Streama new album from The NOISE string quartet

The NOISE string quartet released their first album Spontaneous Improvisation back in 2009, and their second album Composed NOISE in 2013.

Stream, marks a new stage of expressive-ness and refinement for the ensemble that’s been pursuing it’s improvisational approach to string quartet music making over the last 7 years.

The NOISE entered the studio in Sydney to record Stream with nothing but a a few musical ideas and 1 or 2 harmonic sketch-es. In contrast to the careful and pre-scribed music-making of a traditional string quartet, the creative process of The NOISE involves immersing deeply in a stream of consciousness, composing in

real time, following through with their own musi-cal visions and gut instincts.

There is music on Stream that ranges from the epic cinematic grandeur of multi-layered strings in Helios, to the wrenchingly intimate Sad (in the Free Pieces Suite). Stream is very much an album of journeys and contrasts, and every track documents something ephemeral and un-graspable. The goal of many a classical music performer is to re-create the music of the past as if it was actually something totally fresh and original. In this recording The NOISE becomes both the composer and the “stream”, along which the music flows.

Stream will be released as part of The NOISE string quartet’s residency at the AustralianNational University on the 31st March 2015.

“The NOISE is a string quartet for the new century” - Sydney Morning Herald

One of Australia’s most intriguing ensembles, The NOISE began life improvising together in a little terrace house in Sydney, fusing together their multifarious musical personalities and interests from across the musical spectrum, into a unique ensemble sound. The players have worked for the likes of The Australian Chamber Orchestra, Sydney Symphony, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and Sydney Dance Company, and collaborated with musicians such as Joanna Newsom, Gurrumul, and The Presets.

The NOISE’s first album, Spontaneous Improvisation, was created entirely out of improvised and semi-composed material of the quartet’s own devising. The Sydney Morning Herald described the group as “four young Sydney players who have taken to improvisation like birds to flying ... share an aesthetic that free improvisation may dare to be melodic, evocative, starkly beautiful … and cohere with sometimes uncanny precision”.

Their 2nd album, Composed NOISE (released, 2013) attempted to marry the individual compositional voices of 7 Australian composers with the collective improvisatory voice of the quartet. The largest single addition to Australia’s quartet repertoire, it is a collection of 7 newly commissioned works for improvising string quartet by 7 wonderfully imaginative composers. Due for release in 2015, are 3 albums: The NOISE’s 3rd album, Stream; Across the Top (a Tall Poppies release composed by Paul Cutlan; and a NAXOS release - Georges Lentz’s 6-hour long masterpiece, String Quartet(s).

The NOISE was Ensemble in Residence at Wollongong University in 2012, and is Ensemble in Residence at the Australian National University for 2015.

Guided by a spirit of musical adventure and artistic interplay, The NOISE has worked with a number of great Australian composers and improvisers - most notably, Judy Bailey, Georges Lentz, Danny Weltlinger, Lyle Chan, and Paul Cutlan – and are always keen to extend themselves in new creative directions.

The NOISE are: Violins – Veronique Serret & Mirabai Peart, Viola – James Eccles, Cello – Oliver Miller

WEB LINK: www.thenoise.com.au

Contact: James Eccles- supereccles@hotmail.com and Oliver Miller- olliemiller@me.com

The NOISE string quartet