The Jazzlab Dec 7
New Frontiers artist - Ashling O’Farrell
+ Virago with Flora Carbo (USA/AUS)
evening show 7.30pm
set 1 Ashling O’Farrell Quartet set 2 Virago + Flora Carbo
co-presented with the Melbourne Jazz Co-op and the University of Melbourne MCM
Virago
Flora Carbo
The Jazzlab Sunday Dec 7 Doors 7pm Show 7.30pm
tickets here $30/25 bookings essential
set 1 Ashling O’Farrell Quartet set 2 Virago + Flora Carbo
co-presented with the Melbourne Jazz Co-op and the University of Melbourne MCM with support from Creative Victoria and Creative Australia
New Horizons: Ashling O'Farrell Quartet
Ashling O'Farrell (trombone/vocals)
Saffi Campbell-Walker (piano)
Clio Grieg (bass)
Harry Lentell (drums)
The Ashling O’Farrell Quartet is an ensemble led by trombonist and vocalist Ashling O’Farrell. At just 21 years old, Ashling shares light and joy through her music, aiming to radiate hope with her jazz-influenced compositions. Inspired by artists such as Rita Payés, Kristin Berardi, Andrea Keller, and Stevie Wonder, the Ashling O’Farrell Quartet will bring a smile to your face and they cannot wait to share their music with you.
Virago with Flora Carbo (USA/Aus)
Flora Carbo (AUS), saxophones and composition
Sofia Carbonara (AUS/USA), vibraphone
Wesley Hornpetrie (USA), cello
BethAnne Kunert (USA), saxophones
Magnolia Rohrer (USA), violin
Melbourne’s own saxophonist, improviser, composer, and music leader Flora Carbo teams up with Michigan, USA based ensemble Virago (Sofia Carbonara - vibraphone, BethAnne Kunert - saxophones, Magnolia Rohrer - violin, and Wesley Hornpetrie - cello) for a night of original creative music, featuring a premiere by Carbo developed for and with the ensemble. This long-awaited collaboration celebrates international creative music community based on old (and new!) friendship, deep listening, and a passion for experimental forms. Flora and Virago’s project is supported by Bundanon Arts Centre, Made Now Music, Melbourne Women’s International Jazz Festival, Creative Victoria, and Creative Australia.
Flora Carbo is a saxophonist, composer and music leader from Naarm (Melbourne, Australia). Her unique practice creates novel musical environments that connect people through improvisation, composition and conceptual works, led by her explorations into the vocal qualities of the alto saxophone. Flora’s work traverses settings, methods and scales, with works devised for major festival stages at Melbourne International Jazz Festival, Canberra International Music Festival, Phoenix Central Park’s Strata Festival, Amersfoort Jazz Festival, and alongside luminaries of Australian jazz and improvised music like Barney McAll and Andrea Keller. Increasingly recognised as a composer, Flora’s significant commissions and premieres include Momentually with Theo Carbo at the 2023 Canberra International Music Festival; the SIMA Emerging Composers Commission 2022; Flora Carbo Percussion Ensemble for quartets of adaptable instrumentation at 2023 Strata Festival; and Ecosystem for three voices and three saxophones at the 2022 Melbourne International Jazz Festival. Flora was the Melbourne International Jazz Festival’s Take Note Leader for 2022. She was a finalist for the Freedman Jazz Fellowships 2022 and 2021; for the Young Australian Jazz Artist of the Year at the 2019 Australian Jazz Bell Awards; and for the 2016 National Jazz Award; and won the James Morrison Scholarship at the Generations in Jazz Festival in 2017.
Virago is a new voice in classical music. Marked by intense chemistry and resistance to creative norms, Virago melds free improvisation and contemporary chamber music into a contagious headspace of out-of-the box expression. This unusually instrumented quartet improvises through collaborations with composers, audience members, visual artists, and musicians across genres, marking the path for the future of chamber music. Virago has performed at festivals, concert halls, local businesses and public spaces including the Detroit Institute of Art, Strange Beautiful Music Festival, Wayne State University, and University Musical Programming (UMS). Listening for Bells, Virago’s “bright, exuberant” debut EP featuring the music of Harriet Steinke, was released in January 2022, followed by Listening from Darkness EP with Michael Malis on Made Now Music in August 2022. Passionate about the impact of free improvisation on personal and creative growth, Virago facilitates free improvisation workshops for K-12 students. Virago was founded in 2018 and is based in Michigan, USA. Virago is: Sofia Carbonara (percussion), Wesley Hornpetrie (cello), BethAnne Kunert (saxophone), and Magnolia Rohrer (violin/viola).
@floracarbo
@virago.music
