Ensemble Offspring: Divine Darkness

Ensemble Offspring transcends the rituals of the concert hall in a drama-infused program that’s as much for the eyes as it is for the ears. 

At the heart of the concert, David T. Little’s Ghostlight plays on the superstitions and mysteries of the theatre in a spellbinding musical journey – equal parts introspection and turbulent drama. A transcendent new work for voice and quartet by Jane Sheldon takes the Buddhist concept of vihava tanha (the desire for non-existence) as its starting point.

Transformation underpins Entropic Arrows by Icelandic powerhouse Anna Thorvaldsdottir, as fragile and delicate musical ideas are passed from one musician to another – no turning back. And Daniela Terranova’s Rainbow Dust in the Sky offers ghostly echoes and fragments from “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” in an elusive lullaby. Jane Sheldon returns to the stage for Lisa Illean’s ethereal and romantic Cantor (after Willa Cather) haunting the boundaries between day and night.

Wrapping the music in visions of light, an immersive video by Peachey & Mosig will make this divinely dark sonic dreamworld all encompassing.

Join Ensemble Offspring on 3 July at The Neilson, ACO on the Pier as they continue to celebrate their 30th birthday.