Sound Gardens is a festival of genre-bending vivid new music produced by the best of the Sydney Conservatorium’s homegrown composers and jazz and contemporary musicians. Combined with the magic and vibrancy of Sydney’s beloved Vivid Festival, the iconic ‘music castle’ nestled on the edge of the Royal Botanic Gardens, will light up for an afternoon and evening of daring original performances and installations washed down food and drink. Special guest artists Thymolphthalein featuring Natasha Anderson, Anthony Pateras and Clayton are joined the Sydney Conservatorium of Music Contemporary Music Ensemble, video artist Sean Bacon and others in an eclectic array of acoustic, electronic, improvised and composed music.


Featured Artists

3PM MUSIC WORKSHOP

1. Thomas Avgenicos Group
“Sounds like everything and nothing you’ve ever heard before!” Tom Avgenicos’s hybridisation of genre brings forth a new wave sound, a composition unlike anything else. Thomas Avgenicos – trumpet, Felix Lalanne – Guitar, Roshan Kumarage – piano, Dave Quinn – contrabass, Oliver Nelson – Drums.

2. Mimi Kind – The Rhythm Machine
Mimi Kind, Geena Cheung and Lilli Pearse present to you a giant homemade music box ‘The Rhythm Machine,’ an invention of musical innovation that features the unusual sounds of wonky loop clusters and tin cans.

3. Sabrina Toon
This sweet and colourful performance combines acoustic and electric pop genres in an original vibrant set of music blending song with dance. Sabrina Toon – voice/guitar/keys, Chloe Kim – drums, Lochie Halloway – bass, Bianca King & Brayden Harry – Dance.

4PM MUSIC CAFÉ

1. Sarah Elise Thompson
A crazy cacophony of sound formed from a graphic score, Sarah Elise Thompson’s “So It Happened Like This” forms a challenging collaboration between composition and jazz departments, taking sonic art to a whole new level.

2. Cloud Loops
An original set of process-based music, combining improvisation with compositional techniques of John Cage, Steve Reich and James Blake. Holly Conner - Drum Kit, Jacques Emery - Double Bass, Novak Manojlovic - Piano.

5PM MUSIC WORKSHOP

Joining Con artists are genre-defying guests, the exploratory Anthony Pateras, Peggy Glanville Hick resident Natasha Anderson and bassist Clayton Thomas

1. Pateras/Thomas duo: Anthony Pateras: prepared piano, Clayton Thomas: prepared bass

2. Anthony Pateras/Thymolphthalein: Mad Among The Mad

Mad Among the Mad creates a tense eco-musical environment of rhythmic interplay sitting at the nexus between collective rules and individual freedom.

Thymolphthalein trio: Natasha Anderson (contrabass recorder/electronics), Anthony Pateras (prepared piano/electronics), Clayton Thomas (double bass)
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The Sydney Conservatorium of Music Contemporary Music Ensemble: Holly Conner – drums, Jess Dunn – bass, Felix Bornholdt – piano, Joe Lisk – trumpet, Heather Prowse – trumpet, Alex Jasprizza - tenor sax, Frank Dasent – trombone, Mary Rapp – bass, Phil Slater & Simon Barker - Ensemble co-ordinators

6PM MUSIC CAFÉ

1. Secret Suburbs

A young and contemporary local Indie pop rock band operating out of the inner west suburbs infuse britpop and psych vibes in an unforgettable musical experience. Conor O'Reily – lead vox/rhythm guitar, Jack Johnston – lead guitar, Joseph Plunkett – bass, James Spitaller – drums & Campbell Barnes (guest) – keys/electronics.

2. Thibaud Kessell
Better known by his stage name Mlekö, this live electronic music set draws on his contrasting jazz and classical backgrounds to bring together an infused performance of genre, musicality and technology.


INSTALLATIONS – FOYER

Harry Burgess
Pass through a corridor of sound in this innovative soundscape and experiment in what visible light might sound like.

Victoria Pham & James Mahler
This creative musical installation “Pendulum” brings forth a live, interactive composition experience using glass jars and bells to trigger electroacoustic soundscapes.

Micro-lit
Sydney Conservatorium composers team up with video artists and wordsmiths ‘Spineless Wonders’ in a collection of multisensory vignettes led by Daniel Blinkhorn.


Live video by Sean Bacon
Food and drink by Cupcakes and Canapés

Sound Gardens is curated by Damien Ricketson with Clint Bracknell and Craig Scott.


Vivid Sydney is a festival of light, music and ideas – the largest of its kind in the world. From 27 May to 18 June 2016, the event will transform the Harbour City into a colourful creative canvas.

Now in its eighth year, Vivid Sydney is owned, managed and produced by Destination NSW, the NSW Government’s tourism and major events agency, and features large-scale light installations and projections (Vivid Light); music performances and collaborations (Vivid Music including Vivid LIVE at the Sydney Opera House); and creative ideas, discussion and debate (Vivid Ideas); all celebrating Sydney as the creative hub of the Asia-Pacific region. For more information visit vividsydney.com.