ReadMusic in Motion: WASO on Tour
—21 Jan, 2026
Seeing Sound, Hearing Colour
—26 Oct, 2026
What if you could see music? Or listen to a painting? These might seem like the sort of questions that only come up in an art school lecture but they’re actually what WASO’s next Underground concert, Reich and Richter, is all about.
Forget everything you think you know about orchestral concerts. This November, WASO invites you to journey into a world of captivating rhythms, spectacular colour, and groundbreaking innovation.
Reich and Richter, part of our Underground Series, is not your ordinary classical music performance; it’s a blend of sound and visual arts where you are invited to experience both in ways you’ve never done before. And if you have been looking for a unique night out, it may be just right for you!
When sound becomes colour
The centrepiece of the concert is Reich/Richter, a multimedia composition by American composer Steve Reich and German visual artist Gerhard Richter, performed for the first time in Australia with WASO.
Steve Reich is a key figure in minimalism, a genre that focuses on repetition, patterns, and transformation of sound. Instead of rushing to a climactic ending, his compositions take a musical idea and develop it layer after layer until it blossoms
Gerhard Richter is renowned for paintings that play with colour, movement, abstraction, and perception. His work can feel photographic one moment and dissolve into a blur of shifting shapes the next.
In Reich/Richter, these two artistic worlds collide. Reich’s intricate musical patterns meet Richter’s kaleidoscopic imagery in a multimedia experience where sound and vision move together.
The result? A work that blurs the line between concert and gallery, inviting you to sit back and see where the experience takes you.
Three composers, three distinct worlds
While Reich/Richter may be the title bill of the night, there is plenty of other incredible music to be heard!
Fog, the Australian premiere of a piece by Esa-Pekka Salonen, written to mark the 90th birthday of world-renowned architect, Frank Gehry, kicks off proceedings. Known for his unconventional approach to architecture, Gehry is an appropriate subject for a musical work which delves into atmosphere, texture, and sound possibilities.
Following this is a newly composed piece by Australian composer, Vanessa Perica, titled After the Promise, commissioned especially for WASO by Catherine Dunn and receiving its first-ever performance on stage.
Atmospheric orchestral landscapes, a world premiere, and a journey through colour and rhythm – there is no lack of creativity to explore here!
Come for the visuals, stay for the sound
You don’t need an encyclopaedic knowledge on minimalism or modernism to appreciate the music in Reich and Richter. Part of the magic comes in having no expectations at all.
Experience the visual drama, then let the rhythms soak into your psyche. Discover a contemporary composer whose works will cause you to listen to patterns with fresh ears. Or just enjoy the opportunity to hear the WASO in an intimate setting dedicated to experimental music.
If you are a lover of contemporary art, a fan of music, or even just someone who enjoys the pleasure of trying something new, consider this your invitation to experience a symphony orchestra in a whole new way.
Reich and Richter
Friday 6 and Saturday 7 November 2026, 7.30pm
Studio Underground, State Theatre Centre of WA
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