backstage music

 TRACE ACCESS OVERVIEW

Every effort has been made to make this event as accessible as possible. Please let us know your access requirements when you register for your ticket via Humantix and will try our best to accommodate them. If you have any access questions, please don’t hesitate to email Lamorna at info@backstagemusic.com.au or speak to her by phone on 0402051903. 

Please visit the venue website for detailed information about accessibility 107 Projects. 107 Projects has provided a Video of how to get to the venue by public transport and describes the different spaces and access available in the building. Below we are sharing pre-show notes outlining the sounds you will encounter in each of the pieces as well as visual descriptions of the artists. We have also created a Visual Story of what to expect when you arrive for the TRACE concert.

GETTING TO 107 PROJECTS REDFERN

• The closest station to 107 Projects is Redfern Station with lift access from platforms 1-10 via the southern concourse.

• 107 Projects is about an 8-minute walk (500 m) from the southern concourse off Gibbons St as can be seen on the map.

BUILDING ACCESS

• 107 Projects has ramp access via the entrance on Redfern Street.

• Visual signage will be available to signpost the different areas in the space.

• Service Animals are welcome into all spaces at 107 Projects besides food preparation areas.

• 107 Projects is endeavouring to provide a hearing loop for this concert. Confirmation of this will be provided closer to the date. 

• We are also endeavouring to provide a chill-out space for audience members who would like a low-sensory space to take a break from the performance. This will also be confirmed closer to the date. 

• An On-demand Video Recording of the performance will be provided online for audience members following the concert. Closed Captions will be provided on the recorded version of this concert. 

• Flexible Seating will be provided as part of this concert. 

• Audio Description will be provided as part of this performance. 

VISUAL STORY

Below is a step-by-step visual guide of how to book, how to get to the venue from public transport and what to expect once you get to the TRACE concert.

• To book a ticket to the TRACE concert follow this link If you have any questions about access you can email Lamorna on info@backstagemusic.com.au or speak to her by phone on 0402051903. 

• Getting To & Around 107 Redfern Street is a video of how to get to 107 Projects by public transport. This video also describes the different spaces inside the venue and outlines what access is available at the venue. 

• The main entrance of 107 Projects on Redfern Street looks like this. This is the best entrance to use to access the gallery space for the concert. 

• The concert will use low lighting but there will be people to direct you to your seat if you have low vision or other needs.

• The pieces will be performed in the order on the program. Please check for updates closer to the gig.

• If you need a break at any time, there is a quiet Chill Out Space available off to the right of the main gallery space. This will be confirmed at a later date. 

• The concert will end at approximately 9pm but feel free to stay and chat after the concert finishes!

SONIC STORY

Full Program Notes for each piece are available Here.

If you need to take time out during the performance of this song, the venue has a quiet room which you can use.

John Dowland: In Darkness Let Me Dwell

In Darkness Let Me Dwell is approximately 3 minutes and 30 seconds long.

In this piece of music, you will hear the sound of the solo soprano voice (Ria Andriani) accompanied by the piano and double bass. The note range isn’t particularly wide, but there will be some dramatic effects which will be achieved through clashing harmony and word-painting.

Dowland was born in 1563 and died in 1626. During his long life, he wrote numerous songs for voice, lute and viols, and his favourite theme was melancholy.

Many argue that In Darkness Let Me Dwell is one of his heaviest songs, and the harmony bears out his imageries with clashing diminished and minor chords throughout.

The song builds up to a section in the final minute where the singer sings loudly: “Oh, let me living die/till death do come.”

It then comes back to the static opening line:

“In darkness let me dwell.”

If you need to take time out during the performance of this song, the venue has a quiet room which you can use.

Jennifer Hankin: Texture Map

Hankin wrote Texture Map based on tonight’s group of musicians. So you’ll hear two flutes (played by Hankin and Nightingale), percussion (played by Gutierrez), double bass (played by Hansen) and Andriani singing the vocal line.

During the performance, there will be a textured grid laid on the floor for Andriani to move through. Hankin wrote the music in grooves representing each of the texture squares.

When Andriani takes a step to a different square on the grid, that’s a cue for the musician to change the sound: from popping bubble wrap to the gritty sand, for example.

You’ll hear a combination of low and high notes depending on which grooves is being played by the musicians, as well as a variety of percussive instruments including glockenspiel, cymbal and wood blocks.

Moondog : Tamagotshi

Tamagotshi begins with a count-in from the soloist which signals the start of the looping computer track. This is followed by the abrupt introduction of 8 bars of a continuously beating thumping percussion, played on a small drum and handbells. After the introduction, an amplified double bass plays a short and spiky melody which is joined by 3 successive loops of the same double bass sound, played through stereo speakers. The 4 double basses should sound more or less the same, and will have the interesting effect of sounding like an artificial double bass quartet placed around the stage.

Jennifer Hankin: Calm (Is A Dangling Carrot)

Calm (Is A Dangling Carrot) is approximately 7 minutes and 22 seconds long.

This piece is written for two flutes. The music will start with a downward scale by one of the flutes, tailed by the second flute.

Throughout this piece, you’ll hear the flutes chase each other up and down the scale, sometimes in opposite directions, sometimes in cannon and other times in harmonic parallels.

The note range of the flutes are quite wide and at times you’ll hear some piercing high notes as well as mellow low tones.

The first high point is just after the 1-minute mark and lasts for a few seconds. The melodic material then will return again and again to some high notes, but it should resolve relatively quickly.

There is another point just after the 3-minute mark when one of the flutes will hold a high note, while the second flute arpeggios up and down. This lasts for approximately 10-15 seconds.

At the 4-and-a-half-minute mark, there is another harmonic tension point which should last for a few seconds.

This then builds up to a breaking point just around the 6-minute mark. The music subsides after this point.

Calm (Is A Dangling Carrot) illustrates Hankin’s idea that calm, especially for a neurodivergent person, can be an elusive concept. Sometimes it’s so close, other times it’s beyond the reach of the harmony.

Georgia Scott - The Sleepers

The Sleepers is approximately 10 minutes long if no sections are repeated.

Some instrumental sections can be repeated multiple times underneath audio description which means the piece might end up a few minutes longer. The piece features Soprano (Ria Andriani) who sings the main melodic line. She is accompanied by the alto flute played by Lamorna Nightingale, different percussion instruments played by Tessa Gutierrez, Grace Kim on piano, Will Hansen playing double bass and Elias Wilson who provides spoken audio description and plays a tubular bell to open and close the piece. 

There is a repetitive low drum sound that plays throughout most of the piece and sounds like a heartbeat or a footstep. This is paired with a repeated low piano line. This piece also features the glockenspiel which sounds bell-like but can be very high and piercing. In the middle of the work, the music builds to a loud volume as Ria sings the line ‘Double yourself and receive me darkness’ and there is a loud crash on the suspended cymbal before the music becomes softer again for the remainder of the work.

ARTIST DESCRIPTIONS

Full Artist Bios are available here

Ria Andriani (she/her) is a writer and musician in her early 30s. She is of Asian heritage and has tan skin. She has silky, straight dark hair, parted on the left and falling to just below her shoulder length. She of average height and build. Ria is a singer who will perform in several pieces including reciting poetry.

Georgia Scott (she/her) is a composer in her early 30s. She is shorter in height with a slim build. She has pale white skin and dark brown, straight shoulder-length hair that she usually wears in a bun. Georgia is the composer of the piece The Sleepers and the Access Facilitator for BackStage Music.

Lamorna Nightingale (she/her) is a musician in her early 50s. She is of medium height and build, with pale white skin. Her face is framed by a blue-tinted bob and straight fringe. She wears bright colours complimented by stylish and bold glasses, round with red frames. She plays the flute in pieces by Georgia and The Emerald Beauty and will introduce the program. As the Artistic Director of BackStage Music she will be available to answer questions and help out wherever possible.

Jen Hankin (she/her) is a composer/multi instrumentalist in her early 30s. She is medium height. She has white skin and straight ear-length brown hair with dyed pink ends that she usually wears half up half down. She wears round tortoise shell pink and brown glasses, and lots of silver jewellery on her fingers, wrist, neck and ears. She usually wears bright rainbow overalls of her own making. She is the composer of Texture Map and Calm (is a dangling carrot) and will play concert flute in both pieces.

Tessa Gutierrez (she/her) is a student, teacher, artist, musician and poet. She has a slim-medium build and traverses the world in a wheelchair. Her mixed heritage has resulted in pale skin, light brown eyes, and medium brown hair falling below her shoulders. Tessa wears black clothing with green or purple accessories. She plays percussion instruments in the TRACE compositions.

Grace Kim (she/her) is a pianist in her late 40s. She is of Asian heritage, short in height and medium build. She has  shoulder length dark brown hair. Grace will play the keyboard in the program.

Elias Wilson (he/him) is is a musician and audio describer in his early 30s. He is tall and broad, with a large build, and has pale skin, parted short brown hair and a short trimmed brown beard. He is the Audio Describer for TRACE.

Will Hansen (he/him) is a double bass player in his late 20s. He is tall and has olive skin and often has a quirky hairstyle. He has a broad smile and sparkling eyes.