Liza Lim is one of Australia’s most celebrated contemporary classical composers. Her latest work brings together the virtuosic instrumentalism of Speak Percussion, the incredible voice of soprano Jessica Aszodi, and vocal sounds from a ‘crowd’ of 16 trained and untrained performers.

Inspired by the poetry of Eliot Weinberger and Bei Dao, and reflecting the turbulent rhythms of our world, Atlas of the Sky whips up a maelstrom of driving rhythms, swarming percussion and vocals.

The singers and performers use purpose-built instruments, including string drums, stones, wood blocks and the semantron – a resonant plank of wood used in Greek and Eastern European Christian Orthodox ritual – to tell aural stories about the stars, the power of crowds and changing constellations of memory.

Atlas of the Sky was awarded the Art Music prize for Best Performance of the Year at the 2019 APRA AMCOS Australia Awards.

YOUR CHANCE TO PARTICIPATE IN ‘ATLAS OF THE SKY'

Sydney Festival and Speak Percussion are seeking 16 local community participants to take part in the Sydney premiere of Liza Lim's Atlas of the Sky as part of the ‘crowd’, performing on small percussion instruments and singing/reciting sections of the work.

The ‘crowd’ is an on-stage presence for the entire one-hour piece, performed on Thursday 16 January. Participants will be coached in simple percussion, movement and group vocals at rehearsals (seven rehearsal periods between Wednesday 8 and 15 January) by Speak Percussion's Artistic Director Eugene Ughetti and Artistic Associate Kaylie Melville.

You don’t need any musical or performance experience to participate – Atlas of the Sky is looking for a broad cross section of the community. To register your interest to participate simply fill in the online form here.