Ensemble Offspring

Program Notes

Missy Mazzoli Orizzonte (2004)
piano & electronics

Orizzonte, for piano and electronics, consists of gently overlapping sine waves that set the stage for a meditative and introspective piano melody.  This piece was composed for Hills Not Skyscrapers, a band devoted to combining live electronics, composition and improvisation, founded by Missy Mazzoli in Amsterdam in 2004.  The sinewaves were created using SuperCollider software. Orizzonte (“horizons” in Italian) was first performed on a piano that had been left out in the rain for a year, in a dilapidated squat hidden in the heart of Amsterdam. 

Recently deemed “one of the more consistently inventive, surprising composers now working in New York” (NY Times) and “Brooklyn’s post-millennial Mozart” (Time Out NY), Missy Mazzoli has had her music performed by the Kronos Quartet, LA Opera, eighth blackbird, the BBC Symphony, Scottish Opera and many others. In 2018 she became one of the first two women, along with Jeanine Tesori, to receive a main stage commission from the Metropolitan Opera, and was nominated for a Grammy award. She is Composer-in-Residence at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and from 2012-2015 was Composer-in-Residence with Opera Philadelphia. Upcoming commissions include works for Opera Philadelphia, the National Ballet of Canada, Chicago Lyric Opera and Norwegian National Opera. Her works are published by G. Schirmer. missymazzoli.com

Anna Meredith Bumps Per Minute (2021, arr. Jessica Wells 2023)
Joy Subdivision, Deep Thought Panda, Norcanoe, Tom Cruise Runs
vibraphone, keyboard, backing track

Bumps Per Minute was originally written as an installation piece for bumper cars/dodgems set in the famous courtyard in London's Somerset House. For the installation I wrote 20 miniature electronic pieces that would be triggered at random by the bumps of the cars. Like a kind of jumbo bump-triggered audio shuffle! Each new track was written as a mini character study and to plunge the dodgem rink into a new mini world for the few seconds (or longer!) before the next impact. For these new arrangements for Ensemble Offspring, Claire chose her favourite tracks for these versions and they were arranged by Jessica Wells in close collaboration with Anna Meredith.

Anna Meredith is a composer, producer and performer of both acoustic and electronic music.  Her sound is frequently described as “uncategorisable” and “genre-defying” and straddles the different worlds of contemporary classical, art pop, techno, ambient installations and experimental rock - or as the Guardian said: “majestic bangers”. She was voted Number One in The List’s Hot100 (of Cultural Contributors to 2016), was voted No 31 in the 2018 Women’s Hour Power List and awarded an MBE for services to music in the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours List. annameredith.com

Alice Chance  Mirroring (2021)
vibraphone solo

Mirroring can describe the reflection of an image, the creation of symmetry, and the act of imitation between people. Written amidst various lockdowns, the piece reflects on the warmth created between people when they mirror each other, whether in speech or body language, and the saddening refractions and distortions which can take place when this communication is moved online. Moving between cold and warm timbres on the vibraphone, cycling arpeggiations undergo small changes as if unreliably mirrored in a digital world. Dissonant mid and high-register notes emerge and linger towards the end of the piece, settling into lostness rather than a sense of finality.

Alice Chance is a sought-after composer, conductor, singer, artist, arranger, writer and educator. She is fortunate enough to work with all kinds of musicians and artists spanning contemporary classical music, choral music, musical theatre, theatre, and sound art. Her music often has a playful twist, and it’s very important to her that listeners and performers feel welcome within it. You can often find Alice asking audiences to contribute to her music with their phones, voices, imaginations, or all three. alicechance.com

Zubin Kanga From the Machine (after Eastman) (2025)
keyboard, live electronics

From the Machine (after Eastman) is part of a series of works exploring piano repertoire I've played in the past, using instruments, devices and techniques I'm now using in Cyborg Soloists. This work is inspired by American composer Julius Eastman who, after dying homeless and in obscurity in the 1990s, has risen to international prominence in the last decade. I performed in the UK premieres of Eastman's major works for multiple pianos, and this piece draws on selected moments from them, including the luminescent ending of Gay Guerrilla.

Ensemble Offspring alumnus, Zubin Kanga, is a London-based pianist, composer, and technologist. For over a decade, he has been at the forefront of creating, co-creating and performing interdisciplinary works that seek to explore and redefine what it means to be a performer through interactions with new technologies. He is the Director and Research Lead of Cyborg Soloists, a 7-year UK Research and Innovation Future Leaders Fellowship project based at Royal Holloway, University of London, where he is also Senior Lecturer in Musical Performance and Digital Arts. Cyborg Soloists is unlocking groundbreaking approaches to composition and performance using cutting-edge technologies including AI, interactive visuals, motion and biosensors, and new hybrid instruments. He has premiered over 160 works and performed as soloist at many international festivals including hcmf//, Modulus Festival (Canada), Klang Festival (Denmark), Gaudeamus Festival (Netherlands) and Paris Autumn Festival (France). zubinkanga.com 

Samantha Wolf Bull in a China Shop (2020)
vibraphone, piano

Bull in a China Shop is a quirky adventure in bimodality that captures the frenzied energy and kaleidoscopic emotional shifts that have characterized2020. A slow, serene interlude is bookended by lively ostinato-based sections, with driving sixteenth notes creating a constant sense of motion throughout the piece. Part dance, part meditation, and part rampage, Bull in a China Shop is a messy and exuberant showcase of virtuosity, color, and groove.

Described as “haunting”, “enigmatic”, “inspired”, and “a force to be reckoned with”, the music of Australian-born, US-based composer Samantha Wolf blends the classical, contemporary, acoustic, and electroacoustic worlds, while being grounded in the notated tradition. Although she specializes in instrumental and electroacoustic music, her diverse catalogue includes orchestral, vocal, dramatic, electronic, radio, and multimedia works, and theatrical sound design. Samantha has worked with many of Australia’s leading new music ensembles, including the Melbourne and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, Ensemble Offspring, Elision, The Song Company, Ensemble Liaison, the Horsley Williams Duo, Rubiks Collective, and Kupka’s Piano. samanthawolfmusic.com

About the artists

Ensemble Offspring
Ensemble Offspring is Australia’s leading new music group, standing at the forefront of musical innovation for 30 years. Led by renowned percussionist Claire Edwardes OAM, the ensemble unites the country’s most fearless and virtuosic instrumentalists. Together, they champion living and marginalised voices including First Nations and female artists, creating “visceral, joyous music” (Sydney Morning Herald) through kaleidoscopically varied performances that blaze a trail for Australian music.

Claire Edwardes, Artistic Director, percussion
A founding member of Ensemble Offspring, Claire Edwardes OAM has directed the group since 2006, initially as co-Artistic Director with Damien Ricketson and since 2015 as sole Artistic Director. She was recently described as a "unique treasure of Australia’s musical community" by Limelight and as “an invigorating musical life force” by The Age. She is the only Australian to win the 'APRA Art Music Luminary Award’ four times and in 2023 she was the recipient of the Creative Leadership Award at the Australian Women in Music Awards. Claire leaps between her roles as leader, mentor, curator, recording artist, concerto and recital soloist, at all times tirelessly championing new work that she has commissioned predominantly by Australian composers including Iain Grandage, Anne Cawrse, Alice Chance and Kate Moore. claireedwardes.com

Zubin Kanga - piano/keyboard
Ensemble Offspring alumnus, Zubin Kanga, is a London-based pianist, composer, and technologist. For over a decade, he has been at the forefront of creating, co-creating and performing interdisciplinary works that seek to explore and redefine what it means to be a performer through interactions with new technologies. He is the Director and Research Lead of Cyborg Soloists, a 7-year UK Research and Innovation Future Leaders Fellowship project based at Royal Holloway, University of London, where he is also Senior Lecturer in Musical Performance and Digital Arts. Cyborg Soloists is unlocking groundbreaking approaches to composition and performance using cutting-edge technologies including AI, interactive visuals, motion and biosensors, and new hybrid instruments. He has premiered over 160 works and performed as soloist at many international festivals including hcmf//, Modulus Festival (Canada), Klang Festival (Denmark), Gaudeamus Festival (Netherlands) and Paris Autumn Festival (France). zubinkanga.com