STATHIS//DAVEY//KIM
STATHIS//DAVEY//KIM are a Melbourne based collective of three composers who create site-specific large scale compositions using analogue synthesizers. Intrinsic to their work is the consideration of natural acoustic phenomena of performance locations (reverbs, echos, and diegetic sounds) as part of the compositional process. Through this they attempt to work with, instead of override the environment in which the work is placed. They utilise unconventional speaker placement to further engage their audience with new ways of listening and questioning what they are hearing. The composer collective were recipients of the Creators Fund in 2022 and will be developing a new electroacoustic ensemble for performance in 2024.
MELBOURNE SYNTHESISER ORCHESTRA
Now or Never Festival, Melb Town Hall 2023
STATHIS//DAVEY//KIM were commissioned by Mess and Now or Never Festival to write a quadrophonic work for 12 players, the Melbourne Town Hall Organ and an array of incredible instruments from the MESS collection. The orchestra appeared on the lineup with acclaimed drone organist Kali Malone. As featured on ABC's 'Art Works' series 2023 https://www.stathisdaveykim.com/mso2023
CHAIRWAY TO HEAVEN
MONA FOMA FESTIVAL 2021
Following on from the successful collaboration with Soma Lumia that transformed the The Penny Royal’s beloved 'Dark Ride' for MONA FOMA 2020, composers Sooji Kim, Katerina Stathis and Mads Davey turned the iconic Scenic Chairlift into a moving installation for Mona Foma 2021.
Launceston’s jewel, the Gorge Scenic Chairlift was transformed into a 20-voice instrument in this unique audio-experiential installation. Participants became a moving part of a ‘suspended symphony’ in the sky whilst taking in the natural wonders of the gorge setting.
Two speakers were optimally positioned on each of the 20 chairs. Each participant experienced a sound world that shifted and evolved as the chairs passed each other and their sound fields merged. Reflecting relationships of sounds in nature and the ebb and flow of life cycles, the experience of this work was both a contemplative and mesmerising meditation and an inspiring ode to nature.
Strategically positioned speakers also allowed for the composition to be experienced by the observer on the ground from various vantage points around the park. The wash of sound from above was punctuated with calls and responses that seemed to echo out from the expanse of The Gorge park itself. The composition was composed and recorded by Sooji Kim, Katerina Stathis and Mads Davey on the incredibly rare and priceless collection of synths at Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio (MESS.)
https://www.stathisdaveykim.com/chairwaytoheaven
MESS LIVE AT THE BOWL
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Live at the Bowl saw the world premiere of the MESS (Melbourne Electronic Sound Studios) Synthesiser Orchestra performing an epic, newly commissioned piece called Magnitudes on Saturday 27 March 2021 as part of MESS at the Bowl.
The MESS Synthesiser Orchestra brought together an almost impossible array of cutting edge synthesisers spanning from the 1960s to the present day. Performing as one ensemble for Live at the Bowl, this was one of the largest gatherings of these iconic electronic musical instruments ever seen on stage.
The inauguration of the MESS Synthesiser Orchestra signalled the beginning of a series of mass activations of the MESS collection at an extraordinary scale. There was an incredible array of electronic instruments from right across the history of electronic music on stage – some for the first time in many decades.
Audiences were entranced by Magnitudes – composed and conducted by Mat Watson – a performance event which made use of 40 synths and 16 performers in the newly formed MESS Synthesiser Orchestra.
Magnitudes moved through tonal, textural, melodic, harmonic, abstract and absurd themes to reveal itself across multiple movements. Intense sound phenomena and complete chaos gave way to moments of stillness and feelings of euphoria.