Tom Avgenicos’s idiosyncratic performance style see him forge into territory that always feels new. Drenched in reverb and delay, the tones he pulls from his trumpet are intriguing and utterly his own, tightly integrated into rapid-fire runs like stones skipped on water.

He exhibited this style in Ghost Between Streams, a product of the trumpeter/composer’s 2022 Freedman Jazz Fellowship win. In it he evokes the ‘magic’ of Stringybark Creek on Cammeraygal Country and the increasing risk posed to it by urbanisation through a blend of acoustic sounds and electronic processing, movement and sound.

Ghost Between Streams. Photo © James Tarbottom

The work brought Avgenicos’s innovative outfit Delay45 to the stage with Ensemble Apex String Quartet – Ben Adler (violin), Beatrice Colombis (violin), Phoebe Gilbert (viola), Reena Oh (cello) – and dancer-choreographers Reina Takeuchi and Tom Kentta.  

Choreography that moved between lighthearted play and a flirt with violence became an interesting counterpoint next to the music. Though their floorwork was sometimes obscured by seating, a strong sense of narrative emanated from where the dancers met the music.

Kennta balanced a ball...