The Anatomy of the Orchestra: Drone Refractions

This performance is presented as part of Holland Festival 2025.

In Drone Refractions, Charles Hazlewood and Paraorchestra turn the orchestra inside-out, charting an immersive drone odyssey via some of Minimalism’s forebears and its greatest composers.

This unique performance re-casts the orchestra as a living, breathing installation: the Paraorchestra ensemble is arrayed throughout the space as they play. The audience is invited to walk or wheel amongst them, to get close to the performers and sink into a deep sonic realm as enveloping drones mix with heady lighting design to conjure a hazy, transcendental atmosphere. 

The repertoire of Drone Refractions is arranged  in three parts. Across approximately fifty minutes, audiences will experience Straylight, a specially-commissioned piece by composer and Paraorchestra affiliate Rylan Gleave drawing inspiration from John Cage’s seminal Seventy Four, a new configuration of the legendary Pauline Oliveros’ The Last Time/Ultima Vez by Charlotte Harding featuring the sublime vocals of Victoria Oruwari, and a performance of Fratres by Estonian visionary Arvo Pärt.

Part-sound bath, part-ritual, part-installation, Drone Refractions compels audience members to inhabit new musical worlds, to experience the meditative magic of drone and witness these transportive sounds up close as never before. A unique opportunity to be on the inside looking out, rather than the outside looking in.

Photo credit: Chris Cooper