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PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL INFORMATION ON SYDNEY FESTIVAL 2009 IS UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL THURSDAY 6 NOVEMBER Sydney Festival 2009 10–31 January www.sydneyfestival.org.au Exuberant, exciting and forever effervescent – the best time to experience Sydney is in January, when the city is in full celebratory mode. Sydney Festival is Australia’s largest annual cultural event, presenting the biggest and best of the world’s theatre, music and dance, all coming together in an avalanche of artistic activity. The program for Sydney Festival 2009 announced Wednesday 5 November 2008 Tickets on sale Monday 10 November 2008 FESTIVAL FIRST NIGHT FESTIVAL FIRST NIGHT SATURDAY 10 JANUARY 2009 Sydney Festival invites you to experience a truly epic summer celebration – and it’s all free. Make a note of Saturday 10 January 2009, when one of the world’s most beautiful cities gives over its streets, laneways and parklands to hundreds of musicians, dancers and artists. A crowd of more than 200,000 dancing and singing revellers made the 2008 First Night a massive success. Festival First Night in January 2009 offers more stages, more artists and more chances for visitors and locals alike to join together in re-imagining Sydney as a creative playground where everyone is welcome and free to explore this magical city. With major street closures throughout the CBD, the drone of traffic will be replaced by a profusion of musical sounds from every corner of the world. Expect major international stars on The Domain main stage, beats from around the world in Angel Place, a romantic gypsy wonderland in Hyde Park and a major celebration of dance featuring Australia’s leading contemporary choreographers – including a chance for everyone to join in and show off their dance moves! Amongst the line-up for Festival First Night 2009 will be the indomitable Grace Jones, Brooklyn pop sensation Santogold, soul singer Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, the best of the Balkans with The Gypsy Queens and Kings and many more to be confirmed. 1 PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL INFORMATION ON SYDNEY FESTIVAL 2009 IS UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL THURSDAY 6 NOVEMBER THEATRE THE WAR OF THE ROSES Sydney Theatre Company This eight hour epic takes a journey through all Shakespeare's "History Plays" for arguably the greatest theatrical cycle written in the English language, following the passage of a single crown through a marathon of language and story. The engine of history is displayed as a machine of bloody slaughter, addiction, baffling conspiracy, illegitimacy, murder, perverse marriage and generational warfare. Directed by Benedict Andrews, and with Cate Blanchett and Robert Menzies, this will be the last outing for STC’s Actor’s Company. GATE / FRIEL A celebration of the work of Brian Friel On 9 January 2009, Ireland’s greatest living playwright Brian Friel will celebrate his 80th birthday. In recognition, Gate Theatre Dublin is producing a special season of Friel’s work. Friel’s career as a writer spans nearly 45 years of short stories, original stage plays and adaptations. Faith Healer “Brilliant and profound…an infinitely fine play.” The Irish Times Friel’s greatest play, Faith Healer influenced a generation of Irish writing for the theatre. A Faith Healer has spent his life touring Scotland and Wales with his manager, Teddy, and wife, Grace. Their stories are told in separate, often contradictory monologues, making for a both seductive and terrifying mosaic of narratives. Cast includes Owen Roe and Ingrid Craigie. Afterplay “A musical duet of the highest order, imbued with Chekhov but acquiring a poetic life of its own.” Daily Mail In Afterplay, Friel brings together two of Chekhov’s lost souls: Sonya, Uncle Vanya’s devoted niece, and Andrey, the three sisters’ henpecked brother. 20 years have passed and Friel brings together these two refugees, who gradually reveal what has happened to their families – and to their own quiet hopes. Cast includes Francesca Annis and Niall Buggy. The Yalta Game The Yalta Game is based on Chekhov's greatest short story, Lady with Lapdog. After a holiday game of amorous dalliance and seduction, a married accountant and a young woman find themselves obsessed by reveries and meet again to embark on a self destructive future of duplicity, ecstasy and perhaps, love. LIPSYNCH Ex Machina “You don’t watch a Lepage epic, it happens to you.” The MontrealGazette Following the towering achievements of The Andersen Project (2006) and The Far Side of the Moon (2001), Sydney Festival welcomes back theatre visionary Robert Lepage with Lipsynch, his much anticipated epic new ensemble work. Lipsynch is a sweeping nine-hour performance spanning 70 years and exploring the voice as a compelling metaphor for human expression and interaction, conjuring up a hugely ambitious panorama that links nine lives, spinning stories that often juxtapose tragedy with slapstick. The play journeys between war-torn Vienna, pre-revolutionary Nicaragua and contemporary London, encountering people who have lost the power of speech and those for whom it is their only lifeline. This limited season is a chance to experience the extraordinary reach and ambition of one of the world’s leading artists. Performed in English, French, German and Spanish with English surtitles. 2 PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL INFORMATION ON SYDNEY FESTIVAL 2009 IS UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL THURSDAY 6 NOVEMBER IVANOV Katona Jozsef Theatre Sydney Festival welcomes one of Europe’s finest acting ensembles, Budapest’s Katona Jozsef Theatre, in their acclaimed production of Chekhov’s early masterpiece. Ivanov tells the tale of a once idealistic landowner who has lost all interest in life. With consummate skill, director Tamas Ascher has uprooted the play from its usual setting amongst the fading Russian bourgeoisie, and planted it firmly within Hungary’s ascendant peasant classes of the 1960s. Ascher’s deeply sympathetic production performs a dizzying balancing act between the hopelessness of the protagonist’s mid-life crises and the unexpected hilarity of the dreary soviet provincialism of 1960’s Hungary. Performed in Hungarian with English surtitles. THE TELL-TALE HEART “A stunning tour-de-force performance.” Variety A man – a murderer – sits alone on a staircase, pursued by shadows and imaginary demons. The Tell-Tale Heart is based on the classic short story by Edgar Allan Poe, a writer whose legacy haunts the shelves of our greatest modern literature. Together with Austrian actor, and angelic singer, Martin Niedermair, Barrie Kosky creates a thrilling voyage into the morbid and fascinating world of the “Master of Horror” with a performance that is sharpened to steely perfection. BEING HAROLD PINTER Belarus Free Theatre “…dazzling production.*****” The Guardian Banned in their native Belarus and renowned for staging covert, uncensored performances, Belarus Free Theatre is a voice of dissent fighting for democracy and free expression. Being Harold Pinter is a performance that uses extracts from Pinter's writings, from The Homecoming (1965) to Ashes to Ashes (1996) as well as the playwright’s Nobel acceptance speech in 2005, along with documentary monologues from Belarusian dissidents. The work questions truth in life and art, and exposes the repression and brutality to be found in Belarus and elsewhere. Performed in Russian with English subtitles. THE PIANIST Based on the memoirs of Wladyslaw Szpilman “Rudy is a pianist with an enormous musical appetite…an intrepid explorer.” Gramophone Award-winning Russian pianist Mikhail Rudy brings the story of The Pianist to the Belvoir St stage. Best known as an Oscar-winning film by Roman Polanski, based upon the memoirs of Wladyslaw Szpilman, this is the harrowing story of one man's time in the Warsaw Ghetto during the Nazi occupation. Using Szpilman's original text and the ravishing music of Chopin, The Pianist tells a powerful story of suffering, strength and survival – and the role played by music in that survival. NO DICE Nature Theater of Oklahoma “Smart, witty, highly physical, and eager to twist notions of theatricality.” Village Voice A tale of the everyday blown to epic proportions, No Dice is an abbreviated four-hour version of the company’s legendary 11-hour melodramatic spectacle. Seven fearless souls take 100 hours of taped phone conversations conducted with friends, family, and colleagues and, through the conventions of amateur dinner theatre, transform them into a mighty, sweaty, and exhilarating celebration of the struggle of daily life. The result is often hilarious, at times infuriating but, in the end, surprisingly sublime. THE SMILE OFF YOUR FACE Ontroerend Goed Warning: this show includes audience participation (ie being tied up and blindfolded)… Enter a titillating world of scents and sounds, sharpen your instincts and let yourself lose control. Sit in a wheelchair, put on a blindfold and indulge your imagination as Ontroerend Goed digs into your pleasures, desires and memories. 3 PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL INFORMATION ON SYDNEY FESTIVAL 2009 IS UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL THURSDAY 6 NOVEMBER Once you take the plunge and relinquish control, you’ll be taken on some very personal and intimate adventures, both beautiful and surreal. DANCE MORPHOSES The Wheeldon Company Morphoses is the new dance company formed by international ballet star Christopher Wheeldon, hailed as contemporary ballet’s saviour for his original, innovative choreography. Formed in November 2006, Morphoses performed its first season in Vail, London and New York and featured top-range dancers from the Bolshoi, New York City and Royal Ballets. The company aims to revitalise contemporary classical ballet by marrying dance, music, visual arts and design, incorporating the world’s finest dancers in collaboration with significant artists across all relevant disciplines. Wheeldon was Resident Choreographer at New York City Ballet from 2001 – 2008, and has created works for companies including San Francisco Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet and Royal Ballet. Dancers include Céline Cassone, Aesha Ash, Lucinda Dunn, Beatriz Stix-Brunell, Stephanie Williams, Silja Schandorff, Robert Curran, Rory Hohenstein, Jon Jordan, Edwaard Liang, Matt Trent, Matthew Dibble and Damian Smith. All four works will have live music accompaniment including Michael Keiren Harvey on piano. MUSIC ALL TOMORROW’S PARTIES Curated by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds For the first time in Australia, a new kind of music festival is coming to Cockatoo Island. Curated by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, and described as “the ultimate mix tape” by Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, All Tomorrow’s Parties is a music festival founded in 1999 as an alternative to Glastonbury or Reading. With a tendency towards post-rock, avant-garde, underground hip hop as well as more traditional rock, ATP is presented in an environment more intimate than a stadium or country field. Guest artists are asked to curate, inviting their favourite performers to play, giving punters a taste of their particular musical aesthetics. For Sydney Festival 2009, ATP will feature special guests, The Saints (with original members Chris Bailey, Ivor Hay and Ed Kuepper) and performances by seminal international artists including Spiritualized, James ‘Blood’ Ulmer, Silver Apples, Fuck Buttons, Harmonia and Michael Gira alongside Australians Laughing Clowns, Robert Forster, Bridezilla and The Necks. More to be announced in November. FANFARE CIOCARLIA And Special Guests “Open with a wild, orgiastic climax and then work their way up from there.“ The Times Never before has Sydney witnessed such a wealth of Romany musical talent on one stage at the one time. It's fireworks time as Sydney Festival heads to Eastern Europe for an incendiary night of gypsy music. 'Speed demons' Fanfare Ciocarlia, winners of BBC Radio 3's 2006 World Music Award for Europe, are the most famous gypsy band in the world, and will be joined on stage by Macedonia’s Gypsy Queen Esma Redzepova, Bulgarian Gypsy soul singer Jony Iliev, Hungary’s maverick vocalist Mitsou and Perpignan Rumba Gitano band Kaloome. GLEN HANSARD AND MARKETA IGLOVA The Swell Season “Achingly beautiful.” Variety The Swell Season is a collaboration between Glen Hansard, frontman of influential Irish band The Frames, and classically trained Czech vocalist and pianist, Marketa Irglova. Hansard and Irglova first happened upon one another when The Frames were touring the Czech Republic. Together they recorded an album in Prague, The Swell Season, released in April 2006. The album’s haunting songs contributed 4 PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL INFORMATION ON SYDNEY FESTIVAL 2009 IS UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL THURSDAY 6 NOVEMBER hugely to the success of the 2007 hit Irish film Once, a love story set on the streets of Dublin, starring Hansard and Irglova. The film won the Audience Award at Sundance in 2007 and a 2008 Academy Award (Best Original Song) for ‘Falling Slowly’. MASTERS OF TRADITION Celebrating traditional Irish music in its purest form, Masters of Tradition is a spectacular concert featuring some of Ireland’s greatest musical luminaries. Fiddleplayer Martin Hayes leads an array of talents in a huge celebration of traditional music and its modern masters. Originating at the West Cork Music Masters of Tradition Festival, this event has become the ultimate presentation of Ireland’s rich musical heritage by its utmost contemporary exponents. Superb fiddler Martin Hayes will be joined by his usual partner, guitarist Dennis Cahill, as well as fiddle player Cathal Hayden (Four Men and a Dog), accordionist Martin O’Connor, guitarist Steve Cooney and extraordinary traditional vocalist Iarla O’Lionaird (Afro Celt Sound System). MATTHEW HERBERT BIG BAND Matthew Herbert’s dazzling new album There’s Me and There’s You is the most seductive, sophisticated and subversive collection of protest songs ever recorded. Blending lush jazz instrumentation, soulful vocals, fascinating rhythms and a secret underground arsenal of outlandish samples, it marks Herbert’s second collaboration with his big band. An electronic innovator, sonic explorer and prolific collaborator, Herbert has released a huge catalogue of critically acclaimed music under his own name as well as Doctor Rockit, Wishmountain, Radio Boy and others. He has also produced and remixed artists as diverse as Björk, REM, Quincy Jones, John Cale, Yoko Ono, Dizzee Racal and Roisin Murphy, as well as working with highly regarded original thinkers such as the chef Heston Blumenthal and playwright Caryl Churchill. BON IVER “Irresistible.” New York Times Soulful, intimate and gracious, Bon Iver is the Wisconsin-based indie folk singersongwriter Justin Vernon. His debut album For Emma, Forever Ago, has been hailed as an unassuming masterpiece with Mojo magazine naming it one of 2008’s landmark records, and The Independent calling it one of the year’s best. Vernon spent over three months alone in a hunting cabin recording For Emma after he split from his long-time band. The album is the sound of a man left only with a guitar and his memories, with Vernon’s shimmering voice shifting smoothly from a light, spectral falsetto to his deeply soulful, grainy growl, layered over and under his spare, atmospheric instrumentation. CAMILLE “She's chic, she's lit, and she's a Paris match for Björk.” The Independent Direct from a sell-out tour of Europe and the UK, Camille brings her unique and innovative vocal style to Sydney Festival. Parisian born Camille is an eccentric French-pop chaunteuse whose live shows are a feast to behold, with mixes of full body percussion, vocal trance and throat singing. Three years after breaking onto the music scene with Le Fil, Camille’s latest album, Music Hole, proves she is as musically innovative and vocally audacious as ever. THE CINEMATIC ORCHESTRA “It is rare to find a gig where so many levels of artistic expression are touched, and with such intelligence.” Jazz Review One of the most innovative and spellbinding bands in the UK, The Cinematic Orchestra live up to their name with an atmospheric and beguiling combination of ingenious sampling and technical know-how, live instruments and improvised jazz. In the last three years the Cinematics have played far and wide at every conceivable type of venue and on all kinds of occasion, from Ronnie Scott’s to Fuji Rock in Japan, Montreaux to Coachella Music Festival. 5 PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL INFORMATION ON SYDNEY FESTIVAL 2009 IS UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL THURSDAY 6 NOVEMBER DOUBLE DREAM Mikhail Rudy and Misha Alperin Double Dream is an exciting, innovative project for two pianos created by classical pianist Mikhail Rudy and renowned jazz pianist Misha Alperin. The work consists of partly rewritten and partly improvised “recompositions” of works by Haydn, Beethoven, Schumann, Chopin, Debussy, Janácek and Scriabin. Double Dream has been performed to enthusiastic audiences in Norway, France and Germany. The CD, released in 2004 on EMI Classics, received numerous distinctions, including Gramophone’s “Best Record of the Month.” Rudy also appears in The Pianist and Alperin with Moscow Art Trio. SAMSUNG MOBILE FESTIVAL GARDEN LA CLIQUE Fairground attraction collides with sideshow burlesque when La Clique, the sell-out hit of fringe festivals in Edinburgh, Brighton, Melbourne and Adelaide as well as the 2007 and 2008 Sydney Festivals, returns to The Famous Spiegeltent in Hyde Park North. David Bates, co-creator of La Clique, staged the first version of the show in 2002 as a raunchy late-night vaudeville act in Melbourne, and has watched it swell in popularity ever since. JOE HENRY Broadminded singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer, Joe Henry’s warm, poignant blues defies easy labels. A dynamic sonic explorer, his simple, poetic songs incorporate elements of trip-hop, jazz and soul, with tango and alt-country stylings. With his growling, soul-inflected vocals and tales of a shrewdly-observed America, Joe Henry is often likened to Tom Waits. A songwriter with a deeply reflective point of view, the warring forces of romance and chaos in his songs give Henry’s live shows an unforgettable emotional impact. ST. VINCENT Multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter Annie Clark has been wowing European music festival audiences with her gorgeous songs since stepping onto the global stage in 2007. Performing as St. Vincent, Clark struck out solo after touring and recording with both Sufjan Stevens and The Polyphonic Spree. St. Vincent’s swirling indie-pop is a distinctly elegant fusion of the classical and experimental, the quirky and sophisticated. An original, ascendant talent, St. Vincent won the title of “Female Artist of the Year” at the PLUG Awards 2007. MOSCOW ART TRIO The poetic jazz of the Misha Alperin’s Moscow Art Trio picks up Moldavian, Georgian and Russian themes, playfully mixing their character with spirited improvised flights. When classically trained Alperin founded the trio in 1990, he chose musicians with differing musical fortes – French Horn player Arkady Shilkloper, a former member of the Bolshoi Theatre orchestra and Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, and vocalist/clarinetist Sergey Starostin, whose specialty is the vocals and traditional wind instruments of Russian folk music Together, Moscow Art Trio interlace folklore and classical elements in a blues format, embarking on a fascinating journey between loyalty to tradition, openness to the world and the joy in experimentation. Alperin also appears in Double Dream. JUANA MOLINA Juana Molina’s hypnotic grooves come alive with rhythms that writhe around each other, punctuated with coos, sighs, handclaps and murmurs. This is ambient, electro folk-ish pop, infused with irresistibly warm vocals. Molina stepped away from her success as a major TV star in Argentina and Latin America to pursue her childhood dream of being a musician. Her homemade debut Segundo won her international attention and the title of Entertainment Weekly’s 2003 Best World Music Album. Her album Tres Cosas featured in the New York Times Top Ten Records of 2004. 6 PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL INFORMATION ON SYDNEY FESTIVAL 2009 IS UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL THURSDAY 6 NOVEMBER BILL CALLAHAN Enigmatic singer-songwriter and under-recognised pioneer of the lo-fi, US musician Bill Callahan’s fractured music neatly epitomises the underground rock revolution. Melancholy and poignant, Callahan’s songs are strikingly characterised by his baritone voice and reflective, sensitive delivery. Breaking through the introspection, there is also a broad swathe of black humour throughout his work. Until recently, Callahan performed under the alias Smog, with much of his early instrumental output a stark contrast to the lyrical focus of his current releases. His latest album Woke on a Whaleheart, on Chicago rock label Drag City, is his first as Bill Callahan and is a work of subtle, sonic grandeur. REGGIE WATTS "Original, off-the-wall and entertaining Bliss." The Sunday Telegraph (UK) With his mix of improvised music, absurd comedy, and visceral social commentary, Reggie Watts shakes new meaning into what you can do with a microphone and loop-machine. Channelling over 300 characters with his ten-octave vocal range, Watts combines looped vocals (created live on stage) with his unique brand of improvised comedy, tackling everything from ancient history and technology, science and racism, to theology and pop culture. The results incorporate hip hop, trip hop, 80s pop, alternative, nu metal and classic opera, all improvised over looped beatboxing. PARADOXICAL UNDRESSING Kirsten Hersh “A magnificently charged union of Sylvia Plath and Patti Smith.*****” The Guardian Kirsten Hersh first gained attention at the age of 14, when she founded the band Throwing Muses with step-sister Tanya Donnelly. An extremely shy person, Hersh found this attention difficult to deal with. Paradoxically, as an artist, she is known for her sometimes brutal emotional honesty and openness. In Paradoxical Undressing Hersh tells about her life as a teenage girl, wrestling with issues of extreme creativity, mental illness, pregnancy and life within this seminal indie rock band. Her story is punctuated with songs from both Throwing Muses and her own solo catalogue, creating a candid and moving experience that combines film, music and text. SUMSUNG MOBILE SECRET SHOW Bosco Theater is a space especially for those last-minute programming opportunities – we’ve got an incredible line-up of musos and entertainers in town – where do they go if they want to put on a last-minute late-night show? Every morning, Sydney Festival will announce the show for that night – cash sale tickets available at the door only – it’s sure to be the veritable lucky dip of the Festival! EAT DRINK TALK ART One of the Festival’s favourite recurring events, Eat Drink Talk Art, is back for it’s forth year, this time in the surrounds of the The Famous Spiegeltent. Eat Drink Talk Art is a series of free informal lunchtime talks by Festival artists, writers, directors. This is a wonderful opportunity to hear behind-the-scenes stories, as well as insights into the work, lives and inspirations of the creative forces and colourful personalities behind the Festival. BYO or buy some lunch at the Festival Garden, slip into the magical atmosphere of The Famous Spiegeltent, and settle in for some good stories. KIDS AT THE GARDEN The popular Kids at the Garden program returns to Sydney Festival in 2009 with old favourites and new Festival friends presenting kid-friendly music, dance, art and circus at the The Famous Spiegeltent in Samsung Mobile Festival Garden. For ten days throughout January, parents can bring kids along for art classes, dance lessons, acrobatic demonstrations, percussion workshops, story-telling and more. All events at Kids at the Garden are free however capacity is very limited. 7 PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL INFORMATION ON SYDNEY FESTIVAL 2009 IS UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL THURSDAY 6 NOVEMBER FESTIVAL KIDS AT PARRAMATTA This year Sydney Festival is taking over Parramatta’s Riverside Theatres with a bunch of shows especially for the small ones in our lives. DAN ZANES & FRIENDS “The happiest concert vibe since Woodstock. With a lot less drugs and mud." New York Magazine Calling all kids and kids-at heart: get ready to sing and dance the day away with familyfriendly rockers Dan Zanes & Friends! Zanes, former front man of the 80's group Del Fuegos, creates new versions of traditional songs, playing rock ‘n roll, gospel, blues and folk-inspired tunes with diverse instrumentation and original arrangements. It’s one big music party and everyone’s invited. THE TRAGICAL LIFE OF CHEESEBOY Slingsby “An exotic flight of whimsy and imagination.” The Adelaide Review Inside a magical travelling theatre tent, discover a storyteller who shares an enchanting and timeless tale… Cheeseboy's home planet has been reduced to a bubbling fondue. Where are his parents? How did he become marooned on Earth? Gypsies have given him a home of sorts, but Cheeseboy is tugged this way and that by tides of strange longings and stranger powers. This quirky, beautiful, dark and very funny theatre show will transport you to a fantastical world of loss, trickery, gypsies, discovery and, of course, cheese. Age 10+ FLUFF Christine Johnson "One of the most imaginative shows for the young you will find.” Adelaide Advertiser What happens when your favourite toy is lost? In a fantasy world of odd-sized boxes, night-lights, handmade gingham costumes and curtains, three intriguing characters make a home for lost toys. They discover how each toy came to be lost in the first place, before giving them their own sound, a movement, a piece of music, a night-light. And a nice comfy bed to sleep in. Created by Christine Johnston, one of Australia’s most celebrated performing artists, Fluff combines audience interaction, music, movement and stunning visual design to create a whimsical piece of theatre. Ages 3-8 THE NARGUN AND THE STARS Erth Where do you find a Potkoorok, Turongs and Nyols? Look no further than the new children’s play, The Nargun and the Stars, based on Patricia Wrightson’s much-loved book of the same name. The story follows Simon, a boy orphaned and relocated to his cousins’ bush farm, where he soon meets the trickster Potkoorok, the mischievous Turongs and the cave-dwelling Nyols. This peaceful haven is disrupted by the arrival of the Nargun, a stone creature from the beginning of time. The mythical indigenous creatures are bought to life by the extraordinary puppets and inflatables created by visual theatre makers, Erth. The adaptation is informed by Erth’s on-going consultation with the owners of the original Nargun story, the Gunai/Kurnai, Monaro and Boon Wurrung communities of East Gippsland. THE PROMISE The Flying Fruit Fly Circus A spectacular fusion of circus and puppetry, The Promise travels from the dusty paddocks of rural Australia to the far-flung edges of the world. The tale of a pledge between and father and son, The Promise is a heartwarming, rollicking adventure celebrating love, loss, life and the tests that define us all. Powerful visual theatre, The Promise incorporates a range of puppetry styles from miniature to small-scale, booth to shadow, large-scale to object images, together with The Flying Fruit Fly Circus performers’ extraordinary physical skills. Age 6+ 8 PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL INFORMATION ON SYDNEY FESTIVAL 2009 IS UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL THURSDAY 6 NOVEMBER MUSIC IS MAGIC Australian Children Music Foundation Last year’s competition was all about singing the ‘Mashed Banana’. This year – who knows?! To celebrate the nurturing of our youngest songwriters, Sydney Festival is again bringing together some of our finest young singers and musicians. Led by the much-loved Maestro George Ellis, Sydney Youth Orchestra, Australian Children’s Choir and a line-up of surprise guest vocalists will present some of the highlight entries in the 2008 Australian Children’s Music Foundation National Songwriting Competition. iiNET FILMS AFLOAT AT DARLING HARBOUR Get set for a night at the movies like none other. Sydney Festival is presenting a selection of films on a floating screen on Darling Harbour. Each of the films will have a new film score played live. RUN LOLA RUN with THE BAYS “The Bays remind you that music is about experience rather than shopping.” The Guardian UK band The Bays make exhilarating live electronic music. Their seamless segues from hip hop and drum ‘n bass to ambient grooves and dubby bass lines challenge every old-school notion of a ‘live’ band. A band with no albums, no rehearsals and no set-list, The Bays live in the moment, giving an unrepeatable, completely improvised performance every single time. Here, the band takes Tom Twyker’s iconic 1998 film Run Lola Run as inspiration. A punchy play on fate and choices with a three-way plot that careens through cartoon sequences, bank heists and the urban jungle, it is the perfect fit for The Bays’ fast, loud, dazzling music. ENTER THE DRAGON with KARSH KALE & MEDIVAL PUNDITZ New York city based composer, multiinstrumentalist and Bruce Lee fanatic Karsh Kale joins forces with New Delhi based electronica producers, MiDival Punditz, to perform their incendiary new live score of the 1973 martial arts classic Enter the Dragon. Considered a force of nature on the tablas, Kale has been labelled as a “visionary composer and producer” by Billboard magazine. Karsh Kale and Midival Punditz join forces for a fierce live performance capturing a panorama of influences – past and future, analog and digital – bringing classical Indian music into the rock and electronic vernacular. A combination perfectly suited to Bruce Lee’s masterful screen presence. FANTASTIC PLANET with BEN WALSH & THE ORKESTRA OF THE UNDERGROUND This work brings to life Laloux's 1973 Cannes award winning French animation La Planète Sauvage (Fantastic Planet), with a live score played to the big screen version of the cinematic gem. This is animated psychedelic science fiction brought to life by The Orkestra of the Underground, showcasing some of Sydney's finest musical minds. The Orkestra will weave together a 72 minute score composed and conceived by Ben Walsh (The Bird, Circle of Rhythm, Tom Tom Club) alongside musicians from The Bird, Hermitude, Ponyclub Massacre, The Crusty Suitcase Band, and special guest Sarangan Sriranganathan. BECK’S FESTIVAL BAR BECK’S FESTIVAL BAR 13 nights at Hyde Park Barracks During Sydney Festival, Beck’s Festival Bar transforms Hyde Park Barracks into Sydney’s coolest outdoor live music haven. Catch the finest line-up of local and international DJs and bands while making the most of the balmy summer evenings this January. Enjoy a beer and a bite to eat, chill out or make a party of it. Full line-up announced late November. January 14 French multi-instrumentalists Java mix rap, hip hop, samba, reggae, ragga, rock, jazz, funk and electro with circus spirit and manic humour. / $38* 9 PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL INFORMATION ON SYDNEY FESTIVAL 2009 IS UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL THURSDAY 6 NOVEMBER January 15 / Popfrenzy Party UK indie dance three-piece Metronomy’s live shows feature robotic frivolity, ironic light show and synchronized dance routines. Pivot’s innovative post-rock combines dreamy synth patterns and subtle guitar grooves. Joining the party is absurdly fun US pop-punk maestro Totally Michael. / $38* January 16 Throwing Muses pioneered a thrillingly raucous form of ‘art rock’ years before the term existed, blending elliptical post-punk, harmonious folk jangle pop and rockabilly thunder. Dappled Cities blend playful grandiosity with chillier sonic explorations, culminating in an exuberant indie-pop sound. / $38* January 22 Widely considered to be the founder of the mash-up movement, Z Trip’s (US) live sets are an eclectic, crowdpleasing, tour de force of beat-matching artistry. Oz hip-hop crew TZU join the party. / $38* January 23 / Disco Nouveau Two-man DJ show Holy ghost! (NY) is one of the most exciting acts in the nu-disco scene. Idjut Boys(UK) produce genre-bending dance floor stormers with a dash of humour. Theatre of Disco play angular indie disco and Nathan Mclay (Future Classic) tops it off alongside nu-disco posse Canyons (Hole in the Sky). / $28* January 24 / Hyper-Dub London/Jamaican The Bug featuring Warrior Queen mix ragga, dancehall, hip hop and garage set to dubstep and grime. Berlin Rhythm & Sound’s stripped down, rootsy, hi-tech dub/techno has earned them legendary status – Maurizio and Tikiman (Paul St Hilaire) bring the sound to Australia for the very first time. Joining them are Mark Pritchard, Sub Bass Snarl, Victim, Garage Pressure, Mc’s Ozi Batla and Steve Spacek. / $38* January 28 Four Tet (Kieran Hebden) makes machine-based music with acoustic warmth as evidenced by his remixes of Beth Orton and Radiohead. / $38* January 30 / FBi Night Portugal’s Buraka Som Sistema (DJ/Mc set) fuse the wild traditional beats of South West Africa with electronics, drum n bass, hip hop and dance. / $38* January 31 / Mad Racket Eccentric Ninja Tune maestro Daedelus’ trademark musicality contrasts intelligent, left-field hip hop cut-ups with samples from the 30s and 40s in a fun, quirky and energetic live set. Mad Racketeers Simon Caldwell, Jimmi James, Ken Cloud and Zootie round off the night. / $28* FREE OUTDOOR PLAY ME, I’M YOURS Luke Jerram 30 pianos, 10,000 pianists… From Luke Jerram, the creator of Sky Orchestra (Sydney Festival 2007) comes another inspiring project, placing art and music in the urban environment in an unusual way. Designed to encourage people into unexpected interactions, Play Me, I’m Yours challenges preconceived notions of city living and enhances our sense of community. Play Me, I’m Yours places pianos in the streets of the city, on pavements, at street corners, free to play to anyone who walks by. Play Me, I’m Yours provides public access to that most well-loved of all musical instruments and brings creativity and musical play into our everyday public spaces. DAWN CHORUS Sydney Philharmonic Choirs Ask anyone what it’s like at a beach at dawn, and they are quite likely to mention a magical serenity. This stillness lends itself to some charmed acoustics – something which Sydney Festival decided to capture in song. On every Saturday throughout the Festival, a choir of 120 will gather on a beach at dawn to sing a selection of old and new a capella works. Directed by Brett Wymark, with specially commissioned music by Iain Grandage, Raffaele Marcellino, John Peterson and Dan Walker, Dawn Chorus will be a treasured treat for early-risers. 10 PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL INFORMATION ON SYDNEY FESTIVAL 2009 IS UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL THURSDAY 6 NOVEMBER THE GYPSY QUEENS AND KINGS Domain Jazz Saturday 17 January Nothing is more intrinsic to Sydney in summer than The Domain Series, where up to 100,000 people gather to soak up the atmosphere of superb music on a balmy summer evening. The last couple of years have seen a resurgence of interest in Jazz in the Domain, with the word getting out that this is a night for a bit of alfresco dancing. In 2009, Jazz in the Domain will feature The Gypsy Queens and Kings for a night of the very best of European gypsy music. OLD WORLD / NEW WORLD Domain Symphony With the Sydney Symphony conductor Richard Gill Saturday 24 January Join us in The Domain as conductor and guide richard gill leads the Sydney Symphony through the work of some of Australia’s most brilliant composers before taking us back to the beauty and inspiration of the giants of the classical canon. Australian composers and musicians have a respected, unique place on the world stage across all musical fields, and have become an intrinsic part of our culture. This year’s concert celebrates them. The first half features works by Percy Grainger, Peter Sculthorpe, Ross Edwards, Matthew Hindson, Nigel Westlake and Paul Stanhope, while the second half takes us back to Europe and favourite compositions by Dvorák, Mendelssohn and many more. AAMI FERRYTHON Monday 26 January The AAMI Ferrython is one of Sydney’s best-loved annual large-scale spectator events, when crowds numbering in the 100s of 1000s flock to boats and along the harbour foreshore to soak up the atmosphere and cheer on the race as part of their Australia Day Celebrations. In 2009 the AAMI Ferrython will once again unleash those four fast and feisty old gals, the much beloved little green and yellow catamarans, to race up and down Sydney Harbour. As always, they’ll be dressed to the nines and racing at full throttle in a battle for line honours and the coveted Lord Mayor’s Trophy and Best Dressed Ferry Award. MOVIES IN THE OVERFLOW Sydney Olympic Park Every year Sydney Olympic Park celebrates the holiday spirit by offering a fabulous range of free films throughout January. The films are free, so sit back and soak up a night under the stars! Arrive early with family and friends to enjoy the great food on offer. Guests are encouraged to bring blankets and low chairs. OTHER ! FESTIVAL FLICKS To complement the program Sydney Festival presents a selection of films at Dendy Opera Quays. FAST FESTIVAL FEASTS Over the last couple of years, Fast Festival Feasts have moved from a best-kept secret to an all-out Festival favourite. In 2008, more than 7300 people sampled top-notch nosh at some of Sydney’s best restaurants for just $25. Now in its ninth year, Fast Festival Feasts offers a dinner for just $25 at a wide range of top-level restaurants in Sydney and Parramatta. The fact that they throw in a wine or beer as well makes the whole experience pretty near perfect. Fast Festival Feasts can now lay claim to having its own cult of fervent Festival foodies. They know it’s all about enhancing the complete Festival experience – you’ve got the tickets, you’re ready for a great show, and what better way to start off the night than a great meal. 11