Experience the powerful waves of sound from Michael Askill’s gong orchestra with Greta Kelly’s haunting Persian violin or Shah Kaman. Composer Corrina Bonshek imagines the gongs as like the voice of the earth, releasing powerful waves of sound out to the universe. She explains: ‘In our busy, fast-paced modern lives, it is too easy to forget how to simply ‘be’, to give attention to our innerscape and yet be present or attuned to others.’
Audience are free to move, go on their own sound adventure and hear the gongs up close or from the edges of the space. Often audiences like to lie down and listen with eyes closed.
This three-dimensional listening experience is inspired by rhythms and patterns in nature.
Music Composition & Direction: Dr Corrina Bonshek
Touring Performers: Dr Michael Askill, Greta Kelly
Local Performers: 6 gong players recruited locally.
Local Crew: Sound engineer
Producer: Corrina Bonshek & Collaborators
Song to the Earth was originally co-commissioned by City of Gold Coast, Bleach*Festival and the Queensland Government through the Regional Arts Development Fund and the Office of the Commonwealth Games and other funding sources.
2022 | Boom International Festival of Percussion, Sydney Town Hall, 1 October. Staged adaptation.
2022 | Logan’s Kingston Butter Factory, September.
2022 | Redland Performing Arts Centre, Redlands, May.
2019 | Rainforest Fringe Festival, Sarawak Malaysia, 11 & 12 July. Adaptation with The Tuyang Initiative featuring Kayan Parap
2019 | Phoenix Central Park, April.
2018 | Flowstate, Southbank Corporation – Southbank Brisbane. 17-20 May.
2018 | Festival 2018, Gold Coast Commonwealth Games & Bleach Festival 2018 – Palm Beach Parklands. 7-8 April.
Song to the Earth III is available for presentation in 2024 and 2025.
