SIDE by SIDE - NEW DATE CHANGE - NEW DATES ARE DECEMBER 10 AND 11

In 2024 Percussion Australia Ltd turns 50 years old. Formed in 1974 as Synergy, we have evolved over the past five decades into Percussion Australia. Since the inception of Synergy, we have been leaders in the development of the 20th/21st centuries' canon of percussive art music. Many Australian and International composers have collaborated, developed and composed works for Synergy Percussion, and later Taikoz, including such luminaries as Peter Sculthorpe, Ross Edwards, Sandy Evans, Melody Eötvös, AndreaMolino, Gerard Brophy, among many others. Nigel Westlake's 'Omphalo Centric Lecture', Carl Vine's 'Defying Gravity' and Steve Reich's 'Mallet Quartet' - all Synergy commissions - are cemented in the standard repertoire for percussion ensemble and performed regularly across the world.Through its extensive commissioning program, international touring, recordings and performances of the works of major composers, Synergy was the first Australian art music ensemble to establish a genuine international reputation. Taikoz developed out of Synergy in 1997, a natural extension to Synergy's investigations and experiments with Asian and Middle Eastern percussive music, and for the next 20 years, both ensembles were pivotal to the development of an Australian percussive sound and musical approach. Furthermore, Synergy was highly influential in advancing the standard of percussion playing (the membership of Synergy since1974 boasts no less than 8 percussionists in permanent positions in the Sydney Symphony Orchestra), as well as encouraging the growth of audiences for works inspired by percussion and new music, in general. Indeed, Since the 1970s, we have commissioned over 400 works, and mentored the majority of Australia's leading percussionists, and at 49 years young, Synergy Percussion is still the benchmark to which Australian percussionists aspire. It could also be argued that we paved the way for the development of otherAustralian art music ensembles in the past two decades.Moving forward to 2023, our organisation has since added the BOOM! International Festival of Percussion, the Australian Taiko Academy and 'Percussion Australia Presents' to our suite of activities alongside Synergy Percussion and Taikoz. Percussion Australia has strong governance, with a talented, experienced board and a stable, highly competent administration. We also have a strong - and growing - donor base,including numerous dedicated donors who have generously supported us for many years. Our working model is agile with an Artistic Director (Ian Cleworth) overseeing the development of the artistic program in conjunction with invited creatives and ensemble artists. As such, we presently create and present a very broad range of contemporary percussive-inspired music that ranges from classical art music to Afro-Latin, Asian, electronic, jazz, improvised... and beyond. We not only embrace technology but look forward to seeing and being part of further developments in a whole new world of music. There are many creative opportunities waiting for exploration!

Percussion Australia Ltd

A concert featuring seven new works exploring the sound world of taiko and Taikoz

ARA Darling Quarter Theatre

Seven new works by five Taikoz members sit side by side in… Side By Side!

After our shared experience of lockdown in 2020, the fruits of Taikoz’s creativity emerge stronger than ever in 2021. Featuring new works by emerging composers from within the ensemble, Side By Side sees the full expressivity of Taikoz – the breathless chase of Kerryn Joyce’s Run!, Sophia Ang’s spectral taiko solo Shadow Games, Ryuji Hamada’s joyous Yasaka, Ian Cleworth’s colourful and dramatic multi-percussion duet A-Un, and Claudia Wherry’s Gamelan inspired Cocoon. 

Complimenting the program is the World Premiere of the winner of Taikoz’s 2020 Women Composers Competition – Karlin Love’s Fierce: The Vengeance Of Joy. 

Come and celebrate, experience and contribute to real, live music making with Taikoz in 2021 at the ARA Darling Quarter Theatre!

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SIDE by SIDE - NEW DATE CHANGE - NEW DATES ARE DECEMBER 10 AND 11

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SIDE by SIDE - NEW DATE CHANGE - NEW DATES ARE DECEMBER 10 AND 11

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