The Anatomy of the Orchestra: Drone Refractions

In The Anatomy of the Orchestra: Drone Refractions, Charles Hazlewood and Paraorchestra turn the orchestra inside-out, charting an immersive drone odyssey via some of Minimalism’s forebears and its greatest composers.

This unique performance re-casts the orchestra as a living, breathing installation: thirty-four musicians are arrayed throughout the space as they play. The audience is invited to walk or sit amongst them, to get close to the performers and sink into a deep sonic realm as enveloping drones mix with heady lighting design to conjure a hazy, transcendental atmosphere.

The repertoire of Drone Refractions is arranged as a triptych. Across approximately fifty minutes, audiences will experience Straylight, a brand new piece by ascendant composer and Paraorchestra affiliate Rylan Gleave, drawing inspiration from Minimialist precursor-prophet John Cage and his seminal work Seventy Four, a new configuration of the legendary Pauline Oliveros’ The Last Time/Ultima Vez by Charlotte Harding featuring the sublime vocals of Victoria Oruwari, and a performance of Fratres by that most holy of Minimalists, Estonian visionary Arvo Pärt.

Part-sound bath, part-ritual, part-installation, Drone Refractions compels audience members to inhabit new musical worlds, to experience the meditative magic of drone and witness these transportive sounds up close as never before. A unique opportunity to be on the inside looking out, rather than the outside looking in.