Sonic Youth for Melbourne Chamber Orchestra

Scaling up a pre-existing interdisciplinary initiative that uses participatory practice to engage youth in rural communities with issues around biodiversity, sustainability, climate change and community resilience.

Project summary

This project will scale up a pre-existing interdisciplinary initiative that uses participatory practice to engage youth in rural communities with issues around biodiversity, sustainability, climate change and community resilience. Soundscapes will be crowd-sourced from rural Victorian youth, capturing places that are significant to them as a way of supporting a sense of agency and hope. These recordings will be woven together with an original score for chamber ensemble, for concert performance with Melbourne Chamber Orchestra as part of the 2026 season.

What are we interested in?

How can creative practice help young people in rural communities process and engage with the realities of biodiversity loss and climate change? This project will enable participants to translate fear and anxiety into meaningful expression, connecting them with places of significance and capturing the sounds of their local surrounds.

The goals of our project

To engage youth in the rural Victorian community of Romsey, through a series of workshops at the local school, the soundscapes created as part of the residency will be used as the basis of a new chamber music work for performance by Melbourne Chamber Orchestra.

Outcomes / activities

School community workshops in Romsey, Victoria. Participants will record soundscapes of significant local environs. These recordings will be woven into an original score and performed in concert at Melbourne Recital Centre, 1st and 4th October 2026.