UPcoming PERFORMANCES

March

ANU SCHOOL of music drumming spectacular

Celebrating the canberra festival 2012, the anu school of music presents a family concert featuring a dazzling array of percussion instruments performed by australian and international artists. heading up this line up is Fritz hauser (switzerland), the man the new york times describes as 'simply one of the best drummers alive'.

Fritz will join gary france, timothy constable and synergy along with the drumatix percussion group, ensemble pinquins (Norway), daryl pratt and the scm percussion ensemble in a concert of 'all things percussion'. A concert for children of all ages, this program will take you on a journey to the heart and soul of rhythm and sound.

This performance will feature the world premiere of 'second thought', hauser's new marimba trio written for  synergy in 2011.

saturday 3 march 2012

7pm

llewellyn hall, anu school of music

tickets through ticketek or call 132 849

Fritz Hauser, Synergy and Friends

"FRITZ Hauser is simply one of the greatest drummers alive" New York Times

Fritz Hauser's blend of imagination and typical swiss precision is celebrated in the tenth collaboration with australia's most sought-after contemporary music group, Synergy Percussion at glebe's 'listening venue', colbourne avenue on thursday 22 march.

based in basel, hauser's work includes solo drumming, theatre shows, compositions for orchestras and ensembles, architectural projects, dance and film. Hauser's music is equally at home in intricate compositions and spectacular improvisations. His work is thought provoking, subtle and highly distinctive, so it's no surprise that synergy has been collaborating with him since 1998.

this concert will feature the sydney premiere of 'second thought', hauser's new marimba trio written for synergy in 2011 as well as some hard-hitting improvisation.

colbourne avenue's weekly offerings have become a gem in the sydney concert calendar, and the stage has been graced by some of the country's finest improvising musicians.

thursday 22 March 2012

8pm

colbourne avenue

cnr colbourne ave and st johns rd, glebe

tickets are $20 at the door. No presale

PAST PERFORMANCES

2011

NOVEMBER

big west festival 15 - 27 november

City jungle - syd vs melb

presented by melbourne planetarium and big west festival

after an explosive sydney premiere, city jungle heads to speak's hometown, melbourne to find out which city triumphs. using the full technical glory of the skydome of melbourne's planetarium, city jungle will once again bring the two major forces in contemporary australian percussion, synergy and speak, in collaboration with the hypnotic beats of terminal sound system and noxious aquatic to explore the dramatic and intricate sound world of jungle and drum'n'bass.

over two distinct sets, virtuosic live percussion and digital programming will thrash it out on stage to breathtaking visuals projected across the night sky in melbourne's one and only planetarium.

Melbourne planetarium

2 booker street, spotswood

thursday 24 november 8pm

MORE information

read crikey's review here!

october

City jungle - syd vs melb

presented by Synergy and speak percussion

uk breakbeat tales from two cities

TWO OF AUSTRALIA'S SUPER-PERCUSSION OUTFITS COME TOGETHER TO PRESENT THEIR DOUBLE VISION OF UK BREAKBEATS 2011. sydney's Synergy has been at the cutting edge of music making since 1974, and melbourne's speak percussion have just celebrated an action-packed first 10 years.

over two distictive sets, virtuosic live percussion and digital programming will thrash it out on stage. the dark brooding sounds of terminal sound system fuse with the darting rhythmic complexities and timbral explosions from speak percussion. synergy's lush sound world of marimbas, vibraphones, vocals, gongs and futuristic gadgets will be pitted against the raw power of the jungle aesthetic. those who know their subgenres can expect sounds from futurist and autonomic through to doom n bass - plus a couple of rollers thrown in for good measure.

visuals by terminal sound system and tokyo love-in.

19-22 October - seymour centre, sydney

read crikey's review here!

SEPTember

seoul drum festival, Korea

synergy performs a diverse repertoire of percussion favourites at the Seoul drum festival

21 September 7.30 pm, M theatre, Sejong Centre for the performing arts, Seoul, Synergy program

- Drumming part 1 - Steve Reich

- kalabash - Nigel westlake

- mallet quartet - steve reich

- psappha - iannis xenakis

 interval

- 5565 - korean traditional arranged synergy percussion

- organ trio sonata no 6g major bwv530 - johann sebastian bach

- blue candle - timothy constable

- last waltz - timothy constable

22 September 7.30 pm, M theatre, Sejong Centre for the performing arts, Seoul, Interpretive percussion feast

23 September 7.00 pm, Seoul Plaza, Seoul drum festival opening

Supported by the australian government through the Australian International cultural council, an initiative of the department of foreign affairs and trade.

beautiful noise  - raw dance company & legs on the wall featuring synergy percussion

World premiere-Performers from Legs on the wall and raw dance company scale the walls of Brisbane powerhouse and flying acrobatic dancers will draw all eyes up to the night sky set to the rhythms of synergy.

synergy artistic director, timothy constable and bob scott have composed the music for this spectacular event.

its a stylised aerodynamic performance with energised tempos, spectacular jumps and a thrilling conversation of movement and sound.

5-10 SEPTEMBER, QUT festival theatre, plaza, brisbane powerhouse

More details

BUY CD NOW

MUSICA VIVA regional nsw TOUR

Synergy percussion will play the second half of their musica viva tour in september.

program will include:

Nigel westlake - omphalo centric lecture (1984)

john cage - amores (1943) movements 2/3

synergy - korean/tahitian drumming piece

steve reich - Mallet quartet (2009)

***

Johann Sebastian bach - organ trio sonata no. 6 g major bwv 530

timothy constable - last waltz (2009)

terry riley - good medicine (1988, percussion version 2007)

timothy constable - suna (traditional senegalese drumming)

armidale

9 September, armidale town hall, rusden st armidale

Book tickets at dymocks, armidale call 6771 4558 or Beardy Street Mall, Armidale 2350

grafton

10 september,  Pro Musica grafton

more details

coffs harbour

11 september, jetty memorial theatre, coffs harbour regional conservatorium

BOOK OnLINE or call 02 6652 8088

AUGUST

tekkon kinkreet - cult anime with live music plaid (wrap), fourplay & synergy

synergy performs with Sydney's electric string quartet fourplay at the world premiere performance of one of the best anime films created, Tekkon Kinkreet.  It will be screened live with music performed by London-based British electronic duo Plaid (Warp), who composed the original score to the film alongside fourplay and synergy.

21 august, sydney opera house, opera theatre

Australian Festival of chamber Music - Townsville

1 August - Stravinsky a Soldiers Tale

3 august - Bach by candlelight

4 August - bartok concerto for two pianos and percussion

review - the australian

LISten here at ABC classic fm

JUNE

two years ago, Synergy percussion performed an excerpt from the magnum opus by the world's greatest composer for percussion, iannis xenakis. peter mccallum of the sydney morning herald wrote, "synergy's brilliant tussling with this complex score made one hope that a generous soul might endow the resources for the complete pleiades in the future".

finally, contemporary music lovers will have their wish come true when synergy perform the complete pleiades at city recital hall angel place.

Composer, architect, soldier, mathematician and poineer of electronic music, xenakis created brilliant works for percussion which expressed poetic beauty, his terrible experiences as a greek resistance fighter during world war II, and his obsession with the intricate layers of mathematics and arhcitecture.

composed in 1978, this dynamic music of organised chaos delivers a galaxy of sound - elemental, tribal, and kaleidoscopic as celestial showers of percussive colours ricochet between the players. with a stage overflowing with drums, marimbas and vibraphones, the work also feautres sixxens, crazy micro-tonal metal instruments especially built for this piece.

this once-in-a-lifetime concert experience continues synergy's exploration of the classic giants of contemporary percussion music.

8 June 2011 - city recital hall angel place, sydney

download program here

Read Syndey Morning Hearld Review 10 June 2011 here

Synergy member, bree van reyk performed at the dungog film festival in may. the dungog film festival is something wholly unique to australia - a festival that celebrates australian film exclusively in a non-competitive environment. it is the biggest celebration of australian films in the world.

26 may - dungog film festival

Synergy percussion performed at tedxsydney 2011, at carriageworks in redfern. the free-but-invitation-only one day event featured a selection of australia's leading visionaries and storytellers. synergy collaborated with four play string quartet as well as presenting solo works.

performance on YouTUBE

28 may - TEDxSydney - Carriageworks more details

Synergy percussion featured in the 17th annual canberra international music festival.

Friday 13th May

Amazing Space 1, High court 

Claire edwardes (for timothy constable)

drumatix percussion group, gary france, artistic director

Steve Reich - Mallet Quartet

Toru Takemitsu - Raintree

Gary France - Soundscape: morning

neil hubble - mosaics

p.garland - apple blossum

terry riley - good medicine dance

Peter sculthorpe - djilile

Tongyeong International Music festival

27 MARCH - Tongyeong arts centre, South Korea

Homage a Steve reich

more details

Youtube symphony orchestra: percussion ensemble

15 MARCH 6pM studio, sydney opera house

19 & 20 March Concert Hall Sydney opera house

The Australian " ...the spectacular virtuosity of guest artists Synergy percussion ...wowed the audience"

International guests join synergy and didjeridu legend william barton, to create an original event especially for the unique in-the-round studio venue at the sydney opera house.

MUSICA VIVA SYDNEY COFFEE CONCERT

1 MARCH 11 AM THE INDEPENDENT NORTH SYDNEY

666666; line-height: 16px; letter-spacing: 1px;">PROGRAM:

JS BACH - ORGAN TRIO SONATA NO 6 G MAJOR BMV 530

STEVE REICH - MALLET QUARTET

CARL VINE - THREE POMEGRANATES (MARIMBA VERSION)

TRADITIONAL SENGALESE DRUMMING

MUSICA VIVA TOUR

18 FEBRUARY 7PM WOLLONGONG CITY GALLERY

25 & 26 FEBRUARY 7pm MACQUARIE CONSERVATORIUM DUBBO

27 FEBRUARY 7PM YOUNG regional school of music

Nigel Westlake - Kalabash

John Cage - Amores (1943) mvts 2/3

Synergy - Korean/Tahitian drumming

Steve reich - Mallet Quartet

JS Bach - organ Trio sonata no 6 g major bmv 530

Timothy constable - Last waltz

Carl vine - three pomegranates (Marimba version) World Premiere

traditional sengalese drumming

"font-size: medium;">2010

LIVE HOUSE 5 - MOTH

big beats, bass and urban soundscape splendour, catchy tunes, luscious marimbas and vibes, soarng vocals and electronica ... get amongst it

timothy constable (voice, keys, mallets + more)

bree van reyk (mallets, sounds, electrionica)

dave symes (bass + bits)

evan mannell (drums)

bob scott (electronica + nifty mixing)

SYNERGY - hit:stick:flip

27TH AND 28TH NOVEMBER 2010 

UPPER HUNTER CONSERVATORIUM OF MUSIC, MUSWELLBROOK, NSW.

national gallery of australia - origins, voyage, cosmos...

22nd october 2010 6.30pm

Gandel Hall

After viewing Life death magic, 2000 years of southeast asian ancestral art, continue the voyage with a special concert. A haunting program of new and ancient sounds is a re sponse to the themes of the exhibition. Synergy play instrumnets of wood, stone ,metal and skin and the music is by turns sombre, rhythmic, melo uot;> dic and ethereal. The program will i nclude works by peter sculthorpe, michael askill, and timothy constable, as well as traditional music from tahiti and improvisations inspired by the exhibition.

live house 4 - SYNERGY PERCUSSION '1,2,3'

7TH OCTOBER 2010, 7.30PM 

st STEPHENS CHURCH, 189 CHURCH ST, NEWTOWN

synergy and guests presented small and beautiful works from the new underground. A year of travels brought us instruments and stories from afar and created a beguiling, intricate program  that enticed with its wit and subtlety. Special guests included master drummer simon barker and dancer martin del amo.

after the enormity of our percusion Symphony at pulse:heart:beat with Taikoz, we wanted to share a whole other side of our personality.

bree looks beyond the sound of her king lear soundtrack with bell shakespeare, timothy remembers new sound design wuth fritz hauser, rob oetomo presents his award-winning new work, and we are thrilled to present multiple drum kit madness with simon barker, one of the finest australian improvising musicians. As if that wasn't enough, we have brand new movement solos by Martin del amo and are developing a special new work with zsuzsanna soboslay.

synergy at australian festival of chamber music, townsville

31 July - 2 August 2010

synergy in residence at the afcm, program includes new and classic australian percussion quartet gems, plus new works by steve reich and ensemble musicians.

31 July - Townsville civic Theatre - Reich, smalley, westlake, askill and constable

31 july - townsville civic theatre - Grainger, and sculthorpe

2 August - jupiters townsville - cole porter

3 august - sacred heart cathedral - bach

"timothy constables partita no 2 in d minor transcribed for marimba was remarkable for its fresh, improvisational quality and heartfelt poise and will linger in the memory. quite apart from the magical theatricality and colourful shading, this was a rare treat. few professionals would subject themselves to the treachery of travelling at breakneck sppeed across such a vast, exposed soundboard and achieve accuracy in the execution of such challenging melodic lines." Gilllian Wills

7 August - Townsville civic Theatre - Horovitz

pulse:heart:beat

"SYDNEY CELEBRATES THE DRUM"

11 july 2010, 7 pm  SYDNEY TOWN HALL 

Featuring Synergy, taikoz, river guerguerian, circle of rhythm & sandy evans. in the vein of the highly successful 'beat it' series, which ran for several years, Synergy and taikoz present a proms-style evening of music in the newly refurbished city hall. 4 sets of beats and songs from across the globe will bring together an amazing collection of musicians, including the EXTRAORDINARY USA-BASED PERCUSSIONIST/FRAME DRUMMER River Guerguerian, CIRCLE OF RHYTHM VIRTUOSI GREG SHEEHAN, BOBBY SINGH AND deva permana, AS WELL AS the wonderful SAXOPHONist, SANDY EVANS.

A FEATURE OF PULSE:HEART:BEAT IS A NEW WORK COMPOSED ESPECIALLY FOR THE FULL FORCES BY TIMOTHY CONSTABLE - A VERITABLE PERCUSSION SYMPHONY!

Program

breaking the sound barrier: american percussion music 1940 - 2009

18 MAY 2010, 7.30PM iwaki auditorium, ABC Southbank centre, melbourne

a very special project curated by the legendary american percussion guru jan williams, including synergy percussion, giving the Melbourne premiere of Steve reich's mallet quartet, speak percussion with australian premieres of tenney and lang and the vcam percussion ensemble. broadcast on abc fm.

steve reich - mallet quartet premiere

6 may 2010, 8pm 

CITY RECITAL HALL ANGEL PLACE

AUSTRALASIAN premiere of Mallet Quartet. Programme also features Drumming part 1, Electric Counterpoint (Guest Carl Dewhurst - guitar), Sextet (GUests Jo Allan & Colin Piper - Piano) and nigel westlake's kalabash.

Steve Reich is one of the worlds most famous and influential composers. Mallet Quartet is his largest piece for percussion since Drumming blew audiences away on 1974. Described by the Guardian as one of "a handful of living composers who can legitimately claim to have altered the direction of musical history", Reich's recent works Double Sextet and 2x5 have won him the coveted Pulitzer prizE.

Program

Review - the Australian

"Synergy percussion's performance revealed a rich palette: delicately dark-hued in The softer middle sections, gleaming in the energetic outer sections."

Synergy with gondwana choirs
23 January Vergrugghen Hall, Sydney Conservatorium

Synergy with the song company 'Gethsemane'

MARCH: Canberra, Wollongong, Newcastle, Parramatta & Sydney

2009

MOTH - RIVERBEATS LIVE

7 - 10 PM SATURDAY OCTOBER 31

PARRAMATTA RIVERBANK

FRitz hauser & Synergy Percussion  stilllifes

The old chapel, newington chapel, stanmore

"Swiss celebration kicks off bold new course" John Shand, Sydney Morning herald...read reveiw

26 & 27 September

Synergy Percussion  Anvil Chorus

Music workshop, sydney Conservatorium of music

17 july

Percussion workshop with synergy percussion

Sydney Conservatorium

15 - 17 july 

Carmina Burana

synergy with sydney philharmonia

Wagga Wagga Civic Theatre

11 - 12 july

Sydney writers festival "spoken synergies"

Historic Houses Trust Mint Auditorium, Macquarie St Sydney

MAY 19 and 20

canberra international music festival 

May 6th - 17th

THE HISTORY OF SOUND 

WED MAY 6  6PM

SUN IN ME THURS

MAY 7  6PM

RITES OF PASSAGE 

FRI MAY 8  8PM

TO THE MOON AND BACK 

FRI MAY 8 10PM, SAT MAY 9 3PM

THE SCULTHORPE SONGBOOK 

SAT MAY 9 10PM

BACH, GRAINGER, GRIEG 

THURS MAY 14 6PM

THE NEW MUSIC MARATHON 

SAT MAY 16 11AM- 7PM

God Music

Sun May 17 5.30Pm

2008

MANTRAS & ANGELS
SYNERGY PERCUSSION, GRAINGER QUARTET & WILLIAM BARTON FRIDAY OCTOBER 17
CITY RECITAL HALL ANGEL PLACE 

SPACE & TIME
Featuring Fritz Hauser
Friday 27 & Saturday 28 June, 8pm

CarriageWorks, Sydney

the book of clouds/gerard brophy - mso/taikoz/synergy
thursday 29, friday 30 & saturday 31 may, 8PM 
hamer hall, melbourne

xenakis & reich
wednesday 23, thursday 24 & saturday 26 april, 8PM 
CARRIAGEWORKS, SYDNEY

the tucson winter chamber music festival
monday 3 - saturday 8 march
leo rich theatre, tucson, arizona