Boasting a vibrant collection of local works by Australian composers, the West Australian Symphony Orchestra’s Pandemonium demonstrated that WASO saved the best until last in their 2025 program. Led by rising conductor and Ensemble Apex founder Sam Weller on the podium, this Underground Series concert featured a selection of works for small symphony orchestra and electronic audio or visual accompaniment and was a refreshing change from WASO’s primarily early twentieth century and below repertoire. Fresh off a finalist appearance in the International Conducting Competition Rotterdam, Weller is now making debuts with many of Australia’s top orchestras. This concert marked Weller’s first appearance with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra to which he brought his signature energy and approachability and captured both audiences and orchestra.
The first piece on the program was the titular Pandemonium by local Perth composer Jordan Moore. Originally composed for the Cybec 21st Century Australian Composers Program with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Moore described the piece as an attempt to “explore all the ideas knocking around in [his] head.” The piece lived up to its name in this regard with its unsuspecting solo clarinet opening quickly giving way to a chaos where every musician was forced to display constant virtuosity and acrobatic control over their instrument. In developing this texture, Moore demonstrated a great mastery of the single gesture; he wove lines intentionally and selectively through the orchestra with single gestures making their way from left to right and back again in rapidly oscillating bursts. Conductor Sam Weller appeared to be wrangling this piece like a bull at a rodeo, teetering on the edge of control as the music zoomed by while he threw his hands at it, shaping and controlling its energy. If ever there were a piece to be considered idiomatic for Weller’s conducting, this would certainly have to be in contention. Moore succeeded in using all the techniques in the composition toolbox, but this all-in approach also creates a challenging form for audiences to follow. With so many short, technical gestures, the piece feels like a trampoline you are never quite ready to bounce on again when you are flung back up in the air. While entertaining and high octane, it makes it hard for audiences to latch onto any one moment or perceive the piece’s overall development, creating a disconnect between the piece’s beginning and end. The piece ended with a surprisingly effective twist; this spiky texture gave way to a solo woodblock ending as Weller appeared to cast spells at the ensemble, giving the audience a moment to comprehend the piece that had unfolded before them.
WASO Pandemonium. Photography by Rebecca Mansell.
A collaboration between local composer Lachlan Skipworth and Melbourne-based photographer Greg Bennet, Avem Asperitas brought the screen into play as the two mediums were combined to create an open and inviting journey. This post-minimal piece constructed of repeated ostinato and scalic patterns infused with romantic gestures which showed the close relationship with the orchestra Skipworth outlined prior to the performance as they sat beautifully in the instruments of the players. These patterns accompanied a series of live images and films of life around Melbourne, no more than a few seconds long. There was a reflection between the structure of the piece, created with small patterns, and the short but constantly moving images played on the screen which felt like they, despite being different mediums, were constructed from the same material. Skipworth avoided the trap of scoring each moment of the films but allowed these more subtle connections to tie these two arts into a singularity. The music itself was beautiful and emotional, with tension and release coming in constant cycles of just the right length to bring forth emotion in the listener. These cycles, however, were misaligned with the temporality of the visuals on the screen. Where the fragile film, littered with gaps of emptiness developed slowly and deliberately, the music seemed to move on without it, never stopping to reflect on what it had just seen. I found myself drawn constantly away from the film, only occasionally remembering that it was there to admire its beauty on its own. While this mismatch was true for much of the piece, the ending broke free and allowed itself to connect with the film once again. Skipworth wielded the gentle ending, filled with imperceivable meter changes in such a way that it swaddled the music and the film together tightly. While it would have been nice to see more of the gentle-handed approach throughout the piece, this created an ending which wrapped the audience in the nostalgia, peace, and intrigue of the images above.
WASO Pandemonium. Photography by Rebecca Mansell.
The final piece before intermission was also the last of the evening by a WA composer. Olivia Davies is the outgoing composer in residence at WASO and this piece, Swarm, marked the final commission of the tenure. Another collaboration with visual artist (Jordan James Kaye) and this time a movement artist in Georgia Rudd, the piece for string orchestra developed the meditative idea of a single note in the context of “collective and continuous movement.” The relationship between sound and sight was far stronger in this piece than the one before it with the music, while detailed and nuanced, sharing attention with the visuals it worked alongside. The piece developed on the single note, shifting between harmonics exploring what Davies described as “the essence of the sound.” Davies showed great courage in leaving a piece so exposed; without lush string chords or dense rhythmic textures to hide behind, a piece like this can easily become empty or feel incomplete. Neither of these were true of Swarm as its intricate detail and natural development over time demanded the audience’s intimate attention. The skewed symmetry of the ending brought just enough time to settle the piece to a final single gesture and felt as though it could have kept the audience content in silence for another minute. A reflective ending to a successful time as composer in residence at WASO, this piece was the perfect bookmark to end this chapter though I am sure Davies will return to the WASO stage in new capacities in the future.
WASO Pandemonium. Photography by Rebecca Mansell.
Following the intermission, two works by Australian composers from beyond the confines of Western Australia were presented. The first was a new work by Melody Eötvös named after the mythical bird The Brahminy Kite. Fascinated by the mythology, the piece was filled with the fury and drama of many adaptations of ancient myths such as Dante’s Inferno, Orpheus and Eurydice, and Theseus and Medea. Accompanied by stop motion footage of the artist’s own painting of the mythical creature, this piece had intensity of mythological scale. The film itself was a fascinating way to accompany the piece and although Eötvös explained that the film came after the fact, it was a fascinating way to present form to the audience. The film and music did not appear to have a direct connection like that seen earlier in Swarm but the addition of a painting being completed gives the audience a new sense of direction and location. This drawing acts as a form of countdown clock, a way for audiences to predict how much time is left in the piece. Had this film been more straightforward, this would likely have been to its detriment as the sense of tension would have been removed in favour of a slow wait for what audiences know is inevitably coming. Instead, the painting process was not as linear as expected with Eötvös going back and forth between parts of the bird, each time adding new details. This subversion of audience expectation then added to tension as listeners repeatedly guessed incorrectly when the piece may be ending or had no sense for it all until the end when the bird emerged from the image and the music built to a conclusion. A fascinating piece with new parameters for audiences to enjoy, Melody Eötvös will return to WASO on the 12th of February in the 2026 season with their work Meraki.
WASO Pandemonium. Photography by Rebecca Mansell.
The final work of the evening belonged to Amsterdam based Australian composer Kate Moore. Quickly becoming a staple of new music in the Australian landscape, Moore’s Art of Levitation for chamber orchestra and electronics is the perfect balance of embracing new sonic possibilities and integrating them into the rich texture that acoustic instruments provide. From the spatial string textures brought out with great precision to the thunder sheet, capable of providing deafening noise, subtly filling the room, this piece displays a new form of composition which is deeply idiomatic and embraces the contemporary possibilities. WASO’s performance of this piece can be noted for its particular clarity. Aided by the way Sam Weller embodies the music he conducts, the sound travelled across the orchestra in ways I have not heard such a small and spread-out force do before and found it difficult to do anything but let the music wash over me as the piece unfolded. Ending after 17 minutes, this piece feels like it has barely just begun, making it the perfect ending to a concert, leaving audiences wanting more.
Pandemonium is one of the many positives to come out of the unfortunate inability to perform in the Perth Concert Hall over these next few years. It is devastating to see this concert of new Australian works which should represent a core function and value of the orchestra being left out of WASO’s 2026 program. WASO will return to the welcoming and appropriate space for this ensemble that is Studio Underground next year and if this concert is anything to go by, it will be well worth going to.