Katie Noonan has the best and most beautifully versatile female voice in Australia. Last Wednesday night we went to see her singing with the Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) at the City Recital Hall in Angel Place, Sydney.
It was an absolute musical treat to hear the smooth vocals of Noonan and the energetic performance from the ACO.
Here’s a snippet from the ACO website about the sublime performance:
The divine Katie Noonan performs four centuries English song, from Purcell to Radiohead. Noonan’s lyrical singing captures the magic that exists when music illuminates text, bringing us joy, grief, pleasure and pain. Then, revel in the warmth and sweetness of the ACO strings in two stirring English masterpieces.
The venue is an exceptional venue for live music and the full-house were enthralled by the incredible performance. The first half of the evening were the older more traditional chamber orchestra pieces, while the second half was filled with experimental sounds as they covered more recent songs from the likes of McCartney, Radiohead, Amy Winehouse, David Bowie and Sting.
It was about my 5th experience of Noonan live in concert and my first real experience of a Chamber Orchestra. The ACO kick it all over the Sydney Symphony Orchestra! Except for the 3 Cellists and the harpist, all the members of the ACO were standing throughout the performance which made for an energetic and dynamic performance.
I filmed the above video for Ben. It’s a cover of Radiohead’s How to Disappear Completely.
Hey, thanks, man. Weren’t we just there for graduation?
yes – that’s where the grad was.
sweet venue.
did you like the radiohead cover?
So do you have a new all time fav gig?
no. i think katie noonan and elixer opera house august 2006 still wins.
i really really liked last week…
but jazz music does much more for me.
Beautiful sound.
Although I’m a touch biased as my boss designed the recital hall
hey jpj – send my compliments to him. the sound is incredible!
you didn’t help him with it??
i’d be interested to hear some of your technical knowledge sometime on what makes the sound work so well.
yours in acoustics,
dave.
Hey Dave
Didn’t help with the City Recital (wasn’t working in acoustics at the time). We’re improving Town Hall at the moment – thats fun!
The simple answer to why spaces either sound great or not is dependant on diffusion and absorption.
So basically if a room can make sound spread and then disappear it works. Obviously the science is very complicated – hope that makes sense. Great topic for a good chat over coffee one day hehe!
Peace
spread and disappear – noice.
i heard that the town hall was being shut for the year
peaceout.