Sydney orchestral trailblazers Ensemble Apex have announced the Apex Festival – a two-night, immersive concert experience taking over Lower Town Hall, Eora/Sydney on Friday 11 October and Saturday 12 October 2024.
Following a series of sold-out events under the direction of conductor Sam Weller, Apex Festival heralds a new era for the ensemble. With programming that harmonises tradition and modernity, the two-day event promises a dynamic way to appreciate orchestral music, furthering Ensemble Apex’s legacy for setting new standards of live performance in Sydney.
The festival will kick off on Friday 11 October with Wake Up & Die – a captivating orchestral journey exploring humanity’s relationship with mortality. Set in low lighting, the first of two nights will feature contemporary classical compositions from John Adams, Henryk Gorecki, alongside two Australian premieres from Kitty Xiao (In flesh ii) and George Crumb (A Haunted Landscape). This evocative program invites introspection and challenges the audience’s imagination.
“In flesh ii is a work about the body. The body to be heard, the spacious singing of its flesh, it’s imaginary, not uniform or in a homogenous way,” said composer Kitty Xiao. “Inspired by the poetry of Chinese-American writer Jenny Zhang, In flesh ii seeks to explore sound in a similar way to that of Zhang, the grotesque tactility in her use of language; especially sticky, thick, guttural.”
“It is a desire to chew, swallow and spit out the parts of us which are indissoluble, which cannot be washed away, and to seek out the relationship between inside and outside – all that separates us.”
On Saturday 12 October, Ensemble Apex invites audiences to immerse themselves in Symphony In The Round, a rare opportunity to experience Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 in live surround sound. Seated amongst the orchestra, attendees will encounter the urgency and drama of this Romantic masterpiece in a completely new light.
Known for works such as Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, and Romeo and Juliet, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 has seen a renaissance in popular culture, most notably featured in the Academy Award-winning 2014 film, Birdman.
Formed in 2016 as a university project, Ensemble Apex is a cutting-edge collective of musicians from around Australia who gather to create exceptional musical experiences.
With previous showcases at Vivid and Sydney Festival and an extensive line-up of interdisciplinary collaborations including Simon Tedeschi, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, Phoenix Central Park and Sydney Dance Company, Ensemble Apex seeks to redefine orchestral and classical music for contemporary spaces and young audiences.
The Apex Festival takes place in Sydney on Friday 11 and Saturday 12 October 2024. For more information, visit: www.ensembleapex.com for details.
Image: Ensemble Apex presents the Apex Festival this October (supplied)