The Astra Choir and soloists with electronics, baroque ensemble and percussion
John McCaughey, conductor

A shared birthday celebration of two of Australia's prominent electronic composers, with new compositions in rare combination with live collective voices. Each work reaches into political-cultural histories of the recent past. 

Steve Stelios Adam (65 on 6 October).  
DOULIA TIS FILAKIS (Work in prison)
A Greek-language poem from prison, written in 1962 by the composer's communist great-aunt Elli Pappa, invokes the period of authoritarian rule in Greece – words placed among live-processed and surround sound.

Warren Burt (75 on 10 October).  
WAR POEMS OF REWI ALLEY
Texts from the period of the Indochina Wars bring into focus the NZ poet and activist Rewi Alley, who lived for 60 years in China from 1927. 

Surrounding the new works: a wide palette of words and music –  from Claudio Monteverdi, Stefan Wolpe and Donald Martino to Rainer Linz, Cindy John and Larry Polansky.

Steve Stelios Adam's DOULIA TIS FILAKIS was commissioned during the period of the pandemic with assistance from Creative Victoria.
Warren Burt's WAR POEMS OF REWI ALLEY was commissioned for Astra by Malcolm Ellis.