DANCE REVIEW; Distilling Emotions In Abstract Encounters (New York Times, December 2000)

the project

Australia's Michael Askill, known as the founder and guiding light of Synergy Percussion since 1973, presents two large-scale suites involving more than twenty musicians altogether. Both works were originally conceived for live performance, one commissioned by the Sydney Dance Company in 2000, the other by the Asian Games in Doha, Qatar, in 2006. Partly rerecorded, remixed and remastered for CD release, they show Askill as a composer of substance as well as a master musician and producer.

Air and Other Invisible Forces represents Askill's continuation of his collaborations with choreographer Graeme Murphy following Synergy with Synergy, Free Radicals and Salome. Air and Other Invisible Forces was another example of Graeme Murphy's consummate skill at bringing together creative teams of dancers, musicians and designers (including Akira Isogawa's costume design) and the sort of inventive staging that had the musicians literally floating around the stage on small mobile platforms.

Asia Drum Suite: In 2006 Askill was asked to compose eight percussion pieces for the Opening Ceremony of the Asian Games held in Doha, Qatar. The pieces were to accompany the entrance of the athletes from the eight Asian regions and in each piece Askill was asked to combine some of the essential sounds, instruments and rhythms of each region. ccc

tracklist