Day two extends into an unmissable day of critical discussion, deep listening and experimental short films. Key topics explored across the day include labour, automation, DIY, noise and the ever-present prefix “post-”.

Highlights include acclaimed music journalist Liz Pelly (US) who’s unsparing investigation into Spotify has challenged the way we understand music, listening, and streaming economies with her recent book 'Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Cost of the Perfect Playlist'. Beloved local lecturer and poet Andrew Brooks’ keynote considers noise — of protest, resistance, riots — to develop a politics of listening as solidarity in struggle. Yuin archivist Madika Penrith and ethnomusicologist Sam Miers launch their hundred track compilation of Yuin Country/Bateman’s bay in conversation with Prop Records Parateek ‘Toto’ Shorey. A panel discussion from Rắn Cạp Đuôi’s drummer Zach Sch, CONTENT.NET’s Kuya Neil, and Liquid Architecture’s director Kristi Monfries on building South-East-Asia exchanges and collectives, and what it means to make avant-garde and DIY music.  

Join us for a free night of live improvised art and music as we explore psychedelic soundscapes, visual language and synesthesia (blending of the senses). Live improvised performances by Luka Green on the guitar and Deej Sagurit on the canvas. Together they will explore the synesthesia between their mediums, incorporating live looping and automatic drawing methods. 

Hearsay, by Naarm-based artists Eek, Kirby Casilli, and Tina Stefanou, is an extended filmic performance that transforms the cinema into a zoological amphitheatre. Blending moving image, contemporary performance, hypnotism, and sound.

Team Rolfes & The Mustang Speedrun is the latest chapter from NYC’s masters of virtual performance. Team Rolfes returns with a chaotic audiovisual sprint: a misfit crew of avatar jockeys struggles to keep their failing exoskeleton operational as they speed toward a surreal championship.

Friday August 29, 2025

HEAPS GRASS - Ebony Tait - Voice/Keys; Lachie Mills - Guitar; Jack Rosenzweig - Drums

HINANO FUJISAKI / SIMON BARKER TYMBAL ECHOES - Hinano Fujisaki - Tenor Saxophone; Simon Barker - Drums 

LAURENCE PIKE HALLUCINATIONS - Laurence Pike - Drums/Electronics; Ken Allars - Trumpet; Jack Stoneham - Alto Saxophone; Novak Manojlovic - Piano

MIROSLAV BUKOVSKY & STRINGS - Miroslav Bukovsky - Trumpet; Phillipa Murphy-Haste - Viola; Peter Hollo - Cello; Susie Bishop - Violin; Clayton Thomas - Double Bass

DOGS OF PLEASURE (TAS) - Julius Schwing - Guitar; Alf Jackson - Drums

Australian Jazz icons GARY DALEY (Bungarribee, The Catholics) and LLOYD SWANTON (The Necks, The Catholics) are joined by emerging Jazz drummer & composer KALON CAPTAIN for an evening of original compositions & free improvisation.

GARY DALEY  (Piano/Accordion)
LLOYD SWANTON (Bass)
KALON CAPTAIN  (Drums)

SOFT CENTRE’s flagship multi-stage event erupts into the monumental White Bay Power Station with a stacked single-day program spanning radical performance art, adventurous club sounds, blistering A/V shows, site-responsive installations and durational spectacle. 

30% off the final release tickets for emus readers. Discount should apply in the cart. https://ra.co/events/2195225?p=p4rtn375SAT

Highlights include Stelarc’s legendary biomechanical bodywork, an ecstatic somatic ritual by the mercurial Young Boy Dancing Group, 404.zero’s spatial hallucinations, and Klein’s surreal sonic poetics with net scraped visuals. The event premieres major new commissions such as CONTENT.NET.AU: The Musical featuring rising MCs Sidney Phillips, BAYANG (tha Bushranger), David Ketamine and kk88, Bhenji Ra x Karina Utomo’s WETAN, a charged invocation of ancestral memory and voice, and Excited State !!! - a supergroup exploring the frayed edges of Drum N Bass with live instrumentation.

​IBID is Keyna Wilkins (piano/flute) and Shane Carpini (drumset). Together they play jazz/classical/folk interpretations of stream of consciousness improvisations and their own compositions inspired by philosophy, astronomy and human behaviour.

INLAY Ensemble is an Australian string ensemble dedicated to championing music outside of the normal. Led by double bassist Elsen Price, the group performs classical, improvised, jazz, new music, folk and 'other' music, with a collective list of players whose unique musical approaches create a one of a kind experience for both the audience and the musicians.

Saturday August 30, 2025

JACK STONEHAM’S WALK - Jack Stoneham - Alto Saxophone; Toby Graham - Voice; Tbc - Electric Guitar; Linus Foley - Wurlitzer; Jacques Emery - Electric Bass; Ashley Stoneham - Drums

HELEN SVOBODA SOLO (VIC) - Helen Svoboda - Double Bass/Voice 

LEAH BARRY SINGS MIKE NOCK (w/ Mike Nock) - Leah Barry - Voice; Mike Nock - Piano

GABRIELLA HILL/JACQUES EMERY/ALEX TUCKER - Gabriella Hill - Tenor Saxophone; Jacques Emery - Bass; Alex Tucker - Drums 

NOVAK MANOJLOVIC; THE CEREMONY - Novak Manojlovic, bandleader; Yutaro Okuda, guitar; Billy Ward, alto saxophone; Peter Farrar, alto saxophone; Dave Reglar, tenor saxophone; Max Alduca, double bass; Alex Raupach, piano; Miles Thomas, percussion

FINZI Five Bagatelles (1942)
GRENFELL Poems of a Bright Moon (2000)
CRUMB Vox Balaenae (1971)
ARENSKY Piano Trio no. 1 Op. 32 (1894)

David Griffiths, clarinet; Dimity Hall, violin; Julian Smiles, cello; with guest artists Joshua Batty, flute; Beatrice Colombis, violin; Tobias Breider, viola and David Fung, piano

Schkeuditzer Kreuz record release party for new LP 'Swan Grinder'. Records and CDs available on the night. Industrial synth crust from the blue mountains in Australia

Supporting are Inebrious Bastards & The Limited.

Pianist Rob Hao performs a programme of Romantic and contemporary piano music.

Michael Finnissy - Tenth Political Agenda *(World premiere)
Dominic Flynn - The Delacourt Bucket
Kaija Saariaho - Ballade
Claude Debussy - 'Pagodes' and 'La soirée dans Grenade' from Estampes
Claude Vivier - Shiraz
Michael Finnissy - Midsummer morn, from English country-tunes
Frederic Chopin - Two Nocturnes op 62

This performance will feature original compositions which draw on multiple musical styles including jazz, world and classical music. The program will also feature deep dives into the world of free improvisation. Virtuoso instrumentalists on reeds, piano accordion and piano.

Sandy Evans is an internationally renowned saxophonist, composer, music researcher and teacher with a passion for improvisation and new music.

Gary Daley is a highly regarded Australian composer, pianist, accordionist and teacher from Springwood in the Blue Mountains.

Aquenta • Bec Jensen
• Nick Skitz ft. Kidd Kaos •
Spiderdog × DJ Dogcunt
• uwuwuU • VV Pete
•More TBA•

Chloe dedicates the final year of her 20s to a deeply personal and creative journey. Throughout 2025, she will focus each month on learning, growing, and creating, sharing her process through monthly performances.

These performances are RSVP only. To reserve your spot and receive event details, please email chloekim12months@gmail.com

The final transmission of SOFT CENTRE 2025 draws together three singular artists for an elegiac finale to our multi-sensory four-day marathon.

Aarti Jadu Ensemble premieres SICFWYLF, a meditative invocation that reimagines mantra through acoustic instrumentation, trance repetitions, and rich percussive weight.

Beloved NTS resident Malibu [FR] follows, dissolving the boundary between memory and melody with her diaristic ambient compositions, a fog of reverbed vocals, wistful trance motifs and cascading strings.

Finally, the legendary Ryoji Ikeda [JP] unleashes 'ultratronics', a radical audiovisual encounter that fuses archival recordings with high-resolution sonic architecture.

Parallels is a series of improvised duo gigs curated by saxophonist Sam Gill, each presenting two duos and culminating in an all-in quartet set. For the fourth and final edition, the focus is on woodwinds and will feature four of Australia's most acclaimed improvising reeds players.

SAM GILL & PHILLIPPA MURPHY-HASTE
Sam Gill - saxophones
Phillippa Murphy-Haste - clarinets & viola

PAUL CUTLAN & ANDREW ROBSON
Paul Cutlan - saxophones & clarinets
Andrew Robson - saxophones

The sixth iteration of the Josh Shipton Orchestra shall feature the movement of air. A four section game piece, improvisational, compositional orchestra.
Elizabeth Jigalin, Hiske Weijers, Mike Kennett, Mitch Johnson, Liam O’Shea, Irene Nicola, Anousheh St Germain, Mel Eden, Bronwyn Eather, Eva Docekalova, Alia Josephine, Keyna Wilkins, Lyra Rosen, Payge Eminovski, Simon Peart

After a wildly successful debut at the 2024 Sydney Fringe Festival culminating in a sold out show at Riverside Theatres in Parramatta, Ravi's groundbreaking sitar experience returns, bigger and bolder than ever in "An Exploration of Sitar by Ravi".

Every night is a one-off sonic journey—no two shows are the same. With live collaborations, spontaneous improvisation, and surprise guest artists drawn from the audience, this interactive show blends classical Indian music with unexpected twists.

Nana Koizumi Trio from Japan:
Nana Koizumi (trumpet, voice)
Kousuke Kanatani (piano)
Naoto Oyama (bass)

Ephemera - Merging the sound worlds of jazz and contemporary classical, and set to real space sounds and projections, it is a unique sonic experience.
Keyna Wilkins (piano/flute/compositions)
Elsen Price (double bass)
Will Gilbert (trumpet)
Jodie Michael (drums)

Qiyun in Chinese aesthetics are intertwined energies across human breath, ink splashing and string sonic vibrations. Four extraordinary musicians Ying Liu (erhu), Chuqiao Zhao, Yuyan Tang (guzhengs) and Joshua Hill (percussion) and others perform new musics to short films curated by internationally active filmmaker Vincent Tay and composer Bruce Crossman, based on leading Asian-Australian artists Jin Sha, Louise Zhang, Mai Nguyễn-Long, Lucy Pulvers, Cheolyu Kim and Richard Wu, with poetic responses by Kate Fagan, Kim Pham and Joshua Mostafa.

Award-winning saxophonist Nick Russoniello delivers a captivating performance blending virtuosic saxophone, audience-generated sounds, live-looping, and body percussion. This electro-acoustic experience pushes boundaries, journeying from baroque to beatbox in an immersive musical exploration.

Lee McIver - Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Laptop, FX, Audio data
Ed Goyer - Vibraphone, Mallet Kat, Percussion
Ed Rodrigues - Drums, Drum triggers, iPad, Percussion

Polymorphic Orkestra is an electro-acoustic art music ensemble that creates improvised compositions using a blend of traditional instruments, media technology, audio effects, and pre-recorded audio stem data.

Erkki VELTHEIM Heiligenschein* for cello and electronics (2021)
Pierre BOULEZ Messagesquisse (1976)
Jane SHELDON Talking with herself alone**^ (2025)
Germaine TAILLEFERRE Partita pour piano, Op. 195: ii. Notturno (1957)
Richard MEALE Incredible Floridas (1971)

Over the past two years, composers/pianists/sound artists Lewis Mosley and Elizabeth Jigalin have explored the sonic intricacies and possibilities of The Church's pianos. Playing on the two grand pianos, they have investigated the potential of two similar yet separate instruments performing as one - all against the incredible acoustic backdrop of The Church. This collaborative project coalesces both Lewis and Elizabeth's musical backgrounds, encompassing performance in rock groups, experimental ensembles, and jazz bands, as well as more traditional forms of compositional thought.

Tickets: Free, by ballot only

Navigating times of uncertainty and fast-paced constant change, the Chronology Arts Collective is an Australian group of artists presenting co-devised contemporary performance improvisations.

This performance is about aboutness. It may be a bit of a heady meta-trip into vocal and movement patterns, some kind of ritualistic dark comedy, or something that is like coming home and switching on the lights for the first time.

The People’s Republic ushers in Spring with a very special Monday night performance, the debut of a new improvisational trio bringing together three true icons of new music in Australia, with a very special guest...PAD
Jim Denley [alto sax/flutes]
Chris Abrahams [piano/synthesiser]
Daryl Pratt [extended vibraphone]
with James Greening [trombone etc]

PLEASE REPLY TO THIS EMAIL FOR NEW ADDRESS AND FURTHER DETAILS AND TO CONFIRM YOUR ATTENDANCE

Delay 45
Tom Avgenicos - trumpet & electronics
Roshan Kumarage - piano
Dave Quinn - bass
Ashley Stoneham - drums

Another Green World
Lauren Tsamouras - piano
Harry Birch - double bass

Elliott Carter (1908 - 2012) Statement (dedicated to Ole Bohn)
Ernest Chausson (1855 - 1899) Concerto for violin, piano and string quartet, Op. 21
Karl Amadeus Hartmann (1905 - 1963) Concerto funèbre, 1939

Ole Bohn, violin
Alexander Yau, piano
THE ELAN QUARTET
TIM LI ORCHESTRA

Australian Jazz icons Gary Daley (Bungarribee, The Catholics) and Lloyd Swanton (The Necks, The Catholics) are joined by emerging Jazz drummer and composer Kalon Captain for an evening of original compositions and free improvisation.

Gary Daley – Piano, Accordion
Lloyd Swanton – Bass
Kalon Captain – Drums, Cymbals

Valentitanic Trio - Sax - Alia Josephine, Guitar - Mike Kennett, Bass- Josh Shipton, Drums - Tim Bradley

Moo/Jim Denley/Peter Hollo - Mel Eden - voice, Jim Denley - winds, Peter Hollo - cello

The Dunning Krueger Experience - Josh Shipton & Mike Kennett

This final instalment of the series marks the highly anticipated return of the iconic Severed Heads to Oxford Street. Joining them are hardcore legends Straightjacket Nation, making a special appearance, alongside the amazing experimental artists YL Hooi and Silzedrek, who are traveling up from Naarm (Melbourne) for the occasion. A host of very special local artists will also be performing, including Perfect Actress, Gayab ग़ा यब, Spite, Til.K & Ch40, Boiling Hot Politician with Prop Records + Pass~Port + Love+Pop DJs spinning tunes all night.

Joanna MARSH A Plastic Theatre – Dramatic cantata for mezzo-soprano, choir and orchestra
Alice CHANCE New work 
Michael TIPPETT A Child of Our Time

Brett Weymark conductor; Elizabeth Scott conductor (Marsh, Chance)
Deborah Cheetham Fraillon soprano; Anna Dowsley mezzo-soprano; Nicholas Jones tenor; Teddy Tahu Rhodes baritone
Symphony Chorus, Festival Chorus, VOX (Marsh, Chance), Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra with guests from The Sydney Youth Orchestra

HEART ARMOUR is a Sydney three piece working at the intersections of ambient music, experimental pop, and R&B.

LOUISA is Sydney-based artist-producer creating dark, ethereal electronic-pop, characterised by driving, aggressive percussion, soaring synths and tight vocal melodies.

PEACHEY & MOSIG are engaged in ongoing deliberate explorations of various landscapes based around the process of field studies - returning to specific landscapes over time and the process of play.

SZEM is the left-field electronic project of visual and sound artist Laura Hunt.

LISTENING SPACE BY HAT HILL RECORDS Post-performance Listening Space by Hat Hill Records & Audio until late.

Limite (1931), an astonishing landmark of early Latin American cinema with a newly commissioned live score.

The septet consists of Alister Hill (guitar), Darren Lesaguis (spoken word), Jenny Trinh aka Wytchings (electronics/vocals), Justin Tam aka Tzekin (saxophone), Mara Schwerdtfeger (viola/vocals), Reginald Harris (bass) and Thomas William Smith aka T.Morimoto (electronics).

Solomon Frank is an Australian performer and composer living and working on Cammeraygal land, whose inter-disciplinary practice straddles cross-species musical collaboration, vacuum cleaners and time travel.
Award-winning and working across a range of performance modes, Harriet Gillies has presented works in Australia, New Zealand, Asia and North America. She’s been supported by arts organisations and government agencies at regional, national and international levels.

Tickets: Free, by ballot only

Uncomfortable Science is a musical experiment in sweet controlled chaos, led by Melbourne’s own Lachlan Mitchell aka Laneous. Lachlan scribbles spontaneous chord progressions that a rotating cast of phenomenal musicians transform into fully improvised sonic journeys—no rehearsals, no safety nets, just raw, real-time creation. 

Joining Laneous for this glorious night of experimental music are not one but two pianists! Novak Manjlovic and Danny Pliner, along with Alon Ilsar on drums and Jonathan Zwartz playing double bass.

Hill/Hall/Raymond: Gabriella Hill (tenor saxophone), Henry Hall (double bass) and Daniel Raymond (drums) have recently started playing together as a trio.

Bubble Trubble: Aidan Wong blowing long and spitty tones on tenor sax, Peter Farrar playing tiles submerged in water, all while the powerhouse guitar duo Eric Tsai and David Turner pluck away.

Ryosuke Kiyasu (Japan) 9:30pm - Pioneering snare-drum soloist who has redefined percussion since 2003.

Lucas ‘Granpa’ Abela (Sydney) 8:45pm - (fka Justice Yeldham) has been performing their signature instrument—shards of amplified glass—for over 20 years.

Party Ov One (Newcastle) 8:15pm - the solo audio undertaking of multidisciplinary artist Liza Kaplan.

An intimate evening of music by Cyrus Meurant with guests Matthew Kneale, Kiran Phatak and Lloyd Van’t Hoff (Arcadia Winds).

Melody for solo bassoon
Sortie for solo piano
Pas de deux for solo piano
Three Pieces for flute, clarinet and bassoon
Stray Birds for bassoon and piano

Cyrus Meurant, piano; Matthew Kneale, bassoon; Kiran Phatak, flute; Lloyd Van’t Hoff, clarinet

Virtuosic concert of two-piano music featuring: original works, transcriptions of popular songs, a toy piano and Barbie.

Tamara-Anna Cislowska Pianist
Andrey Gugnin Pianist
Robert Melbourne Composer
Sally Greenaway Composer
Paul Smith Composer

The SCM New Music Ensemble presents a vivid program of modern works.

Matthew Hindson* (b. 1968) - This Year’s Apocalypse
Paul Stanhope* (b. 1969) - Apollo
Liza Lim* (b. 1966) - Veil
Natalie Williams* (b. 1977) - Harmony Road Gang
Bree Van Reyk* (b. 1978) - Infinity Opposing Eternity
New Student Work TBA**

The Quartet embraces microtonal scales and musical modes characteristic of Anatolia with compositions in sophisticated time signatures dancing between contemporary and traditional expressions.

Metin Yilmaz - Bilur/Kaval (traditional Flute)
Jodie Michael - Drums
Matt McMahon- Piano
Stephen Elphick - Double Bass

Jannah Quill (Naarm) LIVE
Wingnut 
Wytchings LIVE
Postponez

Sam Gill's Coursed Waters launch their energetic new album 'Sensemaker', released on the prolific Australian jazz label Earshift Music.

Sam Gill - alto & soprano saxophone
Novak Manojlovic - piano
Jacques Emery - double bass
James McLean - drums

World premiere works by Cassie To (NSW), Callum O’Reilly (WA), Alexandra Mison (QLD), and Oliver John Cameron (NSW).

A celebration of groundbreaking new directions, local voices, and bold musical risk-taking, New Now is Omega Ensemble’s annual showcase of emerging compositional talent.

Round the Sun represents a reflection on my experience during a post Covid decent into and recovery from significant mental and physical illness.

Gary Daley - piano/accordion
Hilary Geddes - guitar
Jacques Emery - bass
Chloe Kim - drums

Tickets: Free, by ballot only

The Big Idea – a genre-defying monodrama from Australian composer Matthew Shlomowitz and writer Vid Simoniti. Combining spoken word, music, and theatrical elements, The Big Idea is an iconoclastic departure from monodramas like Schoenberg’s Expectation and Poulenc’s The Human Voice.
Lotte Betts-Dean (mezzo-soprano)
Rubiks Collective

Experience the sound journey of Sitar Boy — a powerful fusion of ancient Indian sitar and modern ambient, electronic, and world music. Anil Dhital weaves soulful melodies with immersive textures, blending classical roots with contemporary influences. Expect meditative grooves, hypnotic improvisations, and a truly cross-cultural musical experience that invites both deep listening and inner reflection.

The third instalment of KLGP ambient experience featuring saxophone, vocals and synths from Eora's most passionate, visuals by CARA.

Marcus Whale (vox & synth), Hinano Fujisaki (saxophone, flute, clarinet) & Kurt Lam (synth, keys and samples)

CLOCKS & CLOUDS
Kraig Grady; retuned vibraphone
Terumi Narushima; microtonal pump organ

SHOWA 44
Carl Dewhurst; guitar
Simon Barker; drums

HOME IS
Hinano Fujisaki; saxophone, various instruments
Jacques Emery; bass, various instruments
Lauren Tsamouras; piano, various instruments
Bonnie Stewart; drums, various instruments

ARNOLD SCHOENBERG Pierrot lunaire (1912)
LAURA BOWLER Deconstructing Pierrot (2024)

Jessica Aszodi (vocals), Jane Sheldon (vocals), Claire Edwardes (Artistic Director, percussion), Lamorna Nightingale (flutes), Jason Noble (clarinet), Véronique Serret (violin), Blair Harris (cello), Jack Symonds (piano), Ben Carey (sound)

Chloe dedicates the final year of her 20s to a deeply personal and creative journey. Throughout 2025, she will focus each month on learning, growing, and creating, sharing her process through monthly performances.

These performances are RSVP only. To reserve your spot and receive event details, please email chloekim12months@gmail.com

Waakya (meaning ‘the crow moving its feathers’) is a bold cross-cultural collaboration between Yolŋu artists Daniel and David Wilfred and electro-acoustic musicians Martin Ng, Ben Carey and Matt McGuigan. Over the last decade, the Wilfreds have developed an international reputation as innovators of Yolŋu music traditions, seeking to develop new artistic directions for the ancestral music of Arnhem Land. Through this collaboration, the artists were inspired to bring new life to manikay (song), the ancestral songs of Arnhem Land.

Who gets to make art in Australia, and on what terms? Entangled Labours looks at the rich lives and experiences of working-class people in so-called Sydney. Including the premiere of a new film by the Class Actions Collective about the selling off of social housing in Redfern; a drag performance set in Mount Druitt; hip-hop spoken word; a performance with a brass band; and a ‘laboured’ action using amplified shovels. By showing the unique ways working-class people create, Entangled Labours asks us to think about the systems that decide who gets to make art, and the poetry that takes place in-between.

Missy Mazzoli (b. 1980) Ecstatic Science
Friedrich Cerha (1926 - 2023) Quellen (Sources) for ensemble
Holly Harrison (b. 1988) Jabberwock (2021 version)
New Student Work - TBA*
Heinz Karl Gruber (b. 1943) Frankenstein!! (ensemble version)

Jenna Cave Sextet: Jenna Cave (composer & vocals), Yutaro Okuda (guitar), Tom Avgenicos (trumpet/flugelhorn), Loretta Palmeiro (saxophones, clarinet), Hannah James (double bass), Alex Inman-Hislop (drums)

JAG: Gabriella Hill - saxophone, Jacques Emery - double bass, Alex Tucker - drums

"Unbound" defies artistic boundaries, presenting a night of profound personal expression. Witness Ria Andriani's soul-stirring vocals performing Molly Joyce's compositions, followed by Melanie Eden's experimental fusion of vocals and accordion, where spiritual depth meets powerful social advocacy. Sonnet Curé, drawing from their "Headliners" experience, unveils a new experimental work, channeling their lived experience of deafness. Together, these artists offer an evening of transformative art, pushing beyond expectations.

Chloe dedicates the final year of her 20s to a deeply personal and creative journey. Throughout 2025, she will focus each month on learning, growing, and creating, sharing her process through monthly performances.

These performances are RSVP only. To reserve your spot and receive event details, please email chloekim12months@gmail.com

Chloe dedicates the final year of her 20s to a deeply personal and creative journey. Throughout 2025, she will focus each month on learning, growing, and creating, sharing her process through monthly performances.

These performances are RSVP only. To reserve your spot and receive event details, please email chloekim12months@gmail.com

Chloe dedicates the final year of her 20s to a deeply personal and creative journey. Throughout 2025, she will focus each month on learning, growing, and creating, sharing her process through monthly performances.

These performances are RSVP only. To reserve your spot and receive event details, please email chloekim12months@gmail.com