This is a place of terror. Of sacrifice. Of reckoning. This is the Labyrinth.
A new opera by Evan J Lawson and Daniel Szesiong Todd.
This is a place of terror. Of sacrifice. Of reckoning. This is the Labyrinth.
A new opera by Evan J Lawson and Daniel Szesiong Todd.
This is a place of terror. Of sacrifice. Of reckoning. This is the Labyrinth.
A new opera by Evan J Lawson and Daniel Szesiong Todd.
This is a place of terror. Of sacrifice. Of reckoning. This is the Labyrinth.
A new opera by Evan J Lawson and Daniel Szesiong Todd.
This is a place of terror. Of sacrifice. Of reckoning. This is the Labyrinth.
A new opera by Evan J Lawson and Daniel Szesiong Todd.
Uncover the depths of human connection and power in the new opera The Sea
Uncover the depths of human connection and power in the new opera The Sea
Uncover the depths of human connection and power in the new opera The Sea
Uncover the depths of human connection and power in the new opera The Sea
Uncover the depths of human connection and power in the new opera The Sea
The world premiere of new orchestral work commissioned as part of Stonnington Symphony’s Artistic Development Fund.
Dive into a world of mesmerising artistic innovation and creative brilliance at Waves (Wave), the showing of captivating new works in development by Forest Collective.
Dive into a world of mesmerising artistic innovation and creative brilliance at Waves (Wave), the showing of captivating new works in development by Forest Collective.
Dive into a world of mesmerising artistic innovation and creative brilliance at Waves (Wave), the showing of captivating new works in development by Forest Collective.
Australian premiere of Echoes from the Labyrinth
Australian premiere of Echoes from the Labyrinth
Australian premiere of Echoes from the Labyrinth
Evans new work Echoes from the Labyrinth receives its world premiere.
For further details see - www.tmaomusic.com/icit-2022-artists/
“The breaking of a wave cannot explain the whole sea.”
— Vladimir Nabokov
Celestial bodies move the earth’s waters – and we feel those tides deep within us. For as long as humans have walked the earth, the push and pull of the seas have shaped how we interact with the world. Tides explores how the moon and other cosmic entities exert a force that is at once epic and intimate, geological and personal.
Featuring new choreography by Jesse Matthews and design by Jane Noonan, Forest Collective will perform a rich program of music by Evan J Lawson, Claudio Monteverdi, Bjork, Joseph Haydn, and more. Tides will move and reshape you through powerful sound and movement into a new and immersive world.
Presented by Forest Collective & Abbotsford Convent, as part of Convent Live
Forest Collective is supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria
www.eventfinda.com.au/2022/folding/melbourne/abbotsford
“The breaking of a wave cannot explain the whole sea.”
— Vladimir Nabokov
Celestial bodies move the earth’s waters – and we feel those tides deep within us. For as long as humans have walked the earth, the push and pull of the seas have shaped how we interact with the world. Tides explores how the moon and other cosmic entities exert a force that is at once epic and intimate, geological and personal.
Featuring new choreography by Jesse Matthews and design by Jane Noonan, Forest Collective will perform a rich program of music by Evan J Lawson, Claudio Monteverdi, Bjork, Joseph Haydn, and more. Tides will move and reshape you through powerful sound and movement into a new and immersive world.
Presented by Forest Collective & Abbotsford Convent, as part of Convent Live
Forest Collective is supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria
www.eventfinda.com.au/2022/folding/melbourne/abbotsford
“The breaking of a wave cannot explain the whole sea.”
— Vladimir Nabokov
Celestial bodies move the earth’s waters – and we feel those tides deep within us. For as long as humans have walked the earth, the push and pull of the seas have shaped how we interact with the world. Tides explores how the moon and other cosmic entities exert a force that is at once epic and intimate, geological and personal.
Featuring new choreography by Jesse Matthews and design by Jane Noonan, Forest Collective will perform a rich program of music by Evan J Lawson, Claudio Monteverdi, Bjork, Joseph Haydn, and more. Tides will move and reshape you through powerful sound and movement into a new and immersive world.
Presented by Forest Collective & Abbotsford Convent, as part of Convent Live
Forest Collective is supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria
www.eventfinda.com.au/2022/folding/melbourne/abbotsford
Music from across Asia-Pacific.
Chamber music from across Asia-Pacific.
The premiere of my new work After the long night / Gowidja djirrunga dhala will take place as part of Melbourne Pride 2022.
English and Yorta Yorat text by Deborah Cheetham AO
Music by Evan J Lawson
To be performed by Deborah Cheetham AO
Melbourne Pride is a multi-generational and intersectional celebration; a State Government initiative designed to celebrate and commemorate Victorian LQBTQIA+ history and the 40th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality with events and activities all over the state of Victoria. Midsumma has been commissioned by the Victorian State Government to deliver the one-day event on Sunday 13 February 2022. The celebrations will be held in the Fitzroy and Collingwood precinct. Melbourne Pride will be filled with live entertainment highlighting Victorian based talent, and activations of local businesses in the area. Regional activations are also happening across other areas of Victoria in the lead up to the event.
As part of Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, I will have a new site-specific opera performed.
Further details to come.
4 MINI-OPERAS — 4 VENUES — 4 PORTRAITS
Innovative and participatory operas are the fruit of a rich interdisciplinary and intercultural dialogue between young creators and performers from the Académie du Festival d’Aix.
https://festival-aix.com/en/event/opera-de-ci-de-la
prismatx ensemble is a young contemporary chamber ensemble with a mission of pairing visual art with contemporary music. We have been an active ensemble in the Austin, Texas area since summer 2016, and have collaborated with several brilliant artists and musicians on our concerts throughout the past few years. In our inaugural year, we won the Richard A. Rainwater grant that helped to sponsor our concert of Arnold Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire paired with digital media artist, Rachel Stuckey. We have additionally collaborated with composers Samuel Lipman and Andrew Sigler, artists Alison Pilon and Rick Reed, and choreographer Dorothy O'Shea Overbey, to name a few.
Many of us in the ensemble have graduated or will be graduating from The University of Texas at Austin. We all love the Austin music scene, and believe that our ensemble helps to shape the creativity of such a vibrant community of people.
Evan Lawson (composer of Orpheus and artistic director of Forest Collective) and Sara Sasaki (artistic director of prismatx ensemble) met several years ago at soundSCAPE Music Festival in Italy. They kept in touch over the years, and Evan had presented the idea of having a performance of his newest opera premiered in the United States. Evan and Forest Collective are based in Melbourne, Australia, and Orpheus received outstanding reviews from press and the public that attended.
With the help of the Austin-based contemporary music collective Density512, we are so excited to be putting on a performance of this amazing work in the United States!
June 5 and June 6
Austin, TX at Imagine Art, performed by prismatx ensemble, Density512 and led by Evan Lawson.
Evan’s appearance with prismatx ensemble is made possible with a grant from the Ian Potter Cultural Trust.
To donate to help with funding this performance, go here.
Tickets $12 available from here.
To celebrate a new year of creation and collaboration at Forest Collective, we begin 2019 with Orpheus. Presented as part of Midsumma Festival at iconic arts precinct Abbotsford Convent, Orpheus is a new ballet-opera written by Artistic Director Evan Lawson, with choreography by Ashley Dougan (pictured).
The famous Orpheus myth has been used in opera many times. While most works focus on the journey to Hades and his relationship with Eurydice, we explore the unheard stories of the characters left behind by the great men in ancient mythology. Evan Lawson’s Orpheus encompasses this part of the story, but also includes lesser-known parts of the Orpheus myth that focus on his male lover, Calais, while journeying with the Argonauts. The opera is structured into four elements; one focused on Calais, one on Eurydice, one on the journey to Hades and the nal section, where Orpheus is murdered while trying to reunite with Calais.
The performance will be performed by the 12 member ensemble of Forest Collective, including core-mezzo soprano Kate Bright as Eurydice. Three dancers physicalise the sung expressions of the three singers. As a new opera-ballet exploring the story of Orpheus and paying equal attention to his love of men and women, this story will engage members of the LGBTQI community, those interested in classics and mythology, and opera fans alike.
Forest Collective presents Orpheus, as part of Midsumma Festival and Convent Live
Composer & Musical Director - Evan Lawson
Choreographer & Dancer - Ashley Dougan
Costume Designer - Jane Noonan
Set Designer - Candice MacAllister
Dramaturgy - John Pyburn
Eurydice - Kate Bright
Calaïs - Joseph Ewart
Dancers - Luke Fryer & Piaera Lauritz
Harp - Samantha Remirez (guest musician)
Flutes - Eric Tucceri (guest musician)
Saxophones - Jesse Deane (guest musician)
Clarinets - Vilan Mai
Recorders - Ryan Williams
Trombone/Sackbut - Trea Hindley
Percussion - Alexander Clayton
Violin - Helen Bower
Double Bass - Ian Crossfield
Dates: Thursday Jan 31 - Sunday Feb 3
Times: Thursday 7:30pm
Friday 7:30pm
Saturday 1:00pm
Sunday 3:30pm
Sunday 7:30pm
Venue: Sacred Heart Oratory Abbotsford Convent
1 St Heliers Street, Abbotsford 3167
Tickets: midsumma.org.au
Orpheus is a co-commission between Forest Collective & Prismatx Ensemble. Orpheus is supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria.
Photo by Meghan Scerri.
