Ensemble Offspring - Xanadu Sky

With three solos and an epic 30-minute trio, Xanadu Sky is a journey through shifting patterns that slowly evolve like a hypnotic dusk horizon. Hear every subtle sonority of the double bass, percussion and piano as they each take their turn in the spotlight as soloists. Finally, the trio joins forces as a meticulous musical machine in the ultimate jazz-infused slow burn: the Australian premiere of Sarah Hennies’ Spectral Malsconcities.

Pianist Alex Ranieri shines in Gustave Le Gray, composed by Pulitzer Prize winner Caroline Shaw. The piano solo weaves Shaw's raw musical clarity around ideas from Chopin’s A minor Mazurka. Double Bassist Benjamin Ward performs the stunning Walimbaya (Return), composed for him by First Nations composer Brenda Gifford. Andrian Pertout's Musica battuta sees Claire Edwardes wield both glockenspiel and toy piano in a glassy rhythmic soundscape. Finally, Sarah Hennies' crowning trio balances on a knife's edge between rhythmic virtuosity and carefully crafted chaos.