“Let’s get Bach over and done with,” quipped Satu Vänskä from the stage of The Factory Theatre in Marrickville, the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s Principal Violin serving as frontwoman for the genre-defying ACO Underground.

She led a starry line-up of ACO regulars and special guests: ACO Artistic Director Richard Tognetti on violin, Elizabeth Woolnough on viola, Julian Thompson on cello, Maxime Bibeau on double bass, along with Joseph Nizeti on synthesizer and electronics, Evan Mannell on kit, Brian Ritchie (of Violent Femmes renown) on acoustic bass guitar, and Slava Grigoryan on guitar.

This is not the first ACO Underground gig, with Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood notoriously joining the ensemble in 2012 at The Standard in Darlinghurst, for a concert spanning Vivaldi to Nirvana. In the spirit of that first event, Vänskä and her musicians this time mingled Bach, Stravinsky, Phil Spector and Nine Inch Nails – along with plenty of Richard Tognetti originals.

It was Grigoryan who kicked off the Bach, his intimate solo and a handful of upbeat Goldberg variations from the...