January 6, 2019
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AMBIENT ORCHESTRA BRINGS SYMPHONIC BOWIE, ENO & LARAAJI TO ADELAIDE FRINGE

March 15 – 8 pm – An Ambient Primer: music of Fripp/Eno, Laraaji, Satie, Ziporyn
March 16 – 8 pm Bowie Symphonic: Blackstar Concerto featuring Maya Beiser
March 17 – 1 pm Bowie Symphonic: Blackstar Concerto featuring Maya Beiser
All performances at Elder Hall at RCC Fringe

On the heels of its first US tour, Evan Ziporyn’s Ambient Orchestra with cello soloist Maya Beiser comes to Adelaide Fringe 2019 for three performances showcasing its ‘rich and adventurous’ (Javier Blanquez, El Mundo) orchestral renditions of music by David Bowie, Robert Fripp & Brian Eno, and Laraaji. The American-based ensemble, founded by composer/arranger Ziporyn in 2016, joins forces with Israeli-born cello virtuoso Maya Beiser (described by the New Yorker as a ‘cello goddess’) and musicians from Adelaide’s own Elder Conservatorium. All performances will be in held in Elder Hall, at RCC Fringe.

On March 15 at 8 pm, The Ambient Orchestra (TAO) makes its Australian debut with An Ambient Primer, featuring world premieres of Ziporyn’s arrangements of two classics of the early ambient electronica genre, Side A of Robert Fripp & Brian Eno’s Evening Star and Laraaji’s hypnotic 3-movement The Dance from his Eno-produced debut album, Day of Radiance. The programme also includes Ziporyn’s ‘lulling and dreamlike’ (Marc Hirsh, Boston Globe) live remixes of Erik Satie’s proto-ambient Trois Gymnopedies and Ziporyn’s own Frog’s Eye, a ‘hypnotic and innately lyrical’ (John Kelman, All About Jazz) invocation of the New England summer soundscape.

On March 16 at 8 pm and March 17 at 1 pm, TAO is joined by ‘cello goddess’ Beiser to present the Blackstar Concerto, Ziporyn’s note-for-note adaptation of David Bowie’s final masterpiece, for cello and orchestra, with Beiser taking on the challenge of simultaneously channeling both Bowie’s unique vocal style while also carrying the mantle of lead guitar and solo saxophonist. Sold-out performances in Boston, Barcelona, and New York’s Central park have been greeted with critical acclaim and rapturous audience reception. In the words of El Mundo’s Javier Blanquez, “Bowie is already symphonic. But last night another color was added to his music, a rich and adventurous density that easily and forcefully connected high and popular culture.” As soloist, Beiser more than rises to the occasion. The Boston Globe’s Marc Hirsh writes: “Beiser’s cello replaced the vocals of “Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime)” with a shivering panic, and “Girl Loves Me” tick-tick-ticked along implacably while she captured the curvy fillips of Bowie’s singing. And as it pressed forward, “Lazarus” reached further down into the grave and further up toward the stars all at once.”

Ziporyn and Beiser are no strangers to Australian audiences or to Adelaide. They cofounded the Bang on a Can All-stars (named Musical America’s 2005 Ensemble of the Year) in 1992, bringing the group to the Adelaide Festival for 5 critically acclaimed performances in 1996. This was soon followed by a US tour with Richard Tognetti’s Australian Chamber Ensemble, which culminated in a performance at the Sydney Opera House for the 2000 Olympic Arts Festival.

Since that time both artists have forged solo careers of unique distinction and scope, with Beiser’s 2016 TranceClassical debuting at the top of the Apple Classical charts, and her 2011 Ted Talk receiving over one million views. Ziporyn’s arrangements have been featured in Ken Burns & Lynn Novick’s 2017 10-part documentary, The Vietnam War, and on Silkroad Ensemble’s Grammy Award-winning Sing Me Home. In 2014 Beiser and Ziporyn collaborated on Uncovered, featuring Ziporyn’s arrangements for Beiser of music by Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana, King Crimson, and Australia’s own AC/DC.

Both are thrilled at the prospect of returning to Adelaide. Says Ziporyn, “Our appearances together at the 1996 Festival were deeply formative for us, and were in many ways truly a springboard to what’s come since. Blackstar is the largest collaboration Maya and I have done together, and it feels very full-circle in a wonderful way to bring it to Adelaide Fringe.”