Tura New Music presents renowned Western Australian percussionist Louise Devenish in music for percussion and electronics, premiering in Perth tonight (15 May) before heading to Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne.
Featuring the work of Australian composers Andrián Pertout, Stuart James, Cat Hope and Kate Moore, Devenish’s ‘breathtakingly deft delivery and sculptor-like attention to detail’ will be complemented by visual projections mapped to the instruments on stage by New York artist Ross Karre.
Onstage the delicate and the powerful collide with the sparkling sound world of glockenspiel, vibraphone and the deep resonance of gong, which are extended by electronic processing, samples and subwoofers.
“Louise is a powerhouse in the Australian art music scene – collaborating with and commissioning composers from around the country creating new and genuine Australian voices,” said Tos Mahoney, Tura New Music Artistic Director of Tura New Music. “We are most proud to be able to present her wonderfully rich solo program around the country.”
Celebrating Devenish’s 2017 album music for percussion and electronics, the tour is representative of Tura’s increasing presence on the national stage. The album was developed from three instalments of Devenish’s solo recital series Music for One Percussionist, presented between 2014 and 2016. Louise’s performances were nationally recognised by being awarded the 2016 Australian Music Centre and APRA/AMCOS Art Music State Award for Performance of the Year.
For Louise, the works have a personal resonance and significance, “I love the rich metallic sound world of these works, and together they represent an exciting cross-section of approaches to blending the acoustic and electronic, that I think shows how varied percussion music can be. I feel that these works are special contributions to the Australian repertoire that I will have a long relationship with, and I hope that others do too!”
Louise Devenish’s artistic practice blends contemporary percussion performance, research and education. She regularly performs throughout Australasia, Europe, North America and the UK as a soloist and with ensembles including Decibel New Music Ensemble and Speak Percussion. She is passionate advocate of new and Australian music, and has commissioned over 50 works for percussion and premiered countless others.
A 2017 Churchill Fellow, Louise’s research is published widely, including in a special issue of Contemporary Music Review titled Moving forward: Percussion explorations in twenty-first-century Australia and forthcoming book on Australian percussion history for Routledge’s Research in Music series. Louise is Head of Percussion at the University of Western Australia Conservatorium of Music.
The national tour of Louise Devenish’s music for percussion and electronics commences tonight (15 May) at The Sewing Room, Perth, before heading to Z Ward, Glenside (20 May); Jugglers Art Space, Fortitude Valley (22 May); and the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music – Monash University (24 May). For more information, visit: www.tura.com.au for details.
Image: Louise Devenish (supplied)