NEAL: The New and Experimental Arts Laboratory

19/01/2024

NIME: https://www.nime2024.org/
NIME2024 will be held between September 2 and 6, 2024 in Utrecht. The conference will be held physically but with opportunities to follow the conference online as well. This years edition is organised by three institutions: Sounds Like Touch, Gaudeamus and HKU (University of the Arts Utrecht). The conference is partly ingrained within the Gaudeamus Festival 2024. This year's theme is "Tactility in a hybrid world".

ICMC: https://www.icmc2024.org/call-for-submission
The International Computer Music Conference 2024 is hosted by Hanyang University in Seoul, South Korea. The conference will occur from July 7 to July 13, 2024 at the Hanyang University College of Music and its computer music studio, CREAMA (Center for Research in Electro-Acoustic Music and Audio). The theme of this year’s conference is "Sound in Motion". On a micro level, sound originates from motion – i.e. vibrations in a medium – and on a macro level, the creation of sound for musical expression usually necessitates some kind of motion on the part of human performers as a catalyst. And although we tend to think of computers as “motionless”, they are actually just as much “in motion” on the microprocessor level as music-making performers on-stage, if not more so. This year’s conference will embrace the many diverse types of sound in motion – micro and macro – that are a part of our computer music universe.

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25/10/2022

Don't miss out on the final NEAL event for 2022! Grab your tickets now to our a double album launch!

Celebrated improvisers Aviva Endean and Peter Knight will perform solo material from their new albums releasing this October on iconic Australian label Room40, respectively titled "Moths & Stars” and "Shadow Phase". This will be their only Australian performance together, ahead of a highly anticipated European tour in November. For our Melbourne-based audience, this one will be well worth the trip down the highway.

NEAL presents: Moths & Stars / Shadow Phase | Double Album LaunchCelebrated Australian musicians Aviva Endean and Peter Knight perform solo material from their new albums releasing this October on Room40. Shadow Phase, Peter KnightMoths & Stars, Aviva Endean Aviva and Peter have a long musical assoc...

19/10/2022

What a way to end NEAL’s 2022 artistic programme - with a double album launch!

Celebrated improvisers Aviva Endean and Peter Knight will perform solo material from their new albums releasing this October on iconic Australian label Room40, respectively titled "Moths & Stars” and "Shadow Phase". This will be their only Australian performance together, ahead of a highly anticipated European tour in November. For our Melbourne-based audience, this one will be well worth the trip down the highway.

Both forthcoming releases dive deep into the possibilities of extended instrumental performance and electroacoustic approaches. Aviva is a virtuosic clarinettist with an unmistakable solo language created with preparations and augmentation to her various wind instruments, including miniature speakers, pedals, and pipes. Peter has developed a lush language for the trumpet that draws on the creative thread set in motion for the instrument by Jon Hassell. He uses delays, tape loops, and field recordings to create a distinctive world of sound. As a preview, we suggest a listen to the Australian Art Orchestra Solo Series features on Knight and Endean.

Knight’s "Shadow Phase" was recently previewed in Headphone Commute, where it was described as “a carefully curated exercise in reflective restraint, dreamy atmospherics, ebbing dynamics.”

Grab your ticket to this the final NEAL event for 2022, and experience these dreamy atmospherics for yourself.

NEAL presents: Moths & Stars / Shadow Phase | Double Album LaunchCelebrated Australian musicians Aviva Endean and Peter Knight perform solo material from their new albums releasing this October on Room40. Shadow Phase, Peter KnightMoths & Stars, Aviva Endean Aviva and Peter have a long musical assoc...

12/10/2022

07/09/2022

Only one day until the NEAL event, PLACE at Platform Arts This event is going to be huge, with the performance of NEAL’s first ever commission, rhapsody/postcard! We’re thrilled to host Guzheng virtuoso Mindy Meng Wang, who along with members of wind quintet Sonus Ensemble will perform original pieces by well-known Geelong composer Kym Alexandra Dillon

Co-curator of NEAL, Jem Savage explains why he chose Mindy for the commission: “[Mindy is] a highly distinctive and creative improvising musician, and master of an intriguing ancient instrument. With her Guzheng, or Chinese zither, Mindy is capable of producing a painter’s palette of unique colours, emotions, and creative sonic disturbances. She expands upon classical pentatonic tuning with a variety of altered and evolving pitch sets and an unequalled collection of extended techniques. In performance, every cubic millimetre of wood and strand of gut string is utilised to its fullest (and often most unexpected) potential.

For the NEAL 2022 commission, Mindy Meng Wang was a natural choice of soloist to join the fantastic Sonus Ensemble for the proposed work - where composer Kym Dillon’s playfulness, contagious curiosity for new sonic possibilities, and gimlet eye for detail essentially guarantee a fantastic piece for this atypical grouping of instruments, timbres, techniques and traditions.”

PLACE: 8 September. Doors open at 7.30PM. Tickets via bio link.

This event is curated by NEAL: The New and Experimental Arts Laboratory, co-presented by Platform Arts and supported by the City of Greater Geelong. ‘Djilang 5x5’ one of the works to be performed at PLACE alongside 'rhapsody/postcard' was originally commissioned by the City of Greater Geelong through the Arts & Culture Department’s Arts Industry Commissions Program for Sonus Ensemble.

Image: Mindy Meng Wang (photo credit: Panzi Studio).

04/09/2022

We are really excited and can’t wait to hear our newly commissioned work! Join us for this World Premiere! Thursday, 8pm. Tickets: https://events.humanitix.com/neal-presents-place
Congratulations Mindy Meng Wang , Kym Dillon and Sonus Ensemble! 👏👏👏

29/08/2022

Mindy Meng Wang is a versatile Chinese/Australian composer and world-leading contemporary Guzheng (ancient Chinese harp) artist. Her work explores the fertile space between traditional and contemporary practices, and is part of a significant movement of Chinese musicians redefining and reinvigorating their musical tradition. Mindy has collaborated with many high-profile artists including Regurgitator, Tim Shiel, Paul Grabowsky and Deborah Cheetham, AAO, Orchestra Victoria, MSO and more.

As part of PLACE, presented by the New and Experimental Arts Laboratory (NEAL), Mindy will play guzheng alongside Sonus Ensemble performing works by Geelong-based composer Kym Dillon. Experience these unique sounds on 08 September.
Tickets: https://events.humanitix.com/neal-presents-place

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28/08/2022

Place | Mindy Meng Wang and Sonus Ensemble

Travel to places both familiar and imagined through the compositions of Geelong-based composer Kym Dillon, brought to life by the breathtaking sounds of Mindy Meng Wang on guzheng and Sonus Ensemble. PLACE presents two original compositions, rhapsody/postcard and Djilang 5x5. Commissioned by NEAL (New and Experimental Arts Laboratory, rhapsody/postcard layers the unique sound of guzheng extraordinaire Mindy Meng Wang over the wind instruments of Sonus Ensemble.

Tickets: https://events.humanitix.com/neal-presents-place

Presented by New and Experimental Arts Laboratory (NEAL) and Platform Arts.

The New and Experimental Arts Laboratory (NEAL) is an epicentre of exciting creative practice in mus

28/08/2022

Earlier this week, we caught up with Geelong composer and pianist, Kym Dillon, ahead of the upcoming NEAL event, PLACE on 8 September , where Kym’s compositions will be performed by and Sonus Ensemble.

Kym reflected on her experiences of firstly attending a NEAL event, to performing her first major piece at one, and now her excitement in anticipation of PLACE, which promises to be a very special evening.

“NEAL’s performances at Platform Arts consistently have a way of drawing me into deep focus, of bringing me right up close and personal with whatever music is being presented. I always leave feeling like I’ve just witnessed something very special, and reminded that NEAL are such a vital agent of contemporary musical and artistic culture in Geelong. My experience of these concerts as being so effective for drawing people into intimate, engaging musical journeys inspired me to write and perform my first ‘big’ piece, Sonata for Piano, which I premiered at a NEAL event in 2019.

Now in 2022 I’m delighted to have been commissioned by NEAL to compose a new work for Guzheng virtuoso Mindy Meng Wang, along with members of Geelong wind quintet Sonus Ensemble. My piece, ‘rhapsody/postcard’ was specifically written not just for Mindy’s unique talents but also for the specific atmosphere that these concerts invoke; it’s a work designed to draw you in to the point where even the smallest hints of sound are meaningful.” – Kym Dillon

Doors open at 7.30PM. Tickets: https://events.humanitix.com/neal-presents-place

This event is curated by NEAL: The New and Experimental Arts Laboratory, co-presented by Platform Arts and supported by the City of Greater Geelong. ‘Djilang 5x5’ one of the works to be performed at PLACE alongside 'rhapsody/postcard' was originally commissioned by the City of Greater Geelong through the Arts & Culture Department’s Arts Industry Commissions Program for Sonus Ensemble.

24/08/2022

Hear the compositions of Geelong-based composer Kym Dillon brought to life by the breathtaking sounds of Mindy Meng Wang and Sonus Ensemble.

12/07/2022

12/07/2022

Anticipation is building for Thursday’s performance of Journey Home by
Until then warm up your ears with this brilliant

interview exploring the motivation and inspiration behind the work. Tickets available


https://t.co/rxfjKyLyS6

The musical and visual experience digs into childhood, family, belonging and what makes home, home.

11/07/2022

This Thursday 14th July - Live music in Geelong!!
Looking for an excuse for a great night out? Grab some friends and join us on Thursday for Journey Home with renowned pianist Andrea Keller.

“Andrea Keller’s Journey Home sounds like a love song to piano… Keller approaches her free improvs with zen-like openness, eschewing preconceptions.” [Tom Greenland, New York City Jazz Record].

An exquisite combination of music and film, Keller’s collaboration with film maker Hayley Miro Browne is a warming visual and musical tribute that delves into the importance of family and establishing memories while reflecting on the past.

Doors open at 7.30PM. Tickets available at https://platformarts.org.au/events/neal-journey-home

This event is curated by NEAL: The New and Experimental Arts Laboratory, co-presented by Platform Arts and supported by the City of Greater Geelong and Australia Council for the Arts.

28/04/2022

Sadly the next NEAL event, ELEMENT5, is now postponed. All tickets will be refunded. The event WILL happen in the not to distant future so keep an eye out on our page for updates.

🔥🔥🔥There is a special offer exclusive to those people on our mailing list for when we relaunch the ELEMENT5 event.

You can subscribe to our mailing list for latest news via email:

[email protected]

or via the email button on our page.

15/04/2022

Number 11!

Surround Sounds Music Festival: The lesser-known events worth adding to your calendar

08/04/2022

The next NEAL event is FIRE🔥.
Experience a collaborative sound art, video & live performance event from NEAL's very own Vicki Hallett & Jem Savage with Zela Papageorgiou. ELEMENT5 draws inspiration from the earth’s four elements and asks: could we imagine a world without sound? Running across multiple times on 08 May - grab your tickets: platformarts.org.au/events/neal-element5
Element 5 is presented by NEAL as part of Surround Sounds festival.
📸 1. Courtesy Speak Percussion photographer Bryony Jackson
📸 2-3: Leiko Lopez

02/03/2022

If you’ve been on the fence about this Thursday’s event - here’s a chance to win a double pass with Geelong Times, thanks to Platform Arts!

𝗪𝗜𝗡 a double pass to see Delay 45 & Claire Cross - Bassist at Platform Arts Geelong this Thursday night.

𝗧𝗼 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿, 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗧𝗔𝗚 𝗮 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁.

Prize: 2 tickets to see Delay + Claire Cross at Platform Arts Geelong.

*Winner will be drawn at random Thursday, March 3rd 2022 at 10am AEDT. Good luck!

02/03/2022

🎶 You have to be in it to win it!

𝗪𝗜𝗡 a double pass to see Delay 45 & Claire Cross - Bassist at Platform Arts Geelong this Thursday night.

𝗧𝗼 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿, 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗧𝗔𝗚 𝗮 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁.

Prize: 2 tickets to see Delay + Claire Cross at Platform Arts Geelong.

*Winner will be drawn at random Thursday, March 3rd 2022 at 10am AEDT. Good luck!

01/03/2022

Experience some of Australia's most innovative jazz artists performing right here in Geelong. Delay 45 are heading down from Sydney as part of their national FLUX 2022 tour. This Thursday, they will be performing with Claire Cross' ensemble Into Light for a double-album launch. Tickets are accessibly priced at $15/$20 - grab yours: platformarts.org.au/events/neal-delay-45

Doors open at 7PM, with Claire Cross' Into Light featuring from 7.30PM and Delay 45 hitting the stage from 8.30PM. This event is curated and co-presented by NEAL: The New and Experimental Arts Laboratory and is supported by the City of Greater Geelong and Australia Council for the Arts.

Image: Aaron Blakey

01/03/2022

Fanging it down the Hume Highway to VICTORIA this Thursday! A real highlight of the tour performing at some amazing venues and sharing the stage with a couple of incredible artists. Tix at www.sima.org.au/delay45

THURS 3 MARCH - GEELONG Double launch show with Claire Cross - Bassist stunning work 'Into Light' at Platform Arts. Presented by NEAL: The New and Experimental Arts Laboratory

FRI 4 MARCH - BENDIGO
Impro workshop and performance at The Old Church on the Hill. Presented by Bendigo Jazz

SUN 6 MARCH - MELBOURNE
Double bill with the inspirational Niran Dasika at The Jazzlab. Presented by Melbourne Jazz Co-op

24/02/2022

Get your mind blown next Thursday 3rd of March at our NEAL event at Platform Arts!

“…one of the most restless creative people in Melbourne today. As a jazz-and-beyond bassist, she will blow your mind; as a composer and bandleader, she has created a sonic world of her own…” - Nikos Fotakis, australianjazz.net

Don't miss this one-night-only music experience on THU MAR 03. Tickets available at platformarts.org.au/events/neal-delay-45
Doors open at 7PM for this double album launch, with Claire Cross' Into Light featuring from 7.30PM and Delay 45 hitting the stage from 8.30PM.

Featuring Delay 45 and Claire Cross - Bassist
This event is curated and co-presented by NEAL: The New and Experimental Arts Laboratory and is supported by City of Greater Geelong and Australia Council for the Arts

23/02/2022

Next Thursday 3rd of March at NEAL!!!

16/02/2022

On Thursday 3 MAR catch a double-headline, double-album launch at Platform with jazz groups Delay 45 and Into Light, presented by NEAL: The New and Experimental Arts Laboratory. Expect improvised sounds that seamlessly move between structure and spontaneity, lush textures and delicate melodies.
Delay 45 is an Australian jazz group led by award-winning trumpeter and composer Tom Avgenicos, featuring close collaborators Roshan Kumarage, Dave Quinn and Ashley Stoneham. Into Light is a project led by award-winning bassist and composer Claire Cross, bringing together some of Melbourne’s most exciting improvisers including Flora Carbo, Jordan Murray, Biddy Connor, David Moran and Harry Cook. An evening not to be missed! Tickets are $20 General Admission and $15 Concession: platformarts.org.au/events/neal-delay-45

This event is presented as part of The New and Experimental Arts Laboratory 2022 program and assisted by the Australian Government through Australia Council.