Events
Image: Eduardo Cossio
VAST: WHERE SOUND MEETS THE COSMOS - An Australian premiere
Tasmanian composer Constantine Koukias returns from Amsterdam with Dutch sound designer Willem van Erven Dorens to transform one of science’s greatest mysteries, dark energy, into a live, spatial-audio experience inside Hobart’s Theatre Royal.
VAST is inspired by the 1998 discovery that the expansion of the Universe is accelerating, made by Adam Riess, Saul Perlmutter, and Brian Schmidt — which won them the Nobel Prize in Physics.
The international ensemble features Australian pianist Gabriella Smart, American soprano Katharine Dain, English tenor Tyrone Landau, Tasmanian musicians Jennifer Owen (violin) and Yoram Levy (trumpet), Celia Craig (Cor Anglais, SA), Greg Gurr (sound supervisor), Jason James (lighting designer), and Donald Bate (live delay operator).
This Australian Premier is presented by Beaker St Festival and Theatre Royal, Hobart on Wednesday 12 August 2026 at 8pm and on Thursday 13 August 2026 at 8pm.
The notated score has been generously supported by The Hon. Christopher Schacht, DARKLab, Museum of Old & New Art, Suzanne and Cameron Brett, James Speed, Michele McGinity, SOUNDSTREAM – New Music and Creative Australia.
To view composer notes visit here.
To book tickets visit here.
Gadakosma Duo: Gabriella Smart and David Kotlowy perform at Experiementalnight, Metro Hotel (WP)
Building on a 30-year collaborative relationship, David and Gabriella performed, at Experiementalnight at the Metro Hotel on Monday 13 May 2026, their hybrid, experimental music using the extraordinary sounds of three microtonal instruments: electric Cristal, microtonal electric guitar and Roli Seaboard.
Overland to Darwin 1926 - a rare film by Clarence Judd (WP)
Presented by South Australia’s History Festival the rare film Overland which was reworked by Christo Reid and Ben Brooks (Innamincka Films) with the addition of simple atmospheric sound and an ambient music score composed by two acclaimed musicians, Gabriella Smart (piano & electronics) and Fabian Hevia, leading Australian jazz percussionist screened for audiences on Monday 4 May 2026 at the SASA Hetzel Lecture Theatre. Film maker Christo Reid introduced the film, and Clarence Judd’s grandson, Brenton Whittenbury, spoke following the screening.
In May 1926, Captain Edward Bagot embarked on the first passenger trip from Adelaide to Darwin and back. Travelling in two Studebaker cars, Bagot led twelve passengers a distance of 4,500 miles in just over five weeks. Mr Clarence Judd, a keen amateur filmmaker, documented the effort and endurance of this journey. There was also a public screening of the film as part of History Month at the Beltana Community Hall on Wed 20 May.
Emerging Composers Forum
In May 2025, the Soundstream Emerging Composers Forum brought together five early-career composers for a week of intensive site-responsive music-making on South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula. Co-mentored by Inarma Womens Choir (NT), and site-specific composers Jesse Budel (SA) and Cheryl Leonard (USA), the ECF fostered deep listening, ecological awareness, and collaborative composition along the striking coastline of Aldinga Beach.
Among the participating composers was Vicki Hallett (VIC), Frankie Dyson-Reilly (QLD), Oscar Lush (VIC), Isabella Rahme (NSW), and Georgia Oatley (SA).
Participants collaborated with the Inarma Choir—an all-women’s choir from Central Australia—and Soundstream Artistic Director Gabriella Smart, whose powerful presence helped shape creative responses across the week.
The ECF emphasized field recording practice using local materials and environments, with Cheryl Leonard guiding sessions in working with found natural objects, and Jesse Budel leading workshops in soundscape composition utilising a mobile octophonic speaker array.
The forum included two memorable excursions: a guided walk through the Aldinga Scrub Conservation Park with John Edmeades from Friends of the Aldinga Scrub, and a bicultural ecological tour of Lot 50 (McLaren Vale) at with environmental artist and cross-cultural facilitator Gavin Malone. These encounters enriched the composers’ engagement with place, ecology, and Indigenous knowledges.
Call-out: ECF 2025
Soundstream invites emerging composers to participate in the 2025 Emerging Composers’ Forum (ECF) between May 15-19 2025.
Five participants will be selected through this national call-out to join a creative development intensive at Aldinga Scrub Conservation Park, an extraordinary landscape that inspires experimentation and collaboration.
Omnium-gatherum: Gabriella Smart
Welcome to Omnium-gatherum, a ‘medley of various things’ around the piano in two solo concerts in November and December, featuring two acclaimed pianists with divergent practices.
Sunday December 1st, 2pm: Gabriella Smart
Omnium-gatherum: Marianna Grynchuk
Welcome to Omnium-gatherum, a ‘medley of various things’ around the piano in two solo concerts during November and December, featuring two acclaimed pianists with divergent practices.
Friday November 22nd, 7pm: Marianna Grynchuk
MUD: Composer In Residence Performance
Join us on July 6th for an extraordinary evening of music showcasing the creative achievements of the MUD: Composer-in-Residence program. Esteemed cellist David Moran will open the night, presenting new works by our composer-in-residence, Joseph Franklin, alongside guest performer Gabriella Smart on Electric Cristal.
MUD: Composer In Residence Workshop
Join us for an engaging community workshop led by acclaimed composer and bassist Joseph Franklin, whose work fuses notated and improvised modalities with elements of experimental music, sound art, and unique instrument design. Esteemed cellist David Moran will join him, helping to unpack and demonstrate the intricacies of their collaborative process…
2025 Emerging Composers Forum Fundraiser
Join us for our 2025 ECF Fundraiser, with performances by Gabriella Smart and Jesse Budel
Inarma Choir Workshops
2024 saw two workshop series with the Inarma Choir (SA/NT) held in April at Ross River, NT; and July in Mparntwe-Alice Springs, NT. This was a continuation of the ongoing Titjikala Community project, and collaboration with the Inarma Choir.
Soundmap of Karrawirrapari
The world premiere of a new surround sound work by Jesse Budel, exploring the soundscapes of Karrawirraparri (River Torrens)
Soundstream’s 30th Birthday Party!
Soundstream is celebrating its 30th birthday party, and you’re invited!
Get ready for a music and experimental arts-filled afternoon and evening…
Eugene Chadbourne on the Fleurieu
Eugene Chadbourne presents his genre-defying, boundary smashing mix of psychedelic punk, folk, spiritual jazz, experimental, Shockabilly, Freedom-Lovin' repertoire.
Considering Matthew Shepard (Saturday 14 October - Evening Performance)
A modern day passion that reaches through tragedy to find peace, understanding and life-affirming joy.
Considering Matthew Shepard (Thursday 12 October)
A modern day passion that reaches through tragedy to find peace, understanding and life-affirming joy.
Considering Matthew Shepard Fundraiser
Join conductor and producer Jesse Budel in an afternoon fundraising event for Considering Matthew Shepard, a modern-day oratorio by Craig Hella Johnson, reflecting on the 1998 homophobic murder of Matthew Shepard in Wyoming USA. This year marks the 25th anniversary of these tragic events, and Soundstream performing the work between October 12-14 in Adelaide's Elder Hall…
Murray Bridge Piano Sanctuary Launch
Come on a tour of South Australia's first ruined piano sanctuary in remnant Mallee forest, and hear a concert of new exploratory music for the Sanctuary's pianos.
FEUILLE DE ROUTE / ROADMAP - Parasymbiosis with Art Zoyd
A concert of works composed by Australian composer Cat Hope over the past decade, performed by Gabriella Smart and Cat Hope.
An Ear Can Break A Human Heart – music for piano, flute and electronics by Cat Hope
A concert of works composed by Australian composer Cat Hope over the past decade, performed by Gabriella Smart and Cat Hope.
Emerging Composers Forum Concert
Join Adelaide's Soundstream New Music for four world premieres of new works by Olivia Davies (WA), Christopher Williams (SA), Luke Cuerel (QLD) and Elizabeth Jigalin (NSW), each responding to the environment of the Aldinga Scrub Conservation Park on the Fleurieu Peninsula.
Gabriella Smart at Dim
Deep drones - Gabriella Smart performs on Electric Crystal and Seaboard Roli, blending microtonal, acoustic and electronic sounds. Smart brings the Electric Crystal for the first time to Europe- to Dim.
PRIMORDIAL @ MONA FOMA
A time-travelling marriage of science and sound, played on a ‘time machine’ that looks suspiciously like a piano (with some additions)—it’ll be plucked, stroked and hammered by Gabriella Smart…
Morning Meditations @ MONA FOMA
Moments of quiet; music-borne reveries; opportunities for reflection.
A Deep Black Sleep @ MONA FOMA
A film noir opera about a composer in an authoritarian state, and the price of artistic freedom. Live vocals and performance intertwine with projected film, blurring the line between live performance and cinema…
Sarah Day: 'Slack Tide' Book Launch
A book launch by Sarah Day of her new poetry, “Slack Tide”, with piano improvisations by Gabriella Smart.
WAVE at Adelaide Film Festival
This genre-defying work of art unites digital imagery, ceramics and sound in an immersive 360-degree installation in the Elder Wing of the Art Gallery of South Australia. Gerry Wedd’s iconic ceramics and drawings are brought to life with an evocative soundscape composed by Gabriella Smart in this cinematic production co-directed by Wedd, Mark Patterson and Smart, produced by Patterson with digital production by Jumpgate VR.
QUARTET
Join Gabriella Smart on Seaboard ROLI & electric cristal, Lisa MacKinney on guitar, Cat Hope on bass and Tina Havelock Stevens on drums as they form a new ensemble, QUARTET, for the first time.
Immersive improvised noise textures by foggy seascapes, disappeared women and lost masterpieces.
Inarma Choir in On The Terrace
In this inspirational event, the Choir will perform songs in Pitjantjatjara in a collaboration between Titjikala Community and Soundstream, with Stuart Patterson on clarinet.