13–15 May 2022 Abbotsford Convent

A celebration of Australian artistry, diversity and resilience.

67 composers
67 performers
67 collaborations
9 concerts
8 hours of brand new music

A snap-shot of Australian composition in 2021, all 67 freshly-minted works comprising the ANAM Set were performed in the beautiful venues of the Abbotsford Convent in May 2022.

Over nine carefully curated concerts – between Friday 13 and Sunday 15 May – audiences had the chance to hear all 67 works, performed by their original dedicatees or ANAM alumni, with 58 of the 67 composers present for the performances of their works.

The ANAM Set Festival is made possible by the Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand (RISE) Fund – an Australian Government initiative.

  • ANAM
  • Australian Government RISE fund
  • ABC RN

FESTIVAL SCHEDULE

Friday 13 May

  • 7:00pm to 8:30pm (Opening Concert)


Saturday 14 May

  • 9:30am to 12:00pm
    Lunch break
  • 1:00pm to 6:00pm
    Dinner break
  • 7:15pm to 9:30pm


Sunday 15 May

  • 9:30am to 12:00pm
    Lunch break
  • 1:00pm to 5:00pm

There will be time for meals and other breaks during the Festival. The schedule also allows ticket holders time to the live-to-air and pre-record broadcast of The Music Show, both of which are open to the general public.

Friday 13 May

  • 7:00pm to 8:30pm (Opening Concert) 


Saturday 14 May

  • 10:00am to 12:00pm
    Lunch break
  • 1:00pm to 6:00pm
    Dinner break
  • 7:15pm to 8:45pm 


Sunday 15 May

  • 9:30am to 12:45pm
    Lunch break
  • 1:45pm to 5:00pm

There will be time for meals and other breaks during the Festival. The schedule also allows ticket holders time to the live-to-air and pre-record broadcast of The Music Show, both of which are open to the general public.

67 works in
9 programs

Opening Concert

The ANAM Set Festival begins with a cross-section through the anthology: a warm welcome, whetting the appetite for the weekend ahead.

Performance time: Friday 7pm
Venue: North Magdalen Laundry

Book single tickets

William Barton Journey Song Josiah Kop, French horn; William Barton, didgeridoo 

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Matthew Laing Destructive Interference Lily Bryant, flute

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Liza Lim Cello Playing - as Meterology James Morley, cello

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Kate Tempany Honeyeater Nicholas Corkeron, trumpet

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Elizabeth Younan Fantasia No. 7 Kenneth Harris, double bass 

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Chris Dench un petit mot  crabe-c'est-ma-faute Cian Malikides, trombone; Alexander Maegher, percussion

Out of Doors

It is vital for humankind to interact with our environment. However, we are also at the mercy of it, and the line between harmonious co-habitation and wanton destruction is often difficult to see, and even harder to judge. These works explore our relationship to the world outside – how we do good, how we can do better, and how our own lives are ephemeral compared to the deep time of the geological structures that surround us.

Performance times: Saturday 9.30am, 4.30pm
Venue: Rosina Auditorium

Book single tickets

Ben Robinson Stepping Out Lynda Latu, violin; Peter de Jager, piano

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Dominic Flynn Gorge Darcy O’Malley, trumpet

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Felicity Wilcox To The Sea Adrian Biemmi, violin

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Emma Greenhill Metamorphosis Kyla Matsuura-Miller, violin; Louisa Breen, piano

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Melody Eötvös Pilgrimado Ariel Postmus, viola

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Ross Edwards Windsong for Sacred Earth Noah Rudd, oboe

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Ben Hoadley Zig-zag Road Hana King, violin; Peter de Jager, piano

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James Ledger Fanfares for Libraries Alex Allan, oboe

Mind Games

The performer's mind is a complex one, at once highly active and disciplined. These performances invite us to be a part of the intimate relationship between the musician and their instrument. Through intense concentration and focus, these performers are ultimately a vessel – relaying a message from composer to audience via their highly trained bodies and the brass, wood and ivory through which they speak.

Performance times: Saturday 1pm, Sunday 9.30am
Venue: Rosina Auditorium

Book single tickets

Huw Belling Shadow Partita 1004 Felix Pascoe, violin

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Kitty Xiao In Flesh Hamish Jamieson, cello; Pia Lauritz, dancer

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Cathy Milliken Braid Tim Allen-Ankins, French horn

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Alex Pozniak Unlocked Jarrad Linke, clarinet

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K Travers Eira [sound is] A Body in Space Alison Fane, percussion

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David Chisholm Temporal Sweetness Profile Jack Cremer, bassoon

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Erkki Veltheim Heiligenschein Nicholas McManus, cello

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Anthony Pateras Human Sensory Motor Schema Rachel Kelly, tuba

Nostalgia

No art exists without context, and these works know their lineage. Here, the old ways are made new again, as composers explore Romanticism, Impressionism, Variation form, and good old-fashioned chamber music – all through a 21st-century lens.

Performance times: Saturday 7.15pm, Sunday 1pm
Venue: Rosina Auditorium

Book single tickets

Mark Holdsworth Diabolus Nadia Barrow, cello

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Paul Grabowsky Helix Variation Kate Worley, viola

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Brenton Broadstock Memento Jarrod Callaghan, trombone; Aidan Boase, piano

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Catherine Likhuta String Quartet No. 1 for solo cello Charlotte Miles, cello

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Jack Symonds Eau Vivante Oliver Russell, cello; Leigh Harrold, piano

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Andrew Anderson Theme and Variations Shuhei Lawson, cello

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Richard Mills Che Scorre Harrison Swainston, viola; Nadia Barrow, cello

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John Rotar Romanza Fiona Qiu, violin; Louisa Breen, piano

Weights and Measures

In the ancient Greek 'Quadrivium', music was grouped together with arithmetic and geometry; considered more of a science than an art. Here, some of the ANAM Set's intellectual powerhouses are on display – pieces that have their basis in physical laws, mathematical formulae, harmonic overtones and... bakeries?!

Performance times: Saturday 7.15pm, Sunday 11.15am
Venue: North Magdalen Laundry

Book single tickets

Ian Whitney An Architecture of Butter and Sugar Lilly Yang, flute

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Nicole Murphy Vector Will Kinmont, trombone

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Elliot Gyger Elude Lyndon Watts, bassoon

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Tim Dargaville Unfolding to an Infinite Number Jennifer Yu, piano

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Andrián Pertout Mīmēsis Henry Justo, viola

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Damien Ricketson Touch Point Josephine Chung, violin

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Noemi Liba Friedman The Eleventh Partial Nicola Robinson, French horn

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Thomas Meadowcroft Rolando Continuo Nathan Gatenby, percussion

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Harry Sdraulig Watch Caleb Salizzo, piano

Sounds of an Agenda

Music doesn’t always ‘just’ sooth. Often it has a job to do. In these performances composers address themes of inequality, political corruption, land rights, cultural intersections, and even the fraught notion of composition itself. Satire abounds here, and through some black humour this abstract music is likely to touch on some uncomfortable truths.

Performance times: Saturday 3.45pm, Sunday 1.45pm
Venue: North Magdalen Laundry

Book single tickets

Natalie Williams Skrípka Emily Su, violin

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Paul Dean Roll Out the Pork Barrel Andrew Crothers, viola

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Deborah Cheetham Fault Lines Ben Saffir, double bass

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Alexander Turley Nowhere in Particular Murray Kearney, viola

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Graeme Leak THIS is IT Alexander Meagher, percussion

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Lilijana Matičevska You Can Call me CV01 Jye Todorov, bassoon

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Bruce Crossman Fragility and Sonorousness Kane Chang, piano

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Michael Kieran Harvey Death Cap Mushroom Theodore Pike, piano and toy piano; Alex Bull, drums

Loss and Hope

What to say about the last two years? Music has always had an ability to articulate nuanced, deep emotion, when words fail. In this concert, composers reflect heavily on the impacts of recent losses. When those we love are no longer there, our own thoughts and memories can both comfort and betray us. There is a way forward, but resilience can be a long time coming.

Performance times: Saturday 1pm, Sunday 9.30am
Venue: North Magdalen Laundry

Book single tickets

Mark Wolf This Teetering Bulb Alexandra King, oboe

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Samantha Wolf adrift Hamish Gullick, double bass

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Cat Hope The Long Now James Littlewood, bass trombone

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Andrew Batterham A Black Dog Near Me Joel Walmsley, flugel horn; Peter de Jager, piano

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Luke Altmann Prelude for viola and piano Eunise Cheng, viola; Aidan Boase, piano

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Alexander Voltz Prayer for a Lost Friend Emily Beauchamp, violin; Leigh Harrold, piano

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Kate Milligan Lux Levis Josef Hanna, violin; Aidan Boase, piano

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Thomas Green So, I am Shouting Claire Weatherhead, violin

Intimate Exchange

An exhalation of air; a graze of the bow; the uncertain threshold between sound and silence. This brief concert presents those ANAM Set works that resonate best amongst a small group of listeners. Step into the hushed setting of the Abbotsford Oratory for what promises to be an intimate musical exchange.

Performance times: Saturday 10am, 3.45pm, 5.15pm, 8.45pm; Sunday 11.15am
Venue: The Oratory

Book single tickets

Gordon Kerry Soliloquy Daniel Chiou, cello

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Rosalind Page respirare Rachel Lau, flute

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Charlie Sdraulig Aside Mia Stanton, violin

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Andrea Keller Other Selves Donica Tran, violin

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Kirsten Milenko Lapse Rachael Kwa, violin; Hamish Jamieson, cello

Closing Concert

A final celebration. A last chance to experience the novelty and diversity of this new anthology. Also likely the only concert in Melbourne this year to feature a harpsichord, ragtime, a thinkpiece on Artificial Intelligence, and a piece of fruit

Performance time: Sunday 3.30pm
Venue: North Magdalen Laundry

Book single tickets

Andrew Ford Confused Alarms Eve McEwen, French horn; Louisa Breen, piano

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Brett Dean Byrdsong Studies Amanda Pang, harpsichord

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Anne Cawrse Ruby Clare Fox, clarinet

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Yitzhak Yedid YE-DID-BACH Claudia Leggett, French horn; Carla Blackwood, French horn

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Emile Frankel Cradlesong Alex Waite, piano

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Jet Kye Chong 食JIAH8 James Knight, percussion

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Elena Kats-Chernin Grand Rag Oliver Crofts, clarinet; Leigh Harrold, piano

Festival Pass

A Festival Pass is the only way to experience the complete anthology of works across the weekend – all 67 new Australian works that make up THE ANAM SET. They will be presented in nine carefully curated concerts in three of the Abbotsford Convent’s beautiful venues.

The Festival Pass also allows you to join Radio National’s The Music Show host (and ANAM Set composer) Andrew Ford in discussion with THE ANAM SET composers and musicians, to be broadcast live on Saturday morning and relayed the following Sunday morning.

Streams

Patrons may select whether they are in Stream A or Stream B. This is to assist us in managing capacities in each venue: there is no difference in which works you will get to hear, just the order in which you will get to hear them.

Both streams commence at 7pm on Friday 13 May and conclude at 5pm on Sunday 15 May. Please note: each stream has slightly different start, finish and break times.

Price

Full price: $210 Senior/Concession: $150 Under 30: $90