Ascendent Messages occupies a prestigious spot in the high-art section of FRINGE WORLD, showcasing internationally acclaimed artists who push boundaries while addressing contemporary issues. The performance immerses the audience in a complex auditory experience, challenging conventions and offering profound reflections on the world’s complexities through innovative expression.
The show highlights five female composers, addressing gender disparity in Western art music, particularly within guitar and percussion. It features commissioned works by Maria Grenfell, Alice Humphries, Kate Milligan, and Kathy Potter, alongside a piece by Mayako Kubo, contributing to greater representation and balance in the field.
Percussion in contemporary classical music may extend beyond drums and cymbals, incorporating instruments like marimba, vibraphone, and glockenspiel. Paul Tanner skilfully mallets and bows intricate marimba and vibraphone parts, creating rich harmonic patterns that interweave with Fitzgerald’s mesmerising guitar work.
The show commences with Maria Grenfell’s Promenade, immersing the audience in virtuosic complexity. Its three movements—Perambulation, Interlude, and Perpetual Motion—escalate in tempo as guitar and marimba intertwine, diverge, and reunite. Haunting yet playful, light yet dark, cymbals and bells punctuate shifts, reinforcing the piece’s layered rhythmic interplay.
Kathy Potter’s Space Junk follows, musically portraying defunct satellites and rocket debris orbiting Earth. The piece depicts two drifting fragments that momentarily unite before separating into space, capturing the chaotic dance of discarded technology above our planet.
Kakurendo, meaning ‘hide and seek’ in Japanese, transforms the audience into seekers as musicians conceal their instruments through unconventional techniques. Tanner and Fitzgerald invite listeners to close their eyes, enhancing the experience with an imaginative, immersive atmosphere that blurs the line between sound and play.
The fourth piece, Kate Milligan’s Red Earth Mine, starkly portrays a depleted landscape. It examines humanity’s dependence on extraction, reflecting on its consequences. With a family history in mining, Milligan creates a powerful tribute to Earth’s enduring resilience and fragility.
The concert culminates with Alice Humphries’ Ascendent Messages, a profound exploration of arboreal communication, reflecting on trees’ evolutionary journey, climate influence, and human ties. A resonating hum paired with an ethereal guitar leads into a contemplative finale, as Tanner and Fitzgerald, virtuosos in their craft, deliver an unforgettable experience.