MEDITATE //
ANYTIME,
ANYWHERE
Australian Premiere
Date & Time
Sunday, 9 June
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
2:00pm - 3:00pm
Venue
Sculpture Garden
Maroochy Bushland Botanic Gardens
Kabi Kabi Country
Artists
Tenzin Choegyal
Danielle Bentley
Lyndon Davis
Zac Hurren
Cye Wood
Join Grammy Award-nominated artist Tenzin Choegyal for an immersive sound and music experience - Meditate // Anytime, Anywhere. Weaving together sounds from the classical and chamber music worlds with world-music textures, this 60 minute performance will unfold in the beautiful Sculpture Garden at Maroochydore Botanic Gardens.
The audience will be invited to move around the gardens at their own pace, taking in the ebbing and flowing sounds from each artist, connected by a lulling drone ambience to create a natural 'surround sound' experience. The natural bushland soundscape will complete this truly original and evocative take on chamber music.
Join us for a leisurely Sunday afternoon stroll in the Gardens to meditate - anytime, anywhere…
Tenzin Choegyal
Tenzin Choegyal is one of the world’s finest musicians in the Tibetan tradition. As a son of Tibetan nomads, he feels a particular connection to the music of the high Himalayan plateau.
In a career spanning 20+ years Tenzin has performed at festivals across Australia and curated numerous events and concerts including Brisbane’s annual Festival of Tibet. Internationally he has performed in New Zealand, Japan, India, Germany, Bangladesh, Russia and USA, including performances at New York’s Carnegie Hall. He has also opened many of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Public Talks in Australia, New Zealand and Japan with his musical offerings.
While proudly continuing the unbroken nomadic lineage which is central to his repertoire, Tenzin also embraces opportunities to take his music into more contemporary, uncharted territory, both in the studio and on stage.
Tenzin has nine independent albums, three of them with his fusion band Tibet2Timbuk2, and regularly performs with Camerata Brisbane’s acclaimed Chamber Orchestra. His collaborative albums include The Last Dalai Lama? with Philip Glass, Peradam album by Soundwalk Collective with Patti Smith featuring Anoushka Shankar & Charlotte Gainsbourh and the 2021 Grammy-nominated Songs from the Bardo released through Smithsonian Folkways with his longtime friend and collaborator Jesse Paris Smith and Laurie Anderson – a moving interpretation of the Tibetan Book of the Dead.
An outstanding composer/ performer with a great depth of musical knowledge, intuition and inventiveness, Tenzin continues to bring new sounds of Tibet while strongly holding the essence of ancient Tibetan wisdom. He attributes his art form to the early karmic imprints of hearing his mother and father as a toddler.
Danielle Bentley
Dr Danielle Bentley is an award-winning cellist specialising in Australian art music, and co-leader of Ensemble Sooon. Danielle was the Australian Arts Fellow at Omi Music Residency, New York & is a recipient of an APRA-AMCOS Art Music Award for Excellence. Danielle has worked across a broad range of genres, reflected in her exploratory approach to music-making. Traditional classical contexts include Queensland Symphony Orchestra and Camerata. She was a Director of art music ensemble Collusion for 7 years during which they produced several critically-acclaimed chamber ballets, commissioned/performed over 40 Australian works and released 3 albums. Danielle has also worked extensively in the popular and commercial music sectors with over 100 headliner artists including Diana Krall, Harry Connick Jnr, Jimmy Barnes and Kanye West. Danielle’s quartet performed for Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh. Festivals she has curated strongly featured new and improvised music. These include four editions of Restrung (Brisbane Powerhouse, Metro Arts) and at QLD Conservatorium, the International Music Council’s 5th World Forum on Music and two editions of Crossbows. 2023 will see the release of Ensemble Sooon’s debut album, and a busy performance schedule across South East Queensland.
Lyndon Davis
Founder Lyndon Davis is a Gubbi Gubbi artist, educator and cultural performer. Raised on the Sunshine Coast-Gubbi Gubbi country by his grandmother, Lyndon’s arts practice represents his deep connection to country and depicts stories of his region’s flora and fauna and creation stories. He is involved in delivering cultural awareness to schools throughout the area. More recently he has been recognised for his outstanding visual art achievements, songs in language, and his innovative collaboration with Dr Leah Barclay in site-specific sound art, Listening in the Wild, which won the prestigious 2021 Award for Excellence in Experimental Music.
Despite such impressive audiences as the Queen, the Dalai Lama and past Prime Ministers, a humble Lyndon Davis says, "what would have meant more than anything to me would have been to perform in front of my nan and uncles if they were still here today." Equally impressive is the recognition Lyndon has received from the Sunshine Coast University being awarded the Senior Fellowship Award to honour his services over the last fifteen years.
Lyndon says he's driven to be a positive role model for the next generation. "I'd describe myself as a big fig tree - a totem that was passed down to me by an Elder. It houses animals, provides food and shelter, has strong roots and is well grounded.”
Cye Wood
Cye is a composer and multi-instrumentalist whose work delves into many aspects of sound creation. His live and recorded work invokes a deep listening state, drawing audiences into familiar, yet uncharted territories.
His recorded works include the solo EP araya, the album Sönghellir with his project Cave In The Sky (featuring Tunji Beier and Purdie Wood), and a soundtrack album with Lisa Gerrard - The Trail of Genghis Khan.
Cye has also contributed string arrangements and solo violin to many other albums and film projects, and has worked with a diverse array of artists including – Laurie Anderson, Eartha Kitt, Tenzin Choegyal, William Barton and many other unique artists.
He also composes for film, contemporary dance and theatre productions and is currently working on the live score for a children’s theatre production currently under development with NORPA, and producing new work for his long term art soundtrack project with Christian Pyle - Oscillator A.
Zac Hurren
A Jazz graduate of the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University, Zac Hurren is a magnificent saxophonist who has performed with many Oz legends including Dale Barlow, Bernie McGann, Paul Grabowsky, John Hoffman, Katie Noonan and Sam Anning to name just a few.
In 2009 Zac won the National Jazz Award and in 2012 was a Freedman Fellowship finalist. A truly unique and distinctly Australian saxophonist, composer and improviser, Zac plays with a strength and passion steeped in the jazz heritage of John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Steve Coleman and Archie Shepp. He is renowned for his ARIA award winning inspiring work with Elixir and his robust playing on the highly acclaimed debut album Exordium featuring his adventurous original work.