With the aspiration to transcend her previous solo drum set performances, Chloe has made the decision to premiere three new compositions at the Local Edition.
- A collection of field recordings spanning from 2023 to 2024 (7 min). Chloe poses an artistic inquiry: "Without consistent and attentive listening practices, can we truly embody the essence of musicianship?"
- Solo drumming accompanied by various assistants (20 min). This segment showcases Chloe's ongoing solo work evolution.
- A collaborative duo performance featuring Cassidy (dance) (30 min). Chloe presents the artistic query: "In a domain where our movements' speed and direction intimately shape our artistry, how can dancers and drummers afford not to collaborate?"
CHLOE KIM bio
Drummer Chloe Kim (Yeajee Kim, 김예지; MMus Performance Research. she/her) is one of Australia's foremost improvising musicians.
Chloe constantly performs alongside legendary musicians, and her strength as an artist also emanates in the setting of solo drum set performances. Since 2018, Chloe has performed solo at the Sydney Opera House, Powerhouse Museum, Art Gallery of New South Wales, and Museum of Old and New Art. In 2023 she performed 100 hours of solo drumming over 10 consecutive days at the ‘MONA FOMA’ festival in Tasmania. She also performed a live response to Do Ho Suh's Staircase-III installation at the Museum of Contemporary Art for Sydney Festival and composed/performed a score in the forthcoming documentary The Independents about the 2022 Australian Federal Election.
To date Chloe has released 4 solo drum albums which have received media praise in the UK, France, and the United States. She was also a soloist in Jeremy Rose's APRA Art Music Award-winning work Disruption! The Voice of Drums, which featured at the Sydney Festival (2021) and Melbourne International Jazz Festival (2022).
Having completed a Bachelor’s degree in Jazz Performance followed by a Masters thesis in solo drum set performance, Chloe has been a passionate and beloved lecturer at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in the Drum Set faculty since 2021. Chloe wishes to describe her drumming by citing one of the lines from her research: "a propulsive quality in drumming performance characterized by a high level of intensity and precise execution of the musical details afforded by physical agility".
CASSIDY MCDERMOTT SMITH bio
Cassidy McDermott-Smith (she/they) is a dancer, choreographer, and educator based on Gadigal country. She grew up training in classical ballet, before moving to the United States where she gained a BFA in dance with a concentration in Modern from Point Park University. She has worked with notable artists such as Emmauel Gat, Bobbi Jean Smith, Sidra Bell, Mitchell Christe and Eliza Cooper and has performed repertoire by Ohad Naharin, Crystal Pite, and Azure Barton. She is passionate about dissolving form through a performative practice that includes various theatrical modalities such as improvisation, writing and storytelling.
