Topology

Founded in 1997, Topology is now established as a leader of creativity in the Arts in Australia, creating new original work, collaborating across style and artform boundaries and building creativity in young people and communities while strengthening the vibrancy of a collegial arts scene. WIth over 24 years of accumulated original repertoire and an insatiable drive to create new work, Topology has a well-established reputation for experimenting with surprising combinations of genres, theatrical staging and cross art form collaboration to create thought-provoking music experiences for audiences of all ages, backgrounds and tastes. Formerly Resident Artists at Brisbane Powerhouse for 18 years, Topology has an extensive discography of 16 Albums, has produced countless evening-length works and before COVID, toured extensively nationally and internationally.

Topology are famous for the breadth and depth of their collaborations. Undaunted by stylistic barriers, the quintet has created stunning new work with partners in theatre (Geoffrey Rush, Neil Armfield, Queensland Theatre Company), classical music (the Brodsky Quartet, the Southern Cross Soloists), contemporary art music (Terry Riley, Speak Percussion), dance (Expressions Dance Company, Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre, Jody Oberfelder), puppetry (Dead Puppet Society), contemporary jazz (Trichotomy, Loops), popular songwriting (Kate Miller-Heidke, Katie Noonan), comedy (the Kransky Sisters, Gerry Connolly), Asian music (Dheeraj Shrestha, Ubiet) and Indigenous Australian music (William Barton).

Featuring

John Babbage

Christa Powell

Robert Davidson

Therese Milanovic

Bernard Hoey

Kieran Welch
Kieran is the founder and Artistic Director of the post-genre  concert series Dots+Loops, inclusively exploring the spaces inbetween a traditional classical concert, an underground club gig,  and an experimental art show. Though trained in classical viola from an early age, as this classical  education progressed into a profession, Kieran increasingly spent  the time away from his instrument building skills as a DJ, heading  to music festivals, and working as an indie rock and electronica  music journalist. Dots+Loops emerged from a quest to merge  these previously separate artistic aspects of his life, and combined  with the rise of a burgeoning community of post-genre musicians  in his hometown of Brisbane, Australia, the series has now seen  five years of unique live art experiences, acclaimed by critics,  audiences and artists alike. 

Flora Wong
Australian violinist Flora Wong is a musician who is drawn to the  intersections between different disciplines of music-making.  Equally at home coaxing virtuosic Baroque figurations out of gut strings as she is playing polyrhythms alongside a drum kit, she is  fast becoming a go-to collaborator for contemporary and cross genre projects in Brisbane (Turrbal/Jagera land). She is a member  of Brisbane-based new music septet Nonsemble, Associate  Director of post-genre concert series Dots+Loops, and a lecturer  in contemporary violin at JMC Academy. She works closely with  Brisbane composer Chris Perren, premiering many of his works in  Australia and internationally, and has given the Australian  premiere performances of works by Kate Moore, Missy Mazzoli,  and Judd Greenstein.

Connor D’Netto
Connor D’Netto has been described as “the model contemporary  Australian composer” by ABC Classic FM. His music balances  rhythmic drive, heartfelt lyricism drawn from his background as a  vocalist, textures expanding the limits of instrumental sound, and  delicate incorporation of electronic elements. In 2021 The Australian listed Connor as one of their “21 Hottest  Creative Artists of 2021”. In 2019, Connor was Composer-In Residence of the Australian Festival of Chamber Music, youngest  in the Festival’s history. He has held residencies with prolific New  York new-music collective Bang On A Can and with the Melbourne  Symphony Orchestra. He has been awarded prizes including an  APRA Art Music Fund Award and the Brisbane City Council Lord  Mayor’s Young and Emerging Artists Fellowship. 

Robbie James

Brisbane-based Robbie James has been GANGgajang’s guitarist and one of the band’s songwriters and producers since 1985.  He has also released three solo albums: Suzannah Suite, Secrets In The Sand and 24 Hours A Night. Robbie was inducted into the SA Music Hall of Fame in 2019.

GANGgajang GANGgajang’s songs were an integral part of the music revolution of the 1980s. The timeless Sounds Of Then (This Is Australia) is one of the all-time classic Australian songs.

Yothu Yindi Robbie played guitar with Yothu Yindi for five years after joining them in Brazil 2001 when they and GANGgajang toured the country together.

Scattered People Since 2012, Robbie has been a member of Scattered People, a group of musicians who rose out of the Brisbane Asylum Seeker Centre in 1998. He produced and co-wrote their third album Sugarmill Road of which the documentary Scattered People (released during Refugee Week 2021) is based upon.

Classical Robbie’s arrangement of Sounds Of Then was performed by the SYO at the NSW Premier’s Luncheon in 2001, and again at the London Paralympics in 2012.  

Tess King

Through the crucible of university, Tess has emerged eager to experiment. She has recently played with whole body performances utilising wireless devices for audio/visual generation and manipulations. The notion of performance as a whole is exaggerated by confident, flowing motions and bursts of sonic and visual colour. These performances have been executed over the Meanjin (Brisbane) region over the last year. Her practice is expanding to installations of that focus on audience interaction, unique formats and perspectives. Her inspirations stem from noise, impressionism and experimentalism in both art and music, with a high degree of cultivated randomness injected into every event. She focusses on bringing a sense of wholeness to her art that communicates a passion for the weird wonderfulness of life. 

Flora Wong / Voltfruit

Australian violinist Flora Wong (黃芷蕾) is a musician who is  drawn to the intersections between different disciplines of  music-making. Equally at home improvising for strings and electronics as she is punching out polyrhythms opposite a  drum kit, she is a go-to collaborator for new music and  multi-disciplinary projects in Brisbane (Jagera/Turrbal land). She is a member of Brisbane-based ensembles Nonsemble,  Voltfruit, Tango Enigmático, the Sophie Min Orchestra and  Matt Hsu’s Obscure Orchestra and the Associate Director of  Dots+Loops. Her recent projects include Vulcana Circus’  “Seen But Not Her” and Kezia Yap’s “SHARING SPACES”, and  she is currently in the process of recording the four new  Australian violin works that were commissioned as part of  her 2019 project “Geburtstag”. 

Luke Cuerel / Voltfruit

Luke Cuerel is a jazz saxophonist, composer and educator  from Brisbane, Australia. His work explores music in unique  contexts; specifically in relation to people, places and events  in Australian life. Luke is currently busy writing, performing and managing projects such as his original jazz quintet, 14-piece ensemble  the “Luke Cuerel Orchestra”, solo electronic project “Expo 88” and regular stints as a sideman for artists such as “Boy  and Bear” and experimental, jazz and improvised music  groups. As a composer and improvisor, Luke has recently been  involved in Soundstream’s Emerging composer forum, and  Tone List’s Sounding Together workshops in Adelaide (SA)  and Perth (WA) respectively. 

David Bentley

David Bentley is an accomplished jazz/blues pianist and composer. As well as being a drawcard in its own right, David’s trio has backed many jazz luminaries – including vibraphonist Milt Jackson, reedman Phil Woods and vocalist Mark Murphy. The trio performs at jazz clubs in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast and has been featured at music festivals, including the Byron Bay Blues Festival, Queensland Music Festival, Restrung and Brisbane Festival. As a songwriter, David is best-known in Britain as the author of ‘In A Broken Dream’ –  a hit for Python Lee Jackson in the 70s  and, more recently, as a remix by Harlem rapper Rocky A$ap.

Andrew Shaw

Andrew Shaw is the bassist of choice not only for DB3 but for artists like saxophonist Dave Liebman and guitarist John Scofield.  Shaw performs in genres from jazz to world music and classical.

Nathan Goldman

Nathan Goldman is a tasty and swinging jazz drummer whose style defies easy categorisation. Prominent in the Brisbane jazz scene for the past 18 years, Nathan has performed with interstate and overseas touring artists including Dale Barlow, James Sherlock and Hetty Kate as well as with the West End Composer’s Collective and the Abbreviations Orchestra.

Zac Sacrewski

Zac Sacrewski blurs the lines between instrument and perception in his new project, The Architect (and the Creation of Worlds). This is a space where sound worlds are created, lived in and destroyed for indeterminate amounts of time. Utilising the double bass as a tool for infinite expression, The Architect seeks to create worlds brimming with life and energy. Those who listen deeply may transport themselves away from the space where they exist to visit a different, sometimes alien reality.

Shenzo Gregorio

Shenzo Gregorio’s String Universe – violin, electric violin, viola, octave viola, guitar, mandolin, piano, Cajon… they’re all instruments with two things in common… a set of strings and the curator of improvising on them – Shenzo Gregorio. For 23 years Shenzo has taken his set of strings across the globe and when that wasn’t enough he’s also experimented with being suspended by wires while playing violin. The fascination hasn’t ceased with what’s possible, the edges of his string universe only just becoming apparent.

Salliana Seven

Salliana Seven is a freelance multi-instrumentalist with an addiction to weird and wonderful stringed instruments. She usually performs as a side person with artists such as Bernard Fanning and Alex Lloyd. Salliana also made her film debut this year composing and performing the score for Leah Purcell’s feature film The Drovers Wife : The Legend of Molly Johnson. 

Tipping Point

Take a vibrant journey through a diverse world of cellistic sounds and explore the edges of classical and contemporary timbre with award-winning cellists Danielle Bentley and Oliver Scott. This special performance will feature a collaboration with award-winning Australian-Canadian composer Louise Denson, in her specially Restrung-commissioned work ‘Tipping Point’.