Breath 2022

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The virtuosity and sensitivity of Synergy Percussion meets the dynamism and drama of Taikoz in Ian Clenworth's BREATH - a 65-minute work for percussion, keyboard percussion, taiko of all sizes and sounds, synthesiser and voice, which will take you on a journey that explores notions of this fundamental act of being.

Ian describes BREATH as a new direction compositionally. Drawing on his extensive career in percussion as a long-term member of Synergy and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, plus his three-decade experience as a taiko player, Ian has for the first time brought his two aesthetic worlds together in a synthesis of rhythm, melodies, harmony, movement, texture and sound.

Composed during the extended period of lockdown in 2021, BREATH begins with gentle brush strokes on a deep bass drum, emulating the inhalation and exhaustion of the breath, and extends through a series of thematically linked movements: A-Un - Rebellion - Breath & Shadows - Lion Dogs - Dew Point - Nuage - Breathless - Passing. Fittingly, BREATH ends as it begins, but not without plenty of musical drama along the way.

BREATH will be performed by internationally acclaimed ensembles Taikoz and Synergy Percussion on the 26th of March at 8pm Everest Theatre, Seymour Centre Sydney.