Recorded in AIR Studio's Lyndurst Hall - a building that was originally a church and missionary school designed in 1880 by the great Victorian architect Alfred Waterhouse (designer of the Natural History Museum) - Justin Vernon was joined only by Sean Carey, with the pair positioning themselves opposite one another at two grand pianos. Although neither Justin nor Sean's first instrument is piano, they were able to remodel the songs in a way that showcases their complimentary vocals and, perhaps more strikingly, a seemingly effortless ability to experiment with form and structure. (via)Tracklist:
Sydney Festival was originally conceived by the Sydney Committee, the NSW State Government and the City of Sydney with a view to attracting people into the city centre during the holiday month of January.The first Festival took place in 1977 and it has since grown to become one of Australia's largest annual cultural celebrations with an international reputation for modern, popular and intelligent programming. In many ways it is probably still best understood as a celebration of Sydney and its style and energy reflect the confidence, diversity and vigour of one of the world's most beautiful cities.For three weeks each January the Festival offers a rich program of around 80 events involving upwards of 500 artists from Australia and abroad covering dance, theatre, music, visual arts, cross media and forums. In any given year, it makes use of most of the main theatres across the city including Sydney Theatre, CarriageWorks, City Recital Hall and venues at the Sydney Opera House.Sydney Festival also presents a number of quality, free outdoor events such as the long-running Festival in the Domain with Jazz and Symphony concerts, each attracting up to 100,000 people. In 2008 the Festival introduced a new opening event, Festival First Night, for which people are invited to take to the streets to enjoy a large-scale celebration of music and performance. In its inaugural year, Festival First Night attracted 200,000 people into the heart of the city.The Sydney Festival usually attracts a total audience of approximately 1 million people across all of its events each year, making it the most attended cultural event in Australia. [Via Sydney Festival]
