Avant Gardens Autumn (Hurlstone Park)

This is a program founded on love and affection, with new friends and old. We’ve played music by Kaija Saariaho nearly every season, and this year it’s her vision of a ‘starry sky’ – mining the normally earthbound voice of the double bass for shimmering jewel-like sounds and placing them in the gleaming setting of metallic percussion. Sofia Gubaidulina and Pauline Oliveros are two more international icons but, surprisingly, women who are new to our repertoire. They take us from solo virtuosity to jamming for the whole trio.

Anthony Braxton’s experimental music was a discovery from Ensemble Offspring’s 2025 visit to New York, when Lamorna heard his Composition No.19 for 100 tubas! Equally fascinating is his ‘garden-scaled’ Composition No.152. From closer to home, we’ve commissioned something new from Jack Symonds, and we’re delighted to reprise Jane Stanley’s gorgeous Desert Rose. And Niki herself will perform a movement from her Shimmer Suite – vibrant and sensuous music dedicated to the memory of her mother.

Join us in the Avant Gardens and find beauty in polarities: sound and silence, wood and metal, strict and free, earthy and celestial.

“... beautifully intimate house concert… accompanied by friends catching up, and discussions of the delightfully eclectic program.” - ClassikON

Program

SOFIA GUBAIDULINA Eight Etudes for Double Bass (2007)

NIKI JOHNSON Under Ocean’s Skin from Shimmer Suite (2024)

ANTHONY BRAXTON Composition No.152 (1991)

JANE STANLEY Desert Rose from Four Desert Flowers (2010)

KAIJA SAARIAHO Ciel étoilé (Starry Sky) (1999)

JACK SYMONDS New Work*† (2026)

PAULINE OLIVEROS Outline - An Improvisation Chart (1963)

* World Premiere
† Ensemble Offspring Commission

Concert Duration: 60 minutes followed by complimentary drinks and canapes

Performers

Lamorna Nightingale (flutes)

Benjamin Ward (double bass)

Niki Johnson (percussion)

Ticket Prices

General Admission $99*

Pensioner $79* (Proof of pension required)

Students $39* (Student ID required)

*Booking fees apply

Tickets include drinks and canapes.

Location: Hurlstone Park, Sydney

Ticket holders will be notified of the location prior to the event via email and SMS. Please provide your correct contact details so that we can deliver this information to you accordingly.

Photo: Niki Johnson by Keith Saunders