8:00pm, 6 September 2002
8:00pm, 7 September 2002
Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts, Brisbane

ELISION Ensemble and the Queensland Orchestra
Franck OLLU, conductor

Liza LIM's recent work Machine for Contacting the Dead was commissioned by Ensemble InterContemporain on the occasion of an exhibition of Chinese archaeological treasures, and was premiered in Paris in February 2001. The exhibition, La Voix du Dragon, on display at the Musée de la Musique, was one of the `millennial´ projects of the Cité de la Musique in a season of activities that showcased Chinese culture. At the centre of the exhibition was a collection of ancient musical instruments excavated from the tomb of the Marquis Yi of Zeng, dating from 433 BCE.

Lim writes, "The tomb provided a wealth of provocative background material for my musical work and in an almost operatic sense, proposed an all-encompassing world.  . . .  The tomb is an elaborate marker for the boundary between life and death, providing a ritual focus by which the living can address an ancestor. It functions as an instrument or `machine of communication´ with the spirit world."

Although in stark aural contrast with Lim's febrile and glittering orchestration, Xenakis' trombone solo Keren similarly draws its inspiration from an artefact of ritual: the Hebrew word `keren´ refers to a type of horn associated with religious ceremonies. Keren will be performed by Benjamin MARKS, a member of both ELISION Ensemble and the Queensland Orchestra.

This concert, the first of a series of annual collaborations with the Queensland Orchestra, will be directed by leading French conductor Franck OLLU.

Iannis XENAKIS Keren

Benjamin MARKS trombone solo

Liza LIM Machine for Contacting the Dead (2001)

for twenty-seven instruments
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
Full programme note