‘Exhilarating’ score scoops major award

The SA-based Australian String Quartet’s recording of Grammy-winning composer Bryce Dessner’s powerful score Impermanence/Disintegration has won a major international music award.

Sydney Dance Company and the ASQ co-commissioned Dessner (founder of American rock band The National) to create the music to accompany Rafael Bonachela’s choreography in the dance production Impermanence, which premiered in Sydney in February 2021 before being performed as part of the Adelaide Festival program the following month.

The full-length Impermanence/Disintegration album – released last year through US indie record label 37d03d – today won the top award for best classical record in the A2IM (American Association of Independent Music) Libera Awards, the largest celebration of independent music in the country.

Dessner’s music and Bonachela’s choreography were influenced by the Australian bushfires in 2019-20 and the blaze that nearly destroyed Paris’s Notre Dame Cathedral, and are described as an emotional response to impermanence and the “fleeting transience of life”. The nine tracks on the album have titles such as “Alarms”, “Disintegration”, “Embers” and “Emergency”.

ASQ musicians Dale Barltrop, Francesca Hiew, Stephen King, Christopher Cartlidge and Rachael Tobin were part of the performance and recording of Impermanence/Disintegration.

“It is an honour to have received this award in recognition of our collaboration with Bryce Dessner and the Sydney Dance Company,” violinist Barltrop said in a statement. “We are indebted to Rafael Bonachela, artistic director of Sydney Dance Company, for his vision in bringing this project to life and to Bryce for his exhilarating score.”

Impermanence is currently touring Australia.

Rumpus call-out

The next work showing at Rumpus is Corseted Rabbits collective’s Di and Viv and Rose.

Rumpus Theatre is inviting expressions of interest from creatives who have a project that might be suitable for its 2023 season.

The collective of independent theatre-makers – based at 100 Sixth Street in Bowden – says it wants its fifth annual season to “be created by professional SA independent artists; consist of work that is brave, relevant and innovative; aim to target new or younger or more diverse audiences; celebrate and promote diversity in our community, in all shapes and forms; [and] showcase new work made by local artists or a fresh take on pre-existing work”.

It is looking for both main season (full production) shows and “baby plays” (works-in-development), with expressions of interest closing on July 6 (more information and an application form can be found here).

Rumpus is also currently seeking a season manager (job description here) to support the delivery of its 2022 season.

Meet the Minister

The Arts Industry Council of SA is presenting an event later this month where guests can meet Andrea Michaels, the State Government’s new Minister for the Arts (and Small and Family Business, and Consumer and Business Affairs).

“It will be a night of networking, artist provocations and live music!” the council says of the free event at Sparkke at the Whitmore on June 29. Further details are to come, but you can register your interest in attending here.

My Story My Way

Urbel, a portrait by former Afghanistan refugee Murtaza Hussaini, who now works as a practising artist after completing a visual arts degree at UniSA.

Young people from refugee or migrant backgrounds are sharing their stories in a collection of artworks on show at the Kerry Packer Civic Gallery at the Hawke Centre this month.

My Story My Way, presented by the Australian Refugee Association (ARA) and the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre, includes drawings and paintings of the young artists’ home countries (including Afghanistan and Syria), as well as artworks that captures their new life in Australia and their experience of moving between different worlds.

It is accompanied by an artist market featuring works (some of which are for sale) by artists of all ages from refugee or migrant backgrounds, and a series of short films presented as part of the Ghan International Film Festival Australia.

Coinciding with My Story My Way and SA Refugee Week, the ARA and the Hawke Centre are presenting a panel discussion on June 23 that will look at the benefits, dangers and responsibilities of using storytelling to raise the voice of those who are traditionally under-represented in mainstream media, including people who have gone through traumatic experiences (details and registrations here).

Street art tours

Adelaide has an abundance of interesting street art but the fact that it’s often hidden behind buildings or down laneways means some of the most interesting works can be overlooked.

According to Walking SA, which is conducting a series of Guided Art Trail Walks this month – there are more than 50 street art pieces in the CBD alone. It promises that participants on its three tours – which each cover around 4km in the east, west and south of the city – will discover a huge range of styles “representing the diversity of Adelaide’s artists and cultural scene”.

This weekend’s tours have already sold out but last we looked there were still some places available for June 22 and 23.

Green Room is a regular column for InReview, providing quick news for people interested, or involved, in South Australian arts and culture.

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