The inaugural Earin Festival, set to launch in Adelaide on 24 November, promises to be a sensory playground for experimental music and culture as audiences are invited to play ping pong, taste sake, see works by intriguing visual artists and hear brilliantly presented new music featuring eight world, two Australian and six South Australian premieres.
Conceived by Festival Directors David Harris and David Kotlowey, Earin Festival explores new music and all that feeds it – art, politics, food, events, poetry, wine and other music that influence the music of the day.
Says Harris, “As composers we wanted a place for our music to be presented in collaboration with other artists, to draw connections between the art that influence us and the art that our music has influenced. We wanted this for Adelaide so we made it happen.”
“When John Cage came to the Adelaide Festival in ’76, he asked ‘How long is the flight from LA to Sydney?’ The interviewer replied ‘14 hours.’ He then asked ‘Well why do ideas take so long to get here?’ This has certainly changed but there are still limited opportunities to witness a variety of new music in this country. Earin provides the opportunity to hear pivotal works in the flesh and just as importantly, world premiere performances of works written for right now.”
Fittingly, the inaugural Earin Festival will feature works by John Cage in celebration of his centenary, alongside works by international and Australian composers including new works by Kotlowey and Harris.
The festival will be a series of three concerts over three weeks, each programmed around a different theme: cultural dislocation, belonging and identity; the Zen aesthetic of wabi-sabi; pop culture.
Kotlowey says, “John Cage’s thinking and music have been influenced to varying degrees by Issues of identity and belonging as well as his experience of the Zen aesthetic and in, turn, his works have influenced pop culture.”
To create an immersive experience for their audiences, Harris and Kotlowey have programmed and written new music for the three concerts in response to each theme and have commissioned Australian visual artists whose works will also resonate with the program.
The first concert, Born of Cultural Dislocation, will feature Sarajevo-born Adelaide artist Nina Rupena whose works often explore ideas of belonging and identity with performances by clarinet ensembles Chalumeau Quartet, Eclectica Trio and the New York Counterpoint Ensemble formed especially for the performance of Steve Reich’s piece New York Counterpoint.
Kotlowey says he is looking forward to “a classical music concert that engages politics; the beautiful, thought-provoking art of Nina Rupena; a concert highlighting the rich sound of a solo clarinet, two, three four clarinets… eleven clarinets!”
Taking inspiration from the Zen temple in Kyoto known for its exquisite rock garden, Ryoan-ji will feature Melbourne artist Pamela Rataj who finds patterns and forms in nature, and the beautiful, melodic violin of acclaimed performer Natusko Yoshimoto alongside the vibrant piano playing of Michael Kieran Harvey, recent presenter of the 14th Peggy Glanville-Hicks address.
With a reference back to Roy Lichtenstein’s Whaam!, the third and final concert of the festival will feature works by Adelaide artist Ken Baker and vibrant music by composers exploring pop and rock music with a classical sensibility. The performance will even continue through interval as John Cage’s Seven is played as furniture music.
Harris says, “Natsuko and Michael are a stellar combination and I’m looking forward to sitting with a glass of punch in my hand and hearing the captivating beats of David Lang’s Cheating, Lying, Stealing.”
The Earin Festival will transform ABC Studio 520 as it presents an engaging program of new music that incorporates visual arts, games, food and wine and throws out a whimsical invitation for audiences to plunge into the new, to listen, play and engage in the now.
Tickets are now on sale at www.earin.org
EARIN FESTIVAL
ABC Studio 520
85 North East Road, Collinswood, SA
Born of Cultural Dislocation
Tuesday, 27 November, 8pm
Ryonan-ji
Tuesday, 4 December, 8pm
Whaam!
Tuesday, 11 December, 8p
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