This project brings together musicians and sound artists to explore connection through free improvisation. Around 40 per cent of Greater Sydney's population was born overseas. The ensemble's musicians work to develop techniques and technologies that carry sound across cultural lines, aiming for genuine connection between communities rather than a ‘world-music’ blend that strips cultural material of its ritual and informational meaning.
Over the past three years, the ensemble has released two albums and performed regularly, also at fundraisers for families affected by the war in Gaza. Current members come from Lebanon, the UAE, China, Japan, the Czech Republic, Norway, Iran, and Vietnam. Working alongside a leadership group of First Nations Australians from Gadigal land, the project will expand to include musicians from Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and Sudan. This scale will allow distinct soundworlds to be integrated into flexible and interdependent structures.
Clayton Thomas is a Sydney-based improviser and composer.
