Details

Explorations into surreal and otherworldly percussive resonances.

WHACKollective is a Narrm/Melbourne-based contemporary percussion group taking inspiration from the endless possibilities offered by their instruments of choice. The group traverses a middle path between two main strands in the Australian percussion scene: avoiding the overly esoteric, whilst still creating the opportunity to engage with the adventurous and exploratory.

About the concert

This concert is a deep dive into the captivating percussive sound-worlds of three exciting international composers: Viet Cuong (VN/US); Tonia Ko (HK/US); and Sarah Nemtsov (DE). Their works—all of which will be heard in Australia for the first time—represent explorations into the surreal with astonishing transformations of the everyday and otherworldly percussive resonances.

In Water, Wine, Brandy, Brine, Cuong explores the various sounds that can be produced from playing crystal glasses as musical instruments. Ko’s Real Voices and Imagined Clatter showcases the unique sonorous qualities and expressive nature of timpani to create a dialogue between performer and drum. Finally, Nemtsov’s void-imaginings is a foray into the resonances of gongs, cymbals, and singing bowls, captivatingly manipulated with amplification to produce ethereal effects.

WHACKollective has a passion for collaboration, having worked with several composers to develop new works for percussion quartet. Drawn together by a shared enthusiasm for music that is theatrical, unusual and visually appealing, their recent work has focussed primarily on the use of extra-musical elements including drama, gesture, vocalisation, lighting, and more.

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Artists

Aditya Bhat percussion
Bridget Bourne percussion
Justin Zheng percussion
Oscar Tudge percussion