Curious Noise
Music by Damien Ricketson
Music by Damien Ricketson
The music of Sydney-based composer Damien Ricketson is characterised by colourful sound-worlds, novel forms and is often multisensory in nature. Damien was the co-founder and Co-Artistic Director of the new music organisation, Ensemble Offspring (1995-2015), and the Program Leader of Composition at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music (2015-2019). Major works have included the immersive show Sound Touch (2022), the experimental opera The Howling Girls (2018) and the hybrid music-dance production The Secret Noise (2014).
Visit the Australian Music Centre for artist profile, scores, collaborators and more.
Visit the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney for extended biography and academic work.
"Ricketson’s music is wild and imaginative."
"A really pleasurable kind of strange."
"I left the show covered in a light layer of sweat and a pain in my side. I still have the pain a week later, powerful stuff."
"I was suspended in that moment between being given an anaesthetic and falling asleep."
"One of the strangest and intriguing sonic and visceral experiences."
"Made me feel terrified, disconcerted and glad to be alive."
Selected projects
Hybrid music-dance work created with Ensemble Offspring. Directed by Carlos Gomes.
Opera co-created with director Adena Jacobs and premiered by Sydney Chamber Opera and Carriageworks (2018)
Hectic Jacaranda performed by Vladimir Gorbach (guitar) and Lulu Liu (pipa)
Fractured Again – photos by Jamie Williams
The Secret Noise – photos by Heidrun Lohr