Nunique Quartet — Brigid Burke (clarinet and electronics), Steve Falk (percussion), Megan Kenny (flutes), and Charles MacInnes (trombone and electronics) team up with guest musician Adrian Sherriff (bass trombone and shakuhachi) to present a program of improvised contemporary classical chamber music. The five players, along with subtle electronic filtering, develop and elaborate on composed thematic material to create a colourful and dynamic experience for the listener.

Brigid is an Australian composer, performance artist, clarinet soloist, visual artist, video artist and educator. Her creative practice explores the use of acoustic sound and technology to enable media performances and installations rich in aural and visual nuance. Her works are widely presented in concerts, festivals and radio broadcasts throughout Australia, Asia, Europe and the USA.

Possessing an interest in music of all genres and origins, Steve embraces the process of creating new work with artists of varied disciplines and traditions. Steve attended the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School, Victorian College of The Arts, Queensland Conservatorium of Music and later, Toho Gakuen College of Music (Tokyo) where he studied marimba with the renowned soloist and composer Keiko Abe.

Megan plays concert flute, piccolo, alto flute, recorders, bansuri, and is equally at home in bands and recording studios, including for ABC radio and television and composing for film. She has recorded flute on over 40 recordings and has written and co-written music for the flute and harp duet “Clair de Lune” and band “Light of the Moon”.

Charles has performed with the Hamburg Staatsoper, North German Radio (NDR) Big Band, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Australian Art Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Bendigo International Festival of Exploratory Music and works as a studio and theatre musician. He composes music for leading contemporary music ensembles as well as working as a sound designer for animators, short film makers, and installation artists.

Adrian is a frequent performer at the Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane Arts Festivals as well as regionally throughout Australia and internationally. Current performance projects include: Kewti – a trio with fretless guitar, bass trombone and drums, a shakuhachi and tabla duo with Sam Evans and Loops – an trio with electric bass, zendrum and electric guitar.

The group name is based on “Nuniques”—a large scale series of works that Keith Humble created in Melbourne in the 1960s that placed an “emphasis on the practical, the immediate, on music being made (even composed) for the audience here and now, on the spot” (from John Whiteoak’s “Playing Ad Lib: Improvisatory Music in Australia 1836-1970”).

www.nuniquequartet.com