Bendigo International Festival of Exploratory Music

september 5 - 7, 2014 bifem.com.au

CUSHION CONCERT: ZUBIN KANGA BIFEM starts early this year for young children and their families when internationally acclaimed pianist Zubin Kanga makes a special appearance as part of The Capital’s hugely successful music program for preschoolers and parents. 10.30AM FRIDAY September 5 Tickets $5 Bendigo Bank Theatre

Acknowledging the contribution from the Frances and Harold Abbott Foundation, administered by Sandhurst Trustees Limited LOVERS Julian Day’s sculptural intervention features two pairs of matching synthesisers pinned vertically between the floor and ceiling by long metal rods. The rods act as frozen fingers that depress the keys and produce drones that fill the space. Showing in the La Trobe Visual Arts Centre’s foyer - a necessarily transitory or ‘non-space’ - this brilliant work’s first Victorian appearance makes for the perfect precursor to the opening night of BIFEM 2014. Installation runs until October 5, 2014. FREE EVENT La Trobe University Visual Arts Centre VERNISSAGE 6.00PM FRIDAY September 5 INSTALLATION 12.00PM SATURDAY September 6 10.00AM SUNDAY September 7

Hosted by La Trobe University Visual Arts Centre SPECIAL EVENT: KINECTICUT Colombian composer Daniel Zea’s mesmerising piece is part-choreography, part-living sound sculpture. Scored for four laptops and four musicians, Kinecticut is an indelible musical exploration of humanity in the technological age. It is proudly hosted by Bendigo Art Gallery as the perfect complement to The Body Beautiful in Ancient Greece exhibition. Please note that Kinecticut contains nudity. 7.00PM FRIDAY September 5 Tickets $10 Bendigo Art Gallery

Ensemble Vortex performances are supported by the Swiss Arts Council Prohelvetia OPENING CONCERT: ARGONAUT STRINGS Parisian conductor Maxime Pascal returns to BIFEM, having won the title of Nestlé and Young Conductor of the Year for 2014. Once again he leads BIFEM’s resident ensemble Argonaut, this time in an all strings concert celebrating the opening night of the 2014 festival with powerful writing from Australia, Canada, El Salvador and Mexico. 8.00PM FRIDAY September 5 Tickets $30 The Capital

Argonaut Ensemble is supported by the Victorian Government through Arts Victoria and the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body. Maxime Pascal’s appearance is supported by Institut français. Ensemble Vortex performances are supported by the Swiss Arts Council Prohelvetia. Double Bass provisioned by Atelier Puglisi.

CONCERT: ENSEMBLE VORTEX Formed in Switzerland in 2005 from a core membership of Conservatoire de Genève alumni, Ensemble Vortex are recognised for their work with live electronics, their energetic commitment to the promotion of unknown composers and an annual concert series dominated by world premiere performances. Vortex’s remarkable virtuosity and innovation make them perfect guests for BIFEM 2014. 10.30PM FRIDAY September 5 Tickets $20 Bendigo Bank Theatre recital: Judith hamann Cellist Judith Hamann is an exemplar for a new generation of virtuosi, who are redefining the perceived role of musician through artistic leadership in interdisciplinary practice. Winner of The Age Music Victoria Award for Best Experimental/Avant Garde Act in 2013, Judith currently splits her time between California and Victoria, with an increasingly active global schedule. BIFEM is excited to premiere her latest collaborations. 11.30PM FRIDAY September 5 Tickets $20 Old Fire Station

This recital is supported by the Victorian Government through Arts Victoria installation Workshop: dale gorfinkel BIFEM is delighted to host multi-instrumentalist, improviser, instrument builder, installation artist and educator Dale Gorfinkel as he pioneers a new way of bringing his many worlds together with the help of Bendigo kids. With his part-instrument-building workshop, part-performance installation, Dale inspires children to awaken the music of everyday objects in the world around them. Workshop participants do not take away with them the thing they build, but with Dale’s guidance, find a way to integrate their creation into the installation. Places in the two workshop sessions are strictly limited; however, the resulting installation is open across the festival weekend for everyone to admire. SATURDAY September 6 & SUNDAY September 7 WORKSHOP 9.00 - 10.00AM INSTALLATION 10.00AM - 1.30PM WORKSHOP Tickets $15 (15 places per day) INSTALLATION: FREE Trades Hall

Acknowledging the contribution from the Frances and Harold Abbott Foundation, administered by Sandhurst Trustees Limited open rehearsal: argonaut academy BIFEM invites you to observe the best emerging talent in local musical composition in this new initiative for 2014. This open rehearsal on the stage of The Capital, will see young Bendigo VCE composition students working directly with Argonaut musicians in the realisation of their pieces. The open rehearsal follows on from earlier in-school contact with the students: a show-and-tell session and workshop designed to explore new ways of thinking and composing. Wander in and out, or sit in for the whole rehearsal.

9.00AM SATURDAY September 6 FREE EVENT The Capital

Acknowledging the contribution from the Frances and Harold Abbott Foundation, administered by Sandhurst Trustees Limited colloquium: duration & durability Convened by ALISTAIR NOBLE As governments everywhere tilt towards being more markedly authoritarian and are increasingly aligned with the interests of the holders of large-scale capital, the composition of long-form works seems a fundamentally transgressive practice. This colloquium will investigate this political, social and musical deviance, asking: what is the function of the long work; what kinds of tension and conflict are involved, either in creation, performance, or listening; and how much does the long work tap into pre-capitalist vestiges of religion, rite and mysticism? Panel members for this colloquium include BIFEM Associate Artist Tristram Williams, musicologist Richard Toop and composers Fernando Garnero, Marielle Groven, Thomas Reiner, James Rushford and Daniel Zea.

11.00AM SATURDAY September 6 FREE EVENT Banquet Room

Acknowledging the contribution from the Frances and Harold Abbott Foundation, administered by Sandhurst Trustees Limited Acknowledging the contribution from the Frances and Harold Abbott Foundation, administered by Sandhurst Trustees Limited

performance lecture: eric lamb A new initiative in 2014, this performance lecture is given by US-born Vienna-based flautist Eric Lamb. Fielding questions from the floor, Eric will provide personal insight into the hidden labour and processes involved in preparing virtuosic music. Focused on a beautiful but demanding solo work by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, this informal and free event is open to musicians, composers, students and public alike. 12.30PM SATURDAY September 6 FREE EVENT La Trobe University Visual Arts Centre recital: PLUTON French composer Phillipe Manoury wrote this extraordinary five-movement epic at IRCAM almost thirty years ago in collaboration with the software pioneer Miller Puckette. Aside from the demanding piano writing, performed in this Australasian premiere by remarkable Melbourne soloist Peter Dumsday, Pluton is the first major piece of music to use MAX/MSP software for live audio signal processing and diffusion. BIFEM 2013 alumnus Samuel Dunscombe returns to Bendigo to perform the live electronics in this milestone work. 2.30PM SATURDAY September 6 Tickets $20 Old Fire Station

This recital is supported by the Victorian Government through Arts Victoria concert: ARGONAUT MATINÉE This exciting matinée concert features the world premiere of Crystallise, a new percussion quartet by celebrated Australian composer Elliott Gyger and two recent ensemble works by musical polymath James Rushford. Argonaut Ensemble also presents the exclusive Australasian premiere of French composer Clara Maïda’s sensational trilogy Psyche Cité/Transversales. 4.00PM SATURDAY September 6 Tickets $20 Bendigo Bank Theatre

Argonaut Matinée is supported by BIFEM’s Principal Philanthropic Partner, The Robert Salzer Foundation. Clara Maïda is a guest of BIFEM with travel support from Institut français. Crystallise was commissioned by the Fromm Music Foundation at Harvard University. recital: FLUXORUM ORGANUM A major work by the Danish composer Henning Christiansen, Eurasienstab: fluxorum organum was originally conceived in collaboration with the artist Joseph Beuys. This Australian premiere recital is performed by James Rushford, an artist in focus for this year’s festival. BIFEM is delighted to invite festival audiences into the Sacred Heart Cathedral, a great architectural icon of our regional Victorian city, for this free sunset performance. 6.00PM SATURDAY September 6 FREE EVENT Sacred Heart Cathedral

Fluxorum Organum is possible thanks to BIFEM patrons Joan and Barry Miskin. lecture: richard toop 8.00PM SATURDAY Musicologist Richard September 6 Toop will reflect on FREE EVENT his close relationship Banquet Room with Stockhausen and his work (especially the later pieces), as well as touching on Stockhausen’s continuing appeal to some younger composers. His free public lecture will also look at some favourite new compositional practices in a sector increasingly connected through technology, despite its geo- fragmentary nature. With rare intelligence and insight, Richard Toop has maintained peerless respect across a career spanning several decades. He is indeed a very special guest of BIFEM in 2014.

This public lecture is possible thanks to BIFEM patron Commissioner Leigh Johns. Image: Archive of the Stockhausen Foundation for Music, Kürten, Germany www.karlheinzstockhausen.org music theatre: bug Ensemble Vortex performances are supported by the Swiss Arts For their final presentation in BIFEM Council Prohelvetia. 2014, Geneva’s Ensemble Vortex presents the Australian premiere of Arturo Corrales’ Bug. This three- movement work was realised for the first time earlier this year as the music-theatre trilogy the composer originally conceived. The works highlight the virtuosity and dexterity of all players, particularly Guitarist Mauricio Carrasco, who is both a Vortex founding member and a BIFEM Associate Artist. Please note that this performance contains smoke effects. 9.00PM SATURDAY September 6 Tickets $25 The Capital music theatre: The Australian premiere of Sirius provides a rare chance for audiences to experience a work described by Stockhausen biographer Michael Kurtz as ‘a modern mystery play, clothed as a science fiction story’. This strange, lyrical universe created by the twentieth-century compositional icon features the Australian début of sensational soprano Tiffany Du Mouchelle and bass-baritone Nicholas Isherwood, whose peerless interpretative authority on the work stems from a 23-year collaboration with Stockhausen. Clarinettist Richard Haynes makes a welcome return to Australia in his BIFEM début, alongside Stockhausen champion and BIFEM Associate Artist, Tristram Williams. 10.30PM SATURDAY September 6 Tickets $30 Bendigo TAFE Library

Sirius is a production of The Capital, Bendigo, with the support of Bendigo TAFE. Nicholas Isherwood appears thanks to BIFEM donor Mr Glyn Cryer. Acknowledging the contribution from the Frances and Harold Abbott Foundation, administered by Sandhurst Trustees Limited

performance lecture: ashley smith The second performance lecture of BIFEM 2014 puts us up close and personal to Perth clarinettist Ashley Smith. Beginning with a performance of British composer Brian Ferneyhough’s fiendishly difficult Bass Clarinet solo, Time and Motion Study I, Ashley will discuss the challenges and rewards of tackling highly complex notated music. Bring a coffee and any question you might have for Ashley, as this informal free event is open to musicians, composer and public alike. 10.00AM SUNDAY September 7 FREE EVENT La Trobe University Visual Arts Centre COLLOQUIUM: WIRED Convened by BENJAMIN KOLAITIS Wired will be a discussion about the role of technology in the production of composition. Music has engaged with many forms of technology, whether software, electronic synthesis or mechanical robots. Are we master or slave to the technology that enables our musical aesthetics? And is this just an inevitable transition waiting to happen? Many of these interesting questions will be unpacked by a panel including BIFEM Associate Artist Mauricio Carrasco, musicologist Richard Toop and composers Arturo Corrales, Fernando Garnero, Elliott Gyger, Clara Maïda, Benoît Moreau, and Daniel Zea. 11.00AM SUNDAY September 7 FREE EVENT Banquet Room

Acknowledging the contribution from the Frances and Harold Abbott Foundation, administered by Sandhurst Trustees Limited RECITAL: ANNA MCMICHAEL & ZUBIN KANGA Two iconic Australian soloists, violinist Anna McMichael and pianist Zubin Kanga, perform together for the very first time in a recital exclusive to BIFEM 2014. In a strident and dynamic program propelled by four twentieth-century compositional giants, McMichael and Kanga also present two important world premieres by composers Cor Fuhler and Kate Moore. 1.00PM SUNDAY September 7 Tickets $20 Bendigo Bank Theatre

This concert is supported by the Heather by Kate Moore was Australian Government through commissioned by Julian the Australia Council, its arts Burnside, QC, for BIFEM 2014. funding and advisory body. COMMUNITY EVENT: EINE BRISE Much loved and admired, the late great Argentinian composer created this whimsical work for 111 bicycles and we need you to come and be a part of its Australian premiere. If you can ride a bike and (sort of) whistle, ring a bell or make swishing noises, then you’ve got the job! BIFEM invites you to be one of only 111 players in this unforgettably fun musical event. Eine Brise (A Breeze) will be performed, where else, but the Tom Flood Velodrome. 2.45PM SUNDAY September 7 SPECIAL FREE EVENT Tom Flood Velodrome Grandstand Register online at www.bifem.com.au

This community music-making event is only possible thanks to the support of Strategem Community Foundation. TRIO: GOLDEN FUR BIFEM 2014 presents renowned trio Golden Fur’s first major repertoire concert in four years. With each having appeared individually in our inaugural festival, many audience members asked why they weren’t playing together. We heard you, so here they are! Golden Fur promise an exciting concert that will highlight the instrumental virtuosity, electro-acoustic know-how and aesthetic flair for which they are celebrated. Australian premieres include the extreme fragile beauty of Ben Isaacs; the romantic micro-tonality of Ivan Wyschnegradsky; and the violence and austerity of Chikako Morishita. Golden Fur also revisit the eponymous work they commissioned from David Chisholm in 2010, and deliver the Victorian premiere of Anthony Pateras’s Nekkersdaal Eden. 3.30PM SUNDAY September 7 Tickets $20 Old Fire Station

This concert is supported by the Australian Government through the Australia Council its arts funding and advisory body.

This concert is supported by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body. closing concert: vortex temporum “We are musicians and our model is sound not literature, sound not mathematics, sound not theatre, visual arts, quantum physics, geology, astrology or acupuncture” - Gerard Grisey Principal Conductor Maxime Pascal leads Bendigo’s Argonaut Ensemble in this rare performance of Grisey’s late masterpiece. The closing concert for BIFEM 2014 is not to be missed. 5.00PM SUNDAY September 7 Tickets $20 The Capital

Argonaut Ensemble is supported by the Victorian Government through Arts Victoria and the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body. Maxime Pascal’s appearance is supported by Institut français. festival grid Start Event Name Venue Finish Cost Friday September 5 10.30AM Cushion Concert: Zubin Kanga Bendigo Bank Theatre 11.00AM $5 6.00PM Vernissage: Lovers La Trobe University Visual Arts Centre 8.00PM Free 7.00PM Special Event: Kinecticut Bendigo Art Gallery 7.30PM $10 8.00PM Opening Concert: Argonaut Strings The Capital 9.30PM $30 10.30PM Concert: Ensemble Vortex Bendigo Bank Theatre 11.15PM $20 11.30PM Recital: Judith Hamann Old Fire Station 12.30AM $20 Saturday September 6 9.00AM Workshop: Dale Gorfinkel Trades Hall 10.00AM $15 9.00AM Open Rehearsal: Argonaut Academy The Capital 12.00PM Free 10.00AM Installation: Dale Gorfinkel Trades Hall 1.30PM Free 11.00AM Colloquium: Duration & Durability Banquet Room 12.30PM Free 12.00PM Installation: Lovers La Trobe University Visual Arts Centre 5.00PM Free 12.30PM Performance Lecture: Eric Lamb La Trobe University Visual Arts Centre 1.30PM Free 2.30PM Recital: Pluton Old Fire Station 3.30PM $20 4.00PM Concert: Argonaut Matinée Bendigo Bank Theatre 5.20PM $20 6.00PM Recital: Fluxorum Organum Sacred Heart Cathedral 7.20PM Free 8.00PM Lecture: Richard Toop Banquet Room 8.45PM Free 9.00PM Music Theatre: Bug The Capital 10.00PM $25 10.30PM Music Theatre: Sirius Bendigo TAFE Library 12.15AM $30 Sunday September 7 9.00AM Workshop: Dale Gorfinkel Trades Hall 10.00AM $15 10.00AM Installation: Dale Gorfinkel Trades Hall 1.30PM Free 10.00AM Installation: Lovers La Trobe University Visual Arts Centre 5.00PM Free 10.00AM Performance Lecture: Ashley Smith La Trobe University Visual Arts Centre 11.00AM Free 11.00AM Colloquium: Wired Banquet Room 12.30PM Free 1.00PM Recital: Anna McMichael & Zubin Kanga Bendigo Bank Theatre 2.30PM $20 2.45PM Community Event: Eine Brise Tom Flood Velodrome Grandstand 3.00PM Free 3.30PM Trio: Golden Fur Old Fire Station 4.30PM $20 5.00PM Closing Concert: Vortex Temporum The Capital 6.00PM $20 musicians Alister BARKER, Cello Zubin KANGA, Piano Aaron BARNDEN, Violin Eric LAMB, Flute Jason BUNN, Viola Caerwen MARTIN, Cello Jessica BUZBEE, Trombone Anna McMICHAEL, Violin Mauricio CARRASCO, Guitar Kaylie MELVILLE, Percussion Edwina CORDINGLEY, Cello Myles MUMFORD, Electronics Arturo CORRALES, Electronics Peter NEVILLE, Percussion Peter DE JAGER, Piano Susannah NG, Violin Melissa DOECKE, Flute Benjamin OPIE, Oboe Tiffany DU MOUCHELLE, Soprano Maxime PASCAL, Principal Conductor Peter DUMSDAY, Piano Paula RAE, Flute/Bass Flute Samuel DUNSCOMBE, Clarinet/ Christian READ, Viola Electronics Daniel RICHARDSON, Percussion Aviva ENDEAN Clarinet/Bass Clarinet Jocelyne RUDASIGWA, Double Bass Anne GILLOT, Paetzold Recorder/Bass James RUSHFORD, Organ/Piano/ Clarinet Electronics Phoebe GREEN, Viola Patrick SCHLEUTER, Viola Elliott GYGER, Guest Conductor Leah SCHOLES, Percussion Rada HADJIKOSTOVA-SCHLEUTER, Ashley SMITH, Clarinet/Bass Clarinet Violin Chlöe SMITH, Double Bass Judith HAMANN, Cello Melina VAN LEEUWEN, Harp Blair HARRIS, Cello Erkki VELTHEIM, Violin Richard HAYNES, Bass Clarinet Elizabeth WELSH, Violin Anita HUSTAS, Double Bass Tristram WILLIAMS, Trumpet Nicholas ISHERWOOD, Bass-Baritone Paul ZABROWARNY, Cello Graeme JENNINGS, Violin Daniel ZEA, Electronics Zachary JOHNSTON, Violin with Christophe BORGEN, Mise-en-scène (BUG) Sabina MASELLI, Visual Artist Dale GORFINKEL, Instrument Maker Alistair NOBLE, Colloquium Moderator Benjamin KOLAITIS, Colloquium Richard TOOP, Musicologist Moderator Desirée Marie TOWNLEY, Costumier composers George BENJAMIN, U.K. Mauricio KAGEL, Argentina Wojtek BLECHARZ, Poland Helmut LACHENMANN, Germany John CAGE, U.S.A. Liza LIM, Australia George CRUMB, U.S.A. Clara MAÏDA, France David CHISHOLM, Australia Phillipe MANOURY, France Henning CHRISTIANSEN, Denmark Claudia MOLITOR, Germany Arturo CORRALES, El Salvador Kate MOORE, Australia Julian DAY, Australia Benôit MOREAU, Switzerland Julio ESTRADA, Mexico Chikako MORISHITA, Japan Brian FERNEYHOUGH, U.K. Anthony PATERAS, Australia Cor FUHLER, Netherlands James RUSHFORD, Australia Fernando GARNERO, Argentina Kaija SAARIAHO, Finland Gerard GRISEY, France , Germany Marielle GROVEN, Canada Claude VIVIER, Canada Elliott GYGER, Australia Ivan WYSCHNEGRADSKY, Russia Jonathan HARVEY, U.K. , Greece Fransisco HUGUET, El Salvador Daniel ZEA, Colombia Ben ISAACS, U.K. BIFEM

David CHISHOLM, Founder and Director Good One Graphic Design, Glyn CRYER, Chair Identity and Festival Design Marina MILANKOVIC, Production Manager Penelope CURTIN, Editor Mauricio CARRASCO, Associate Artist Keith CLANCY, Contracts Elizabeth WELSH, Associate Artist Corey HAGUE, Documentation Tristram WILLIAMS, Associate Artist Michele VESCIO, Sound Intern partners

PRESENTATION PARTNER government PARTNERs

principal principal Exclusive Hotel PARTNER Philanthropic PARTNER festival PARTNER PMS 1807 RED PMS 432 GREY PMS 142 GOLD

International PARTNERs Community Event PARTNER

Media PARTNER Market Research PARTNER Broadcast PARTNER

Festival Venues

catholicSacred dioceseHeart of Cathedral sandhurst

Marketing support

BIFEM Patrons Nancy Black, Julian Burnside QC, David Chisholm, Keith Clancy, Glyn Cryer, Penelope Curtin, Fromm Music Foundation, Corey Hague, Cmr Leigh Johns, Marina Milankovic, Joan and Barry Miskin and Michele Vescio. BIFEM acknowledges the support of the Frances and Harold Abbott Foundation, administered by Sandhurst Trustees Limited. broadcasts

ABC Classic FM will Friday September 5 Thursday September 11 broadcast much of 8.00PM Argonaut Strings (Live) 10.00PM Recital: Anna 10.30PM Ensemble Vortex (Live) McMichael and Zubin Kanga the festival, ensuring that listeners who Saturday September 6 Friday September 12 10.30PM Argonaut Matinée 10.30PM BUG are unable to make it along in person, can Saturday September 13 nonetheless enjoy the 10.30PM Golden Fur spoils of BIFEM 2014. tickets MAP

Tickets can be purchased online at www.bifem.com.au, by calling 03 5434 6100 or in person at The Capital box office, 50 View Street, Bendigo. Many ticketed events have strictly limited numbers, so book early to avoid disappointment. Free events are unticketed and patrons are not guaranteed entry beyond venue capacity. Latecomers will not be admitted until there is a suitable break in the performance.