Set to run for its 36th straight year, the 2014 Sydney Festival looks to once again flourish with art and music from all over the world. The iconic Mike Patton will be one of the many talented musicians taking the stage at next year’s fest, and will be performing Luciano Berio’s 1965 composition Laborintus II as he does so.

Photo Credit: Marv Watson

Patton will be joining Sydney’s 15-piece Ensemble Offspring, and The Song Company, in Sydney to recreate Laborintus II, which Patton also recorded with Belgian group Ictus Ensemble and vocal group Nederlands Kamerkoor in 2012. The original work, created by Berio, had been written to commemorate the 700th anniversary of Dante Alighieri’s birth, and once in the hands of Patton, took on a sort of avant-garde styling that incorporated jazz, electronics and spoken-word theatrics. Patton’s performance at the Sydney Festival is sure to be as epic as any of his performances.

Another alt-musician playing the fest is Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo, also performing with
Ensemble Offspring. Ranaldo and the ensemble will be playing the piece “Hurricane Transcriptions (Last Night On Earth)”, which was written following the destruction of last year’s Hurricane Sandy.