Hat (Switzerland), and Room 40, Tall Poppies, Listen|Hear, Heartless Robot and HellosQuared (Australia).

“Decibel New Music Ensemble brought a wealth of experience, knowledge, understanding and subtlety to these works … a fascinating and richly satisfying experience”. Lisa MacKinney, Limelight, 2014.

“Adventurous, inquisitive, challenging. Decibel both honour and sabotage modernist traditions.” – Cool Perth Nights, June 2011

Decibel in the UK / Australia Season is supported by the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the Western Australian State Government through the Department of Local Government Sport and Cultural Industries. It is also supported by Monash University, Edith Cowan University and Tura New Music