AZIMUTH PROGRAM NOTES

These notes give information about the intentions of the composer of the piece, what to expect sonically and an overview of the visual elements.

Mark 'Munk' Ross  ‘The Story of King Bugaree’ (10 mins)

- Spoken Word with Tutti

More info soon.

Peggy Polias ‘Ship of Theseus’ (7 mins)

- Septet Peggy, Munk, Behzad, Joseph, Bella, Ria, Pico

More info soon.

Joseph Tabua ‘Chapter V – Becoming’ (5 mins)

- Quintet Joseph, Peggy, Bella, Pico, Ria

Becoming is the final chapter of my sonic cycle: an open, improvisational work anchored by a sustained drone on the tonal centre of G.

The piece emerges quietly, gathering force through layers of sustained electric guitar. Texture, resonance and volume shift with deliberate subtlety, allowing the sound to breathe and transform over time. There is no fixed melody or conventional rhythmic structure. Instead, the music unfolds organically, guided by attentive listening and the possibilities of the moment.

Listeners will encounter long stretches of sustained sound, gradual changes in texture and occasional rises in volume and intensity. At other points, the music recedes into sparse, quiet passages, opening a space for stillness, reflection and heightened awareness.

Rather than leading the listener through a predetermined musical narrative, Becoming creates a shared sonic environment—one that remains open, fluid and alive. It explores transformation and identity through the idea of continual evolution: something always in the process of becoming, without a fixed destination. 

Andrea Lim ‘Do Not’ (10 mins)

- Solo

Do Not is a conceptual performance work examining the implications of the gestural sounds "tsk" and "shh". 

The work consists of sound, video, objects and a silent solo live performer. It is 11 minutes long consisting of "tsk" and "shh" sounds heard from the house PA and megaphones with occasional silences and moderately disorienting rhythmic sections. The sounds are at a moderate to moderately loud volume.

Do Not opens with a video-work consisting of a metronome with a pointer finger attached to the tip of its needle. The metronome makes repeated tsk and shh sounds, these sounds are heard over the house PA. A performer walks on stage and repeatedly bows to the metronome. They proceed to pick up a megaphone, walk towards the metronome and begin to bow. Once bowing is completed, the performer places the megaphone on a chair, plugs a red cable in, and the megaphone begins to make "tsk" and "shh" sounds at a moderately loud volume. The metronome is now silent, and this bowing process is repeated with all the megaphones. 

Each megaphone uses repetitive musical figures consisting of shh and tsk sounds, in time and in regular meter. The performer watches the megaphones whilst occasionally looking behind at the metronome. The metronome disappears. The megaphones begin to shift out of regular time resulting in a mess of tsk and shh sounds. The performer repeatedly scans the megaphones and looks over their shoulder, over and over again. They pull a red cable out of a megaphone. All the megaphones are silent. 

The performer raises their pointer finger and a regimented march of shh and tsk sounds is heard from all the megaphones. This continues until the work fades out to the end. 

Behzad Ansari ‘The Sound of Threads’ (7 mins)

- Quartet - Behzad, Bella, Peggy, Ria

The Sound of Threads is inspired by the process of Persian rug weaving, where individual threads gradually come together to form intricate patterns. For me, the piece is a journey back to my homeland, Iran, evoking memories of its sounds, traditions and the connection between music and everyday life.

A softly whispered vocal melody recalls the songs women sing while weaving rugs, bringing an intimate human presence to the music. Like a thread passing through a loom, the voice intertwines with the instrumental sounds, suggesting the gestures, repetition and patience of weaving.

Different musical voices and cultural influences gradually form a shared texture. Through this meeting of sounds, the piece reflects on memory, belonging and the ways we carry our homeland with us while creating connections across cultures.

Ria Andriani ‘Title TBC’ (6 mins)

- Quartet - Ria, Peggy, Behzad, Pico

More info soon.

Pico Dos Santos-Lee ‘Conservation Ritual’ (10 mins)

- Quartet - Pico, Ria, Peggy, Bella

The Conservation Ritual is an act of intangible cultural preservation featuring a slow-building percussion section, layered synths, saxophone and an accompanying video element. The Conservation Ritual builds with individual layers for approximately 5 minutes, until it climaxes and slowly unwinds again from minutes 8- 10. 

The video is a collaged compilation of recorded moments from my childhood, thematically tied by the deliverance of language. Moments have been chosen where my parents and grandparents are speaking to me, with a particular focus on non-English languages (namely Portuguese, Cantonese and Mandarin).

The piece begins in silence, with the video's audio controlled by taps on a singing bowl. As the piece progresses, two layers of soft synths float into the space with continued periodic taps on the singing bowl. A steady percussion layer is built featuring bongos, bells, shakers, and a T-shaped agogo. 

A soft piano ostinato is then introduced as the main melodic layer. This piano layer immediately precedes the loudest moment of the performance, which occurs around the 5~6 minute mark with a loud, unexpected synth shimmer.  After a saxophone solo, the piece will start stripping back layer by layer from the 8-minute mark until only one synth and one video clip are playing. 

Isabella Rahme - Azimuth (5 mins)

- Solo with electronics  

More info soon.