Australian Chamber Orchestra to bring Bill Henson collaboration to Adelaide

Led by Australian Chamber Orchestra artistic director Richard Tognetti on violin, Luminous combines Henson’s distinctive visual style with a contemplative selection of music including Britten’s Corpus Christi Carol and I’ve Been High by R.E.M.

“Luminous sees us collaborate with one of the world’s great artists, Bill Henson, who’s taken the art of photography to new levels and new dimensions,” Tognetti says. “We first presented this concert in 2005, in what marked one of our first collaborations with a visual artist, and were amazed at the support that we, and Bill, received throughout the project.”

Luminous was last mounted in the wake of controversy surrounding Henson’s work in 2008, in an episode that by today’s standard of moral panics and culture wars seems almost quaint. For this new iteration of Luminous, Henson has created additional updated visuals to complement the material from the original. The revival will also see acclaimed Israeli Australian folk singer Lior take to the microphone in a role that previous performances has seen filled by Paul Capsis and Katie Noonan.

“In collaborating with Richard Tognetti and the ACO on Luminous, I was aiming to create exactly what I’ve always wanted from any work of art: a gathering sense of intimacy which, through compelling articulation, overtakes our sense of what we thought we knew and makes the world strange again – that unexpected encounter with beauty which causes us to fall in love and which is the true purpose of art,” Henson says.

Luminous will touring the country throughout August, with Adelaide Town Hall hosting a single performance of Luminous on Tuesday, August 13.

Australian Chamber Orchestra
Luminous

Canberra
Llewellyn Hall
Saturday, August 10
Tickets

Melbourne
Hamer Hall
Sunday, August 11
Monday, August 12
Tickets

Adelaide
Adelaide Town Hall
Tuesday, August 13
Tickets

Perth
Perth Concert Hall
Wednesday, August 14
Tickets

Sydney
City Recital Hall
August 17 – 23
Tickets

Sydney Opera House
Sunday, August 18
Tickets

Brisbane
QPAC Concert Hall
Monday, August 19
Tickets

Header image:
Untitled 2003-04, Bill Henson (Photo: Courtesy the artist, Tolarno Galleries and Roslyn-Oxley Gallery)