Labyrinth review | Abbotsford Convent

For their latest offering, Forest Collective takes its audience into the labyrinthian myth of Theseus and Ariadne and their battle with the Minotaur, Ariadne’s half-brother. Set in the large and winding spaces within Abbotsford Convent, this opera / physical theatre performance of Labyrinth leads us into the maze alongside Theseus as he edges his way to the confrontation with the beast that has the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man.

Artistic Director of Forest Collective Evan J. Lawson serves as composer, music director and sound designer for this production and the touches he has put to these define and embolden the vision of this show. Alongside librettist Daniel Szesiong Todd, this is a captivating story that is told at a pace that allows you to be drawn deeper and deeper into this world.

Forest Collective on getting tangled up with new immersive opera Labyrinth (Midsumma Festival)

It's impressive how Forest Collective constantly deliver chamber music performances that are so vastly different from each other. This trend continues with their upcoming immersive production Labyrinth. This opera will fittingly take place in the corridors beneath Abbotsford Convent as we follow the story of Theseus, Ariadne and her half-brother, the Minotaur. Opera singer Daniel Szesiong Todd will not only be taking on the role of Theseus he is also Labyrinth's librettist, with the tenor's interest in this mythological story stemming from the contemporary issues that can still be applied to it.

"The popular myth of the bloodthirsty half-bull, half-man called the Minotaur comes from ancient Greece, where the hero, Theseus, kills the beast with the help of a plucky young princess, Ariadne, who guides him through the labyrinth with her thread. But should we ever take a monster at face value?" Todd asks. "The myth’s strange backstory reveals that the Minotaur is actually Ariadne’s half-brother. Ariadne’s father, King Minos, had refused to sacrifice a bull to the god Poseidon, who became angry and cursed his wife, Queen Pasiphaë, to fall in love with the bull. The Queen then commissioned Daedalus to build a hollow cow puppet that she could crawl inside, so she could have sex with the animal. Eventually, she gave birth to a bull-human-hybrid child, who she named Asterion. Filled with shame and humiliation, King Minos shunned Asterion, hiding him away in the labyrinth and feeding him only human sacrifices from conquered Athens. In this way, innocent Asterion was made into a monster – the Minotaur – literally the bull of Minos."

The Sea review

The Sea is an opera in five parts in an exciting new collaboration between Forest Collective and BK Opera. The two arts companies have put together a riveting production that looks at love and the abuse of love through patriarchy, trauma and the imbalance of power.

Using a poem by Nicole Butcher, The Sea Libretto, we are told the story of an unnamed woman living in an abusive relationship. With music by Evan J. Lawson (Forest Collective's artistic director) and direction by Kate Millett (BK Opera's artistic director), this woman’s plight is linked to the sea, where its negative and positive associations are brought to the surface.

Songs from the Heart in the Hole of my Bottom review (Melboourne International Comedy Festival)

Sometimes a little bit of nostalgia is all you need. And thanks to Aiden Willcox and Isaac Haigh's Songs from the Heart in the Hole of my Bottom we are taken back to the New York jazz scene in 1973. With plenty of musical numbers, witty banter with the crowd and wonderful improvisation between them, it's an evening where you can forget your troubles and just get happy.

Willcox and Haigh are in their element in this setting. They were definitely born in the wrong decade as they show their love and affection for the people and the music of this period. Their costumes, physicality and vernacular are very specific and it's clear they have put in a lot of research into the genre and theme to create an authentic experience.

Fountain review | Midsumma Festival | Abbotsford Convent

Returning for its first show in 2023, Forest Collective present Fountain, an orchestral arrangement of pop singer-songwriter Max Lawrence’s music, exploring the fluidity and transient nature in our interactions with our environment and ourselves. Known for bringing together classical chamber music into contemporary settings, Fountain takes us on a strikingly stirring journey on the many forms of love and the emotions that it can elicit.

Lawrence enters the stage wearing a ruched gown-like art piece that as gorgeous as it is to see, feels like a protective barrier for releasing / realising their true self and opening themselves up. This idea is reinforced in the second half, where they wear a two-piece outfit that is more revealing and hugs their body as the music becomes more uplifting and hopeful.

Diapsalmata: P o r t r a i t o f a s e l f review | Forest Collective | St Stephen's Anglican Church

Founded in 2009, Forest Collective prides itself in presenting contemporary classical music to new audiences through innovative and distinctive performances. I am constantly amazed at how uniquely its productions are conceived and delivered. Its recent concert, Diapsalmata: P o r t r a i t o f a s e l f, is another flawless example of this, with two works highlighting mental health, identity, discovery and growth through the experience of a transgender person.

Kym Dillon has composed the music for both pieces, Sonata for Flute and Piano and Diapsalmata. In the former, Dillon accompanies flutist Brighid Mantelli in a composition of three movements. Linking emotions with nature and the environment, Dillon draws inspiration from three flowers found in the Surfcoast region of Victoria, to not only name the movements - (carpobrotus rossii ("Australian pig face"), eucopogon parviflorus ("coastal beard-heath") and leptospermum laevigatum ("coastal tea-tree") - but using the characteristics of the flowers to guide the music.

Orpheus - Midsumma Festival review

After a stellar year of concerts in 2018, Forest Collective kicks off 2019 with possibly one of its most ambitious projects to date. Presented as part of the Midsumma Festival, Orpheus is a new ballet-opera based on the myth of Orpheus, Eurydice and Calaïs. Accompanied by a ten-person orchestra led by Composer and Musical Director Evan Lawson, an opera singer and a dancer pair up to share the three roles, conveying their thoughts and feelings through their individual art form.

Once again, Lawson has put together an exemplary group of musicians with a variety of instruments to create a powerful composition that guides the audience through Orpheus' relationships with Eurydice and Calaïs. Lawson also highlights the queerness of this story with his inclusion of lesser-known parts of the myth as he explores Orpheus' love for Calaïs. Told in four parts, the composition clearly distinguishes the episodic sections and with whose perspective we are witnessing the story unfold.

Forest Collective Gala Performance review | Australian Institute of Music

With a number of performances under its belt this year, including fluttering hearts // thinking machines and Nico: Songs They Never Played on the Radio, Forest Collective have continued with their reinterpretation and reimagining of chamber music and adapting it to suit the various themes and styles of their concerts. For their final show for 2018, Forest Collective's Gala performance consisted of nine pieces with a number of Australian and world premieres. 

Caroline Louise Miller's Reductionism Is A Dirty Word (2016) opens the night with Kim Tan (bass flute), Bec Scully (double bass) and Danae Killian (piano) taking the unique elements of their instrument and seeing how altering the way they play it changes the dynamics between musician and instrument and as a group.

Nico: Songs They Never Played on the Radio review | Forest Collective | Melbourne Fringe Festival | Lithuanian Club

German musician Nico was a lot of things, as we are told by singer Danielle Asciak in Nico: Songs They Never Played on the Radio. But there's also a lot of things she isn't known for, or at the very least, she hasn't received the acknowledgement that she deserves. On the 30th anniversary of Nico's death, Asciak has teamed up with Forest Collective to host a unique interpretation of Nico's music through chamber music arrangements.

Artistic director of Forest Collective and Nico conductor, Evan Lawson, has brought together eight musicians (Vilan Mai, Ali Fyffe, Trea Hindley, Bec Scully, Erica Tucceri, Isabel Hede, Nikki Edgar and William Elm) to accompany Asciak as she takes us on a journey not just through Nico's music, but also her life. Despite much of the room not knowing who Nico was, the brief anecdotal history we are given and the power of the songs selected, allow the audience to garner an understanding of who this woman was and understand the challenges she faced in how she was defined.

Nico: Songs They Never Played on the Radio | Melbourne Fringe Festival interview

If you're looking for a unique evening of sumptuous music during the Melbourne Fringe Festival, you need look no further than Nico: Songs They Never Played on the Radio. Forest Collective have been building a reputation for reinterpreting existing music through traditional instruments and chamber musicians to create new and innovative music, and Nico looks like it too will be living up to those expectations. Devised by Evan Lawson and Danielle Asciak, Nico is a tribute to the German musician of the same name, active from the 1960s up until her death in 1988.

“The show is a journey into Nico's inner vs. outer world through her music," cabaret artist Asciak tells me. "We've taken songs that we feel best represent the story of Nico; from her early artist days, to her time in Velvet Underground and the songs in her final composition days. This will be the world premiere of commissioned arrangements."

fluttering hearts // thinking machines review

Forest Collective has been creating works focusing on contemporary classical music since it was founded in 2009. In their latest performance, fluttering hearts // thinking machines the company collaborated with queer artist Addison to consider how technology and our emotions intersect and what the impact of modern living has had on our interactions and relationships with others.

Joining Addison on stage was an orchestra of ten Forest Collective musicians: Nick Yates, Kim Tan, Vilan Mai, Nathan Juriansz, Clare Gorton, Nikki Edgar, Bec Scully, William Elm, Trea Hindley and Ryan Williams. The intimacy of the venue at Abbotsford Convent gave us the opportunity to watch every musician - led by conductor Evan Lawson - playing their instrument and be mesmerised by how each one would lose themselves to the music. The trombonist who closed her eyes and was swept by the music, the flutist who tapped her foot to the beats and the accordionist who used his entire body to play their instrument was enchanting to watch. In turn, it allowed us to give ourselves over to the performance and be taken on our own journey and reflection of love and loss.

The Consort of Melbourne: Playing with Fire

In November last year, I attended the National Gallery's Friday Nights event during its Masterpieces from the Hermitage exhibition. As I wandered through the gallery, I came across a choral performance that had me transfixed and extremely eager to hear more. The group was the Consort of Melbourne, a professional vocal ensemble who champion historic and contemporary chamber vocal repertoire. Since that experience, I have eagerly awaited the opportunity to see (and hear) them perform again, and this month they return to the Melbourne Recital Centre with their Local Heroes season.

"We have presented a regular concert series in the Melbourne Recital Centre for many years and we're always excited to return," Artistic Director of the Consort of Melbourne, Steven Hodgson tells me. "Our Local Heroes season has a 'Fire and Water' theme with the first concert, Flames within being a very exciting and dynamic program centred on explosive vocal music by composers Claudio Monteverdi, Carlo Gesualdo and Luca Marenzio."

Mama Alto season launch

If you haven't yet heard of Mama Alto, then 2016 will definitely be changing that. Tucked away down a side street off Collins St, Entrecôte hosted the 2016 season launch of the countertenor diva, jazz singer and cabaret artiste Mama Alto.

Guests were greeted to a high tea party extravaganza with glasses of sparkling wine, lemonade scones with jam and cream and macarons while treated to a sampling of what Mama Alto has in store for 2016.

An evolving piece of repertory work throughout the year begins with Mama Alto: Torch Songs, which will feature an ever changing selection from the 200 jazz standards within the Mama Alto repertoire of sumptuous ballads, fierce blues scorchers and poignant torch songs. This will premiere on March 4th at one of Melbourne's most vibrant performance venue and bar, the iconic Butterfly Club, before touring to further locations.

The rest of this varied season includes further appearances with the legendary Finucane & Smith and Mama Alto: Delicacies; a feast for the senses, which will see the culinary skills of Entrecôte combined with the musical tastes of Mama Alto & pianist Miss Chief. Another exciting event will be an immersive theatrical experience, Mama Alto: Blues in the Night, which will transform the Chapel off Chapel theatre into an underground jazz age speakeasy in December that should not be missed.

Lost In The Looping Glass by Helen Bower - Melbourne Fringe Festival preview

The great thing about Melbourne Fringe is the sheer range of shows on display and one that promises a unique experience is Lost In The Looping Glass. Created by violinist and sound artist Helen Bower in collaboration with composer Charles MacInnes, this is a unique musical show not to be missed. An exciting sequel to Bower’s 2014 fringe show Through the Looping Glass, this new work delves deeper into the fascinating new music that can be created with just one violin, a loop station and some well-placed sonic effects. 

"Looping is taking a fragment of music (a melody or a chord sequence of a rhythm for example) and making it go round and round - a bit like having a song on repeat, once it gets to the end it starts again at the beginning," Bower explains. "Live electronic looping is when you record those fragments live and then loop them and layer them on top of one another to create a piece of music.  It's a really fascinating way to create rich and interesting textures with just a single instrument."