Live music program: Cloud music

Sydney Chamber Opera, ACO Quartet, William Basinski and Olivier Cong perform at the Art Gallery of New South Wales over three huge Wednesday nights in January.

Hear ethereal musical clusters, floating tones and swathes of spacious sound in this music series inspired by the symbolism of clouds.

Presented alongside the Magritte exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Cloud music brings together American composer and musician William Basinski, Hong Kong ambient composer and musician Olivier Cong, a string quartet from the Australia Chamber Orchestra and a vocal and musical ensemble from the Sydney Chamber Opera to offer unique musical works aligned to the art of Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte.

Hosted in the Art Gallery’s atmospheric Kaldor Hall on Wednesday evenings, Cloud music will feature a diverse repertoire, from Erik Satie and John Cage to contemporary compositions by the likes of Gabriella Smith and Pascal Dusapin.

Cloud music will also feature the world premiere of new works by Jane Sheldon as well as the Australian premiere of excerpts from Thomas Adès’s The exterminating angel. 

Supported by Rowena Danziger AM. Part of Sydney Festival 2025.