Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Event Details

Independent artist-run initiative, Dots+Loops, is expanding nationally this year, following the remarkable success enjoyed by its post-genre concert series productions over the past four years in Queensland. Created by respected musician Kieran Welch in 2014, Dots+Loops has presented 12 critically acclaimed shows. On October 5 & 6 it’s headed to the Abbotsford Convent in Melbourne with the Liminality Festival series of concerts and free workshops.

Described as ‘somewhere between a club gig, classical concert and an experimental art show’, Liminality pairs cutting-edge international talent with Australia's most thrilling genre-defying young performers, through music by Philip Glass, Brechtje, an immersive cross-artform experience for electronically augmented trumpet and live visuals, and the Australian premiere of Kate Moore's stunning electric quartet Fatal Strangers.

The post-genre approach encourages the cross-pollination of audiences and artists that benefits everyone, by increasing inclusion and accessibility. The concerts and workshops connect adventurous audiences from all walks of life to experiences they may not have otherwise been exposed to or in fresh, unexpected ways.

Says Liminality Festival co-organiser and founder of Rehearsal Magazine, Megan Steller: “We aim to provide all audiences with something familiar to them, but also something new and unexpected, or that they have not previously experienced. For example, we might introduce a participant who normally only attends rock concerts to classical, jazz or electronic music, or vice versa.”

Along with Kieran Welch and Megan Steller, Melbourne trumpet player and composer Allison Wright joins the team this year. The three have collaborated on numerous projects over the last two years, and are excited to present their first festival as an official team.

The Liminality Festival will be held over two consecutive weekends in Brisbane and Melbourne, centring around two major concerts. The first evening, curated by Allison Wright, presents a groundbreaking new collaborative multidisciplinary work for digitally augmented trumpet and live visuals from Elliott Hughes and digital art collective Team Animal Spirits (FKA comp.artmental), as well as new genre-melding works from international guests Tom Sanderman and Brechtje, concluding with a brand new work written by Brechtje for Sanderman and Wright.

The second evening, curated by Kieran Welch, combines Philip Glass' critical and commercial hit Glassworks with the Australian premiere of a work for electroacoustic ensemble by Australian composer Kate Moore.

With a focus on career development for young musicians and artists, the Dots+Loops performance fellowship program pairs 16 emerging artists (eight in each city) with established performers in a collaborative mentorship for each performance of Glassworks. In order to foster and enrich emerging local music communities, each event will conclude with an after party, where the audience, composers and performers mingle and chat, accompanied by a DJ set from the night’s curator.

The festival also features free community workshops curated by Megan Steller. These include: a multimedia performance solutions workshop presented by Robert Jarvis (Zeal/Team Animal Spirits video artist and developer); a composer workshop focused on honing artists’ compositional voice; and Megan Steller‘s Entrepreneurial Skills career development workshop, featuring a panel of established local artists working across the performing arts.

Dots+Loops places great emphasis on social community and on building a cohesive, stimulating artistic community with equally enriching experiences for both artists and audiences, something to which Megan Steller attributes the series’ success so far: “By valuing every participant in every show, from audience members to performers and composers, we have developed a dedicated support base.”

As well as this fan base of adventurous music lovers, the festival has attracted media partners including Megan Steller’s highly successful Rehearsal Magazine as the official Dots+Loops media partner, as well as CutCommon, The Creative Issue, and Musica Viva.

Dots+Loops Liminality receives funds from Creative Partnerships Australia through the Australian Cultural Fund. Dots+Loops Liminality is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland. Dots+Loops would like to thank our primary funding partners Philip Bacon Galleries and Simply for Strings, and venue partner The Boite at Abbotsford Convent. The Melbourne Dots+Loops Liminality festival is co-hosted by Boite World Music.

Featured non-Australian music: Phillip Glass

Further information for this event is available online at the event's website or by phone on ‭0403 821 238‬ or by email to dotsandloopsbrisbane@gmail.com

Featured Australian Works

Fatal strangers : electric quartet (2011) by Kate Moore — Australian premiere

Featured artists

• Music of Tilman Robinson
• Music of Elliott Hughes
• Music of Brechtje