Ensemble Offspring: Avant Gardens Autumn

SATURDAY 9 MAY 4PM, WOOLLAHRA, SYDNEY

SUNDAY 10 MAY 4PM, HURLSTONE PARK, SYDNEY

SOFIA GUBAIDULINA Eight Etudes for Double Bass Solo (2007)

NIKI JOHNSON Under Ocean’s Skin from Shimmer Suite (2024)

ANTHONY BRAXTON Composition No. 152 (1991)

JANE STANLEY Desert Rose from Four Desert Flowers (2010)

KAIJA SAARIAHO Ciel étoilé (Starry Sky) (1999)

JACK SYMONDS Releasing the Marble*▴ (2026)

PAULINE OLIVEROS Wind Horse - An Improvisation Chart (1989)

* World Premiere

▴ Ensemble Offspring Commission with generous support from Peter Wise https://www.ensembleoffspring.com/event/avant-gardens-autumn

Monash University Day of Percussion
Monash University Clayton Campus, Wellington Rd, Clayton VIC 3800, Australia

The Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music and Performance invites percussionists to the Day of Percussion! It will include three venues full of workshops, clinics, masterclasses and a concert. This is a free event, suitable for school and university students, emerging professionals, and percussion enthusiasts of all ages. You are warmly invited to participate and perform in the events throughout the day.  Link

Niki Johnson & Sofia Carbonara perform CMT student compositions at Monash University

https://www.monash.edu/arts/music-performance/news-and-events/events

Ensemble Offspring: To Listen To Sing in Wagga Wagga Festival

To Listen To Sing features composers from the Ngarra-Burria: First Peoples Composers program. Ngarra-Burria has built bridges for Indigenous musicians to step sideways into instrumental chamber composition over the past 9 years, altering the Australian landscape of art music composers and importantly giving a new voice to First Nations composers. This program features prominent First Nations composers including Brenda Gifford (Yuin), Nardi Simpson (Yuwaalaraay), Eric Avery (Ngiyampaa, Yuin, Bundjalung and Gumbaynggir) and James Henry (Kamilaroi-Yuwaalaraay, Yorta-Yorta and Yuin).  

https://www.wwmf.com.au/ensembleoffspring

Working Memory at White Bay Power Station Saturday 130pm and Sunday 130pm

In partnership with the Inner West Council, six new performance commissions will be presented under the title Working Memory from 11-12 April at White Bay Power Station. Artists include collective Body of Work (Charlotte Farrell, Emma Maye Gibson (Betty Grumble), Imbi, Natesha Somasundaram, and Megan Holloway), Lauren Brincat & Zoe Theodore, Jacqui O’Reilly & James Brown, Amrita Hepi, Redmond Reyes & Kit-Wu Bylett, and a roaming puppetry performance by artists Cynthia Florek, Lulu Barkell, Oliver Durbridge (Highly Strung Puppets), and Theodore Carroll.

https://www.biennaleofsydney.art/news/biennale-of-sydney-announces-further-artists-artworks-and-public-programming-highlights-for-2026-edition-rememory/

Throat Pleats perform at Make It Up Club!

Whilst traditional forms of avant garde improvisation are welcomed, MIUC programming policy gives priority to projects which challenge the boundaries of current musical trends. 

https://baropen.com.au/make-it-up-club/

Hand to Earth at Biennale of Sydney Opening Night

White Bay Power Station, Robert St, Rozelle NSW 2039, Australia

Lights On is the biggest celebration of art and music in 2026, transforming White Bay Power Station into Sydney’s focal point. Marking the opening of 25th Biennale of Sydney, Lights On is the first opportunity to experience the expansive array of visual art curated by 25th edition Artistic Director Hoor Al Qasimi, alongside an invigorating and dynamic array of cutting-edge contemporary music performances throughout the monolithic post-industrial site. A sensitive response to the curatorial frame of Rememory, the music program spans genres, geographies and histories, cohered in dialogue with the surrounding work. See performances by world-leading First Nations experimental ensemble Hand to Earth (AUS), DJ, producer and Moor Mother-collabator DJ Haram (USA) ghosted R&B vocalist Niecy Blues (USA). 

https://www.biennaleofsydney.art/events/lights-on-opening-night-2026/

ensemble offspring FUTURE CLASSICS 2025

This Sydney Opera House showcase celebrates the best of a new generation of musical creators, nurtured within Ensemble Offspring’s acclaimed Hatched Academy program of composer intensives and artist mentorship. Discover the Future Classics of new Australian art music in a program featuring exciting young pianist Ronan Apcar, our 2025 Hatched Emerging Performer, alongside our virtuosic Ensemble Offspring instrumentalists.

https://www.ensembleoffspring.com/event/future-classics

FORMA ENSEMBLE

Phoenix Central Park, 37-49 O'Connor St, Chippendale NSW 2008, Australia

FORMA ENSEMBLE is an Australian percussion collective creating, performing, and collaborating on new and experimental music. Founded and directed by Rebecca Lloyd-Jones, former Artistic Director of Synergy Percussion, FORMA is dedicated to celebrating contemporary music through the medium of percussion. The collective focuses on commissioning new works that push the boundaries of percussion practice and explore innovative approaches to musical curation, while also embracing improvisation as a vital part of its artistic identity.

FORMA ENSEMBLE will debut at Phoenix Central Park with a performance of Michael Gordon’s Timber — a powerful, meditative, hour-long work for six percussionists. 
https://phoenixcentralpark.com.au/season-xviii/forma-ensemble

Local Edition - Shervin Mirzeinali and Niki Johnson

Glebe Sound Installation Series

https://localedition.com.au/products/glebe-sound-instalation-series

Australian Premiere of Custodians of the Sky by Luke Styles

Emanuel Synagogue, 7 Ocean St, Woollahra NSW 2025, Australia

Custodians of the Sky is a new Australian work by composer Luke Styles that invites audiences to journey among the heavens and the earth, exploring our shared imaginings of the universe through the power of music and poetry.
https://events.humanitix.com/custodians-of-the-sky

Australian Premiere of Custodians of the Sky by Luke Styles

Emanuel Synagogue, 7 Ocean St, Woollahra NSW 2025, Australia

Custodians of the Sky is a new Australian work by composer Luke Styles that invites audiences to journey among the heavens and the earth, exploring our shared imaginings of the universe through the power of music and poetry.
https://events.humanitix.com/custodians-of-the-sky