Airwaves: 100 Years of Radio

Two of Australia's most exceptional contemporary music ensembles - Topology and Loops - will unite their talents to deliver AIRWAVES: 100 Years of Radio, at Brisbane's iconic Princess Theatre on April 17, 2024.

AIRWAVES celebrates both the medium of radio and key events of the last century, with Topology and Loops creating music inspired by and featuring some of the most important speeches and broadcasts of our time. Working directly from the inherent melodic qualities within the speeches, the music and recordings weave together to create ‘voice portraits’.

Starting in 2001, AIRWAVES rewinds back through 100 years of radio history all the way to Guglielmo Marconi’s first wireless broadcast across the Atlantic Ocean in 1901. The voices of political leaders, humanitarian heroes, and controversial figures such as Bill Clinton, Princess Diana, Albert Einstein, Virginia Woolf, Martin Luther King, Adolf Hitler, Ghandi, Winston Churchill, Amelia Earhart, a very young Queen Elizabeth II, and many others chart a tumultuous century of world events, transformed into song.

On stage, the eight artists of Topology and Loops conjure a musical world of strings, saxophone, double bass, guitar, trombone, tabla, piano and drums around these iconic speeches, accompanied by evocative visuals and lighting design; promising an unforgettable performance.

First performed in 2001, AIRWAVES was inspired by Topology’s Robert Davidson and Loops’ Jonathan Dimond’s shared interest in melodies inspired by speech, as well as being mutual fans of each other’s work. With Topology's strong ties to contemporary jazz, the collaboration with Loops to create AIRWAVES was a natural step.

Revisiting this work presents an exciting and rare opportunity to see the two ensembles onstage together once more, as well as consider how the work, and world, has evolved.

AIRWAVES: 100 Years of Radio is a valued partner of Must Do Brisbane.com