Cross-Cultural Commission

2014

Music

Artist/s: Simon Barker

The Centre will commission and present a new work by Australian musician and composer, Simon Barker.

Barker has performed throughout Australia, Europe, Asia and the US including a 17-city Tran-Siberian concert tour of Russia with the Mark Isaacs trio. In 2005, Barker created Kimnara Records, an independent record label presenting new music by Australian improvisers. In 2011, Barker completed a PhD at the University of Sydney. He is involved in several collaborative projects including Chiri (Scott Tinkler, Bae Il Dong), Band of Five Names, Showa 44 (duo with Carl Dewhurst), and Lost Thoughts (duo with Scott Tinkler).

Campbelltown Arts Centre will commission Simon Barker’s new work the'12 Links' for the 2014 Sacred Music Festival. “12 links” will be an exploration of musical intersections between Buddhist musical cultures from Southern and Eastern Asia, as well as a core group of Australian improvisers who have been involved in long-term collaborative endeavours with Asian musical traditions.

The primary aim of the concert is to create a context for a musical exchange exploring commonalities, differences and possibilities for improvisation, all in response to Buddhist musical traditions and aesthetic conceptions. The group will feature members of The Band of Five Names, as well as Japanese shakuhachi master, Akikazu Nakamura, Korean singer Bae il Dong, and two Buddhist ritual drummers from Sri Lanka.

Campbelltown Arts Centre has a long history of commissioning cross-cultural works through the visual art and is pleased to extend this to the music program, offering opportunities for musicians from different cultures to create new works and present them at the Centre. It profiles and reflects the diversity of our communities in South West Sydney and creates understanding between cultures.