Michael Vorfeld (Berlin) and Guests

A visual sculptor, improviser, instrument builder and performance artist, Michael Vorfeld is a key member of the European contemporary music community making his Sydney debut.

This special evening features Michael's films, alongside two special performances. 

Air Pressure: Michael Vorfeld & Philip Samartzis: field recordings and percussion

Films of Michael Vorfeld

LEUCHTSTOFF (Luminescent Substance) (2003, 16mm b & w, 14 min.),

SILHOUETTE (black and white, digital, 8:35 minutes)

Two explorations of light, shadow and electricity in performance. 

And QUINTET

Michael Vorfeld, percussion

Jim Denley, woodwinds

Saskia Shearer, percussion

Uma Volkmer, trumpet

Clayton Thomas, double bass

7:30

Air Pressure: Michael Vorfeld & Phillip Samartzis 

"Air Pressure" comprises field recordings made in Eastern Antarctica that highlight the impacts of extreme climate and weather on a variety of research stations and field huts and their associated infrastructure. 

These recordings serve as the foundation for a series of improvised musical responses using percussion and self-designed string instruments in combination with extended techniques that aim to intertwine the sound of materials, instruments, and environment. 

8:30

Two Films: Michael Vorfeld

LEUCHTSTOFF (Luminescent Substance) (2003, 16mm, black and white, 14 min., digital version)

SILHOUETTE (black and white, digital, 8:35 minutes)

Two explorations of light, shadow and electricity in performance. 

9:00 

QUINTET 

Michael Vorfeld, percussion

Jim Denley, woodwinds

Saskia Shearer, percussion

Uma Volkmer, trumpet

Clayton Thomas, double bass

A small orchestra of possibilities, this quintet is something of a Venn diagram of personal and musical relationships. Jim, Michael and Clayton have all collaborated in different groups for over 20 years. In this first-time meeting they are joined by two brilliant improvisers from the Sydney creative music community, Saskia Shearer and Uma Volkmer, whose own subtlety, ingenuity and character promise expand the palette and potential of each moment to come. 

About the musicians

The Berlin based Michael Vorfeld plays percussion and self designed stringed instruments and realises electro-acoustic sound pieces. He works in the field of experimental, improvised music and sound art. Besides solo activities he is a member of different groups and collaborates with artists of different art forms. One of these projects is Air Pressure with Philip Samatzis.

Philip Samartzis is a sound artist, researcher, and curator currently based in Sydney whose practice investigates the social and environmental conditions of remote regions and marginalised communities. Working across Antarctica and sub-Antarctica, the Swiss and Australian Alps, and the Kimberley and Pilbara regions of Western Australia, he uses advanced audio technologies to register environmental change in some of the world’s most fragile and dynamic ecosystems. ‘

Jim Denley's work with wind instruments emphasizes eco-musicality, spontaneity, and co-creation with Musickin (human and more-than-human) and Place. He improvises with the eternal orchestrating Sonoverse. He’s deeply involved with the Sydney-based Splinter Orchestra, a radically inclusive large-scale improvising ensemble. Undertaking PhD research from 2020-2024, this manifests as a book,

 Towards Ecologising Musicking: “As Weather” Improvisation (Bloomsbury 2026).

Saskia Shearer is a Gadigal-based percussionist and artist whose practice pushes performative boundaries, toeing the line between meditation and chaos. Experimenting with an array of traditional instruments and found objects, she creates texturally diverse sound sculptures that celebrate the versatility of percussion, viewing instruments as vessels for movement and stillness. Classically trained at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Saskia incorporates tradition while rebelling against its constraints. She is co-director and performer with Chaos Collective. Recent performances include Chaos Collective at Schmick Contemporary and and performances with Sound the Alarm

Uma Volkmer Uma Volkmer is a sound artist based on Gadigal land. Her practice is experiment driven with a focus on collaboration, connectivity and an explorative dialogue between visual and sonic forms. As a trumpet player, Uma loves to explore fluidity, abstraction and ambiguity in her playing, using improvisation as a vehicle to create unexpected sound worlds, feelings and textures. She has performed at local events in various projects, such as with band Bad Photography, SCALP Ensemble and Splinter Orchestra, as well as further afield at SoundOut Festival (ACT) and WWIM (WA). Uma is also co-host and producer of experimental radio show Fourth Space which is looking forward to a new season in 2026. 

Clayton Thomas is a double bass player based in Sydney. He is the founder of the NOW now festival for improvised music, the Inner West Jazz Fest, as well as the socio-musical projects Splinter and Splitter Orchestra and Sound the Alarm.  As a performer, Thomas has travelled the world in support of his solo music, as well as collaborating with a vast community of groundbreaking improvisers, composers and jazz musicians. 

Ticket Link: https://events.humanitix.com/michael-vorfeld-sydney

7:00 start