As you experience an orchestra from within, free to move between the instruments, discover a story of beauty, patience, peril and hope. Take control of the mixing desk and choose how you want to encounter extraordinary nature-inspired music by Richard Wagner, Dobrinka Tabakova, Nadia Boulanger, Michael Nyman and more.

The Orchestral Forest

Smith Square Hall

With her natural energy, infectious personality and talent to spare, she was the first saxophonist to reach the finals of BBC Young Musician and the youngest-ever soloist to perform at the Last Night of the Proms. An extraordinary talent, she has already been awarded honours for services to music.

The Sydney Symphony Orchestra With Jess Gillam

Sydney Opera House

The programme includes the exciting dancing textures created by pioneering multi-layered tape pieces such as Steve Reich’s Violin Phase and Vermont Counterpoint. Richly complex patterns create compelling listening in Julius Eastman’s Joy Boy and modern New York icon Julia Wolfe’s East Broadway. We’ll look to the British version of the movement with Michael Nyman’s captivating In C Interlude while the weaving melodies hypnotise in Anna Clyne’s Just as they are. The concert will close with a performance of Gavin Bryars’ extraordinary Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet, in celebration of the composer’s strong links to Portsmouth in his highly experimental ensemble the Portsmouth Sinfonia.  

EPSG:4326

Minimalism

Portsmouth Guildhall

Pre-performance DJ and dancing in the Grand Tier Lobby.

2024 New York Season

New York City Center

Exploring the connection between the brain, existence and the soul, Michael Nyman’s opera THE MAN WHO MISTOOK HIS WIFE FOR A HAT is a sometimes comedic yet often poignant story of a family coping with adversity through the healing power of music.  Composer Michael Nyman (who wrote the soundtrack to the movie THE PIANO) uses clever rhythmic repetition and varied orchestral color, pushing the story forward and builds dramatic tension, even if the scene in question is nothing more than a routine visit to a doctor’s office.  But the music tells us there is indeed something unseen living just below the surface.  As the opera progresses, the drama and the music meld further, until music becomes the dominant, driving, healing force in the character’s lives.  With this chamber opera. Nyman capture the wonder and mystery of the workings of the human brain, and then offers us the opportunity to experience the humanity behind the science.

The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat

Noah Liff Opera Center

Everyone is familiar with the soaring theme of Jane Campion's “The Piano”, or the almost equally characteristic features of Peter Greenaway's film soundtracks, of which he is, so to speak, the “regular” composer; Michael Nyman is not so readily associated with so-called “pure” music, yet his catalogue is equally impressive in this respect. In a promising dialogue with Mozart, Sebastian Knauer reminds us of this, with that touch of originality which is typical of most of his projects – such as the latest one, postponed because of the pandemic: “Ludwig Fun Beethoven”... which speaks for itself!

Michael Nyman

Events

Past events

Oct 24, 2024

The Orchestral Forest · Sinfonia Smith Square

Jul 18, 2024

The Sydney Symphony Orchestra With Jess Gillam · Sydney Symphony Orchestra

About

Michael Nyman hasn't added a bio