Image: http://thnmf2015.tura.com.au
Running since 1997, The 12th Totally Huge New Music Festival (THNMF) is a biennial festival devoted to innovative new music and sound art practice. A key component is the presentation of work by local Western Australian artists alongside their national and international counterparts.
The definition of ‘new music’ ranges from instrumental chamber music to pure electronics. Created by contemporary composers who work across a wide variety of genres and forms, the common theme is the rigorous exploration of new possibilities in music and sound.
Incorporating concerts, installations, workshops and a conference, a fundamental purpose of the ten-day festival is the facilitation of emerging and local talent. One of the few festivals dedicated to championing new Australian work, as its website describes, it is a ‘kaleidoscope of expression via the medium of sound’. The festival program is a diverse one and it will lead audiences on a journey that is ‘expansive, ear-opening and enriching’.
London-based Australian pianist, Zubin Kanga, will perform at the Art Gallery of Western Australia on 22 May. Internationally renowned for his contemporary music performances, the program will include the world premiere of Dark Twin, an examination of multiple identities through solo piano music and the interference of electronics, computer interaction and multimedia.
German composer and sound artist, Johannes S. Sistermanns, will be in residence at PS Artspace in Fremantle from mid-April where he will develop a new large-scale site-specific installation and performance work SpaceFolding SoundPlastic. Sistermanns will also create a new commission, which will be performed by Decibel, a local Perth ensemble, on 15 May.
Creating opportunities for collaboration between international and local artists through the conference and concerts is an important aspect for THNMF, as is the fostering of emerging talent. Breaking Out will present the works of young and emerging composers and performers. In Successor states 2 emerging composer and curator Steve Paraskos will create a program of immersive works which will include work by Western Australian composers Kynan Tan, Sam Gillies and Cat Hope.
For those who can’t make it to Perth, many of the festival’s concerts will be recorded for broadcast on ABC radio.
12th Totally Huge New Music Festival
15–24 May 2015
http://www.tura.com.au/
