ARTISTIC RATIONALE
Australian music practices are at the forefront of creative risk, always working in experimental and innovative ways to create music that is bold, new, and exciting. The musicians of The House ensemble are trained in rapid composition and collaborative musical devising. These are experimental methods that have been refined and distilled by Australian musicians, and lead to musical outcomes that are unique in the global music scene.
PAST WORKS
THE HOWLING GIRLS
2018, 2019, with The House that Dan Built Ensemble
The Howling Girls explores the medium and metaphor of the voice. Featuring a solitary soprano and a throbbing chorus of young voices, together with an immersive orchestration of theremin, keyboards and electroacoustic music, the score itself is a kind of proto-language, an attempt to communicate in a mode beyond the rational: a sensory spectacle to bypass the brain and work directly on the body. Featuring a solitary soprano and a throbbing chorus of young voices
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Developed in collaboration with the young ensemble of The House that Dan Built, The Howling Girls showcases the exciting artistic opportunities of working with young people. The Howling Girls premiered at Carriageworks in 2018, and travelled to Tokyo Festival in 2019.
Co-winner of the 2018 Music Theatre Now Competition​, Winner of the 'Vocal/Choral Work of the Year' in the 2019 Art Music Awards​, and Finalist in the 2018 FBi SMAC Awards in the category 'Best on Stage'.
REVERENCE
REVERENCE, the 2022 House Commission, is a Requiem for Piano and Voice, is a story of grief told through song. REVERENCE is part Requiem, part modern opera; and something entirely new. Performed in the round, this singular and intense debut work combines piano, percussion, six solo voices and a chorus to create an emotionally charged, bold and layered work. REVERENCE is the first major work by Rose Riebl, one of Australia’s most exciting pianists and composers, and is currently in talks for touring in 2026.
BAGATELLE
Inspired by experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic and the huge challenges that isolation brought to musicians, The House presents BAGATELLE. This project was a 2021 House Commission to showcase a series of micro-compositions written by The House ensemble in collaboration with celebrated composer and pianist Sally Whitwell. This work celebrates choral voice, the return to live music, and the human connection of singing together. Showcasing the unique composition and performance skills of the House Ensemble, created in collaboration.
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SALT360
​SALT 360 is an immersive film installation, based on music from the collaboratively devised and composed show SALT.
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Young women, siren-like, invite the audience into a salty, female, underwater world by way of a highly evocative 360 degree projection. Danielle O’Keefe’s award winning female ensemble swaddle the audience in haunting choral music. Through a synergy of moving bodies and an original choral score, SALT follows an emotional journey of female adolescence into womanhood. Performed and devised by The House ensemble of teenage girls, we witness them wrestle the ocean and emerge heroic.
THE ENSEMBLE
The House Ensemble is a unique group of highly trained musicians and music creators. Drawn from mutli-disciplinary arts practices, the Ensemble is comprised of female artists at all stages of their career and life. Musicians are aged from 14-30, and have their own thriving individual arts practices. Their skills across music, theatre, physical art forms, movement, and dance are drawn into their musical practices, creating compositions that are inventive and unique, built on rigorous foundations of musical technique and practice.
For each project the House undertakes, different members of the Ensemble are selected, creating a flexible and dynamic Ensemble that can be tailored to particular projects.
The House Ensemble has performed in prestigious works and venues across Australia and internationally. Previous works include The Howling Girls, performed at Tokyo Festival in 2019; ASSEMBLY, the Australian entry for the 2019 Venice Biennale, and performances at NSW Parliament House, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Carriageworks, and Bondi Pavilion.