ACO Will Perform The Music Of INTERSTELLAR, BLADE RUNNER, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, and More

This May, Richard Tognetti and the Australian Chamber Orchestra will be joined by the Will Gregory Moog Ensemble, a uniquely innovative synth band led by Goldfrapp's Will Gregory and comprised of synth musicians including Florence and the Machine keyboardist Hazel Mills, to explore some of the most iconic and audacious music written for the screen.

Pioneers Wendy Carlos and Delia Derbyshire opened the floodgates in the 1960s. Between Carlos' wildly inventive score for A Clockwork Orange and Derbyshire's indelible sci-fi sound in Doctor Who, the pair introduced synthesiser music to a mainstream audience and paved the way for the likes of film greats including John Williams, Vangelis and Hans Zimmer.

Tognetti will direct the ACO and the Will Gregory Moog Ensemble through music from A Clockwork Orange and Doctor Who alongside Vangelis' iconic themes for Blade Runner and Chariots of Fire, selections from Hans Zimmer's otherworldly Interstellar score and music by the legendary John Williams. The concert will also feature selections from Carlos' ground-breaking debut album, Switched-On Bach, which is credited for bringing synthesisers into the realm of pop music. The album was a runaway success upon its release, reaching number 10 on the US Billboard chart and becoming the second classical album to be certified platinum.

A Clockwork Orange and Beyond marks the ACO's first collaboration with a Moog ensemble - a synth instrument created in the 1960s during the rise of electronic music.

The Will Gregory Moog Ensemble first performed together in 2005 as part of the Bath Festival, recreating some of Wendy Carlos' iconic Switched-On Bach arrangements. As one half of the electronic music sensation Goldfrapp, keyboard-player and composer Will Gregory is one of the UK's leading advocates of using synthesisers and electronic instruments to create new sounds and reinvent old ones. The band performs a mixture of specially composed music, transcriptions of classical works, and its own versions of music from popular culture and film scores.

Selections from the soundtracks to:

WENDY CARLOS Tron and A Clockwork Orange
VANGELIS Blade Runner and Chariots of Fire
John Williams Images
Hans Zimmer Interstellar
EDUARD ARTEMYEV / Johann Sebastian Bach Solaris
DELIA DERBYSHIRE / Ron Grainer Doctor Who

WENDY CARLOS / Johann Sebastian Bach Switched-On Bach
OLIVIER MESSIAEN Oraison
FRANZ WAXMAN Sinfonietta: I. Lento - Allegro

Richard Tognetti Director and Violin
Will Gregory Moog Ensemble
Australian Chamber Orchestra

Tour Dates

Sydney • City Recital Hall
Fri 12 May 1.30pm
Sat 13 May 7pm
Tue 16 May 8pm
Wed 17 May 7pm

Sydney Opera House
Sun 14 May 4pm

Wollongong Town Hall
Thu 18 May 7.30pm

Melbourne Recital Centre
Sat 20 May 7.30pm
Mon 22 May 7.30pm

Melbourne • Arts Centre Melbourne
Sun 21 May 2.30pm

Canberra • Llewellyn Hall
Tue 23 May 8pm