The SUNDAY SONIX SERIES is a regular gathering and showcase of artists working in improvisation and experimental sound and music, from our region and beyond. It is an opportunity for artists to expand their practice and for audiences to step into the adventure with them.
In July artists have been given 600 sonic seconds each with the provocation to weave a sound that has been used by another artist. This artist can be any artist and can be named ahead of or after each performance.
Aviva Endean performing with guest Nick Ashwood
Aviva Endean is an artist dedicated to fostering a deep engagement with (and care for) sound and music, with the hope that attentive listening can connect people with each other and their environment. She is active as a clarinetist, composer, improviser, curator, sound artist, performance-maker and collaborator. Aviva regularly works across a range of contexts including experimental and improvised music, new chamber music, creating theatre works which are designed to be listened to, and working on cross-disciplinary collaborations. Her work seeks to work beyond the boundaries of her art form, to reimagine the possibilities of a practice with sound. Aviva was the inaugural recipient of the Australian Art Orchestra’s ‘Pathfinder’ Music Leadership program, which offered her a one-year Associate Artist position with the company. Her other positions have included teaching as Monash University, working as ‘Emerging Artist in Residence’ with both Chamber Made and ASTRA chamber music society, and Associate Artist for the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity (Canada).
Nick Ashwood
Nick Ashwood is a multi-instrumental, composer and performer of contemporary experimental music, from Nipaluna/Tasmanian now based in Naarm/Melbourne. Nick studied at the University of Tasmania where he trained in Jazz music performance at the Conservatorium of Music and went on to study improvisation and acoustic phenomena as Honours (2017) and Masters (2018) degrees respectively. Nicks’s Practice incorporates a number of different approaches and styles, that becomes a conversation or communion between the listener, the object, and the environment. I am fascinated by the complex relationships that exist between these elements, and I seek to use sound to illustrate their interconnected nature. My compositions often unfold over extended durations, allowing the sounds to connect and evolve in subtle and nuanced ways, resulting in an otherworldly and cumulative impact. My compositions employ unique field recording techniques, analog technologies, and microtonal instruments, and I am deeply interested in exploring the intersection of sound, ecology, and the vibrancy and resonance of everyday objects. Nick has had the opportunities to perform and record with a diverse array of artists from all over the world such as Laura Altman, Jim Denley, Clara de Asis, Robbie Avenaim, Annette Krebs, Amanda Stewart, Splinter Orchestra and Chris Abrahams, amongst others. Nick is part of the bands 180º with Jim Denley and Amanda Stewart, The Splinter Orchestra, Duo with Laura Altman Throughout 2019 and 2020 Nick released a body of work that includes a number of improvised bands and his own composed works
Justin Marshall
Justin Marshall lives in Mount Alexander Shire on the unceded lands of the Djaara People. He is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and sound producer who has worked extensively in contemporary sound art, popular, and world music. His passion is for creating surprising contexts for people to discover sound and music and to explore the boundaries of musical expression and experience for as diverse an audience as possible. Since graduating from the VCA in 2001 as a percussionist, Justin has performed across Australia and at major international festivals, with groups such as ARIA award winning Zulya and the Children of the Underground, Speak Percussion, Polyglot Theatre, The Cumbia Cosmonauts, D.D.Dumbo, Umlaut (Bar McKinnon) and The Wikimen. Justin is a core member of ARIA nominated Emma Donovan and The Putbacks and helped produce their last award-winning album at his studio, Ghost Recording Studio, in Castlemaine in 2021. His most recent works include sound and design for Maloya Moshpit 2023 (Punctum), Kultur-All Makaan 2021 (Punctum/Castlemaine State Festival), Sound Capsule and Wayfinders (Artplay 2021) and Sonic Labyrinth co-created with Aviva Endean, presented at the 2019 Castlemaine State Festival and 2019 Melbourne Fringe Festival and nominated for a Green Room Award (2020).
Kirri Büchler
Kirri Büchler currently resides on the stolen lands of the Dja Dja Wurrung people. She is a multi-instrumentalist (violin, double bass, piano, synthesiser and accordion). Kirri has spent most of her career as a performing musician, playing violin and double bass, crossing numerous genres; Hungarian/Romanian/Balkan Gypsy and folk music, trad jazz, Manouche, free jazz, mock-Russian cabaret, indie rock, classical, modern classical, experimental/new music, pop and ambient. Kirri has always had a keen interest in sound, sound art and the crossover between sound and music, and has explored this through her live music practice wherever possible. Over her years interspersed with her regular music practice she has created both improvised and pre-composed scores for various theatre works and/or performance art, dance and installations as well as a few sound design jobs for interesting arts projects. Her sound practice has taken a front seat since the onset of the pandemic as she has created sound for larger scale projects such as “Museum UNdone” and “We Pay To Be Where The Party Isn’t” with Metanoia and “Journey” with Hypnogoia.
Sally Beattie
Sally Beattie lives in Mount Alexander Shire, on the unceeded lands of the Dja Dja Wurrung. Classically trained at the University of Melbourne’s Conservatorium, Sally Beattie started out performing Renaissance and Medieval music in ensembles and later performed in the Melbourne Chorale and Astra Choir. However, she has always been more interested in the fringes of sound and music practice than in her trained field. Exploring vocal experimentation, Sally attempts to liberate her voice beyond the confines of beauty and express aspects of the human condition. She’s drawn to collaborate with other artists whose ears and hearts lead them beyond the ordinary.
Aryo Hall
Aryo Hall lives in Mount Alexander Shire on the unceded lands of the Djaara People. Aryo is an Indonesian/Australian emerging composer, trombone player, trumpet teacher and band manager. He specializes in Jazz, Latin, Balkan Gypsy and Gamelan music and has performed extensively around Australia and Indonesia. Born in Yogyakata and growing up in Eppalock – Bendigo, he began playing music and the gamelan from a very young age. He studied classical euphonium and jazz trombone as a student in Bendigo and was drawn to the thriving tradition of Gypsy Brass as an instrumentalist in and band manager for The Seduceaphones. His ambition is to lead a gamelan-fusion project that embraces the traditional music of central Java and the processes of contemporary improvisation.
