BUILDING 20 - CURATED SILENCE

The Sydney Sacred Music Festival and Sydney Olympic Park Authority deliver one of the most unique music events ever seen in Sydney. Three world class music performances from diverse cultures and faiths coming together to transform the inner state of the audience at Building 20 (the original Powder Magazine) the Armory.

Featuring the unique sounds of the Chambers and new work by:

Sandy Evans and Satsuki Odamura (Saxophone and Koto -13-stringed zither)

In this new work conceived for the Sydney Sacred Music Festival, saxophonist Sandy Evans and koto player Satsuki Odamura explore the extraordinary acoustic of Building 20 to create an atmosphere of deep contemplation. In this moving and meditative elegy, the enchanting resonance and subtle nuances of the koto combine with the warmth and beauty of soothing saxophone melodies.

Satsuki is Australia’s leading koto player currently celebrating 30 years of developing koto music in Australia. Sandy Evans OAM is an award winning composer, saxophonist and educator. Sandy and Satsuki have been performing together for 25 years, notably in Waratah and GEST8. Highlights of their recent work were the Koto Transformation Australis concerts, where 4 of Sandy’s new compositions for koto ensemble were performed in Sydney and Melbourne. Their most recent recording together is RockPoolMirror. Here 2 audio tracks from this Tall Poppies CD (Rock Water Temple and Lake Yarrunga Colours). Immediately after their concert at the Festival, Sandy and Satsuki will be touring to the Philippines and Singapore.

Paul Stender Cello and Nicholas Ng Erhu (2-stringed fiddle):

‘The Inner Chamber’ is an exploration of the sacred through sound with Erhu and Cello. This composition by Dr Nicholas Ng is presented in three parts: Concentration, Meditation and Samadhi, three states of meditative consciousness as taught in the Jain, Hindu and Buddhist traditions and embraced by Christian Gnostics.

Paul has been working with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and Sydney Symphony, having toured internationally with both orchestras. He has appeared as Guest Principal Cello with ACO Collective and played Principal and Associate Principal with the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra.

As a chamber musician Paul has been fortunate enough to collaborate with numerous esteemed artists including Andrew Haveron, Andreas Ottensammer, Natalie Chee and Suzie Park and is currently cellist with the Omega Ensemble.

Khaled Sabsabi, Installation:
Time, people, place is a site specific audio visual installation installed for the Sydney Sacred Music Festival 2018. The work features multiple directionally sound design sourced from the artist's travels over 7 years across North Africa, South-East Asia, Australia and the Middle East. The work also features a 1 channel video projection work consisting of 7 individual video layers composited on top of each other to form the work. The performer in video work Agung, is a traditional balinese trained dancer portraying and narrating in movement the seven spiritual layers of the self, in Arabic 'nafs'.

Building 20 is a decommissioned ammunition building that was built to withstand strong vibrations from the outside. This unique construction now gives us the opportunity to engage and play with the reverberant nature of the three Chambers. Each Chamber produces a unique amazing sound!