SACRAMENT SATURNALIA Benjamin Skepper LIVE x Halv Drøm (DE): Fitzroy Town Hall Sat 21 March

contrapuntal by Benjamin Skepper presents

SACRAMENT SATURNALIA
BENJAMIN SKEPPER LIVE SOLO SHOW

with DJ Halv Drøm (DE)

SAT 21 MARCH | FITZROY TOWN HALL
7:30 PM

$88 (3rd Release)
$100 Door (if available)

$50 from 9PM (Art Rave Only)

"A three-part deep listening ritual"

Sound Bath - "Genetic Music"
Benjamin Skepper LIVE - New Solo AV Show with Rose Staff (Projection Teknik)
DJ Halv Drøm (DE) + DJ AMANASKA - Art Rave

Security on site

SKEPPER, THE MUSIC + WHY SPATIAL SOUND?

A new LIVE Solo AV show. World leading Spatial Sound system via LA.

Since returning to Australia in 2022, Benjamin Skepper has re-established himself as one of the country’s most distinctive and internationally recognised interdisciplinary creators. His work has sold out major venues including Fitzroy Town Hall (twice), Melbourne Recital Centre (Salon and Elisabeth Murdoch Hall), and Sydney Festival 2024, where he co-curated and headlined Temperament alongside the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Other key sold out performances span the NGA, ACCA, Art Gallery of New South Wales, and Phoenix Central Park, with an ever growing national and international footprint.

In 2025 he embarked on his first U.S. tour, premiering WAVES, a Nobel Prize awarded science project in astrophysics and sound. Through this work, he was invited into studio in Los Angeles with new spatial audio partner L-Acoustics (France), his compositions recognised alongside artists including Björk, Dua Lipa, Bon Iver and David Byrne.

Skepper will return to LA after this show to continue studio development as he continues to bend genres and push boundaries with his music and sonic storytelling at the vanguard of immersive sound and music. Stay tuned for a 7th solo album and his new feature about the post WWII Japanese diaspora to Australia.

THE OFFERING: 3 PART LISTENING RITUAL

Sacrament Saturnalia is our most ambitious Australian production to date.

Expanding on our secret Fitzroy warehouse gatherings, contrapuntal now takes over the Fitzroy Town Hall for a rare one-night lock-in, expanding our Tokyo-born cult series A Taste of the Senses.

Delivered in collaboration with leading Australian production partners Norwest and Creative Technology, Tune In. Awaken. Unleash.

Intimate, high-fidelity sound where art eclipses entertainment and connection replaces consumption. One night only.

THE FLOW

7:30PM – PART I: TUNE IN
Genetic Music Sound Bath
A world premiere communal listening experience featuring patented Genetic Music. The sound of our DNA molecules.
Relax and Reset. The next generation in Sonic wellness. Read about it via MIT here

8:00PM – PART II: AWAKEN
Benjamin Skepper Live – New Solo AV Show with Rose Staff (Projection Teknik)
Cinematic ambient soundscapes for electric cello, grand piano and electronics.

9:00PM – PART III: UNLEASH
Art Rave feat. Halv Drøm (Berlin | Melbourne) + friends.
Industrial post-punk intensity meets polyrhythmic techno ritual.

GENESIS

Melbourne’s creative energy unites us, yet independent practice is increasingly subsumed by the State and bureaucracy.

contrapuntal, now in its 17th year since inception in Tokyo, continues to emerge as one of Melbourne's foremost artist-led multi-arts studios, with an unrivalled commitment to high fidelity sound, cross-disciplinary practice, sustainability and artistic excellence.

This large scale offering returns contrapuntal to our nomadic roots: site-specific interventions in extraordinary architectural icons.

The creative underground has always driven culture forward. Fearless, independent, borderless, and free.

Join us as we chart the path toward our next Studio Home. Our collective platform for collaboration, experimentation, and radical creativity.

Tune In. Awaken. Unleash.

Live Performance, Sound Design, Curation and Creative Direction: Benjamin Skepper

Sound System: L-Acoustics (Los Angeles)
System Support + Tuning: NORWEST (AU)
Visual Design: Rose Staff (Projection Teknik)
Visual Systems Support: Creative Technology (AU)
Floral Installations: Flowers by Rōsaria (Melbourne)
Scent: contrapuntal (Kyoto)
Grand Piano: Piano Moves

contrapuntal Studio Editorial Feature Nov 2025: CX Mag (AU/NZ) Read here

YOUR CULTURAL IMPACT

Proceeds contribute directly to contrapuntal studio’s 5 year project pipeline. Jump aboard an ever growing international community of artists, philanthropists, tech partners, and cultural shapers.

PATHWAYS TO SUPPORT

MAKE A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO OUR STUDIO
via the Australian Cultural Fund Giving Page

BEVERAGES BY

• Champagne Laurent-Perrier (France)

• Tsuki no Katsura Sake (Kyoto)

• COEDO Craft Brewery (Tokyo)

• + non alcoholic elixirs and offerings for health and hydration

SACRAMENT SATURNALIA: A BACCANALIAN CONCEPT

Saturnalia refers to an ancient week-long Roman festival in honour of Saturn, the deity attributed to time and wealth. During this sacred season, roles were reversed, hierarchies dissolved, and society surrendered to revelry, liberation, and wild indulgence. Paying homage to the ancient rite:

Role Reversals: Hierarchies suspended: the sacred and profane intertwine

Feast: Abundance shared: the table and dance floor as Altar

Liberation: Costumes, music, and dance transform higher expressions of self

Light: Candlelight and Fire mark the return of the Sun: rebirth of time

Ritual: Moral and social norms relax: the body becomes an offering, where ritual and chaos merge and metamorphose

NOTES

• Capacity capped to preserve intimacy and energy.

• This event operates under an inclusive, respectful, and consent-forward studio policy.

• Respect our neighbours and surrounds: this is our future playground. Let’s keep it safe, kind, and joyful.

Praise for Benjamin Skepper (Sydney Festival 2024)

"an emotional, spiritual and intellectual odyssey" (Limelight Arts)

"an eclectic genre defier…hacking the strings with the bow like a bread knife" (Sydney Morning Herald)

"mesmerising and profound" (Classikon)

Supported by:

contrapuntal | Norwest | Creative Technology | L-Acoustics | Piano Moves | Projection Teknik

Special thanks to:

Komeyui | COEDO | Heron Beverages | Tsuki no Katsura | Dejavu Sake | Laurent Perrier | Nelson Wine Co. | City of Yarra | Calamari Pictures | Michelle Nightingale Design | Flowers by Rōsaria | Rose Staff