GARDEN OF EARTHLY DELIGHTS

A garden teeming with temptation and desire, grotesque creatures and improbable scenes of surrender: the uninhibited world of Hieronymous Bosch’s 500-year-old triptych “De tuin der lusten”.  Baffling his Dutch contemporaries and the casual tourists in Madrid’s Prado in equal measure (not to mention generations of art critics) the Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights is ever-enigmatic. Whether it is interpreted as a surreal feast for the senses or as a stark warning about the moral decay during a time of rapid change, this art exudes dread and seduction in equal measure. 

Trust Luminescence Chamber Singers to turn this surreal feast of the senses into an aural tapestry as pleasurable and perilous as Bosch’s vision. Drawn from the vaults of Renaissance raunch, Medieval monasterian excess and daring modern transgressions, Garden of Earthly Delights offers a vocal cornucopia of surprise and surreptitiously cheeky delight, probing the pleasures and perils of excess.

Program to include music by Josquin, Banchieri, Gallus and new works by Nicole Murphy and Archie Tulk.

1 hour, no interval. Saturday 27th September 2025

5.00pm, Kangaroo Valley Hall. Kangaroo Valley

Presented by Music in the Valley 

Luminescence Chamber Singers

AJ America

Michelle Ryan

Rachel Mink

Dan Walker

Lucien Fischer

Alasdair Stretch

Roland Peelman AM

ABOUT LUMINESCENCE: 

Luminescence Chamber Singers (Luminescence) is a virtuosic vocal ensemble based on Ngunnawal and Ngambri country (Canberra, ACT). Led by mezzo soprano AJ America, Luminescence has emerged as one of Australia's most exciting professional ensembles, championing the unbound expressive potential of our original instrument: the human voice. 

Luminescence has built an enviable reputation as leading practitioners of consort singing in Australia, performing both repertoire that spans renaissance polyphony, medieval music, art music, pop, and folk. In recent years, the group has developed a growing repertoire of new music, premiering more than 55 new works since 2015, and prioritising lengthy creative development periods that foster deep and ongoing partnerships between singers, composers, and other creatives.