Solange to headline ’Volume‘, a new festival at the Art Gallery of New South Wales First line-up release

The Art Gallery of New South Wales will present Volume, a new and unique festival of music, film and performance in Sydney. Featuring a packed program of Australian and international artists, headlined by American Grammy Award–winning R&B singer-songwriter and multidisciplinary artist Solange and including award-winning Zambian musician, vocalist and rapper Sampa The Great, American songwriter and producer Mount Eerie, Dharawal and Inuit contemporary musician Sonya Holowell and many more, the festival will be held in a variety of spaces across the Art Gallery’s new North and original South buildings on Gadigal Country overlooking Sydney Harbour this spring.   

Running from 22 September to 8 October, the expansive 17-day festival will bring trailblazing musicians, boundary-pushing filmmakers and cutting-edge performers together in Sydney to present a diverse program of more than 50 music, film and performance events, including free and ticketed programming by day and night.

Announced today, the ticketed music program includes 27 local and international artists. In addition to Solange (USA), Sampa The Great (Zambia), Mount Eerie (USA), and Sonya Holowell (Australia), the live music line-up features Black Belt Eagle Scout (USA), crys cole (Canada), Datu Arellano (Philippines), Fuji|||||||||||ta (Japan), Hamed Sadeghi (Iran/Australia), Jeff Parker (USA), Joe Rainey (USA), Kim Moyes (Australia), Lonnie Holley (USA), Maissa Alameddine (Lebanon/Australia), Mourning [A] BLKstar (USA), Naretha Williams (Australia), Oren Ambarchi (Berlin/Australia), Sumn Conduit (Australia), TENGGER (South Korea), and Toni Muñoz (Philippines). The festival will also present the world premiere of seven new music recordings by artists Dean Hurley (USA), KMRU (Germany/Kenya), Lea Bertucci (USA), Loraine James (UK), Megan Alice Clune (Australia), R. Rebeiro (Australia), and salllvage (Australia), all commissioned by the Art Gallery. 

Each night from Tuesday to Sunday during Volume, the Art Gallery’s new SANAA-designed North Building will transform into two unique performance spaces comprising the Tank, a former Second World War oil tank, now a spectacular art space, and the 13-metre-high Atrium and sculpture gallery spaces on lower level 2. By day, the North and South buildings will both offer free live music, performances and workshops.

Minister for Arts, Music, Night-time Economy, Jobs and Tourism, John Graham said the inaugural festival is a welcome addition to Sydney’s cultural events calendar.

‘Volume is an innovative, new cultural event for Sydney and NSW. I can't wait to see how this festival unfolds at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Having the new Art Gallery building open has been a big boost to our state’s cultural infrastructure, now it's time to fill it with music and film, as well as visual art, and to see it reach its potential.’

Art Gallery of New South Wales director Michael Brand said Volume is a unique chance to experience an internationally acclaimed art museum as never before.

‘While the visual arts have traditionally been the Art Gallery’s focus, our expansion, through the Sydney Modern Project, has created an exceptional opportunity for us to extend our programming as part of our new curatorial narrative to include more cutting-edge live music, film and performance. Volume is the manifestation of this vision,’ said Brand.

‘Featuring some of the most compelling artists of our time, Volume sets a new standard for music curation in public art museums and is the most exciting performative live music and art festival to be staged in Sydney.’

The eclectic music program, curated by the Art Gallery’s and Australia’s first music and community curator, Jonathan Wilson, includes new and experimental live music, genre-bending pop artists, collaborations and world premiere site-specific commissions, from large-scale to intimate.

‘Volume celebrates and connects some of the most innovative local and international artists, blurring the lines between contemporary popular culture and experimental music, film, dance and performance,’ said Wilson. 

‘We are excited to invite these extraordinary artists to Sydney to perform one-off site-responsive performances and discover the amazing sonic potential of our new building: from the immense 25-second reverb in the Tank to the expansive Aqualand Atrium with sight lines across three levels of the building. 

‘Among the many festival highlights is the chance to be among the first members of the public to experience live music performed in the breathtaking Tank, located at the deepest layer of the new building.’ 

The ticketed music program includes Play the room, an experiential live music performance series, featuring solo, duo and group performances; and Playback which features local and international contemporary composers creating new scores to be played and experienced during the festival. The festival is centered around a live music series each weekend exploring the acoustics of the Tank, which is created and performed by internationally renowned performers and musicians.   

A broader program of free music, film and performance will be announced in August, including moving image works curated by Art Gallery of NSW film curator Ruby Arrowsmith-Todd and dance performances curated by Art Gallery of NSW curator of contemporary art Lisa Catt.  

Since opening its expansion on 3 December 2022, the Art Gallery has recorded more than one million visits. The new building is the most significant cultural development in Sydney in nearly half a century.   

Volume is proudly supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW’s Blockbusters Funding initiative and strategic sponsor Destination NSW. 

Tickets $55–199, on sale Tuesday 18 July at 10am (pre-sale) and Wednesday 19 July at 10am (general on-sale) at volume.sydney

Subscribe to the Art Gallery’s Artmail e-newsletter to stay up to date on Volume news and announcements.   

Get a taste of Volume with the festival playlist on Spotify. 

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