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Karlheinz Stockhausen, the controversial German composer who wrote a string quartet for four helicopters, claimed to be descended from astral beings and earned a spot on the cover of the Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, will be the focus of a free music and light event at Sydney Conservatorium of Music this Saturday 6 June.

Licht merges electronic orchestral music concerts with light-art installations, featuring the Australian Premiere of Stockhausen’s most ambitious work. From an electronic music track that combines the national anthems of countries across the world, to a musical rendition of a nuclear explosion, Licht will celebrate the madness and creativity of Stockhausen’s musical genius.

The free Licht concert series is the major musical component of Smart Light Sydney, a new free festival celebrating innovation through light art, music and ideas, part of the new Vivid Sydney festival.

This Saturday 6 June audiences will be treated to a series of concerts, from 2pm until late into the night. Licht, meaning ‘Light’, is a sprawling 29 hour cycle of seven operas that took the recently deceased composer almost 30 years to write.

From the foyers to the recital halls to the music cafe, Sydney Conservatorium of Music will be enveloped in music and light, as specialist musicians from Australia and overseas join players from the Conservatorium and leading vocal ensemble The Song Company to bring extracts of Stockhausen’s masterwork to life.

“Licht is almost a summation of Stockhausen’s thoughts on music, religion and creation and because it was only finished in 2003, just three years before his death, practically nothing of the piece has been seen or heard live in Australia,” said Roland Peelman, Artistic Director for Licht.

Famed for his pioneering work on electronic music, Stockhausen is one of the few avant-garde composers to have succeeded in penetrating the popular consciousness, with diverse musicians such as Kraftwerk, Miles Davis, Pink Floyd and Bjork openly acknowledging his influence.
The Beatles were such fans of the composer that they added his photograph to the famous collage cover of the Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, and he is believed to be the influence behind the electronica of songs like ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’.

“Stockhausen is one of a small number of composers who literally transformed the world of twentieth century music and with Licht, we aim to both celebrate his contribution and present his music in an exciting light for a new generation of audiences to enjoy,” said Peelman.

The event is a collaboration between Smart Light Sydney and Sydney Conservatorium of Music, with support from the New Music Network, ABC Classic FM, Goethe Institut and Stockhausen Stiftung.
Smart Light Sydney is a major component of Vivid Sydney, one of five anchor events in the first ever NSW Master Events Calendar created by Events NSW on behalf of the NSW Government.

Licht
When: 6 June 2009, 2PM - late
Where: Sydney Conservatorium of Music
Free: Tickets limited

TICKET INFORMATION

This is a FREE EVENT. Tickets will be available from 10AM to 6PM from Monday 1 June – Friday 5 June at the reception counter, Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Limited tickets will be available on the concert day, Saturday 6th June. Tickets are limited to 2 per person, per performance.