Music / “Ngarra-Burria”, Ensemble Offspring . At the Larry Sitsky Recital Room, ANU,  June 1. Reviewed by GRAHAM McDONALD

“NGARRA-Burria” is a program instigated by ANU school of Music based indigenous composer Christopher Sainsbury to encourage First Nations musicians to write contemporary chamber music, often a sideways shift in their artistic lives.

The musicians have worked with Sydney-based new music group Ensemble Offspring and Sainsbury to develop new compositions. The program has been running since 2017, with several First Nations musicians taking part each year.

This concert presented works by eight of these composers, performed by Ensemble Offspring who for this concert were led by its artist director Claire Edwardes, percussion with  Lamorna Nightingale, flutes; Jason Noble, clarinets; Edward Neeman, piano and Rowena Macneish playing cello.

The composers included Brenda Gifford, Troy Russell, Eric Avery, Nardi Simpson, Aaron Wyatt, Will Kepa, James Henry and Rhyan Clapham.

There were 12 pieces played, using various combinations of instruments, with four of the composers having two works performed. All 12 were interesting and within the limitations of the instrumental possibilities, quite different. All were quite short, around three to four minutes, but often with lots of ideas packed in. The use of alto flute and bass clarinet in addition to the standard versions expanded the tonal palette and the composers made good use of the range of sounds.

The concert was cleverly programmed with more accessible works in the first two-thirds or so, getting more adventurous and experimental towards the end, more like what might be expected from an Ensemble Offspring concert.

What was notable was the emphasis on melody in the music, especially earlier in the concert, which is perhaps not surprising with the musical background of several of the composers being in folk and pop music.

There were a couple of the works that have lingered in the memory more than others. Brenda Gifford’s “Mulgala” (Clouds) for alto flute and percussion cleverly blended the tonality of Japanese shakuhachi music with the monotonality of the didgeridoo and Aaron Wyatt’s “Cumulus” suggested a ’70s prog rock band in its scoring for the trio of bass clarinet, vibraphone and piano, but in the nicest possible way.

This was a fascinating concert of new music by new composers all excellently played by Ensemble Offspring.