The Presets and ACO join forces

The orchestra – “probably the finest string ensemble on the planet” according to London’s The Daily Telegraph – will perform with Aussie electronic duo The Presets for a series of concerts, as well as an exclusive commission from Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood. The ACO and The Presets will perform Timeline, Richard Tognetti’s (ACO’s Artistic Director) journey through 42,000 years of music in cities across the country, which will trace the evolution of music performance. The program includes work by classical composers (Mozart, Vivaldi and Stravinsky) as well as jazz, pop and rock icons (Miles Davis, Nirvana and Pink Floyd). The Presets’ Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes are classically trained musicians who met at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. The duo collaborated with Tognetti in the development of Timeline. “While we have enjoyed recognition in the contemporary music sector, our influences and our musical background have always been very broad, and have informed the music we create to this day,” The Presets said in a press release. “We were honoured to be asked to be contribute to Timeline – it’s a privilege to select so many meaningful works for the piece, and to work with the ACO.” The Jonny Greenwood commission, Water, will premiere next year. It was written exclusively for the ACO and will be performed as part of Tognetti’s Beethoven concerts in Canberra, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney in October/November. Away from Radiohead, Greenwoood has composed acclaimed scores for Paul Thomas Anderson’s modern classics There Will Be Blood and The Master. Greenwood work-shopped Water with the ACO in late 2012 but the piece evolved to include Indian influences after a journey to the subcontinent. “The space in Indian classical music and the textures were a big influence on the commission,” he said in a press release. Timeline, featuring The Presets, will be performed in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney and Wollongong from May 20 to June 4. Tognetti’s Beethoven, which includes the Australian premiere of Jonny Greenwood’s Water, will be performed in Canberra, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney from October 26 to November 3. aco.com.au