Asko|Schönberg at opening night Sydney Festival with opera Antarctica

After a successful premiere at the Holland Festival, Asko|Schönberg will bring Australian composer Mary Finsterer's opera Antarctica to the internationally renowned Sydney Festival in Australia. Antarctica will play during the opening night on 5 January 2023 and three more times after. Asko|Schönberg will also play a concert at the Sydney Opera House during the festival on 9 January, spotlighting Dutch composers.

Since 1977, Sydney Festival has played out annually in many locations across the city, from the streets to the beach, and from stately theatres to underground venues. Not only music is featured but also theatre, music, dance, visual arts and all the live experiments in between.

Antarctica

The opera Antarctica, commissioned by Asko|Schönberg, explores the historical, mythical and scientific beliefs and stories about the southern continent. With an enchanting combination of musical elements from old and new styles, we are transported to the world of the South Pole. The opera premiered at the Holland Festival 2022 and was enthusiastically received by audiences and press alike. The Sydney Festival invited Asko|Schönberg for four performances of Antarctica at the festival in January 2023.

In preparation for the multidisciplinary opera, a symposium was organised at the University of Tasmania. Mary Finsterer, librettist Tom Wright and Fedor Teunnise, Askoschönberg artistic director, met arctic scientists there to gain knowledge and inspiration. They collected stories and data from fieldwork and incorporated them into the libretto and music. 'We live in a time when climate change is destabilising every aspect of our lives on a political, cultural and scientific level. We all realise how fragile our existence and our planet are,' Finsterer said.

The press about Antarctica

The Parool: Mary Finsterer no longer believes in fairy tales. She poured her concern into a beautiful performance, set to a poetic libretto by Tom Wright.  

Theatre newspaper.co.uk: Antarctica is an intermedial puzzle combining opera, videography and science. […] This is where libretto, music and scenography come together and touch on larger themes surrounding Antarctica: what is our relationship to this continent? To what extent has it actually changed from the 19th century to the present, and what consequences does this colonial mindset have?

LimelightMagzine.com: The world premiere of this new Australian opera - a work that prompts dread as well as wonder about humanity's relationship with the natural world - was an enormous triumph.

Exclusive concert featuring Dutch composers together with Australian Ensemble Offspring

Asko|Schönberg concludes its visit to Sydney with a concert programme presenting Dutch composers to Australian audiences. To begin with, a piece by the influential composer Louis Andriessen. He has a huge international reputation, is creator of an awe-inspiring oeuvre and was teacher of a whole generation of leading contemporary composers. From this generation, work by Martijn Padding and Australian-Dutch Kate Moore will be heard.

• Antarctica - 5, 6, 7, 8 January at Carriageworks
• Asko|Schönberg in concert with Ensemble Offspring - 9 January at Sydney Opera House

Antarctica is a co-production of Sydney Chamber Opera, Asko|Schönberg and Holland Festival, with support from Carriageworks, NSW Government through Create NSW. Mary Finsterer composition, Tom Wright libretto, Imara Savage direction, Jack Symonds conductor, Mike Daly filmmaker, Australian singers.