The Listening Sessions - no.1

This is the first in a series of concerts focussing on really listening - part of the process of creating music in the moment. Each concert has 3 or 4 musicians who are wonderful improvisors and they will create 90 minutes of new music while listening deeply to each other. As an audience you are also invited to listen deeply in the same way. Each Listening Session will include different musicians creating a new unique musical experience.

This series is curated and produced by Linsey Pollak and the first concert includes the following 4 wonderful improvising musicians:

Nawres Al-Freh who has been playing classical and Arabic violin, joze and kamanche for over 25 years. His classical training in music began at the Baghdad Conservatorium and he completed his degree at the Jordanian Conservatorium. After his studies he performed in numerous festivals and ethnomusicology projects in Sweden, Cyprus, the UK, Oman, Australia and Jordan. Nawres has performed with a number of famous world musicians such as Naseer Shamma and Ross Daly, as well as many of Australia’s finest world music players.

Shenzo Gregorio dazzles audiences with his world-class performances. He has been performing professionally for almost 20 years, his career highlights include performing at New York’s world famous Carnegie Hall with FourPlay String Quartet and author Neil Gaiman. He’s a leader in his field of jazz and world styles having performed in Russia, Brazil, Asia, India, parts of Europe and all over Australia at various festivals.

Velvet Pesu is aBrisbane based experimental visual artist/ musician with a strong commitment to raising social and ecological awareness. Velvet spends her time performing, exchanging and collaborating with visual artists, musicians and filmmakers as well as teaching her recycled and organic art practices. Velvet describes her art and life as inseparable. Her work seeks to provide a glimpse into the incomplete and ephemeral nature of human experience, and aims to magnify that beauty within society that is often unnoticed. She has also collaborated with artists such as Katie Noonan, Kate Miller-heidke, Stringman Sassy, Kafka and Sunshine Has Blown.

Linsey Pollak is well known all around Australia as a musician, instrument maker, composer, musical director and community music facilitator. He has toured his solo shows extensively in Europe, Nth America and Asia since 1996. He established The Multicultural Arts Centre of WA and has co-ordinated five Cross-cultural Music Ensembles in three different States. He has also performed at most major Festivals around Australia and recorded over 40 albums (solo & with various groups).

Host or Publisher Linsey Pollak