LONDON SINFONIETTA.

The London Sinfonietta has been regarded since its inception in 1968 as one of the great contemporary music ensembles of the world. It reflects the spirit of the new Britain, a place where pluralism is understood as a positive, where the barriers between 'high' and 'low' art have disappeared, and where young musicians versed in rock, jazz and world musics are amongst the most exciting new composers.

For the 2010 Adelaide Festival, the London Sinfonietta will perform two very special concerts including works specially commissioned by the Adelaide Festival.

PROGRAM 1: PACIFIC CURRENTS

Soloists:
LISA MOORE: Piano
OWEN GUNNELL: Vibraphone

Away from the traditional centres of high culture, composers in the 20th century were drawn to new technologies and non-Western ideas which led them to radical new propositions about sound and how to order it. This concert, which will begin in Mexico with the folk-inflected brilliance of Silvestre Revueltas, will also explore the astonishing player-piano compositions of Conlon Nancarrow and the multi-media sound world of the young John Cage, before bringing us into the present with recent works by American superstar composer John Adams and Korean sensation Unsuk Chin, with her exhilarating, clangorous Double Concerto.

PROGRAM 2: WIND AND GLASS

Soloists:
SCOTT TINKLER
ERKKI VELTHEIM
THE YOUNG WÄGILAK GROUP led by BENJAMIN WILFRED

Two unique facets of Australian music will feature in this exciting collaboration. The manikay songs performed by the Young Wägilak Group from South-East Arnhem Land form part of the world's oldest continuous musical traditions. These beautiful, rugged songs of time and space will be performed in a setting never before attempted, realised by composer-performer Erkki Veltheim in Tract; the very old side-by-side with the very new. In his new work Glass, John Rodgers has created a concerto for improvising virtuoso Scott Tinkler, recognised as one of the most exciting voices on his instrument. We will also hear new music from the UK: the vibrant pop-influenced Neon by Tansy Davies and The Sinking of the Titanic by minimalist master Gavin Bryars with electronic material by Aphex Twin.

Bistro meals at the Adelaide Town Hall will be available 5pm - 6:15pm

To make a Carbon Credit Donation and help manage the Adelaide Festival's carbon footprint, click here