Beautiful production where the audience experiences creativity in the instant it is produced.
Presented by: Alex Frayne and Paul Grabowsky
Reviewed: 15 March, 2023
Music for Other Worlds with the Adelaide Festival was an opportunity to witness new musical pieces at the same moment they are created.
Alex Frayne and Paul Grabowsky collaborated on this production in which Frayne had curated seven sets of photos, each to a clear theme, that Grabowsky would then experience for the first time along with the audience and then respond instantaneously through his on-stage piano.
All the photos were landscapes and captured the scenes in incredible detail. Frayne’s photos were projected onto three screens with panning movements implemented on the middle screen to subtly shift the focus throughout the sets. The size of the projection and clarity of the image created an immersive, at times dream-like, flow of how the full view is absorbed and experienced.
At the beginning of each set were some quicker transition photos, which provided the theme, before settling on images that would be the focus of the set. The images captured roadways trailing off into the distance, dead gums held in the middle of a lake, and lone churches surrounded by fields, among other iconic Australian settings.
Grabowsky’s impromptu responses to the imagery created their own narratives. There were musical variations across each set that framed the senses highlighted in the photos. It was a joy to experience and witness musical craft and creativity in the exact moment it was produced. Any minor misjudgment or sudden shift became a flourish within the overall sets.
The concept behind Music for Other Worlds allowed for the dedicated skills of each artist to be conveyed. It was a beautiful exhibition of how sharp imagery and music can overlay and intertwine for a one-of-a-kind production.
Reviewed by Alex Dunkin
Photo credit: Tony Lewis
Venue: Adelaide Town Hall
Season: Season ended
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