Ethereal Resonance

Event Overview

‍

Join us at 281 Clarence Street, Sydney NSW, Australia, and immerse yourself in a world where sound scapes near and far collide. This event is curated by Gaffa Creative Precinct in partnerhsip with KEF Australia.

Experience Hong Kong's Kung Chi Shing upon a Rooftop Sonic Journey featuring local and international support acts by Saskia Shearer, Damia O’Loughlin, Benjamin Lopes, Maddy Briggs and More!

This cross-disciplinary event will celebrate the rich tradition of jazz whilst honouring the multicultural fabric of our society, coinciding with the observance of Survival Day. As we celebrate this significant occasion, we pay our respects to the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of Sydney.

‍

Schedule:

2:15-2:20 PM: Welcome to the Country

2:20-2:45 PM: Rooftop Didgeridoo Ceremony

3:15-4:00 PM: Saskia Shearer and Damia O'Loughlin

4:40-5:15 PM: Ben Lopes and Maddy Briggs

5:45-6:30 PM: Surprise Day: Announced on the Day!

7:00-8:00 PM: Kung Chi Shing

‍

Artist Biography

‍

‍

Kung Chi Shing

‍

Experimental musician, composer, music activist, and sound artist Kung Chi Shing has long been one of Hong Kong’s boldest sonic experimenters. Combining elements of pop and classical music with an emphasis on improvisation, he uses music as an artistic tool for social commentary, examining how public spaces are affected by music.

‍

In 2022, he was appointed head of contemporary performance, performing arts at the West Kowloon Cultural District. Born and raised in Hong Kong, he studied classical music and composition at the University of Hawaii and the University of Pennsylvania, where one of his professors was the legendary avant-garde composer George Crumb. His first job in Hong Kong, from 1987, was as head of the dance department music program at the Academy for Performing Arts; that was also the year he launched possibly his best-known venture, the theatrical music ensemble The Box, alongside writer Peter Suart, which had an outsized impact on the city’s experimental performance scene.

‍

He established the Kung Music Workshop in 2008 and founded his Street Music Series the following year, through which he has staged over 150 concerts on Hong Kong street corners. Since 1996, he has composed and staged six full-length musical theater pieces and has performed in countries including Japan, Cuba, Uzbekistan, the US, the UK, Germany, and Italy. Don’t miss this unique opportunity!

‍

‍

‍

‍

Saskia Shearer and Damia O'Loughlin

‍

Saskia Shearer (percussion) and Damia O’Loughlin (saxophone) join forces in a musical collaboration that explores the raw, elemental beauty of sound. Their experimental, improvised performance will be an interplay of contrast and harmony. Drawing inspiration from the timeless resonance of metal, wood, and stone, they create an immersive auditory landscape that defies convention and invites discovery. With Saskia's rhythmic precision and Damia's evocative melodies, this collaboration celebrates elemental textures through spontaneous musical expression.

‍

‍

‍

Ben Lopes and Maddy Briggs

‍

Ben Lopes is a composer, songwriter, artist and graduate of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. His multifaceted practice, spanning from punk rock to the avant-garde, culminates in a unique and richly-textural approach to music that pushes and blurs the boundaries of any genre that he approaches. He uses controlled variables and functions of chance to create worlds of sound that possess a naturalness, a quality that is inspired by the elegance of earthly processes. He is a founding member of @Chaoscollective.official , an experimental performer/composer collaborative network that aims to platform emerging art music and reconstruct the relationship between audience and musicians through performance, with keen consideration to performance space and audience agency.

‍

‍

Maddy Briggs is an electroacoustic musician, screen composer and instrumentalist based in Sydney. A graduate of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, her practice centres upon the digital elaboration and explosion of acoustic instruments, weaved together into textural, ambient soundscapes. She performs on electric bass in new music ensemble @Chaoscollective.official. Her work has been performed at 2019 VIVID Sydney, MUSLAB’s 2024 International Electroacoustic Music Festival, and has been aired on SBS On Demand, BBC Music 6 and the Classical: NEXT-longlisted HiberNATION Festival.

‍

‍

Are you a myKEF member? Enjoy 15% off headphones when you create an account. details below.

‍