Avant Gardens Summer (Glebe)

A voice, a piano, a salon setting in a private home… It could be Schubert circa 1826, but add a percussionist and fresh new sounds and it’s Summer 2026.

The heart of the program is drawn from Pascal Dusapin’s O Mensch! – a song cycle to words by Nietzsche. It’s theatrical in spirit, but in this intimate performance, Mitch Riley and Jack Symonds bring the intense emotions and compelling musical gestures home. These long-time Sydney Chamber Opera collaborators also join forces for the creation of an evocative new work, I Keep Your Burning Glances, based on a Michelangelo text, and Mitch has written the lyric for A Vision of Purple by Hatched Composer alumnus Alexander Maltas.

The Berceuse from The Exterminating Angel is no ordinary lullaby – in the words of its dedicatee, it’s lascivious, morbid and very beautiful. Vanessa Lann’s Floating Sky offers balance with a shimmering, meditative sound world. And the program is completed with music that Claire and Jack have long wanted to perform: an austerely delicate excerpt from Harrison Birtwistle’s Axe Manual – a study in rhythm and colour.

Take a front-row seat for this concert of visions, memories and music that speaks to the soul.

Program 

THOMAS ADÈS Berceuse from The Exterminating Angel (1982)

PASCAL DUSAPIN Selected songs from O Mensch! (2009)

ALEXANDER MALTAS A Vision of Purple*† (2026)

VANESSA LANN Floating Sky*† (2023)

HARRISON BIRTWISTLE Excerpt from The Axe Manual (2001)

JACK SYMONDS I Keep Your Burning Glances*† (2026)

* World Premiere

† Ensemble Offspring Commission

Concert Duration: 70 minutes followed by complimentary drinks and canapes

Performers

Mitch Riley (voice)

Jack Symonds (piano)

Claire Edwardes (Artistic Director, 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: Glebe, Sydney

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

Photo: Mitch Riley by Keith Saunders